22 Players the Experts Love to Draft (2024 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football players below.

2024 Fantasy Football Draft Advice

PLAYER NAME	TEAM	ECR	ADP	ECR VS. ADP	POS RANK	BYE WEEK
Ja’Marr Chase	CIN	4	7	3	WR3	12
Garrett Wilson	NYJ	10	14	4	WR7	12
Brandon Aiyuk	SF	22	30	8	WR13	9
Mike Evans	TB	23	31	8	WR14	11
Jalen Hurts	PHI	27	32	5	QB2	5
Jaylen Waddle	MIA	29	35	6	WR17	6
DK Metcalf	SEA	33	39	6	WR18	10
DJ Moore	CHI	35	42	7	WR19	7
DeVonta Smith	PHI	39	49	10	WR22	5
Amari Cooper	CLE	41	53	12	WR23	10
Malik Nabers	NYG	45	52	7	WR24	11
Christian Kirk	JAC	55	73	18	WR28	12
Terry McLaurin	WAS	59	74	15	WR31	14
Diontae Johnson	CAR	73	88	15	WR35	11
Rashee Rice	KC	76	86	10	WR36	6
Jayden Daniels	WAS	83	106	23	QB12	14
Christian Watson	GB	90	102	12	WR40	10
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	SEA	95	111	16	WR42	10
Trevor Lawrence	JAC	103	120	17	QB16	12
Pat Freiermuth	PIT	118	127	9	TE13	9
Joshua Palmer	LAC	126	151	25	WR53	5
Rashid Shaheed	NO	127	149	22	WR54	12

Fantasy Football Draft Outlook

Jaylen Waddle (WR – MIA)

Waddle had the worst season of his short career last year, finishing as the WR21 in fantasy. His high-leverage usage dried up as Tyreek Hill gobbled it all up. Waddle was outside the top 50 wide receivers in the NFL in deep targets (54th) and red zone looks (56th). Waddle was the WR27 in expected fantasy points per game. While all of those metrics don’t paint a pretty picture, Waddle is still one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL, and this remains a consolidated passing attack that will run through Hill and Waddle. Waddle ranked fifth in yards per route run and sixth in first downs per route run last season (per Fantasy Points Data). Bet on supremely talented players to bounce back. Always.

Malik Nabers (WR – NYG)

While we might have worries about the landing spot, there are two undeniable facts here. Nabers is a stone-cold baller, and he will vacuum up all the targets he can handle in 2024. During his final year at LSU, Nabers ranked third in YPRR, first in PFF receiving grade, and fourth in missed tackles forced. Nabers is the clear WR1 for New York this season, and it’s not particularly close. No Giants wide receiver managed over a 16.9% target share last year, so there’s no one standing in Nabers’ way of soaking up a 23-25% target share in his rookie season. The Giants threw the ball 518 times last year. If Nabers can earn a 25% target share and the Giants don’t pass any more than they did last season, he will theoretically see 130 targets. That would have been tied for 19th in targets among wide receivers last season. I’m willing to invest in Nabers’ talent, and I’m just praying that we get at least league-average quarterback play from Daniel Jones and company this season.

Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS)

McLaurin is primed for a bounce-back season in 2024. Last year, Sam Howell and his putrid passing sunk McLaurin’s season. McLaurin still led the team with a 20.4% target share, a 34.7% air-yard share, 1.64 YPRR, and a 25.4% first-read share. Don’t forget that this is the same receiver that ranked 16th in YPRR (2.20) and 19th in FD/RR (0.104) in 2023 (per Fantasy Points Data). That talent didn’t suddenly disappear. It was depressed by a quarterback last year that ranked 21st in CPOE and 25th in clean pocket passer rating. Last year, he was the WR34 in fantasy points per game and the WR21 in expected fantasy points per game. With Jayden Daniels under center, McLaurin could return to the WR2 ranks in 2024.