My Fantasy Life colleague Dwain McFarland has an objectively wild saying about fantasy football: Every season is different, and every draft is a dynamic, living organism.

Batshit crazy nature of the statement aside, Dwain has a point: Anything can happen over the course of double-digit round drafts that inevitably feature human managers making good, bad, and by-the-book picks.

Failure to adapt on the fly will lead to increased chances of our fantasy teams dying earlier than we would prefer during any given season, so it's imperative managers realize there really isn't a "one size fits all" draft strategy (even if Fantasy Life is dead set on providing you the tools to come close).

Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all of the content you need to dominate your drafts this summer.

With all that said: Sometimes you just want to go get your guys. Accordingly, today's article is all about the players I have LOVED to draft throughout the offseason. Basically Kevin Costner's "no matter what" post-it note from Draft Day if he were into fantasy drafts and not pretending to be a general manager and/or cowboy (not that there's anything wrong with that).

As always: It's a great day to be great.

An actual dual-threat alien: Colts QB Anthony Richardson

Seriously: Richardson once confirmed he's actually an alien. It remains unclear why the mainstream media continues to be so silent on the matter.

Anyway, I understand being a fan of Richardson isn't exactly the wildest take in the year 2024; the man does carry an average draft position (ADP) as the QB5 on more providers than not, after all. Still, through 200-plus offseason drafts (majority best ball), I have rostered the rising second-year talent more than all but two other QBs.

Why? Well, the main reason is because God only creates so many alleged humans like this. My comp for Richardson coming out of Florida was "Mewtwo" for a reason:

  • 6-foot-4 and around 255 pounds
  • 4.43-second 40-yard dash
  • No. 1 athleticism score all-time per Player Profiler
  • 10.0 relative athletic score (RAS) also ranks first all-time

The early results in 2023 were nothing short of spectacular. While a season-ending shoulder injury limited Richardson to just two full games, he ripped off 20.9 and 29.6 fantasy points in those contests. Hell, he got to 17.7 points in Week 2 vs. the Texans in just 18 snaps! 

The reigning No. 1 QB in fantasy points per dropback joins guys like Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson as the closest things our glorious game of fantasy football has to walking, talking cheat codes. QBs who push for 100-plus carries in a season simply don't bust in fantasy land. One of just five signal-callers who Fantasy Life projects to rush for over 500 yards this season, it's quite difficult to be overly bearish on Richardson's 2024 outlook … if he can stay healthy.

The injury gods certainly weren't kind to Richardson in 2023, but he's been full-go in training camp and is fully expected to be at 100% come Week 1. Some might wonder if the Colts could look to limit Richardson's wear and tear in the running game this time around, although head coach Shane Steichen certainly isn't one of them:

“People ask this, too … 'Hey, are you gonna limit the run game?' and I kind of think like, 'Shoot, are you gonna limit Steph Curry from shooting 3-pointers?.' Well, that's one of Anthony's strengths. We're not gonna get away from that.”

I'm already on the record agreeing to ride a bike from my home in Columbus, Ohio to Lucas Oil Stadium if Richardson starts 17 games this season and fails to finish as a top-12 QB; that's my level of confidence on the floor here. Richardson doesn't need to be a good NFL QB in order to be a great fantasy one; just look at the success some of the league's very worst passers in Tim Tebow (QB8 in Weeks 7-17, 2011) and Taysom Hill (QB6 Weeks 11-14, 2020, and QB7 in Weeks 13-15, 2021) had back in the day.

Gen-Z Austin Ekeler: Steelers RB Jaylen Warren

The former undrafted free agent also wears No. 30 and just so happens to be pretty, pretty, pretty good at football. In fact, Warren's numbers in things like yards after contact per carry (3.7), missed tackles forced per carry (0.36) and explosive run rate (16.6%) all ranked among the very best players at the position last year. Warren's emergence as a bonafide stud was undoubtedly part of the reason why the Steelers felt comfortable declining Najee Harris' fifth-year option this offseason.

Of course, this was all going on last year … and it didn't stop the Steelers from still giving the rock to Najee more often anyway. Perhaps the change at offensive coordinator will rectify last year's fantasy sins, although 2023 fantasy managers of Bijan Robinson will be quick to tell you not to assume rationale depth chart decision-making from new OC Arthur Smith.

2023 touches

Now, Warren assuming the 1.A Bijan/Najee role would certainly be a step in the right direction; it's certainly possible he's leaned on as more of the lead guy this year. Still, it'd be silly to assume that Pittsburgh will simply relegate Harris to holding Warren's water bottle on the bench; the former first-round pick deserves at least some credit for racking up at least 1,200 total yards and eight TDs in all three of his professional seasons.

Basically, even continued top-tier efficiency and a relatively increased role isn't going to make Warren a weekly top-five option at the position … but what if Harris were to miss any time? This is the real allure of Warren: We are truly looking at the 1.01 handcuff here, as his fantasy-friendly blend of explosiveness and pass-down ability would theoretically give him prime-Ekeler or even *hesitates, thinks about saying it, f*ck it* yes, CMC-level upside.

Not too shabby for someone available in Round 8 or later on the majority of re-draft fantasy platforms.

Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all of the content you need to dominate your drafts this summer.

Don't hate the player, hate the ADP: Patriots RB Antonio Gibson

This isn't the first time Gibson has made it on to one of my "my guys" lists. However, past editions were more so hopeful that the former Commanders RB could thrive with an expected workhorse role (people don't forget, Kyle Allen), while today's propaganda more so has to do with Gibson's tantalizing handcuff upside.

In case you missed it this offseason: Gibson signed a three-year, $11.25 million contract to work as Rhamondre Stevenson's backup in New England. Nobody is expecting the ex-Commander to vie for the starting job, but Gibson is certainly the favorite to assume the majority of Ezekiel Elliott's vacated 235 touches.

The 26-year-old talent didn't rack up over 1,000 total yards with double-digit TDs in back-to-back seasons to start his career by accident, and there's enough receiving ability here to believe some serious full-PPR goodness would be on the table should Stevenson hit the sideline … like he's done for five games in two of his three career seasons.

While Gibson isn't the league's only RB with this sort of hopeful "FLEX with benefits" role, he does stand out as one of the cheaper archetypes in all of fantasy football. Just peep the current ESPN ADP from the rest of my Tier 2 Handcuffs, defined as being one injury away from being a fantasy RB1:

I recognize the potential for Stevenson to simply stay healthy and render Gibson as the clear backup inside of a Patriots offense not exactly expected to resemble the 1999 Rams. And yet, even fantasy managers still suffering from Gibson-related PTSD have to admit that the rising fifth-year RB would be on the cover of every waiver wire article in the industry should the Patriots' bell-cow be forced to miss any action in 2024.

The single-biggest ADP discrepancy: Giants WR Malik Nabers

The two primary reasons to draft Nabers in the year 2024:

  1. The fantasy team name "Nabers think I'm selling dope" will surely make your friends think you are cool and hip.
  2. We're looking at a finely tuned athletic machine with the potential to breeze past 130 targets.

And yet, the fine folks drafting at ESPN and Yahoo! appear to be sleeping at the wheel here:

Nabers ADP by fantasy provider

  • ESPN: WR25 (pick 64.4 overall)
  • Yahoo: WR28 (70.4)
  • Sleeper: WR20 (39.8)
  • Underdog: WR19 (26.6)
  • NFFC: WR22 (35.5)
  • FFPC: WR19 (44.5)

"But Ian, what about his QB? Daniel Jones sucks. Why do we want his No. 1 WR?" Well, to at least be a little fair to the artist known as Vanilla Vick, this has consistently been one of the league's worst supporting casts over the years, and the biggest WR investment the Giants have ever made for him was … probably Kenny Golladay?

But I hear ya: More seasons than not have told us Jones isn't a good NFL QB; I agree this will probably be the case again in 2024.

And yet, what if the rookie is poised to undergo a similar year-one campaign as fellow former No. 6 overall pick Jaylen Waddle? The fellow SEC star worked as the undisputed No. 1 pass-game option in a limited Dolphins offense that rarely even attempted to stretch the field. This isn't to suggest that Nabers (or Waddle, obviously) are incapable of winning deep, but Jones does join recently retired Matt Ryan as the only two QBs with an average target depth under seven yards over the past two seasons.

Simply looking at the overall numbers from Brian Daboll's No. 1 pass-game option doesn't paint a pretty picture in recent years, as no Giants have managed to reach even 80 targets in a single season since 2022. Of course, Daboll was in charge of the same Bills offense that force-fed Stefon Diggs (166, 164 targets) during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, even if he was obviously dealing with a better QB under center (to put it lightly).

Ultimately, Fantasy Life projections have Nabers tabbed for 131 targets in 2024 — the 14th-highest mark of any player at the position. This is why it's tough to complain with his aforementioned WR3-level ADP; the potential for middling efficiency figures to easily be overridden by pure volume, and there's (wait for it) league-winning upside on the table should the rookie manage to make Sundays at all resemble what a typical day at Giants training camp has been like over the past few weeks.

Honorable mention

Some quick thoughts on more of my most-drafted players at each position:

  • Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes: New speedy edition of the Chiefs offense *should* lead to more familiar downfield splash plays for the QB1 in career fantasy points per game; positive TD regression is also on the table here.
  • Browns QB Deshaun Watson: Still one of just four QBs to average 20-plus fantasy points per game for their career, Watson is pretty much fantasy's cheapest dual-threat archetype with a proven ability to boom, even if his first 12 games in Cleveland have admittedly been ROUGH.
  • Rams RB Blake Corum: Would garner immediate top-15 consideration should Kyren Williams miss any time due to Sean McVay's history of featuring a workhorse RB, and recent reports suggest there might be more potential for standalone value than we think.
  • Vikings RB Ty Chandler: Looks poised to serve as the 1.B in this new-look Vikings backfield, and like Corum, there's high-end handcuff upside here inside of an offense that proved willing to feed him down the stretch of 2023.
  • Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown: Worked as the PPR WR5 during the first six weeks of 2022 the last time he was truly healthy. He's now poised to parlay the best QB of his career with an offense that has been featuring him as the No. 1 WR early in camp.
  • Rams WR Demarcus Robinson: Ripped off five straight PPR WR25 or better finishes in Weeks 13-17 of last season with the same full-time role he's expected to have from the get go in 2024 if the reports out of training camp are any indication.
  • Eagles TE Dallas Goedert: Easily the cheapest pass-game piece of an Eagles offense expected to flirt with newfound pace/motion-induced heights; I maintain Godert still has top-five fantasy upside at the position should the injury gods chill out for once
  • Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth: Looks a lot like the No. 2 pass-game option inside an offense that vacated 143 targets and seemingly doesn't have a No. 2 option at the position for Arthur Smith to f*ck with like he did in Atlanta, when his offenses ranked fourth in overall targets to the position.

Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all of the content you need to dominate your drafts this summer.