Wide receivers are the hottest thing right now, with three of the best going in the top nine of the 2024 NFL draft. Throw in a few other potentially high-performing rookies plus some second-year standouts, and there are many options for pass-catchers this season.
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But what if you want to wait until later to attack the wide receiver position?
You have to be looking for value. Players outside the consensus Footballguys Top 20 at the position who stand a strong chance to surprise and greatly outperform their ADP.
With that said, let's take a look at some running back values for the 2024 fantasy season.
2024 Wide Receiver Values
Ladd McConkey, LA Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a completely different team this season than last year. The team lost Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett, Austin Ekeler, and Jalen Guyton, equalling 250 vacated targets, far and away the most in the entire league. Not only do they boast a new lineup, but the team also has a new coach, with Jim Harbaugh heading West to hopefully right the ship in Southern California after winning a National Championship at Michigan.
Justin Herbert still has the talent, even after a down year in 2023, and who does he have to throw it to? Quentin Johnston is an option, but it is difficult to believe he will be the number one option after the rookie season he had. Johnston has a 17% wide receiver target share with 67 targets that he only managed to turn into 431 yards.
Enter rookie Ladd McConkey, who could quickly become the number one target in Los Angeles. He didn't have tons of targets at Georgia, only 31 in his final year, but he had an 83.9% reception rate. If Brock Bowers hadn't been playing across the field from him, McConkey would have been the number-one target. Las Vegas has the Chargers winning 8.5 games this season, and to win that many games, you know that the offense will be taking a step forward.
The thought of drafting your potential WR1 in McConkey in the middle of the seventh round is incredible.
Tank Dell, Houston
When the Houston Texans drafted Tank Dell in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, there was talk about his small frame and whether he could make it in the league. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound pass catcher excelled in college, with 1,355 yards receiving out of Houston, the most in his draft class, but it was uncertain if this would translate in the NFL with everyone around him taller and bigger.
Spoiler alert: it did.
Even though we lost Dell in Week 13 for the rest of the season due to a fractured fibula, the weeks that fantasy managers had him were delightful. He had six weeks where he finished as the WR20 or better and one where he was the WR1. He was a gift from the fantasy gods for a player drafted so late.
Which makes it so intriguing heading into the 2024 season. Perhaps due to his absence late in the season his ADP is higher than one would think after his breakout successful rookie campaign. According to Footballguys consensus ADP, he is currently being drafted in the middle of the fifth round, and his upside is extraordinary.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud is showing little chance of slowing down, and when Dell is downfield, he loves to target him. Dell had a 29% target share last season and had eight red zone targets, only playing eleven games. I know Stefon Diggs is the new guy in town in Houston, but I am not overly concerned about an almost 31-year-old wide receiver taking away too many opportunities from Dell. If Dell hadn’t missed five games due to injury, he was on a 1,031-yard pace, and I believe there is a strong chance that he can hit that this season.
Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay
The Green Bay Packers offense was a joy to watch last season, especially the wide receivers. However, this didn’t always translate to joy in fantasy football. It wasn’t that these pass catchers weren't catching balls and scoring points; it was that too many of them were doing it. Four wide receivers had over 400 yards receiving and four touchdowns. All five pass-catchers had at least one week as a fantasy WR1.
You never knew when your guy would hit, making sliding a Green Bay wide receiver into your starting lineup risky. So, which direction should you take this season? I like the Dontayvion Wicks route - he is the fourth Packers receiver being drafted this year, currently going in the late 13th round over on Sleeper. The reason I think Wicks could pop is that we have seen it. Sure, I know it was only in the season's final week, but we are talking about sleepers here; these aren’t surefire hits.
Wicks was the WR5 in Week 18, and although he finished the season as only the WR57, his yards per route run rate was 2.04, just behind teammate Jayden Reed. Now Reed is going much earlier in the draft, at the end of the sixth round, which is too rich for my blood.
Wicks managed an 18% wide receiver target share even in a busy passing offense. If I am taking a dart throw in a high-powered offense where I don’t know the primary target, I am throwing said dart at the player going later in drafts. And that is Wicks.
Malik Nabers, NY Giants
Remember the NFL draft and the incredible WRs that came out of it? So much was talked about Marvin Harrison Jr. (understandably so), but Malik Nabers wasn’t too far behind Harrison on many analysts' draft boards. Nabers caught 1545 yards during his final year at LSU, the most in his draft class. He also had 14 touchdowns, 124 targets, and an incredible 3.81 yards per route run (Y/RR), and now he heads to the New York Giants after being drafted sixth overall, where he becomes almost the only offensive weapon in town.
The Giants are now sans Saquon Barkley, piecing together a new identity, and the smartest thing would be to cement that identity around Nabers. If you are watching “Hard Knocks,” it is clear that the organization believes in Nabers, and he will no doubt be the WR1, especially with the less-than-overwhelming cast of characters behind him in the depth chart.
The only doubt with Nabers and his chance to be a true sleeper is his quarterback, Daniel Jones. Jones is recovering from his ACL injury and knows this is a make-it-or-break-it year for him, so he, too, will be doing everything he can to help the Giants and the passing game be successful. Nabers has incredible upside even with an average Jones season, and if Jones can stay healthy and return to his 2022 yardage (3205 yards and 15 touchdowns), Nabers could be the volume king and pay off nicely on his late-fourth, early-fifth-round draft capital.
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