Fantasy Football 2024: 1st-Round Mock Draft and Winning Strategy
The 2024 NFL preseason slate will soon involve all 32 teams.
For fantasy football managers, this is the heart of mock-draft season. And considering that will soon give way to real-draft season, preparation time is at a scarce.
Let's make the most of it, then, by running through a projected mock first round and then spotlighting some of the toughest questions to tackle early in the draft. Finally, we'll close by laying out a couple of our favorite winning strategies.
Mock First Round
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1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
2. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
3. Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
4. Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins
5. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
6. Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons
7. Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
8. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions
9. Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams
10. A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
11. Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
12. Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams
First Round Questions
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Which RB follows Christian McCaffrey?
Managers in the market with a middle-of-the-pack first-round pick and an interest in adding a running back might all face the same debate: Bijan Robinson or Breece Hall? These players will be RB2 and RB3 on the majority of draft boards, though the order will differ from one manager to the next.
Atlanta's offense is on the rise following the offseason addition of Kirk Cousins, which should give Robinson more room to operate than when the Falcons had Desmond Ridder and Marcus Mariota under center. Of course, the same holds true for Hall and the Jets now that a healthy Aaron Rodgers is back piloting the attack.
The good news is managers can't really go wrong with either of these running backs, but this will still be a decision many of you are forced to make.
Which WR goes after CeeDee Lamb?
Lamb perhaps isn't quite cemented atop the wide receiver position the way McCaffrey is at running back, but Lamb still paces the position more often than not. So, where do receiver-focused managers turn next: Ja'Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson or Amon-Ra St. Brown?
If you went by last season's point-per-reception scoring, the order would be Hill, St. Brown, Chase and Jefferson. However, there is context missing from that. Chase, for instance, was hurt by the absence of Joe Burrow. Jefferson, meanwhile, encountered his own injury issues.
Jefferson might be the best positioned of the bunch to command the biggest share of his offense's chances, but he's also dealing with the shakiest quarterback situation following Kirk Cousins' exit. But the others have things to nitpick, too, like Hill's age (30), the number of weapons around St. Brown and the fact Chase isn't practicing while hoping to get a new contract.
Winning Fantasy Strategies
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Wait on quarterbacks.
No, this isn't intended as a direct slight of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts, but there's a reason you'll hear this advice repeated all over the fantasy world.
The difference between the top quarterback and, say, the eighth one on the board often isn't as sizable as the split between elite running backs and receivers and they're good-not-great positional peers. It's also just easier to find a difference-maker at quarterback outside of the first five rounds than it is at the other marquee spots.
Take a high-end tight end.
If you found yourself streaming tight ends last season, you may have turned over that roster spot every week. Non-elite tight ends seemed less reliable than ever, and it was simply a guessing game over whether you'd grab them for their occasional OK outing.
Six tight ends produced better than 200 PPR points: Sam LaPorta, Evan Engram, Travis Kelce, T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle and David Njoku, per ESPN. Only three other players at the position cleared even 150 points.
Take a safe bet at tight end if you can get one, because the risky ones can bottom out.
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