Richard Janvrin | Tue, Jul 9th 2024, 7:10am EDT

5 Impact Rookie Wide Receivers (2024 Fantasy Football)

The wide receiver position in fantasy football is chock full of talent. This year’s rookie wide receiver class is no exception. The list of productive first-year receivers in fantasy football will likely be long. Still, below, I’ll list the top five rookie wide receivers using FantasyPros’ average draft position (ADP) in PPR leagues and we’ll examine their 2024 fantasy football outlook.

Fantasy Football Impact Rookie Wide Receivers

Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR – ARI)

(All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference)

Marvin Harrison Jr. is currently going as the WR9. While that could initially seem high, nothing is holding him back from exceeding his ADP.

The Cardinals’ depth chart includes Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Zay Jones, Chris Moore, Zach Pascal, Greg Dortch and tight end Trey McBride. The running back depth includes James Conner and Trey Benson.

While numerous pass-catching options exist, none surpass Harrison Jr.’s caliber. McBride is likely the No. 2 option, followed by Wilson.

In eight games in 2023, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completed 176-of-268 passes for 1,799 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. These passing totals weren’t fantastic, but Murray also didn’t have Harrison Jr.

Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown exited the team, and with that, more than 100 targets are now somewhat “up for grabs.”

Based on Murray’s recent touchdown figures, which include 24 over the past 19 games (about 1.2 touchdown passes per game), Harrison Jr. could see what I’d deem a “Julio Jones” stat line, meaning high production in targets, receptions and yards, but single-digit touchdowns.

Don’t worry, though. Harrison Jr. will play a massive part in this offense with a competent quarterback.

Malik Nabers (WR – NYG)

Like Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers will step in the door of the Giants’ facility and will immediately be the No. 1 option. He’ll also likely be the critical component in whether or not quarterback Daniel Jones sticks around those same facilities past the 2024 season.

Along with Nabers, Jones will have wide receivers like Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, Isaiah McKenzie and Allen Robinson II. The tight end depth includes Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson following the retirement of Darren Waller.

The retirement of Waller helps Nabers’ value even more. Don’t be surprised if he finishes above Harrison Jr. in fantasy points. Of course, the elephant in the room is Jones, who is recovering from an ACL tear. He played in six games last year, completing 108-of-160 passes for 909 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. That’s a per-game average of 151.5 passing yards, 0.33 passing touchdowns and one interception.

That’s what we call “not great.”

To play devil’s advocate a bit, Jones did have a lousy wide receiver room to work with, and Nabers immediately improved the situation.

In 2022, Jones had 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The good news for Jones is that Nabers’ skill set allows for some quick dump-offs that’ll result in many yards after the catch. Jones can also air it out, as Nabers will likely beat most corners in a one-on-one vertical race. He’s electric with the ball in his hands, which will allow for many easy yards and opportunities to move the chains.

While Jones has limitations and is recovering from a knee injury, the team also has a suitable backup in Drew Lock if anything goes wrong.

Nabers will be fine, but there could be some slight inconsistency, especially at the beginning of the year. Stay patient.

Xavier Worthy (WR – KC)

This is the quarterback/wide receiver situation we all need to keep a keen eye on.

The wide receivers mentioned above are entering situations where they’re the No. 1 option, but the quarterback play is somewhat questionable (or highly questionable in the case of Nabers).

For Worthy, he has a phenomenal situation with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback.

The Chiefs offense lacked explosiveness in 2023. Worthy will provide that and then some. He posted a 4.21 40-yard dash — an NFL combine record.

Since Mahomes has been the starting quarterback for the Chiefs, he’s never thrown for fewer than 4,000 yards. He had 27 touchdowns in 2023 and 26 in 2019, but he’s never thrown for fewer than 37 touchdowns outside of that. In 2024, Mahomes has Worthy, Marquise Brown, Rashee Rice, Isiah Pacheco and Travis Kelce at his disposal.

This is by far one of the best situations he’s had since Tyreek Hill departed.

Worthy will have some competition in targets, especially from Kelce, but Rice could be staring at a suspension — that’s pure speculation.

There’s a bit of wait-and-see here, but the potential is massive.

Rome Odunze (WR – CHI)

I’ll say this flat out: I love Rome Odunze, but this situation is certainly a bit dicey in terms of his production.

There are numerous variables here:

Rookie quarterback. Caleb Williams is a “generational” talent, but he’s still a rookie in the NFL.
There are two No. 1-type receivers in DJ Moore and Keenan Allen.
There is a pass-catching running back in D’Andre Swift.
There is a high-paid tight end in Cole Kmet.

Odunze was the No. 9 overall pick, but there are only so many passes to go around. He’s a big-play threat waiting to happen, but Moore and Allen have always been high-target receivers. Odunze is going as the WR41, which is a fine spot for his current situation. If you can nab him there, there’s an upside because of his talent and should Moore and/or Allen miss any time.

Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC)

The Chargers saw Keenan Allen and Mike Williams walk out the door. Now, Ladd McConkey finds himself in a situation where he’ll be the starting slot receiver, with Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston starting as outside receivers.

Palmer has been with the team for three seasons, but he’s never really broken out to be a mainstay top option in the offense. As for Johnston, he was a first-round pick from the old regime. In 17 games, he caught 38 passes for 431 yards and two scores. That’s it.

Needless to say, McConkey could easily rack up 100 receptions in this offense as he’ll have quarterback Justin Herbert throwing passes to him. In 2023, Herbert played in just 23 games but attempted 456 passes, about 35 per game. While Jim Harbaugh will want to run the ball, he’s also spoken highly of Herbert and they’ll still utilize his talent.

McConkey could be a massive contributor in PPR leagues. Draft him.

NFL

MLB

NBA

NHL