Fantasy Football Draft Cheat Sheet: Strategy & Advice (2024)

Not long ago, I offered up a 2,700-word dissertation on my 2024 draft strategy for redraft leagues, along with seven of my favorite targets. You can find it here.

For the TL;DR crowd, I present this alternative: Fitz’s fantasy football draft cheat sheet.

Fantasy Football Draft Cheat Sheet: Strategy & Advice

Let’s start with three guiding fantasy football draft principles:

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy & Advice

  1. Tailor your draft strategy to the number of WRs your league requires you to start each week.

If your league requires you to start only two receivers each week, you can choose between RBs and WRs in the early rounds based on where the value is. You have tactical flexibility. If your league requires you to start three receivers each week, WR becomes a critical position, and you should attack it aggressively in the early rounds. Your goal should be to outgun nearly every team in your league at the WR position since you’re starting so many WRs each week.

  1. Be patient at QB and TE.

The “onesie” positions are deep this year. Leverage that depth by being patient. You can wait until every other team in your league has a quarterback and still draft a good one from among the leftovers. (Obviously, this advice doesn’t apply to superflex leagues.) You can also wait to draft a tight end since there are at least 11 good ones.

  1. Take advantage of discounts on high-upside rookies.

The top rookies are often underdrafted because they haven’t played in the NFL yet, and it’s human nature to fear the unknown. But rookies with first-round draft capital (especially early in the first round) have historically been good fantasy bets.

Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet

Now, my fantasy football draft cheat sheet:

Quarterback Sleepers

Quarterback Busts

Running Back Sleepers

Running Back Busts

Wide Receiver Sleepers

Wide Receiver Busts

Tight End Sleepers

Tight End Busts

Early-Round Value Picks (Rounds 1-4)

Middle-Round Value Picks (Rounds 5-8)

Late-Round Value Picks (Rounds 9 and later)

  • Brian Robinson
  • Brock Bowers
  • Chase Brown
  • Brandin Cooks
  • Rico Dowdle
  • Dontayvion Wicks
  • Kimani Vidal
  • Jaleel McLaughlin
  • Ray Davis

Deep-League Value Picks

Backup Running Backs to Target

Backup Running Backs to Avoid

Rookies to Target

Quarterback

  • Jayden Daniels
  • Caleb Williams

Running Back

  • Blake Corum
  • Kimani Vidal
  • Ray Davis
  • Tyrone Tracy

Wide Receiver

Tight End

Rookies to Avoid

Quarterback

Running Back

Wide Receiver

Tight End

DSTs to Target

  • Baltimore Ravens
  • New York Jets
  • Cleveland Browns
  • Dallas Cowboys
  • Kansas City Chiefs
  • Pittsburgh Steelers
  • New Orleans Saints
  • Green Bay Packers

DSTs to Avoid

  • Miami Dolphins
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • Washington Commanders

Five-word Draft Tip: Be patient at the onesies.

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