As we gear up for the 2024 NFL season, identifying undervalued players can make the difference between winning and losing in your fantasy football league. Our esteemed FantasyPros analysts—Derek Brown, Andrew Erickson, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Ryan Wormeli—have combed through each NFL roster to spotlight the most underrated player from every team. These are the guys who are poised to deliver big returns on draft day and beyond. Whether you’re looking for late-round steals or potential breakout stars, this comprehensive list will give you the edge you need to dominate your league.
Underrated Fantasy Football Players from Each Team
AFC East
Shakir drew only 45 regular-season targets last year but was highly efficient with those targets, averaging 15.7 yards per catch and 13.6 yards per target. He started playing more snaps and drawing more targets down the stretch. Shakir had a touchdown catch in each of the Bills’ two playoff games, and he had a team-high nine targets and seven receptions in the divisional-round loss to the Chiefs. The upside for Shakir this year is that rookie Keon Coleman isn’t quite ready for primetime, newcomer Curtis Samuel plays a supporting role, and Shakir leads the Buffalo wide receivers in targets. Even with a lesser outcome, Shakir looks like a terrific value at an ADP outside the top 50 at WR. – Pat Fitzmaurice
Smith’s TE37 position in ECR will correct as we approach Week 1, but he will likely remain an underrated tight-end option this year in fantasy. Last year, among 43 qualifying tight ends, he was 17th in receiving yards per game, 11th in yards per route run, and fifth in missed tackles forced per reception (per Fantasy Points Data). He easily could be an every-down player this year, and he is the clear number three option in the passing attack. Smith could be a TE1 this season, and it doesn’t take much squinting to see it. – DBro
Even though the Patriots drafted Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk two rounds ahead of Javon Baker, the 4th-rounder offers a much higher ceiling as a potential alpha in New England’s passing game. He has off-the-charts dog levels. Baker finished fourth in targets and third in receptions of 20-plus air yards in 2023. The only other WRs in the class to do so? The consensus top-four (Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., and Malik Nabers) were all selected in Round 1. If Baker can outduel Polk in training camp (who at times struggled to stand out at Washington), the second WR they drafted this season could emerge as the Pats No. 1 WR in 2024. -Erickson
Conklin is about the least sexy pick you could possibly make in a fantasy draft. But, hey, this isn’t a swimsuit competition. Conklin has quietly averaged 60 catches and 589 receiving yards over the last three years, and he hasn’t missed a game during that stretch. Conklin had 61 catches and 621 yards last season, even with the Jets cycling through inadequate backup QBs. Now, Aaron Rodgers is back. Conklin’s ceiling may be limited, but his sturdy floor makes him a fine late-round TE choice. – Pat Fitzmaurice
AFC North
Last year, Rashod Bateman was probably one of the more ‘overrated’ players in fantasy football. Always injured and hyped up. But this year, there’s no buzz…except from his own team. The team believes in a healthy Bateman so much that he’s tabbed a breakout candidate. They extended him this offseason to a new contract and elected to move on from Odell Beckham Jr. They drafted Devontez Walker in Round 4 but did nothing else in the WR room. It’s now or never for Bateman, and his new price as the WR78 in ADP is a great value. Because all the reasons we liked Bateman last season are there. He could be Lamar’s No. 1 outside vertical threat. He is also no longer rehabbing an injury ahead of the season. – Erickson
Brown has an ADP of RB37, so he’s being viewed as a backup to Zack Moss (RB25). But it’s possible this ends up a near 50/50 split. It’s also possible that Brown — who’s younger and faster than Moss and doesn’t have the extensive track record of mediocrity that Moss has — ends up in a lead role. Chase didn’t get a ton of work behind Joe Mixon last year, but he was impressive with his limited opportunities, especially in the passing game, where he averaged 10.4 yards per target. Moss was terrific early last year but averaged 3.6 yards per carry from Week 6 on. If the Bengals decide Moss isn’t the answer, they could put Brown in Mixon’s old role. In his final college season at Illinois, Chase averaged 27.3 carries and 29.6 touches a game. Shoddy B is not even 25 years old yet. Bateman is less than a year younger than Zay Flowers. – Pat Fitzmaurice
Amari Cooper’s season-long statistics were impressive despite playing with four different QBs. The Browns WR finished 10th in yards (1,250) and tied for second behind only Tyreek Hill in 20-yard gains (42). He posted the 10th-highest air yards share at 41%. 17th in points per game as the WR18 overall through 17 games. And who could forget his EXPLOSION in the fantasy football playoffs with a 51-point burger on the Houston Texans? The guy single-handedly won a playoff week. As we project Cooper ahead to 2024, we can analyze the five-game splits with Deshaun Watson as his QB. Although it wasn’t all that different from his season-long numbers. 23% target share and 42% air yards share were in line with his overall season-long stats. He averaged less than 100 receiving yards per game. 14.8 fantasy points per game (sixth) and 15.7 expected fantasy points per game (15th). Even with Jerry Jeudy‘s addition and David Njoku‘s last season breakout, Cooper should remain the WR1 for the Browns. And he’s proven to be QB-proof to this point, cementing his underrated status in the 2024 WR landscape. Last two seasons, Cooper is 11th in receiving yards per game (8th overall). – Erickson
Freiermuth comes at a very affordable price (TE14) and could play a substantial role in the Pittsburgh passing game. The new Steelers offensive coordinator is a former tight ends coach. With Smith as Atlanta’s head coach and playcaller last year, Falcons tight ends combined for 174 targets, 114 catches, 1,380 yards and seven touchdowns. – Pat Fitzmaurice
AFC South
As a rookie, Tank Dell posted an identical air yards share to Nico Collins at 31% while falling just short in target share at 21%. The undersized WR posted over 1,000 air yards in just 10 games played. In those games, Dell posted again a 21% target share, 33% air yards share and 14.2 points per game (9th). The production was nearly identical in the eight games Collins and Dell played together – each missed a game with an injury: 13.9 points per game for Collins and 14 points per game for Dell. But Dell out-gained Collins in yards over their last four contests together. The discounted Texan posted higher rates of top-12 and top-24 finishes (equal in raw finishes). Collins will be drafted AHEAD of Dell in every draft this year. I like the value of taking the rookie breakout LATER come 2024, presuming he is 100% healthy coming off a broken fibula and gunshot flesh wound. C.J. Stoud absolutely loves Dell; he convinced the front office to draft the Houston product back during the 2023 NFL Draft. And more recently, Stroud selected Dell in his ‘Perfect Offense’ as his slot WR, while opting to leave both Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs off the roster.
We need to put more respect on Downs’ name. Last year, before suffering a knee injury in Week 9, Downs was rocking along as the WR36 in fantasy points per game with an 18.9% target share and 2.0 yards per route run. Yes, the team drafted Adonai Mitchel, but Mitchell profiles as a deep threat/take the top off the defense type. I don’t foresee him becoming a 20-22% target share player, but Downs could evolve into that player for Indy as a trusted underneath weapon for Anthony Richardson. – DBro
In 2023, Trevor Lawrence ranked first in the NFL in expected passing yards per game (260). The offense ranked 4th in pass rate over expectation (2.8%). This offense is going to throw. A lot. With big-play threats such as Brian Thomas Jr. and Gabe Davis entering the fold, we could see Lawrence throw for a boatload of yards in 2024. The AFC South is going to be a shootout after a shootout. Buy Lawrence as the QB16 in ADP – a total of eight spots down from his 2023 ADP. – Erickson
Spears’ role figures to expand now that the Titans have swapped out Derrick Henry for Tony Pollard, who disappointed in Dallas last year. Even if Spears remains mostly a passing-down specialist, he has value in that role. Spears had an 11.8% first-read target rate, second only to Christian McCaffrey among RBs, and on all downs other than first down (where Henry was usually on the field), Spears led all running backs with an 18.4% target share. (Hat tip to Fantasy Points for those stats.): Spears also showed juice as a runner, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. – Pat Fitzmaurice
AFC West
Jaleel McLaughlin! Been here. Still here. He’s one of my guys this year. I want the passing down back in a Sean Payton offense, and that projects to be McLaughlin. In his last nine years of coordinating NFL offenses, Payton has never finished lower than fourth in targets to the running back position. Hello, McLaughlin. Now, also add in that McLaughlin is a crazy talented player, and it’s time to fire up the rocket boosters because we are moonbound. Last year, among 68 qualifying backs, McLaughlin ranked fifth in missed tackles forced per attempt and fourth in yards after contact per attempt and yards per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). Draft him and enjoy. – DBro
Recall that Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has had stretches of WR1 production. In 2022, Brown was the WR6 through the first six weeks of the 2022 season. And in the eight games played without DeAndre Hopkins, Brown averaged nearly 12.3 points per game in half-PPR (WR15). He’s been held back due to injuries and QB play in recent years, two aspects that shouldn’t impact him in 2024 as a member of the Chiefs offense. Brown has a prime opportunity to hit from the get-go should Rashee Rice get suspended to open the year. – Erickson
Bowers is one of the best TE prospects the NFL has ever seen. As an 18-year-old freshman, he had 882 receiving yards and 13 TD catches for a Georgia team that won the national championship and was named SEC Freshman of the Year. In his two subsequent college seasons, Bowers won the John Mackey Award as the best tight end in the country. He’s fast, he has excellent hands, he’s good at getting open against either man or zone, and he’s an absolute beast after the catch. Bowers has an ADP outside the top 10 at TE, but as talented as Bowers is, he could have the same sort of rookie impact that Sam LaPorta had in 2023. – Pat Fitzmaurice
I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but I like Palmer’s prospects of leading the team in every meaningful receiving stat over Ladd McConkey. Last year, Palmer opened my eyes in the seven games he played without Mike Williams. In those contests, he garnered an 18.9% target share with a 31.4% air-yard share, producing 2.19 yards per route run and 71.1 receiving yards per game. His current WR57 price tag is a steal. – DBro
NFC East
Rico Dowdle is my favorite to lead the Cowboys in running back touches this year, not Ezekiel Elliott. Last year, among 53 qualifying backs, he ranked 16th in yards after contact per attempt while also having the 23rd lowest stuff rate (per Fantasy Points Data). At this stage of his career, we know who Elliott is, and it’s not pretty. Dowdle doesn’t have to show much to surpass Elliott, but I think we are sleeping on his talent and upside for 2024. – DBro
Devin Singletary and underrated go together like a PB&J sandwich. One does not exist without the other. He’s a starting RB who always exceeds expectations. The new Giants’ RB1 will be a screaming value all draft season long (current ADP RB30). He never finished worse than RB35 in PPR through five seasons. Last season under Brian Daboll in Buffalo, Singletary was the RB20 on 228 touches. Singletary has virtually no competition for touches. Behind him on the Giants depth chart are second-year RB Eric Gray (2023 5th-rounder) and 2024 5th-round pick Tyrone Tracy Jr. I like Tracy as a sleeper to upset Singletary down the stretch, but he just switched to RB during his final year at Purdue. Singletary’s role to open the season will be more than worth his RB30 price tag, even if he sputters out during the second half of the season. – Erickson
Whenever there’s a discussion about the Eagles WR room, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith tend to get lumped into a 1A/1B discussion. But I’m here to settle the debate that AJB is clear-cut WR1 on this offense. Since arriving in Philadelphia, Brown ranks 3rd in receiving yards, 7th in targets, 4th in receiving yards per game and 6th in TDs. Smith barely cracks the top 15 in most categories. Not to say that Smith is bad (he might also be underrated), but there’s no denying he’s produced the most when an Eagle teammate misses time. Meanwhile, it’s always AJB WR1 SZN. – Erickson
This is not Austin Ekeler‘s backfield. It’s Brian Robinson’s. And he’s being drafted exactly where he was last season despite a strong sophomore campaign. He finished RB22 overall and was 21st in points per game (12.0). He was the carbon-copy fantasy RB2 that started hot – RB4 Weeks 1-11 and 11th in points per game (13.5) – just to crawl to the finish line (RB51 from Week 12 onward, averaging 7.8 points per game). But what’s being missed in his 2024 projections is B-Rob should benefit from some boosted rushing efficiency in this offense (thank you, mobile QB), along with seeing the bulk of red zone work (thank you, Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn). Note that Ekeler didn’t see his boom in TD production until Lynn was no longer the head coach of the Chargers.
NFC North
We will keep this short, sweet, and to the point. We may never see a WR get drafted inside the top 10 of the real-life NFL Draft as late as Rome Odunze is this fantasy football season. Bet on talent. Odunze faced competition from two other WRs who were NFL talents (Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan). He’s up for the task. – Erickson
Admittedly, there aren’t many good candidates for the most undervalued fantasy asset on a Lions team that has become a darling of the fantasy community. The 12th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Williams has done little over his first two seasons in Detroit due to injury, but the blazing-fast Williams has the talent to become a useful fantasy asset, and he’s being drafted as a low-end WR4. – Erickson
An ADP of WR41 suggests that drafters are concerned about Watson’s balky hamstrings and his target competition on the Packers. Watson saw a specialist about his hamstrings, and it was discovered that he has a muscle imbalance in his legs — an issue he can address with training adjustments. As for target competition, in games where Watson, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs were all healthy last season, Watson had a 27% target share, Reed a 22% target share, and Doubs an 18% target share. Watson is 6-4, has sub-4.4 speed, and scored eight TDs over a four-game stretch as a rookie. Don’t overthink it with Watson. Take the discount on a discount version of A.J. Brown. – Pat Fitzmaurice
I think the market is overvaluing Aaron Jones as the RB18 as the clear-cut RB1 in this offense. Ty Chandler showed last season that he is a very capable No. 2 RB in his own right. He stole the job from Alexander Mattison and has earned more opportunties in the 2024 offense. Minnesota Vikings beat writer Alec Lewis from The Athletic believes Chandler’s usage will increase in 2024. Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips compared the RB duo of Jones and Chandler to the RB pairing in Detroit. He also said he would buy stock in Ty Chandler if he could. Penny stock slated for the moon? You bet. – Erickson
NFC South
Darnell Mooney is coming off a horrible and injury-plagued 2023 season, but that made him a STEAL as a free agent for the Falcons. Mooney finished the season 10th in yards after the catch per reception (6.0) despite entering the year coming off a late November 2022 broken ankle injury. Mooney shined his brightest from 2021-2022 in the NFL with a 27% target share. He has shown the ability to command targets at a high level. In Atlanta, there is nobody behind Drake London, cementing Mooney as the clear-cut WR2 in a Kirk Cousins-led offense. The targets might be hard to come by on the surface, but a pass-happy offense can potentially feed more than one weapon. Among the Falcons’ current WR room, only one player has a 1,000-yard campaign on their resume. And it’s not Drake London. – Erickson
Diontae is being drafted as a high-end WR4, which seems like a bargain for a player who’s averaged 9.0 targets and 5.4 catches a game over the last four seasons and now figures to be the undisputed No. 1 receiver in Carolina. Yes, the Panthers’ offense was a train wreck last year, but the arrival of noted QB whispered Dave Canales as head coach raises hopes that second-year QB Bryce Young will improve, and even with Young struggling as a rookie, Carolina’s Adam Thielen was still WR10 in PPR scoring through the first 10 weeks of the season. That’s the sort of upside Diontae has as the new top dog of the Panthers’ WR corps. – Pat Fitzmaurice
As tilting as Derek Carr can be he is probably underrated by most NFL fans as an average QB. Wild stat: Carr tied C.J. Stroud to lead the NFL in 300-plus yard passing games (6) in 2023. Also ranked 7th in end-zone throws. – Erickson
Clean sweep for Chris Godwin, as one of the most underrated WRs in the NFL. Ranked outside the top 33 WRs in ADP, I’m still waiting for the list of 30-plus WRs better than Godwin. With him going back in the slot in Liam Coen’s offense this season, his revenge tour is ON. He has never finished worse than WR20 overall or in points per game through four seasons, with a 65% slot snap rate. Godwin ranks 11th in catches over the last two seasons. He has five TDs. That will not hold. Regression is coming. Buckle up.
NFC West
Everybody wants to write off James Conner. Trey Benson is going to take his job. Well, I like Benson as much as the next guy. But the FSU product ain’t sniffing the field unless Conner goes down. The bruising RB ranks 8th in rushing yards per game over the last 2 seasons. Last 26 games, Conner has averaged 70 rushing yards per game. From Week 10 onward, with Kyler Murray as his QB, Conner was the RB7 overall and the RB6 in points per game (16.6) in 2023. Beast. – Erickson
Matthew Stafford can still sling it with the best of them. Last season, Stafford’s fantasy production never seemed to truly align with his actual real-life play. Posted career-high PFF passing grade in 2023. 6th in yards per attempt and 1st in big-time throw rate. Being drafted outside the top 15 QBs, Stafford is a strong value option as a late-round QB in both 1QB and Superflex formats.
The 49ers offense is loaded, so it’s hard to find too many guys that are vastly underrated. But if it’s anyone, it has to be Brock Purdy. As a former Mr. Irrevelant selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, Purdy is always going to have his naysayers. And those who claim it’s all about the offense around him creating his success. But at some point, Purdy needs to get some love. He’s posted back-to-back seasons witth Purdy a passing TD rate at 7% or higher. His 9.6 YPA was not only 1st in the NFL, but it was 0.8 yards higher than anyone else. He was 3rd in YPA in 2022 (8.1 Tua and Darnold ahead). Purdy was also 1st in PFF Deep Ball Pass Grade and Deep Ball ADJComp% and No. 1 in YPA in a clean pocket.
Let’s give JSN a mulligan on a rookie season in which he finished WR48 in PPR scoring. Smith-Njigba played only 64% of Seattle’s offensive snaps last year, and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron (who has since departed) had JSN running low-value routes, as reflected by a 6.1-yard average depth of target. The 20th overall pick of the 2023 draft, JSN had a 95-catch, 1,606-yard season at Ohio State as a 19-year-old sophomore, and OSU receivers coach Brian Hartline ranked Smith-Njigba ahead of Garrett Wilson, Terry McLaurin and Chris Olave when comparing some of the outstanding players he’s coached. Take the discount (WR43) on an ascending young player. — Pat Fitzmaurice
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