3rd-Year Fantasy Football Breakouts 2024: Must Draft Players
Identifying the correct fantasy football breakouts 2024 can be the deciding factor in your fantasy football leagues. In this article, we identify third-year players poised to emerge as fantasy football breakouts in the 2024 season. Get ahead of your league with these undervalued players.
3rd-Year Fantasy Football Breakouts 2024
Breakout players can be true league winners for your fantasy football team. This group includes players with a mix of high-end talent, improved situations, and increased opportunity. Let’s take a look at these third-year players to see who will make that leap and help you win your fantasy football championship.
Fantasy Football Breakouts: Chris Olave
Chris Olave has been a steady fantasy contributor since being drafted 11th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 NFL Draft. Olave has been consistent, finishing as the WR22 and WR19 in his first two seasons. Moving forward, he has a chance to truly break out as a WR1 in his third season.
Furthermore, the Saints brought in Klint Kubiak to be their new offensive coordinator after he previously spent time with San Francisco, Denver, and Minnesota. Kubiak’s history suggests that he’ll bring in more pre-snap motion and play action.
Both of which would help boost the efficiency and fantasy points for Saints pass catchers including Olave. The Saints ranked bottom three in both pre-snap motion and play action during the 2023 season, per Dwain McFarland.
Olave was a top-15 player in targets per route run and earned the trust of quarterback Derek Carr last season. If he can increase his efficiency per target and keep the same target share, Olave can be a breakout player and be a top-12 wide receiver this season. Check out where he’s ranked in our latest 2024 fantasy football rankings.
Fantasy Football Breakouts: Drake London
Despite being a former top 10 pick and staying healthy throughout his first two seasons, Drake London has never finished as a top 35 wide receiver in fantasy football. After an offseason of change for the Atlanta Falcons, London has a chance to change that narrative and break out in his third season.
Furthermore, Arthur Smith is out as head coach after questionable usage of his top players and mediocre results over his three seasons in charge. In comes new head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator/play-caller Zac Robinson, previously of the Los Angeles Rams.
Robinson has already shown a heavy shift to 3 WR sets this preseason (97%), per Ian Hartitz, as they look to spread the offense out and throw the ball more than last year’s team that was bottom 5 in pass attempts.
New quarterback Kirk Cousins has supported a top-12 WR in four of his past five healthy seasons. With better quarterback play and an improved offensive system for pass catchers, London looks to improve on his 30th-ranked consistency score. A top 12 WR fantasy season isn’t out of the range of outcomes for London as he looks to break out in his third season.
Fantasy Football Breakouts: Jameson Williams
Another wide receiver drafted in the top 12 of the 2022 NFL Draft, Jameson Williams, looks to bounce back and break out in his third season. Williams has only played 18 games over the prior two seasons after dealing with a combination of injuries and suspension stemming from a gambling incident. The former University of Alabama standout will look to top his career high of 354 yards from last year. Not to mention, take on a larger role after the offseason departure of Josh Reynolds.
The Detroit Lions were able to keep their coaching staff intact and return a majority of their core from a team that ranked top five in both yards and points per game in 2023. Williams steps into the WR2 role and will look to continue making big plays in the Lions’ explosive offense. The St. Louis native would’ve ranked 25th in the league in yards per reception in 2023 had we hit the qualifying markers, per Pro Football Reference.
Williams can be a third-year breakout if he can stay on the field and take on a larger role in this offense. To his credit, the young wide receiver has drawn positive reviews from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson stating “I haven’t seen anything that he can’t do.” The third-year breakout candidate could be a WR2 or Flex option if he takes the leap forward this year.
Fantasy Football Breakouts: Trey McBride
Trey McBride finished the 2023 season as the TE9. However, how he finished the season lands him on this list of third-year breakouts. The Colorado State product elevated his game last year coinciding with the return of Kyler Murray and the loss of Zach Ertz to injury. McBride was the TE4 from Week 10 onwards with Murray at quarterback, a stretch that included Ertz missing time.
Heading into the 2024 season, the Arizona Cardinals brought in the consensus top wide receiver from the 2024 NFL Draft, Marvin Harrison Jr. Even with the addition of Harrison Jr., the Cardinals enter the year with the sixth most vacated targets in the league (217), per the Fantasy Footballers.
The Cardinals will have more passing attempts with a full season of Murray at QB and have enough volume available for both McBride and Harrison Jr. to thrive this year with the exits of Ertz and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
McBride can be a breakout star and should push for the overall TE1 in his third season. Increased volume opportunity, the improved offense with an alpha wide receiver, and a healthy quarterback can elevate McBride’s already strong finish to last season.
Fantasy Football Breakouts: Brian Robinson Jr.
After an incredible comeback from a gunshot wound in his rookie season, Brian Robinson Jr. finished his second season as the RB22 while splitting time with Antonio Gibson. Robinson finished as an RB2 despite his team being bottom ten in both yardage and scoring, all while playing under 47% of the team’s snaps last season.
The Washington Commanders look to rebound from last season’s poor finish with new QB Jayden Daniels, the second overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, leading the helm. Daniels should help open up the offense with his rushing and big play abilities that helped him win the Heisman trophy for the 2023 season.
Robinson Jr. is going outside of the top 30 RBs in ADP with the team’s offseason acquisition of Austin Ekeler. Even if these two backs split the workload similar to the Commanders’ backfield from last season, there should be more touchdown opportunities for Robinson Jr. in an improved offense. With his cheap ADP, I’m buying a third-year breakout from Robinson as an RB2 with massive upside if Ekeler misses time again this season.
Final Thoughts
As we approach the 2024 fantasy football season, third-year players often emerge as key difference-makers. By their third season, many wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends hit their stride, showing a full grasp of their team’s playbook and improved chemistry with their quarterback.
This year’s crop of third-year fantasy football breakouts includes potential breakouts ready to take that next big leap. Whether it’s an ascending wideout becoming the focal point of their offense or a running back poised to handle a full workload, these third-year breakout candidates can be the league winners you need to draft.
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