Free agency has largely come and gone. There are still a handful of big names out there—and team Fantasy Life will continue to track and analyze them—but NFL teams will mostly have to fill their remaining glaring needs through the draft.
This raises today’s key question: What fantasy-relevant holes remain across NFL rosters?
Cowboys RB
- Available carries: 252 (69%)
- Available targets: 66 (70%)
Tony Pollard took his talents to Nashville, leaving the Cowboys with an RB room consisting of Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis, and Snoop Conner.
Not great—especially considering how largely mediocre Cowboys RBs were as a whole in 2023.
Cowboys team RB performance in 2023
- PFF rush grade: 79.1 (No. 15)
- Yards per carry: 3.9 (No. 24)
- Yards after contact per carry: 2.8 (tied for No. 16)
- Missed tackles forced per carry: 0.16 (tied for No. 18)
Maybe the Cowboys saw enough out of Dowdle to make him the new RB1, but that seems unlikely considering how little he was used in non-blowout game scripts last season. Overall, Dowdle has never played more than 20% of the offense’s snaps in a game decided by fewer than two TDs.
Potential fit: Texas RB Jonathon Brooks. The do-it-all talent is recovering from a torn ACL … and his surgeon just so happened to be the Cowboys head team physician. Brooks earned a lofty Jamaal Charles comp from Lance Zierlein and Smallmondre Stevenson (lol) from Danny Kelly. Don’t be surprised if the Cowboys address this need with either their No. 56 or No. 87 overall picks.
Chargers RB
- Available carries: 286 (87%)
- Available targets: 80 (91%)
Austin Ekeler is now a member of the Commanders, and Joshua Kelly remains an unrestricted free agent. This leaves the Chargers with ex-Ravens RB Gus Edwards alongside incumbent backups Isaiah Spiller, Elijah Dotson, and Jaret Patterson on an offense fully expected to run the f*ck out of the football.
Gus Bus is a solid early-down and short-yardage option, but none of Spiller (64 career touches), Dotson (6), nor Patterson (95) have ever earned significant work at the NFL level. It seems inevitable that the Chargers are not done addressing their overall backfield.
Identifying who will eventually be the lead dog here could prove quite fruitful in fantasy land considering Harbaugh produced a top-24 fantasy RB in three of his four seasons while leading the 49ers:
- 2011: Frank Gore – 12.1 PPR points per game (RB20)
- 2012: Gore – 14.4 (RB14)
- 2013: Gore – 11.9 (RB23)
- 2014: Gore – 9.9 (RB29)
Note that Gore handled 299, 287, 292, and 266 touches during those four seasons. Guys like Kendall Hunter, LaMichael James, and eventually Carlos Hyde were also involved as complementary backups; just realize this profiles as the sort of offense capable of enabling its lead RB to 250-plus carries with relative ease.
Potential fit: Michigan RB Blake Corum. It just makes too much sense. The fellow Michigan man racked up 258 and 274 touches over the past two seasons in 12 and 15 games, respectively, scoring a program-record 61 total TDs along the way. Yes, all but five of his 27 rushing TDs came from inside the five-yard line last season (similar to Gus Bus). Also yes, it was clear on tape that Corum did seem to regain some of his pre-2022 injury juice down the stretch against some truly tough competition, notably hitting 20.5 MPH on this TD run—a mark which was faster than Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Joe Mixon, and D’Andre Swift’s fastest recorded times from last season (per Next-Gen Stats).
Chargers WR
- Available targets: 230 (61%)
- Available air yards: 2,448 (61%)
This is the saddest WR room in the league at the moment:
- Quentin Johnston: The 2023 first-round pick posted a rather brutal 38-431-2 receiving line in 2023, notably averaging just 0.88 yards per route run—the sixth-worst mark among 80 qualified WRs.
- Josh Palmer: Enjoyed a career-best 2023 season by virtually any efficiency metric and is a solid complementary WR.
- Derius Davis: More of a gadget option due to his size (5'8", 165 pounds) and accordingly had nearly as many rush attempts (14) as he did receptions (15).
- Simi Fehoko: Has just four career receptions since entering the league in 2021.
So yeah: Not great! Especially when considering, you know, the presence of 296 million dollar man Justin Herbert under center. Getting rid of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams suddenly has the Chargers sitting relatively pretty with the fifth-most effective cap space in the league at the moment.
The Chargers boast the No. 5, No. 37, and No. 69 overall picks: Using AT LEAST one on a WR seems inevitable, while it’d also behoove this organization to dip their toes into the free agency waters sooner rather than later. Speaking of…
Potential fit: Odell Beckham Jr. Hear me out. While OBJ’s 35-565-3 receiving line wasn’t exactly what the Ravens were hoping for when they signed up to pay him $15 million, he proved to not be completely washed, racking up the position’s 11th-most yards from defensive pass interference penalties and working as one of just 10 WRs to average at least 16 yards per catch last season. Obviously, expecting Beckham to regain the same sort of alpha form that he demonstrated with the Giants is wishful thinking, but this is still a veteran capable of winning one-on-one situations. Jim Harbaugh centered his past 49ers passing games around aging vets like Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin; OBJ returning to Los Angeles and linking up with Herbert on a one-year deal makes a lot of sense for all parties involved.
Cardinals WR
- Available targets: 155 (58%)
- Available air yards: 1,579 (54%)
Both Marquise Brown (Chiefs) and Rondale Moore (Falcons) have new employers, meaning the Cardinals are looking at a starting three WR core of Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch … and Chris Moore? Zach Pascal? Jeff Smith?!
Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch (83) runs with the ball past Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox (29) during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
It doesn’t take a Joshua Dobbs rocket scientist to figure out a LOT of work still needs to be done here, although Wilson and Dortch at least look like potential long-term options.
- Wilson received ESPN’s sixth-best catch rating amidst his quietly impressive, yet low-volume, rookie campaign. The rising second-year WR posted solid 4-35-1 and 6-95-0 receiving performances during the final two weeks of last season and offers sneaky-solid route-running ability for a man his size (6’1”, 216 pounds).
- Dortch has quite a few highlights for someone with just 79 career receptions. The size (5'7", 173 pounds) could prevent him from ever locking down a true full-time role, but at a minimum, the 25-year-old veteran is a great backup option who offers additional juice in the return game.
Friendly reminder that the Cardinals were a top-10 offense in EPA per play, yards per play, and TD drive percentage with Kyler Murray under center in Weeks 10-18 last season. Whoever winds up locking down these starting WR jobs should offer quite a bit of upside in fantasy land in 2024 and beyond.
Potential fit: Marvin Harrison Jr. Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman echoes this popular idea by selecting Harrison with the fourth overall pick of the draft in his latest mock draft. As a Columbus, Ohio, native and longtime supporter of the Buckeyes: This landing spot would be borderline erotic, as Harrison’s incredible contested-catch and body-control skillz would match perfectly with Kyler Murray, who proved plenty capable of enabling DeAndre Hopkins to some BIG seasons over the years.
