The wide receiver position is now firmly the “must-have” position for fantasy football rosters. As league scoring goes up across the board, fantasy leagues more heavily adopt PPR formats, and many leagues adopt yard-based bonuses. Wide receivers are becoming more valuable than ever. It’s the corollary to the running back conundrum in the NFL. More teams are using split backfields. Fewer and fewer backs are getting more than 250 touches per year. Additionally, the big money in free agency and top-end draft capital is going to wide receivers.
Consider that this season, in the top 14 of consensus average draft position (ADP) picks, eight are wide receivers. As recently as 2019, that number was just five, and the first receiver didn’t go off the board until the sixth pick. This year, no one will have any serious criticism if CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson or Amon-Ra St. Brown are taken in the first three picks in a draft. As this position becomes more and more important to fantasy managers, who are the best targets at each level of the draft?
Below are wide receivers fantasy players who shouldn’t leave the draft without having on their roster. At different levels of fantasy football drafts, each receiver has the potential to be a league-winner in 2024.
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Must-Have Wide Receivers (2024 Fantasy Football)
Rashee Rice (WR – KC): ADP 91.0 | WR37
There has been silence around the Rashee Rice legal situation for a couple of months now, and the closer we get to the regular season, it seems more and more likely Rice’s potential suspension will be pushed to later in the season, into 2025 or never comes. If we get confirmation that the latter two scenarios happen, Rice’s ADP should jump up about 60 spots. He was that dominant as a rookie in Kansas City last year, even without playing a full complement of snaps.
As a 23-year-old rookie who played just 58.6% of snaps last year (Andy Reid didn’t get the Rashee Rice Religion until later in the year), Rice commanded 102 targets and 938 receiving yards. And while those numbers are impressive, perhaps the most important part of Rice’s game came after he caught the ball. He ranked third in the NFL with 654 yards after the catch as Patrick Mahomes was able to find him in the best possible locations time and time again.
Despite the additions of Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy, Rice remains the top option in this wide receiver room when available. After pick 90 in drafts, it is certainly worth risking the fact that there might be a few games where you don’t have his services.
Khalil Shakir (WR – BUF): ADP 139.7 | WR52
In case you’ve been under a rock this offseason, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis are both out of Buffalo and off to new teams in the AFC South. With those two top receivers from 2023 gone, that means over 240 targets are vacated from last season. Where will they go in 2024? Tight end Dalton Kincaid is sure to make a leap and command more than his 91 last season. Rookie Keon Coleman (second-round pick) is nasty, but he is very raw and just turned 21 years old. Curtis Samuel is now in town, but I picture him to be something like what he did with Carolina in 2020 (95 targets and 41 rush attempts).
For those paying attention, it was clear Khalil Shakir began his breakout even before 2023 ended. In Weeks 1-14 last season, Khalil Shakir averaged 2.3 targets and 30.1 receiving yards per game. He scored one touchdown in those 14 weeks. From Weeks 15-20, he averaged five targets and 52.8 receiving yards per game. Plus, he scored two touchdowns in those late-season games.
Shakir has been a standout at camp through the first few weeks and it’s clear Josh Allen trusts him. Down past pick 130 in most drafts, don’t be surprised if Shakir leads all wide receivers in that range in fantasy points. In one of the best offenses in the league, he is an absolute steal.
Rashid Shaheed (WR – NO): ADP 154.0 | WR58
Rashid Shaheed is a player who would not have nearly the same ADP if this same piece was written three weeks from now. The reports out of camp are so glowing, and he is such a talented player, I would not be surprised if Shaheed ends up around pick 100 by the time draft season comes to a close. If the 719 yards and five touchdowns from last year don’t get you too excited, it’s understandable. This year, however, will almost assuredly be different.
Shaheed has always been one of the best deep ball receivers in the leagues. His 14.6-yard aDOT was 10th-best in the league last year and he had a 93.9% true catch rate (23rd among all receivers). The issue with Shaheed has always been consistency and the Saints’ willingness to get him the ball. That’s where the change in offensive philosophy comes in this year. For the first time since 2006, the New Orleans Saints offense will not be run by Sean Payton or Pete Carmichael Jr. Klink Kubiak, the architect of the San Francisco 49ers’ passing attack last year, is the new man in charge, and that changes everything.
Why does that personnel change matter? At 6.6 yards after the catch per reception, the San Francisco 49ers led the league in that category, beating out Kansas City and Miami. Klint Kubiak was a master at getting wide receivers and tight ends the ball in places where they could make big plays. That certainly means the Saints are going to scheme the ball more to Shaheed so he can make easier catches and burn people with his speed upfield. There may be no more valuable pick after 150 than Shaheed, so grab him at that value while you still can.
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