5 Bounce-Back Candidates for Fantasy Football 2024
As the 2024 fantasy football season approaches, identifying players primed for a resurgence can give you a competitive edge. Whether due to injuries, team changes, or underperformance, these bounce-back candidates have the potential to outperform their ADP and deliver significant value to your roster. Discover our top five picks for the 2024 season and why they’re poised for a comeback.
5 Fantasy Football Bounce-Back Candidates (2024)
In a perfect world, our favorite NFL players would perform on a consistent and elite basis every single season. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and most players are prone to an off-year in the stat department. In this article, we’ll be examining five players that could have a major bounce-back during the 2024 NFL season.
Bryce Young, QB, Carolina Panthers
So Bryce may be better categorized as a “breakout candidate”, but I’ll refer to him as a bounce-back. The reason for this is we know that he’s good, it just hasn’t translated over to the NFL yet.
A player does not get selected #1 overall, especially over players like C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson, without having an extensive list of skills that coaches can mold into an NFL-caliber performance. I think that 2024 could be Young’s year.
What’s Changed?
Everything. Literally just about everything that could have changed for Bryce from the 2023 season to 2024 has changed. His first-year (in Carolina) head coach, Frank Reich, was fired mid-season. After he was fired, the Offensive and Defensive Coordinators kept taking turns calling plays… Neither of which did a particularly good job.
On top of that, he had a plethora of terrible receiver play that put up a league-worst separation rate. This receiver room was led by 33-year-old Adam Thielen who has definitely lost a step in recent years. What’s even worse than the receiver production was the offensive line. Bryce Young, who was sacked 62 times, became the 2nd highest-sacked rookie quarterback of all time as a result.
Fast forward to today. Carolina hired a new head coach and offensive coordinator. While the staff is unproven, a fresh start could be good for the entire organization. They also invested more money than any other NFL team into their offensive line this offseason, which should hopefully buy Young significantly more protection. Lastly, they traded for Diontae Johnson, who is a tremendous route-runner and possession receiver, while also adding Xavier Legette in the first round of the NFL Draft. Running back Jonathon Brooks and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders were also added in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Bryce Young 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
Setting high expectations for Bryce Young for 2024 is not an easy task, but I do expect him to shock a lot of people. There were only 16 quarterbacks in the NFL to surpass the 3,500-yard passing mark in 2023, and that is definitely something I’d expect Young to be able to do within his new situation. He may not add much rushing upside, but he should be a candidate for at least 20 touchdowns which will help contribute to his overall point total.
Even if he were to throw 10 interceptions, we can round his passing stats to account for at least 250 fantasy points, which only 15 quarterbacks did achieve in 2023. Not to mention most quarterbacks will get at least a handful of extra points from slight rushing production, which could put Young in the high-end QB2 range.
He’s got a long way to climb if he’ll reach these lofty expectations I am putting on him, but I think he can do it. A year under his belt combined with a massive increase in his situation should work wonders on Bryce Young’s production and confidence as a pro.
The cool thing is that even if I completely miss this call, it’s not going to cause harm to anyone. Bryce Young is currently ranked as the #167 overall player, making him an extremely late-round flier. I wouldn’t be bold enough to take him as my team’s QB1, but I’d be very happy to roll the dice on him as my backup quarterback for the 2024 fantasy season.
Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Tee Higgins is a player that I absolutely refuse to ever give up on, and in my opinion, it’s for good reason. At 6’4” and 220 lbs, Higgins is built like a prototypical alpha receiver. Not only does he look the part, but he plays the part as well. There are several highlights out there of him bullying defenders, making insane catches, and dragging the toes to stay in bounds.
What’s Changed?
The first thing we need to examine is health. Not just for him, but also for Joe Burrow. Higgins being attached to such a good quarterback definitely contributes to his fantasy appeal. With all signs pointing towards a fully healthy Burrow for week one, we can assume that QB play will not be an issue for 2024.
As for Tee, he can never seem to stay healthy. With that being said, the injuries he has incurred do not typically have a re-injury chance, and each one that he has gotten over the years may likely stem from bad luck (and the rough nature of football). I do not believe that Higgins is injury-prone in the slightest.
Aside from that, nothing really changed in Cincinnati. Joe Mixon is no longer there, but they brought in Zack Moss who should be serviceable enough. They also drafted rookie receiver Jermaine Burton, to replace Tyler Boyd and tight end Erick All, but I don’t foresee either one of them cutting into Higgins’ targets in a big way.
Tee Higgins 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
One thing that hasn’t changed that I know Higgins wishes did is his contract situation. He’s being forced to play under the franchise tag in 2024, with the very likely chance of him becoming a free agent next offseason. Keeping that in mind, one would assume that Higgins will be fighting tooth and nail every week to show the NFL why he deserves to be the top-paid receiver in next year’s free agency. With some luck, I think he’ll achieve that.
His career-best numbers are 75 receptions, 1,091 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Knowing what we know about Joe Burrow, it’s safe to assume that if Higgins can stay healthy, there will be more than enough stats to go around for him to beat each of these marks in 2024.
Even if Ja’Marr Chase soaks up a massive target share and has over 1,600 yards receiving, there could very well be an additional 3,000 yards to go around. Given that Higgins’ only other target competition are all unproven players, I like his chances of being peppered with opportunities this season.
Again, we’re gonna need the injury gods on our side, but drafting Tee Higgins as a high-end WR3 in round five could pay some big dividends. I don’t foresee him outperforming Chase, but there is most definitely a world where he finishes the season as a top-15 receiver. Getting that sort of value in the fifth round of fantasy drafts is a total game-changer.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
After a breakout campaign where he finished as the overall RB11 in 2022, Rhamondre disappointed big time in 2023. He only appeared in 12 games, but even in those games, he was always boom or bust. He’d have a 15+ point week only to follow it up with consecutive weeks of less than 7.5. His usage was also a major concern, as he only received 15 or more carries 4 times in 2023. Luckily, he still averaged over 4 targets per game, but the lack of usage as a whole was very disappointing.
What’s Changed?
There’s been a ton of turnover in New England. For starters, legendary coach Bill Belichick was let go at the end of the season, which means the Patriots are bound to look different in the upcoming season. They also recently drafted Drake Maye #3 overall in the NFL Draft and brought in a pair of rookie receivers as well.
The most notable change though is Rhamondre Stevenson’s contract. Despite the off-year, the Patriots extended Stevenson to a 4-year deal worth $36 million. That is not a small chunk of change for running backs, in fact, it makes Stevenson the 7th highest-paid running back in the league. Despite them also signing Antonio Gibson, this bodes well for Stevenson’s 2024 outlook and it shows that the new regime is very happy to keep him around.
Rhamondre Stevenson 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
One of Stevenson’s biggest appeals is his ability as a pass catcher. Back in 2022, he amassed a whopping 88 targets on the season and reeled in 69 of them. While his receiving stats were nothing to get excited about, the amount of points added to his fantasy season just based on receptions alone was enough to make him a weekly game-changer.
He also is only one season removed from a 1,000-yard rushing season, in which he carried the rock over 200 times. While it’s tough to imagine them not using Gibson, I can confidently say that if Stevenson is healthy for the duration of 2024, he could certainly flirt with 200+ carries once again.
On top of it all, the Patriots will be rolling out a rookie quarterback at some point in 2024. What’s one of the biggest helps for rookie quarterbacks? Check downs. Who is going to be the biggest beneficiary of those checkdowns? Rhamondre Stevenson. With an average draft position of the mid-6th-round, Stevenson is the perfect running back to target for those who focus on other positions in the early rounds.
Austin Ekeler, RB, Washington Commanders
Ekeler’s falloff in 2023 was surprising, to say the least. Notably, he went from back-to-back years as a top-2 fantasy running back, to being a barely-startable RB3. I don’t know if we can blame it all on Ekeler, I mean, that Chargers’ offense was horrendous last year. Still, he’s left a very sour taste in fantasy football players’ mouths heading into 2024, which is why he is currently being drafted all the way down in round 9.
What’s Changed?
For starters, Ekeler has joined the Washington Commanders. It’s tough to say whether or not this is a good thing, however, a change of scenery might be good for him after his down year.
Furthermore, Ekeler is going from borderline-stud quarterback Justin Herbert to rookie Jayden Daniels. He’s also walking into a running back room that will garnish the most competition he’s had since sharing a backfield with Melvin Gordon. Ekeler will most definitely not be a workhorse back in Washington, in fact, I’d expect Brian Robinson to have a decent bit more carries than Ekeler will. It’s tough to watch the elite fantasy football players away. However, we might be able to squeeze one more year out of him.
Austin Ekeler 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
As I mentioned, I think Thomas will be the majority running back on early downs for Washington. However, Ekeler will opt-in on nearly all passing-down situations, as he still is fantastic out of the backfield.
Also, much like Stevenson with Drake Maye, Ekeler should be the main beneficiary of Daniels’ check-downs. While I think Jayden Daniels will be a competent quarterback in year one, he’ll have his fair share of growing pains and will need to rely on Austin Ekeler a few times each week.
As far as stats go, I’d have a hard time projecting Ekeler for more than 130 rushing attempts, but can certainly see his 5-year streak of 65+ targets continuing. At this point, it’d be a miracle if he surpassed the 500-yard mark on the ground, but he could certainly add an additional 450 or so through the air.
Overall, I don’t think it’s possible that he’ll finish the season as an RB1. However, a mid-range RB2 finish is well within reach. Disappointing season or not, Ekeler does not deserve to have 33 running backs drafted ahead of him, and I think he’ll offer plenty of rewards for those who decide not to fade him in 2024.
Christian Kirk, WR, Jackson;ville Jaguars
There’s never been anything sexy about drafting Christian Kirk, but would you believe me if I told you that he’s only one season removed from a top-11 finish at the receiver position? Back in 2022, Kirk was targeted 133 times and finished with a stat line of 84-1,108-8. Not too shabby.
What’s Changed?
For starters, we hope that Kirk can stay healthy this season. Unfortunately, his season was cut short due to a core muscle injury. However, all signs point to him being fully recovered and ready to go for the start of 2024.
The biggest piece is the loss of Calvin Ridley in Jacksonville. Ridley slotted in as Trevor Lawrence’s WR1, but with him gone, that role should easily be handed back to Christian Kirk, despite them spending a first-round pick on Brian Thomas Jr. While Thomas will certainly receive his fair share, it’s tough to imagine a world where he poses a serious threat to Kirk’s target share… at least in year one.
Furthermore, the Jaguars also recently extended Lawrence. This signifies their trust in him as the face of the franchise. Luckily for us, Lawrence was the quarterback that previously peppered Kirk with 133 targets. Thankfully, we know they’ve got some chemistry there.
Chrisitan Kirk 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
One of the biggest obstacles for Kirk to finish as a top-20 receiver is actually Evan Engram. Engram led the Jaguars in targets last season with 143 targets. While over 130 have been vacated with Ridley moving to Tennessee, we’d still hope to see some of Engram’s targets make their way over to Christian Kirk. Some good news though is that Engram isn’t much of a threat in the red zone, as despite 231 targets over the last two seasons, he’s only reeled in 8 touchdowns in Jacksonville.
The good news is that despite Engram and Ridley combining for over 270 targets, Kirk was still averaging 7 per game himself. That put him on pace for 119 targets which would have made him top-22 in the league for receiver targets last season. Factor in the loss of Calvin Ridley, and we might just see Kirk surpass 130 targets yet again in his career.
Furthermore, Kirk has been fairly consistent when healthy. More importantly, he has proven to be a very reliable option for any quarterback throwing his way. As long as there are not any setbacks with his injury, I’d fully expect him to outperform his current expectations.
Kirk is currently being drafted as the 30th receiver in fantasy drafts and it feels like that’s his floor. When buying into him at cost, the worst-case scenario is that you’ll get what you pay for. And that is a mid-range WR3. However, there is a non-zero chance that he can meet the heights of a top-20 receiver in 2024 due to the vacated targets and the skillset that we know he has.
Conclusion
I can’t personally guarantee that all 5 of these guys will have a true bounce-back in 2024. However they are the players that I’d feel most comfortable making the bet on. They’re all fairly low-cost players who could offer some pretty sweet rewards as the season progresses. Really, they all might be worth buying in your dynasty football leagues. At the right price, of course.
A goal of mine is to leave every fantasy draft with at least one of these guys without having to “reach” for any of them on draft day. If I swing and I miss, it won’t make much of a difference for my team since none of these players will cost an arm and a leg. However, if we knock it out of the park with even a couple of these guys, it could be a major game-changer for my roster.
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