The NFL season is almost upon us, 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 draft, and while there aren’t many wrong answers, there are some stronger bets than others.
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%). That number dwarfs many of the other top running back options, with Jonathan Taylor finishing top-12 after 51.6% of games, Saquon Barkley in 46.6% of games, and Austin Ekeler with 40.45%. McCaffrey has stayed incredibly healthy until now, when he is currently missing a couple of weeks of training camp due to a calf strain. All reports suggest that McCaffrey should be fine and this won’t linger, but you’ll have to weigh that and decide how much risk you want to embrace; do you want someone who has been one of the largest difference-makers at the position, or would you rather not draft a player that is currently injured?
The Cowboys were sluggish and discombobulated to start the 2023 season, but everything changed after their bye in Week 7. Lamb was the PPR WR24 during Weeks 1-7, scoring 14.9 points per game (PPG), but then dominated across the back half of the season by scoring 28.0 PPG, which was an average of 6.9 points more than the next-closest receiver. Lamb was a certified league-winner.
Since then, the Cowboys have done absolutely nothing to upgrade their pass-catchers, and the running back movement only got as far as bringing back Ezekiel Elliott, despite him posting career-lows in success rate and long runs in 2023. Meanwhile, Lamb could be even better in 2024 if he’s consistently used as he was for the second half of the 2023 season. He looks like the closest challenger for McCaffrey’s crown of “Most Valuable Skill Position Player.”
Lamb continues 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. Owner and GM Jerry Jones tends to be content with these situations because it keeps the Cowboys in the news cycle.
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. There are very few “bad” picks, however not selecting McCaffrey or Lamb at the 1.01 in favor of other players would be a mistake.
The Miami Dolphins started last 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 he 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.
Despite only playing ten 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.
However, 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 more than a 25% increase in his points per game output, jumping from 19.6 to 24.5. This was also at a point in the season where the Vikings’ 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 likely play with journeyman Sam Darnold, following the season-ending injury and surgery of rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. 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:
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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