8 Players on New Teams & Fantasy Football Outlook: AFC (2024)

I recently covered six notable players who went from the AFC to the NFC and how it will affect their fantasy football value. Here, it’s time to do the opposite and assess players who previously played in the NFC and their outlook now that they’re in the AFC.

Below are eight fantasy football players worth discussing as we prepare for our 2024 drafts. Let’s start at the quarterback position.

Fantasy Football Players on New Teams: AFC (2024)

Quarterback

Jacoby Brissett – New England Patriots

It makes sense that Brissett is currently going as the QB36 in fantasy drafts. With Drake Maye behind him, it feels like it’s just a matter of time before the No. 3 overall pick takes over. Also, leading up to that, Brissett had a tough schedule.

Let’s say he plays the first 10 games of the season. Here would be his matchups:

Week 1 @ Cincinnati
Week 2 vs. Seattle
Week 3 @ New York Jets
Week 4 @ San Francisco
Week 5 vs. Miami
Week 6 vs. Houston
Week 7 @ Jacksonville
Week 8 vs New York Jets
Week 9 @ Tennessee
Week 10 @ Chicago

There’s a real chance the Patriots are 0-10 after these first ten games or perhaps a win or two.

Brissett last started games in 2022 with the Cleveland Browns. He had a low of 10.1 points and a high of 25.9. He averaged 237 passing yards and about one touchdown pass per game.

He’ll serve as a solid bridge quarterback but virtually has no value.

Justin Fields – Pittsburgh Steelers

Fields is set to sit behind Russell Wilson in 2024, and it’s unlikely he’ll play much. Wilson passed for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 15 starts last year, and a performance like that will make it difficult for the Steelers to bench him.

Expect little to no production from Fields in 2024, barring injury.

Running Back

Tony Pollard – Tennessee Titans

Finishing as the RB14 in PPR leagues last season, Pollard was elevated there because of his volume.

In the running game, he had 252 carries for 1,005 yards and six touchdowns. He caught 55 passes on 67 targets for 311 yards and no receiving touchdowns.

With just four yards per carry, Pollard was overall unremarkable, but because of the volume, he managed to be a productive player. However, his 13.1 points per game was 23rd at the position which certainly led to some frustrating performances, including eight games with less than 10 points.

Pollard will head up a depth chart in Tennessee with a handcuff darling in Tyjae Spears behind him.

He’ll be in an offense that should have a better offensive line, but I’d put them behind where the Cowboys’ offensive line was last year.

The offense is built around trying to give quarterback Will Levis the most weapons possible, including DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd.

Pollard will see a fair amount of volume once again. He’s going as the RB29 right now in PPR leagues, and he should finish better than that should he see a similar volume. At worst, he’s a low-end RB2, which is above his current ADP.

There’s value to be had here.

Antonio Gibson – New England Patriots

Patriots starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson played in 12 games last season, so Gibson will serve as an excellent backup option should he miss more time in 2024.

Gibson’s production in 2023 was most centered around his pass-catching. He had just 65 carries, nearly 100 less than his 2022 total, but he caught 48 passes for 389 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2023, Gibson was RB39 in overall points but was RB45 in average points per game (8).

His RB39 finish was just four spots behind Stevenson, who was RB35 but played in just 12 games.

Gibson is worthy of potentially being a last-round PPR running back, but that’s about it. He’d be a perfect asset to use as a drop in the early weeks of the fantasy season to grab a waiver wire darling.

Alexander Mattison – Las Vegas Raiders

Mattison finished 2023 with the Minnesota Vikings playing in 16 games and starting 13. He rushed 180 times for 700 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and caught 30 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

He didn’t have a single rushing touchdown and finished as the RB38.

If he matched his receiving touchdown total in the ground game, he would’ve only gone a few spots up as the RB35.

That said, Mattison is on the Raiders now and on a depth chart where he can see meaningful carries.

Projected ahead of him is Zamir White, who’s entering his third season. He had 104 carries last year and averaged 4.3 yards per carry.

We could see a lackluster two-headed backfield with potential for rookie Dylan Laube contributing in the ground game.

It would likely take an injury to White for Mattison to hold real value, but this is a backfield that doesn’t have a clear-cut starter, so he’s someone to watch for on the waiver wire or draft late and see how the workload shakes out in Weeks 1 and 2.

Wide Receiver

Curtis Samuel – Buffalo Bills

Samuel had some big games for PPR leagues in 2023, including four double-digit performances over the first six weeks. In total, he had six double-digit point performances, but after Week 6, he had just 16.8 PPR points from Weeks 8 to 11.

He finished as the WR42, but over the first six weeks, he was the WR24.

Samuel has a chance to be a productive player with the Bills, set to line up out wide with rookie Keon Coleman opposite him and Khalil Shakir in the slot.

This feels like another situation where Samuel will have early-season value like last year. If you’re in a PPR league, take Samuel, wait for a solid performance, and unload him.

The Bills play the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars over the first three weeks -there’s potential for solid performances against all three of these squads.

Hollywood Brown – Kansas City Chiefs

Of all the players on the list so far, Brown has the most upside.

He went from the Cardinals, with lackluster quarterback play for the majority of the season in 2023, to the Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback.

The Chiefs also have rookie Xavier Worthy, tight end Travis Kelce and second-year receiver Rashee Rice.

Rice is likely to be suspended, Worthy may take some time to catch on like any other rookie and Kelce is turning 35 during the season.

Brown is currently going as the WR32 and No. 49 overall in PPR leagues but this offense could facilitate WR2 upside.

That said, I can understand taking the players currently ahead of him in ADP, which include Terry McLaurin, Tee Higgins, George Pickens, Amari Cooper and Christian Kirk.

It’ll be interesting to see how the target share shakes out over the first few weeks of the season.

Tight End

Jonnu Smith – Miami Dolphins

Appearing in all 17 games last season, Smith saw 70 targets, caught 50 of them, and went for 582 yards and three touchdowns with the Atlanta Falcons.

Now, he’s slated to be the starting tight end for the Dolphins.

He’s going as the TE25, and even though he’s the starter, we’ve seen for years now that the tight ends on the Dolphins are wildly unproductive.

Last season, Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe had 35 catches for 366 yards and no touchdowns.

There are simply too many other options here for the Dolphins. Don’t bother with Smith at all.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

All ADP is sourced from FantasyPros.

Busts Fantasy Draft Advice NFL Rookies Sleepers Start/Sit Jacoby Brissett Drake Maye Justin Fields Russell Wilson Tony Pollard Tyjae Spears Will Levis DeAndre Hopkins Calvin Ridley Tyler Boyd Antonio Gibson Rhamondre Stevenson Alexander Mattison Zamir White Dylan Laube Curtis Samuel Keon Coleman Khalil Shakir Hollywood Brown Patrick Mahomes Xavier Worthy Travis Kelce Rashee Rice Terry McLaurin Tee Higgins George Pickens Amari Cooper Christian Kirk Jonnu Smith Durham Smythe