Fantasy Football Mock Draft: How to Approach Pick 1.04 (2024)

The NFL season will be here faster than expected, and before that comes the all-important fantasy football drafting season! What better way to prepare for your fantasy football draft than completing FREE mocks with our fantasy football mock draft simulator?

This series will give you an overview of what you can expect to see no matter which first-round pick you draw. In what feels like a very strong first round in 2024, nailing your picks will be more important than ever.

Let’s dive into our approach for the fantasy football 1.04 pick for upcoming drafts. We look into the players likely to be available, those to target/avoid and a mock draft from the pick to help you prepare for your fantasy football league.

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.04

Roster Constructions to Consider at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

When we’re drafting from the 1.04 we are all but guaranteed a strong base to start our draft with. If Christian McCaffrey should fall to us, then it’s sensible to consider a HeroRB approach, as by the time our second pick comes around, the top-end wide receivers will be running dry.

If you start with a wide receiver, which is quite likely here, then it might work out better to take a ZeroRB approach through the first five or six rounds unless you believe strongly in either Kyren Williams or De’Von Achane, who could be around for your second or third round picks. Starting with two running backs at this pick would likely represent a significant reach in one or both rounds.

Players to Consider at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Here are players who are likely to be available when you make your selection.

Players to Target at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

If available, you should target these fantasy football players at the 1.04 draft pick.

Tyreek Hill (WR – MIA)

It’s fair to question if Tyreek Hill will be as dominant in 2024 as he was in 2023 when part of his success came at the expense of Jaylen Waddle, who struggled through injuries. Still, Hill’s ceiling outcomes are incredibly high, and the further into round one we get, the more he has to be in play.

Hill had nine top-five weekly finishes in point-per-reception (PPR) leagues, and if he hadn’t ended the season with a spell of three games finishing as WR15 or lower, he could have been a league-winner.

If Mike McDaniel can find a way to get season-long consistency out of Tua Tagovailoa, then the Dolphins’ offense might finally be able to ascend to the next level. Another positive for Hill’s fantasy value is that the Dolphins’ defense lost several key pieces in free agency, and cornerback Xavien Howard was a cap-casualty.

It remains to be seen if Hill gets the additional guaranteed money added to his contract that he’s after, but either way, he’ll likely be on the field when it matters.

Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN)

If Tee Higgins gets traded, we could have a very real conversation about Ja’Marr Chase going as the 1.01 in fantasy drafts. Still, this feels unlikely, given that the Bengals are so anemic when it comes to making trades, frequently failing to grasp the concept that you can get better, even if it involves trading a talented player.

Higgins instead seems set to follow Jessie Bate’s path of being tagged by the Bengals and then being allowed to walk, particularly now that the Bengals know extending Chase will likely cost them very close to, or if not more than, the $35 million a year Justin Jefferson got. Much like Lamb and Hill, there’s a small risk Chase could hold out during training camp, but his work at optional team activities (OTAs) showed he’s not ready to push the issue quite yet.

Per Jacob Gibbs, when Tyler Boyd has been off the field over the past two seasons, Chase’s targets per route run rate rose from 24.1% to 27.6%. Chase also benefits from playing more often in the slot when Boyd isn’t on the field, which players like Jefferson and Lamb have greatly benefited from. This allows them to accumulate easy catches in addition to the high-value ones they already see.

The Bengals face one of the easiest strengths of schedules thanks to finishing fourth in the AFC North last year, and if Burrow can stay healthy, Chase can be an elite fantasy option in 2024.

Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)

The counter to the Chase argument would be that Justin Jefferson has shown us far more consistency, which is everything we’d hope Chase could turn into. Over the past three seasons, Jefferson has averaged 102.3 yards per game, 20 more than Chase’s 82.6, and Jefferson also averages 15.0 yards per reception compared to Chase’s 13.9.

Jefferson has finished higher than Chase in PPR points per game in every single year they’ve both played in the league, with Jefferson the WR4 in 2021 to Chase’s WR5, then WR1 to Chase’s WR5 in 2022 and again in 2023 Jefferson pipped Chase finishing as the WR5 to Chase’s WR10. Neither player is a bad pick, but my lean would be to Justin Jefferson ever so slightly.

Players to Avoid at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Here are a few potential fantasy football draft landmines that you should avoid.

Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET)

Landmine might be a little strong for any player in the first round, but nevertheless, Amon-Ra St. Brown feels like a less safe pick than those who come before his average draft position (ADP). The Lions ran nuclear fission hot in 2023, and their offense looks well set for the long term.

But if Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta make second-year leaps, which is not uncommon, and Jameson Williams finally has a clean offseason, then it could eat into Brown’s volume somewhat.

The wide receivers at the top of the board all have mediocre levels of same-team competition, with CeeDee Lamb only facing Jake Ferguson and Brandin Cooks and Chase having little to contend with outside of the oft-banged-up Tee Higgins. Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson could face trickier years, but TJ Hockenson is likely to miss a reasonable chunk of the season and then have to get up to speed with a rookie quarterback.

Lastly, Tyreek Hill has shown he is the dominant receiver in Miami, and the only other threat in the passing game is Jaylen Waddle. Meanwhile, St. Brown faces two first-round picks and a second-rounder, all while hoping Jared Goff can keep the fire burning. St. Brown is a great pick, but not great enough to be ahead of the tier ahead of him.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft from the 1.04 Pick

We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.04 position. You can sync your league for free and mock draft against your fantasy football league settings in order to prepare more specifically for your draft. Here’s how our fantasy football mock draft from the 1.04 position turned out.

Check out my complete draft results here.

Draft Advice for Every Pick

Mock Drafts NFL Christian McCaffrey Kyren Williams De’Von Achane Tyreek Hill Amon-Ra St. Brown Jaylen Waddle Tua Tagovailoa Xavien Howard Ja’Marr Chase Tee Higgins Tyler Boyd Justin Jefferson Jahmyr Gibbs Sam LaPorta CeeDee Lamb Jake Ferguson Brandin Cooks TJ Hockenson Jared Goff

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About Author

Tom Strachan

@NFL_Tstrack

I'm a fantasy football addict, particularly in love with best ball and DFS. I can often be found scrutinising ADP and looking for edges in the best ball streets.