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 1.01 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.
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.01
Players To Consider at the 1.01 of Fantasy Football Drafts
Here are players who are likely to be available when you make your selection:
- Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
- CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)
- Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN)
- Tyreek Hill (WR – MIA)
Players to Target at 1.01 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
With the 1.01 pick, you’ll have your choice of the very best studs in this year’s drafts, and while there aren’t many wrong answers, there are some stronger bets than others.
Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
It’s fair to consider that Christian McCaffrey has run pure since joining the 49ers and barely missed any time at all, which is unusual for any running back. Perhaps as he enters his age 28 season, that luck will run out, but McCaffrey’s upside is also undeniable.
Across his six-year NFL career, McCaffrey has played in 75 games, finishing as a top-12 back in 50 of those 75 (66.6%). He dwarfs some of the other top running back options with Jonathan Taylor at 51.6%, Saquon Barkley at 46.6% and Austin Ekeler at 40.45%. We can’t predict injuries, and it’s useless to try. Instead, we can take the running back, who has been the largest difference-maker at the position, and hope he can continue to distance himself from the pack.
CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)
The Cowboys were sluggish and discombobulated to start the 2023 season, but everything changed after their bye in Week 7. Lamb had been the PPR WR24, scoring 14.9 points per game (PPG) during Weeks 1-7, but then dominated across the back half of the season, scoring 28.0 PPG, 6.9 more than the next closest receiver. Lamb was a certified league-winner.
Since then, the Cowboys have done absolutely zero to upgrade their pass-catchers, and the answer at running back got as far as bringing back Ezekiel Elliott, despite him posting career-lows in success rate and long runs in 2023. Lamb could be even better in 2024 if he’s consistently used as he was for the second half of the 2023 season. He can be the closest competitor to McCaffrey’s crown of “Most Valuable Skill Position Player.”
Lamb could be set to hold out during training camp while waiting for a new contract, but despite the Cowboys’ many decisions, it feels inevitable that he will get paid sooner rather than later.
Players To Avoid at 1.01 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
The opening round of drafts looks stronger than ever this year, with some very reliable players. From the 1.01 pick, there are very few “bad” picks, but not selecting McCaffrey or Lamb in favor of other players would be a mistake.
Tyreek Hill (WR – MIA)
The Miami Dolphins started the season hot and were very impressive as Mike McDaniel continued to grow his creative offense. Still, they couldn’t sustain it as the season wore on. Tyreek Hill dominated with nine top-five weekly finishes in PPR leagues but ended the year with three bad finishes that ranked him as the WR36, WR16 and WR28, crushing fantasy managers’ playoff hopes.
Hill is a fine pick slightly later in the first round, but there is no need to take him at the 1.01. A big part of Hill’s domination came from Jaylen Waddle‘s bumps and niggles that seemed to prevent him from ever getting up to full speed in 2023. However, with a healthy offseason and a brand new contract extension, he feels primed for a bounceback in 2024 and should be a bigger part of the Dolphins’ offense this year, while Hill himself continues to drop hints that he would like more guaranteed money.
Despite only playing 10 games in 2023, Justin Jefferson managed to put up 1,000 yards. Still, it felt like a disappointing season for the consensus 1.01 from 2023 drafts. With a carousel of quarterbacks filling in for Kirk Cousins, Jefferson continued to do his best to pay off the high draft cost fantasy managers had paid for him.
Still, there is reason to believe Jefferson’s numbers might have been pushed higher than we can expect in 2024. After TJ Hockenson was injured Jefferson saw over a 25% increase in his points per game output, jumping from 19.6 to 24.5. This was at a point in the season where the running game lacked consistency, as the team picked up the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the league. With the Vikings bringing in Aaron Jones, there’s reason to believe that area could improve this year.
It’s also noteworthy that Jefferson will play with a rookie quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, who divides opinions and wasn’t a high-volume passer in college. Jefferson is a fine mid-round one pick this year, but there’s no need to take him over Lamb or McCaffrey.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft From the 1.01 Pick
We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.01 position. You can sync your league for free and mock draft against your fantasy football league settings to prepare more specifically for your draft.
Here’s how our fantasy football mock draft from the 1.01 position turned out:
For my complete draft results, click here.
Draft Advice for Every Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.02 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.03 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.04 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.05 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.06 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.07 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.08 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.09 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.10 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.11 Pick
- Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: 1.12 Pick
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