Fantasy Football 2024: Ranking Anthony Richardson and Top Breakout Sleeper Candidates
Nothing fuels a fantasy football championship run quite like finding a breakout performer.
And if we know anything about the 2024 NFL season, it's that it will spawn some new gridiron stars.
Acquiring them before they breakout is basically a cheat code in fantasy. You're getting top-shelf production without paying top-shelf prices. You're buying the stock right before it skyrockets.
Let's help get you in on the launching pad, then, and rank our three favorite breakout candidates.
3. Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
1 of 3
Isiah Pacheco is no stranger to fantasy managers. In fact, he has cemented himself as a top-30 pick.
How does he still snag a spot on this list, then? Because if everything goes according to plan this season, he might be locked in as a top-10 selection for the next one.
Last season, he tallied 1,179 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns. Solid numbers, right? Well, they get even better when accounting for the fact he missed three games with injury and lost some opportunities to Jerick McKinnon (25 receptions on 32 targets for 192 yards and four touchdowns), who remains a free agent.
If the Chiefs don't bring back McKinnon, Pacheco could offer work-horse potential. In the four games when McKinnon wasn't active last season, Pacheco averaged 20.2 touches and 100.7 yards.
2. Josh Palmer, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
2 of 3
Justin Herbert, who threw for more than 17,000 yards over his first four NFL season, needs some new favorites to emerge in the Chargers' passing game. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Austin Ekeler and Gerald Everett all exited this this offseason. That quartet combined for 320 targets last season.
Those throws—coming from a rocket-armed quarterback, mind you—need to be dispersed elsewhere, and Joshua Palmer has a chance to command a ton of them.
The fourth-year wideout has a non-zero chance of pacing this team in targets. If that comes anywhere close to happening, his numbers could go berserk. In 2022, his only season with something close to a prominent role, he turned 107 targets into 72 receptions for 769 yards and three scores.
Even if the Chargers get more run-heavy under new coach Jim Harbaugh, they won't keep Herbert from letting it fly. That should be great news for Palmer, who is now competing for targets with the likes of D.J. Chark, Quentin Johnston and rookie second-rounder Ladd McConkey.
1. Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts
3 of 3
Anthony Richardson shouldn't have made a strong impression on the fantasy football community last season. Not when injuries allowed the then-rookie to only play four games and finish just two of them.
Incredibly, though, that was all the time he needed to stamp himself as one of the sport's rising stars.
The only times he played a full game he ranked as QB4 (in Week 1) and QB2 (in Week 4), per FantasyPros. His numbers in those contests: 423 passing yards with three touchdowns and one interception; 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
His rushing ability is electric, his arm strength is elite and his receiving corps is fully loaded (Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and second-round rookie Adonai Mitchell). Richardson's range of possible outcomes absolutely includes a potential finish as the most productive player in fantasy.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
