Fantasy Football Rankings 2024: NFL surprise candidates, breakouts and busts according to model that predicted Deebo Samuels’ weak year

It’s now time for owners to start preparing for the 2024 fantasy football draft. CeeDee Lamb had fantasy owners questioning his high 2024 fantasy football ADP because of his contractual disagreement with the Dallas Cowboys. Now that he’s signed a new contract extension and expected to take the field in Week 1, he’s once again one of the top players in the 2024 fantasy football rankings. Lamb was second in the league in receiving yards (1,749) last year and is expected to have another great season now that the contract chaos is behind him. Should you target Lamb when making your 2024 fantasy football picks, or is another receiver like Tyreek Hill or Amon-Ra St. Brown better for your team this year?

With the reliable 2024 Fantasy Football rankings, you can gain valuable insight into your upcoming drafts and identify potential dark horses, breakout players and flop players. Before you set your 2024 Fantasy Football Draft strategy, be sure to check out the 2024 Fantasy Football rankings and cheat sheets from SportsLine’s proven computer model.

Last year, the model correctly predicted that Buccaneers running back Rachaad White was dramatically undervalued. White was taken in the seventh round on average in 12-team PPR leagues, but proved to be Tampa Bay’s ball carrier and brought significantly more value than expected, coming in at No. 4 at his position. White rushed for 990 yards and six touchdowns, while as a receiver he made 64 catches for 549 yards and three more scores. Everyone who followed the model’s advice scored a starting running back every week in the middle rounds.

The same model has proven itself to be effective in providing fantasy football picks. It identified AJ Brown as a surprise pick in 2020 and predicted Jonathan Taylor’s monstrous 2021 season. Additionally, it has predicted previous fantasy football surprise picks like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anyone who has bet on players like these has had a good run at their championship titles.

The model is developed by the same people who create the projections for all three major fantasy sites, and it beat the human experts last season when there was a huge difference in the rankings. The Fantasy Football 2024 PPR rankings and standard Fantasy Football 2024 projections are updated multiple times a day, so you’ll always get the best fantasy football picks.

Now SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest fantasy football rankings for 2024, along with plenty of surprise candidates, breakouts and flops. Head to SportsLine now to see them.

The best insider tips for Fantasy Football 2024

One of the dark horses for the 2024 fantasy football year that the model predicts: Bengals running back Zack Moss. It took Moss a while to become a relevant fantasy football running back, but he made the most of his opportunity when Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was injured. Moss averaged 14.0 fantasy points per game in six games in which Taylor was out and is now the starter in an even better offense.

Joe Mixon averaged 4.0 yards per carry last season and had a 10.8% pass target share in Cincinnati’s offense. Quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending injury, so the Bengals should be even better offensively this year. The model has Moss ahead of running backs Raheem Mostert, Brian Robinson Jr. and Tony Pollard, all of whom are selected ahead of him in most fantasy drafts. Find more 2024 fantasy football sleepers here.

The best fantasy football outliers of 2024

One of the 2024 fantasy football breakouts the model is predicting: Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams. The third-year wide receiver appears to have secured the WR2 spot behind Amon-Ra St. Brown. With Detroit finishing second in the league in passing yards per game last year, the door is open for Williams to work harder this season.

The former Alabama product struggled with injuries and inconsistency in his first two NFL seasons. A torn ACL slowed his rookie season and a suspension limited him in 2023. However, head coach Dan Campbell had nothing but good things to say about Williams for the 2024 season. He is expected to come off the board in the tenth round of fantasy football pools and could prove to be a steal. Find more 2024 fantasy football breakthroughs here.

The biggest failures in Fantasy Football 2024

As for players to avoid, the model lists Chargers running back Gus Edwards as one of its 2024 fantasy football misses. The Chargers opted not to re-sign longtime starter Austin Ekeler this offseason, instead acquiring Edwards and JK Dobbins. Edwards took over as the lead running back in Baltimore’s offense when Dobbins suffered a season-ending injury and set a career-high 13 rushing touchdowns.

However, despite having the fourth-most touchdowns among running backs, he was only the RB32 in fantasy, in part due to a measly 2.8% target share. Edwards ranked outside the top 35 in tackles evaded, yards per touch and juke rate. He may also lack volume this season, especially since Los Angeles drafted Kimani Vidal for additional competition. Find more 2024 fantasy football busts here

How to find proven fantasy football rankings for 2024

SportsLine is also extremely excited about a surprise quarterback you wouldn’t even think would be selected in the middle rounds of the 2024 fantasy football draft. This quarterback is listed as a surprise top-10 option ahead of stars like Trevor Lawrence and Aaron Rodgers. You can see who it is and the 2023 fantasy football rankings for each player only at SportsLine.

So which surprises, outliers and flops should you target and ignore in 2024 fantasy football, and which quarterback will surprise the NFL with a top-10 performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2024 fantasy football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that Deebo Samuel exposed as a flop last year, and find out.