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Fantasy Football Rankings 2024: NFL sleepers, busts, breakouts by model that called Deebo Samuel's down year
By CBS Sports Staff,
1 day ago
USATSI
With CeeDee Lamb signing his new contract, the Cowboys' top receiver is back in the fold for Dak Prescott and company. However, Dallas' top running back remains unsettled after the team signed veteran Dalvin Cook to compete with Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle. Cook and Elliott have name value that will attract 2024 Fantasy football picks, but they're both also long in the tooth. As a result, Dowdle could become one of the 2024 Fantasy football breakouts. Dowdle is entering his fifth year with Dallas, but has fewer than 100 rushing attempts. He averaged 77 scrimmage yards with two total touchdowns across his three games with at least 12 touches a year ago. A running back by committee is certainly a possibility for Dallas, but is Dowdle the first one you should slot in the 2024 Fantasy football RB rankings?
Last year, the model accurately predicted that Buccaneers running back Rachaad White was being dramatically undervalued. White was coming off the board in the seventh round on average in 12-team PPR leagues, but he emerged as Tampa Bay's workhorse ball carrier and provided significantly more value than expected, finishing No. 4 at his position. White rushed for 990 yards and six touchdowns while adding 64 catches for 549 yards and three more scores as a receiver. Anybody who followed the model's advice scored an every week starting running back in the middle rounds.
The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020 and nailing Jonathan Taylor's monstrous season in 2021. Additionally, it's called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.
The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The 2024 Fantasy football PPR rankings and 2024 Fantasy football standard projections update multiple times daily, so you're always getting the best Fantasy football advice.
Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest 2024 Fantasy football rankings, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them .
Top 2024 Fantasy football sleepers
One of the 2024 Fantasy football sleepers the model is predicting: Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. A second-round pick out of USC in the 2020 NFL Draft, Pittman emerged as the No. 1 receiver on the Colts roster in 2021 and he's averaged 99 catches and 1,053 yards with 14 total touchdowns in the three years since despite the fact that Indianapolis cycled through Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and Gardner Minshew as its primary starters.
However, now he should have an opportunity to settle in with Anthony Richardson as the long-term starter and their rapport is already strong. Richardson targeted Pittman at least 11 times in each of the first three weeks of the season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4. That expected workload is a big reason why the model likes Pittman over D.J. Moore and DK Metcalf, who are both being drafted a round earlier on average. See more Fantasy football sleepers 2024 here .
Top 2024 Fantasy football breakouts
One of the 2024 Fantasy football breakouts the model is predicting: Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson. After 19 receptions as a rookie, Ferguson burst onto the scene with a 71-761-5 stat line as a sophomore in 2023. However, there's an even higher ceiling for him as he didn't produce much in the beginning of the year as he found his role in the offense. Ferguson ranked 17th in Fantasy points among tight ends through the first seven weeks but was the TE6 from Weeks 8 through 18.
He then saved his best for the postseason as he posted career-highs in receptions (10), yards (93) and touchdowns (three) in the Wild Card loss to the Packers. Ferguson is an integral part in the NFL's top-scoring offense, and outside of Prescott and Lamb, no Cowboys skill position player logged more snaps than Ferguson. The model has him as a top eight Fantasy tight end this year and puts him above Buffalo's Dalton Kincaid, despite the latter having an earlier Fantasy football 2024 ADP. See more Fantasy football breakouts 2024 here .
Top 2024 Fantasy football busts
As for players to avoid, the model lists Jets receiver Garrett Wilson as one of its 2024 Fantasy football busts. Wilson was primed to take a leap last year, but the Jets' quarterback situation caused him to go from the WR21 (2022) to the WR36 (2023). Aaron Rodgers will presumably last more than four plays this year, but the 40-year-old also hasn't been an elite quarterback since the 2021 season. Additionally, Wilson will have more competition for targets with a legitimate No. 2 option in Mike Williams in the fold, Allen Lazard still around, and the Jets drafting receiver Malachi Corley in the third round.
Then there's the fact that the Jets offense won't revolve around Rodgers and the passing game, as running back Breece Hall will be the focal point. Jets OC Nathaniel Hackett has spent 10 years as either an offensive coordinator or a head coach and his teams have ranked in the top 10 in pass attempts just once. Meanwhile, his teams have led the league in rushing attempts twice, as he prefers to lean on the ground game. With all of these factors, the model slots Wilson as the WR19 this season, despite him being drafted among the top 10 receivers on average. See more Fantasy football busts 2024 here
How to find proven 2024 Fantasy football football rankings
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