FantasyPros Staff | Fri, Apr 19th 2024, 3:46am EDT

Fantasy Football Draft Breakouts: De’Von Achane, Zamir White, Josh Jacobs, James Cook

Get ahead of the fantasy football curve by exploring potential breakout stars who could transform your team’s fortunes in 2024. We asked our FeaturedPros contributors to give us their best promising running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks, and tight ends primed for breakout performances. Whether you’re seeking a dynamic RB, a game-changing WR, or a breakout star at QB or TE, we’ve got you covered. Here are all of our early fantasy football draft breakout candidates. Below we dive into a few notable names.

2024 Fantasy Football Early Breakout Candidates

De’Von Achane (RB – MIA)

“I think the obvious choice is Miami’s De’Von Achane. He broke the fantasy community from Weeks 3-5, totaling 454 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns in that span. In Week 5, he got banged up and missed the next four weeks. Achane bulked up this off-season. If healthy for a full season, he can officially have a breakout year. If, and it’s a big if, he averages 151.3 yards per game (what he had rushed in that three-week span), then he could very easily gain over 2,000 rushing yards!”
– Miguel ‘SC’ Romero (Fantasy Football Universe)

“I think De’Von Achane has the better chance to break out this season. We saw him last year. The guy has 7.8 yards per carry, the most in the league for RBs with more than 50 carries. Mostert is still in the mix, but we can expect a role decrease.”
– Alejandro Orellana (Estadio Fantasy)

“Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane showed flashes of a breakout in his rookie campaign, but lingering injuries and the swan song of Raheem Mostert prevented him from achieving stardom. Mostert recently signed an extension to remain with Miami, but with him being both 32 years old and injury-prone, it’s just a matter of time before Mostert is phased out of this elite offense and Achane becomes the explosive stud we saw glimpses of in 2022.”
– Aaron St Denis (Fantasy Football Universe)

Josh Jacobs (RB – GB)

“I’m rolling with Josh Jacobs this season at his depressed price in fantasy drafts. Early returns have him as a high-end RB2, being taken in the 6th round. But moving on from the dumpster fire that was the 2023 Las Vegas Raiders, Jacobs now has new life in an offense that will regularly be in scoring range. The TD upside mixed with fewer stacked boxes means Jacobs should firmly be in RB1 territory this season and offer you consistency at the position each week. Enjoy the re-breakout.”
– Jeremy Shulman (Fantasy Football Universe)

Zamir White (RB – LV)

“Zamir White is the current RB1 in Las Vegas after Josh Jacobs left in free agency. The arrival of Alexander Mattison won’t keep him from having a featured role in 2024. White was the RB8, averaging 14.1 half-point PPR fantasy points per game during the four weeks of the 2023 season with Jacobs injured. According to Fantasy Points Data, he had the eighth-most missed tackles forced during those four weeks, totaling more than Bijan Robinson. Unless the Raiders pick a running back on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, there is no reason to think White won’t be a top-20 running back this upcoming season.”
– Mike Fanelli (FantasyPros)

“Zamir White is one of the best bets to break out, as he is now the lead back in the Raiders backfield. The only competition the Raiders brought in was Alexander Mattison. This team is going to want to run the football with the lack of a strong passing game. At the end of last season, we saw that he had four straight games over 17 carries. If White can get to 225 carries in 2024, he’ll have a breakout season.”
– Steven Pintado (The Fantasy Coaches)

James Cook (RB – BUF)

“James Cook is teed up for a monster campaign in 2024. Stefon Diggs is long gone which should further cement Cook as the engine to the Bills offense as he was during the second part of last season once Joe Brady took over as the OC. Over that span, Cook was second in carries (17 per game). He totaled 181 touches from Week 11 onward (20 touches per game), averaging 15.8 expected points per game (9th) and 14.1 points per game (13th). All he needs is more TDs to break out in 2024.”
– Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros)

“James Cook saw the 10th most touches in the NFL last year with 281, and Cook is still thought of as a scatback. Cook is an efficient running back who ranked 5th in yards per touch, 2nd in yards per reception, and 6th in yards per route run among running backs. With both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis gone from Buffalo, James Cook has a great opportunity to take on an even bigger role in 2024.”
– Jesse Moeller (Fantasy Football Universe)

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