5 Must-Draft Rookies for Fantasy Football (2024)

Welcome to our guide on the Five Must-Draft Rookies for Fantasy Football in 2024! As the NFL season approaches, securing top rookie talent can give your fantasy team a competitive edge. In this article, we’ll highlight five standout rookies who are poised to make an immediate impact. Typically, you are digging into these rookies for your dynasty fantasy football leagues. However, today we will highlight some players who can make an instant impact.

From explosive running backs to dynamic wide receivers, we’ll break down their college performances, NFL potential, and why they should be on your fantasy draft radar. Get ready to dominate your league with our expert analysis and insights on the must-draft rookies for 2024.

Five Must-Draft Rookies for Fantasy Football in 2024

Every year, it’s extremely tough to evaluate the incoming rookie class as it pertains to fantasy football. There’s a lot of unknown, but if you do your research, it’s also one of the easiest ways to find sleepers. That being said, below, I will be looking at the five rookies I’m drafting everywhere I can, based on their current Underdog Fantasy ADP.

Jayden Daniels (QB11 – ADP: 102.1)

Right now on Underdog, my most drafted player by far is Jayden Daniels. At his current cost of QB11 and 102 ADP, Daniels is the best quarterback to target in 2024 fantasy football. To put this into context, I want to compare Daniels to another similar player, Anthony Richardson. Right now Richardson is going as the QB6 (ADP 56.4) which is a price I’m fine paying.

At LSU, Daniels ran for 885 yards in 2022 (4.8 YPC) and 1,134 yards in 2023 (8.4 YPC). compared to Richardson, who ran for 409 yards in 2021 (7.9 YPC) and 654 yards in 2022 (6.3 YPC). Sure you can make the argument that Richardson has more touchdown upside due to his bigger frame, but looking at things from a one year window, I believe Daniels is the better pure rusher.

Having a full year with an NFL organization is good for Richardson’s development as a passer, but I’m not going to knock Daniels for staying at LSU to develop his game as a passer. With how much pressure and how short of a leash these rookie quarterbacks are given, I believe that very raw passers should stay in college. That said, Richardson decided to come out of Florida extremely raw and missed out on a year of playing time due to his injury.

I don’t see why this is a hot take, but Daniels is a better passer than Richardson and a better overall runner. Of course, what we’re not factoring in is that the Colts have a significantly better supporting cast, which is why Richardson is going so high. Shane Steichen is also an offensive guru who will help Richardson develop throughout the 2024 season. While the situation is a very important factor, as a rushing quarterback, Daniels will overcome that obstacle and easily outperform his ADP.

Jonathon Brooks (RB24 – ADP: 89.3)

Like Daniels, Jonathon Brooks has unfortunately risen slightly in ADP, but as the RB24 (ADP – 87.7), he’s still a must-draft player. The main question around Brooks is his ACL injury, but I believe the community has overreacted to this injury. According to Last Word on Sports, “Week 1 of the regular season will be roughly nine months after his original injury, which fits the rough timeline for a typical ACL recovery. While he might need some time to knock off the rust, he should be back to full strength by midseason at the latest”. 

This update was published on May 11, but it’s been reported that he’s ahead of schedule. Now, let’s think about this logically for a minute. With NIL, more athletes stay in college than ever, and Brooks had two years of eligibility remaining. He wouldn’t have declared for the draft if his ACL were a concern. On top of that, the Panthers traded up to get him at 46th overall.

Since they have access to his medical reports, this is all I need to know. They wouldn’t have made this move if they thought he wouldn’t be back to 100% soon or if there were any issues with that injury. I’ll admit that in the past, ACL injuries have been brutal, but with the advancements of modern medicine, we just saw Breece Hall dominate just one year removed from his injury. 

Sure, Brooks might have a slow start, but when you’re past the 7th round, I’m shooting for upside and looking for guys with league-winning potential. While you may need to fill in RB2 for production for the first four weeks after that, Brooks will finish as an RB2 or higher each week after. If it takes Brooks until mid-season to be 100%, that’s fine at this price point. Getting an extremely talented bell-cow running back will move the needle for you. 

Now, regarding Brooks as a talent, he was the number one running back off the board and dominated college football before he went down. Especially as a pass catcher, Brooks was able to make the most of his 25 receptions averaging 11.4 YPR which is a great mark when trying to predict fantasy success. Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard are non-factors and once he’s ready there’s no question that Brooks will be the three down back down the stretch.

Although the Panthers were terrible last year, they’ve improved their offensive line and brought in some other weapons. After seeing Dave Canales revive both Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith, I fully expect Bryce Young to turn things around. If his situation is halfway decent, Brooks could absolutely smash his current price and potentially turn into a low-end RB1.

Xavier Legette (WR65 – ADP: 138)

Having Xavier Legette on my must-draft list is something I never thought I would be saying. I’ll be honest: I was a massive Legette hater at the beginning of the off-season based on his terrible prospect profile. He wasn’t productive until his last year at South Carolina as a 5th-year senior. Typically, this is a massive red flag because it’s a lot easier to produce when you’re 23 and going up against 18 and 19-year-old cornerbacks.

That said, Legette looked very impressive on film, and you can’t teach that size/speed combination. Legette is a threat with the ball in his hands, and he frequently wins at the catch point. His stats don’t hold much weight with me, but it’s worth mentioning that he caught 71 passes for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Outside of Terry McLaurin, who played at a much bigger school in Ohio State, there are few examples of this profile panning out. However, with Covid affecting this rookie class, I’m willing to be a bit more understanding of late breakout players. Now, my main issue with Legette was that even if he’s good from an NFL perspective due to his ability to be a big and fast X receiver, he won’t draw targets. While the Panthers seem like a bad landing spot on the surface, this is perfect for Legette. 

Diontae Johnson will be used as the number one target, but he’s not a superstar alpha receiver. Legette should slide into that WR2 role fairly easily in an offense with many targets to go around. Instead of playing Legette strictly on the outside as a WR3/4, I actually expect them to use him in a mini DK Metcalf type of role. Although I said Johnson will be the number one target, we’re just assuming that his last two years of 10.6 and 11.7 PPG production will get better. If Legette hits anywhere near his ceiling in year one, he could easily take over and become the best fantasy receiver on the team. 

I touched on this earlier with Brooks, but I’m super high on Dave Canales. We just saw what he did with two struggling quarterbacks, and I believe Young is much more talented than both of them. With an improved situation, Young should be much better, which will greatly benefit Legette. Even when Young struggled as a rookie, he supported Adam Thielen as a WR1 for the first half of the season, which says a lot about Young’s value to these receivers. 

Jermaine Burton (WR70 – ADP: 149.2)

I’m drafting Jermaine Burton at his WR70 (ADP: 149.2) price all day due to the incredible upside he possesses. At this point in drafts, we’re past round 12, and nothing else matters to me but upside, upside, and more upside. Burton was a prospect that I enjoyed watching on film, but from my time at the NFL Draft, I heard that the main reason he fell was due to character concerns. Burton was still selected with day two draft capital, which increased his fantasy football hit rate drastically.

Now Burton was used more as a deep threat in college as he went for 798 yards, eight touchdowns and 20.5 YPR on only 39 receptions in 2023. While these stats are solid, it’s also worth noting that Burton was 22, coming out of college and he went for a similar mark of 40-677-7 (Receptions, Receiving Yards, Touchdowns) as a junior. From watching Burton on film though, I was super impressed with his burst off the line, hands and speed.

Now, looking at his scheme fit, the Bengals aren’t a dream landing spot, but it’s good nonetheless. As I mentioned earlier, Burton has been used as a deep threat, and right now, that role belongs to Tee Higgins, who is one of the better receivers in the NFL. However, with Trenton Irwin currently holding onto that slot/WR3 role, there’s easily a path for Burton to get on the field without any injuries.

As a talent, Burton is worlds better than Irwin, and I expect Burton to be the number three target this season. The only issue is where Burton will play, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s moved all over the place, including slot, in order to get reps. Burton has always played a majority of his snaps out wide, but in 2022, he had a career-high 138 slot snaps versus 211 wide snaps. As I mentioned earlier, Burton had a solid year, posting a 40-677-7 season.

I’m fairly high on Higgins, but I will say he absolutely terrifies me. Higgins only played in 12 games last year, not including the four games where he played less than 70% of the snaps. Higgins is still unhappy with the Bengals since he hasn’t received a contract extension like the rest of his peers. Just recently, he posted on Instagram with the caption,  “I tell em no, they can’t wait to call me selfish…” creating further drama.

While I don’t think it makes sense for him to sit out, I do expect him to be extremely cautious with his health. It seems like the ongoing drama with the Bengals has been going on for quite some time, and I don’t think he cares if he’s back. It makes sense for Higgins to have to prove himself, but with the current wide receiver market, a team will pay him even if he has another disappointing season.

The bottom line with Burton is that his most likely range of outcome is becoming the WR3 for the Bengals. Tyler Boyd averaged 11.5 and 10.4 PPG in the two seasons Joe Burrow was healthy, but I believe Burton has much more upside. At such a low price, Burton has a real chance to crush his ADP or even just give you a few spike weeks in best ball.

Jaylen Wright (RB47 – ADP: 153.3)

I’ve had a rollercoaster of emotions with Jaylen Wright this off-season. However, my current verdict is that he’s a must-draft player this year. As a prospect, I became all in on Wright after watching his film and seeing his elite explosiveness. The knock against Wright would be that his boxes were extremely light at Tennessee but I think his mold will translate to the NFL.

Wright has a 4.38 speed, but his BMI is also 30.1, indicating that he can handle a heavy workload. Considering he’s playing next to a very small back in De’Von Achane, this is very important. On top of that, Wright showed excellent jump cuts and his ability to hit the hole very often on film.

My next point is that I believe there’s about a 0% chance that Raheem Mostert will have anywhere near the same season he just had. Mostert had the best season of his career at 31 years old, far past the age cliff for running backs. Pair that with the fact that Mostert has played more than 12 games thrice in his NFL career. I know he was great last season, but I have to bet against the running back who has dealt with injuries his entire career and will be 32 next season.

The Dolphins are a very ambiguous backfield, but it’s a fantastic scheme fit for Wright. Mike McDaniel has shown his ability to utilize speed, and I truly believe Wright is just an upgraded Mostert. The two are very similar, and I expect Wright to take over completely and dominate in that former Mostert role down the stretch. If I can get a key piece of the Dolphins offense, who just finished 3rd in PPG (27.9) last season, I’m absolutely doing it at such a cheap cost. 

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