Fantasy Football Draft Targets for EVERY ROUND | Top Expert Picks (2024)

Introduction what's up friends and welcome into fantasy pros I'm Chris Welsh and today we're talking about my favorite draft targets per round and the best way I think to do it is to associate a pick with this because obviously we can have multiple targets we like per round especially in the early couple rounds so today I'm going to be taking on let's call it the nine spot the eight n spot the back end of the first round and we are going to let that kind of drive my favorite picks each round till we get through the end some of my sleepers must have players and all of the above it's the Welsh's top picks per round you can see around me my friends that I love autographs and I love memorabilia so I want to hook you up if you want a chance to win a sign Joe Burl helmet for free courtesy of our friends at pristine auction.com all you need to do is head to fantasypros.com contest complete the form and either download the fantasy pros draft Wizard app leave her a viw for the podcast or follow us on X Instagram or Tik Tok @ fantasypros the more actions you complete the more entries you receive we'll be announcing a winner right here on the podcast if you're watching on YouTube be sure to subscribe and turn on those notifications so you can be alerted when new episodes are up and to claim your prize all right friends let's get into it I got 14 rounds to get through these are my favorite players based on the back half of the first round like I said we're going to be using nine all of these are my targets and I want to hear from you guys who are your draft targets you can do it in the comments below but let's get to it my favorite draft targets all right let's Justin Jefferson kick this off in the first round knowing that we are on the back half in that 89 territory my favorite Target is Justin Jefferson with the discount people are scared the rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy getting hurt has made people move Justin Jefferson from four or five at wide receiver maybe even some cases as the top guy down to letting him fall into even in spots of the second round but even in bad quarterback play last year Justin Jefferson saw a 28% Target share that in stretch of the Season he had an 18 and a half Point per game average and was even over 20 before cousins injury got hurt Jefferson had 10 or more Targets in seven of 10 games played and the final four games of the Season he had 10 or more targets he will still be the top option in this offense they'll be playing from behind and Sam darnold is as good of a situation as they probably could ask for in a secondary quarterback the idea that Justin Jefferson cannot get this done I think is crazy and I love the discount and you don't really see a lot of these discounts they were attached more to contract situations I think you will see massive Target shares again from Justin Jefferson and I love targeting him on the back half of the first round moving Derrick Henry over to the second round knowing our relative position my favorite draft Target is Ravens running back Derek Henry Derek Henry the touchdown monster moving to the Baltimore Ravens is a match made in heaven I do think there are some people that have questions about the way that Lamar Jackson can run the offense and him actually physically running could take away from Derrick Henry but it makes them all but more explosive Derk Henry last year finished the season with eight touchdowns over his last seven seven games with the Titans while only rushing the ball over 20 times once in those final eight games now you put him on a heavy run offense with the most dynamic running quarterback in the NFL whether it is RPO situations or just simple handoffs down the middle linebackers are accounting for Lamar Jackson that Derrik Henry is going to be put in a better Red Zone opportunity and an overall offensive scheme situation and to date he has done the one thing that running backs don't do regress he's still an explosive back is noted on the fantasy pros profile page from Derek Brown among the 68 qualifying running backs Henry ranked ninth in explosive run rate and 11th in yards after contact per attempt per fantasy points data you take that back and you put him on a better offense that is built to run Derek Henry in the second round is we're moving into the third round and obviously as we get into the rounds we'll take some Liberties into some of the players where they can fall one guy Jaylen Waddle you do see fall into the mid and sometimes even past third round our third pick is Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen waddle who's got an ADP of the 21st wide receiver yet an ECR of the 16th coming off of a season with 104 Targets in 14 games played he went over a th000 yards but the touchdowns weren't there so we know the target share is there he had a 24% Target share in a pass heavy offense that is built around one of the best wide receivers in Tyreek Hill so you are living in a space where the number two wide receiver has to perform at a super high level he had 72 catches in 14 games with a really high Target share and you have to build in positive regression to touchdowns touchdowns are the hardest thing obviously to go in and predict but that's a super low number while still performing in a half PPR full PPR 72 reception output which is still very high and we've seen Wadd fall in drafts while other number two wide receivers have boosted up and I I don't buy it I think he is a prime wide receiver too you could possibly have fantasy Pro projections over 80 catches over 1100 yards and I think you will see positive touchdown regression he's an ideal third round pick and I love picking up some of these wide receivers and I love based off of the build that we're doing here with targets he is the ideal third round Target moving on to round four my target Malik Nabers is another wide receiver we are going with Malik neighbors and friends this is becoming harder and harder to do because no one's been on a rocket ship of value more than Malik neighbors this season he has been the number one guy we know he's going to be the number one guy three years St at LSU he led all wide receivers with 86 receptions 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns in his Junior season with almost over 3,000 total yards he was a ball Hawk now he goes into an offense that has no really great offensive weapons but that inherently is part of the problem the Giants are coming off of a preseason where they did not throw a single touchdown and I think that could be the thing that ends up stabilizing neighbors height because you could argue that neighbors isn't really going in the fourth round to a lot of spots but people are starting to worry about Daniel Jones which may Center this out but at the end of the day this is an incredibly talented wide receiver in a bad offense that could suffer from touchdowns this similar to the jayen Wadd situation you're probably not going to be able to project nor is anybody projecting double-digit touchdowns but what you can project is probably one of the highest Target shares in the NFL is going to go to a rookie lots of receptions even balancing out the catch percentage rookies have versus targets which is usually the lowest it comes from rookies and the lowest in their rookie year he has got a chance with his ability for separation the catch rate we already saw in the preseason to push 130 140 150 targets get a bolt load of receptions and yards and hopefully the receptions and yards can make up for some of the lack of touchdowns but the upside is immense the upside is a top five wide receiver in the NFL and you can get him in the fourth round yes please Malik Neighbors on all my teams Rashee Rice moving on to the fifth round we're going to go with another wide receiver yes four wide receivers because the talent at the wide receiver position allows us to do it and we're going with Kansas City Chiefs Rashi rice this one was a little bit of a late mover for me because the worry has been is does Rashi rice get suspended will he miss time one of the things that had been overlooked is his court date is into December it's a December 9th court date that by the way could get pushed even further and this seems like the is getting pushed into the off SE and this is a massively talented wide receiver who ended last season in four of his final five games had nine or more Targets in that Chief's offense had a couple touchdowns in this Chief's offense looks like it's going to take another step now your problem is Target share overall because they did bring in Xavier worthy if Hollywood Brown was healthy they've got targets obviously Travis Kelce is there and Isaiah Pacho made another next step in the receiving game but rasheid rice is someone they do like to throw into the Red Zone and he finished 2013 as a huge Target for Patrick Mahomes and that should continue he is coming at an incredibly Big Discount ADP 34 wide receiver ECR 30 and we can get him as our fourth this is exactly what we want to do with the upside and as our wide receiver four we've mitigated a little bit of the risk I think there's a ton of upside Rashid rice is a huge Target in round five moving into round six again Rhamondre Stevenson take our little Liberties of the players that we're hoping in perfect targets here and the perfect Target in round six after going those straight four wide receivers is randrecous final three games with 20 or more carries half of his game played he had at least five targets or more and there is less competition to take away from him so he has an opportunity to be the feature back and also be the receiving back yes on a poorish team but there is upside on where he's falling his ADP is outside of the top 60 so again we're taking a tiny bit of a liberty pushing him into this spot but this is the perfect round Target and the perfect situation to pair with this team rander Stevenson does fall in some of these spots and we are going to swoop him up moving into round seven we want a Jordan Love quarterback and the perfect perfect quarterback if I'm being honest would have probably been Joe burough and sometimes in some situations this can happen because Jaden Daniels has moved up but we are going to go with Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan love because we know he is going to be slanging the ball last year from week eight on he averaged over 200 yards passing every single game and nine of those 12 games gam he had two or more touchdowns thrown also just to point out only four total interceptions in that period of time he has four number one/ two wide receivers two workable tight ends as well and a running game that you could argue with Josh Jacobs maybe it was as established as it was with Aaron Jones but this is a team that looks like they are built to throw plus Josh Jacobs is great out of the receiving game as well Jordan love is going to beat his draft position value there's no question about it now there could be players that are drafted after him that are better values Brock pie Jaden Daniels maybe Matthew Stafford but there is little to no question that Jordan love is going to beat his expectations so in round seven after you've gotten two starting running backs and your starting wide receivers we even got a flex starter as a fourth getting a top tier quarterback is crucial and if you don't get Jordan love then you're in a position to start waiting so I'm going to swoop in and put Jordan love as my seventh round pick we got the second half of my favorite targets per round but first think you got fantasy football figured out think again introducing knockout a new survivor fantasy league that's worth the challenge a season-long tournament where every week matters strategize draft survive high effort with even higher Stakes because who likes losing draft your lineup use any players you want but be careful you can only use each player once the lowest scoring entry is eliminated each week the concept is simple Survivor is not stop losing start surviving in the only League where skills are tested and strategy pays off learn more at play. fantasysports knockout. comom slfp 2024 fantasy sports knockout is available for real money in certain States but anyone can play in a user credited League so if you think you know fantasy prove it sign up today at play. fantasysports knockout. comom fp22 4 moving to the eighth round my George Kittle target is one of those top tight ends and for this one we're picking San Francisco 49ers tight end George KD things have been a little up and down as far as where some of the big performances can go we saw quite a few single digigit performances from KD this year but there is no doubt that Brock pry wants to get him the ball there also is a questionable Brandon nuk situation that's going on but in the back half of the Season we started seeing a little bit more consistency from George KD and from the offense targeting him from week 10 on he had at least four Targets in every game over those eight games he had three touchdowns and he had nine or more Targets in at least two of those they want to get him the ball they want to get him the ball in the Red Zone more and he represents a tier break of tight end so whether this is Evan Ingram I would say he is a ball Hawk but he has been moving up a little bit and that's why George KD falls back we are going to go with George KD as one of our top picks in the eighth round moving over to Chase Brown the ninth round we are going to get back into the running back game and we're taking Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown ADP of RB 36 ECR of 34 so we are just about to leave that Flex RB range but there might not be another wide receiver in this General vicinity that has higher rb1 upside he has been working and running as an rb1 in Camp on the back half of camp now one argument is that they did not want to use Zach moss and that could be an argument where he will be more involved in the offense than some expect so maybe this moves into a share but that share at worst is probably going to end up looking like naagi Harris and Jaylen Warren where maybe Zach Moss is nji Harris to chase Brown as Jaylen Warren meaning Chase Brown will be more involved in the passing game probably than expected and if this team is playing from behind it all you will see more of him plus the offensive line is supporting him and seeing him run as a one will most likely give him more opportunities than expected so the upside is a clear number one explosive back the downside is probably still beating where you're getting him at 80P rb36 where he can perform even as an rb2 in this offense as a top 30 running back in fantasy so let's get ourselves some Chase Brown we Keon Coleman move on to the 10th round and we are going to get our wide receiver five and I'll tell you this is a great wide receiver for really having a wide receiver like Keon Coleman from the Buffalo Bills as one of the top options off your bench is exactly what you should be doing because there is massive massive upside and a player that could be the number one wide receiver for this team it's already said that Coleman is going to see a significant role in the offense yes they got Curtis Samuel who can be a good checkdown PPR wide receiver Khalil Shakir definitely looks like a playmaker that they're going to play out of the slot but Keon Coleman has an opportunity to play that Stefon Diggs role the big explosive play guy for Josh Daniels he has an ADP of wide receiver 46 and an ECR that is even lower at 49 Keon Coleman can be the number one wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills so yes please 10th round absolutely rookie wide receiver that could start and be number ones for their team should be your draft targets especially when they sit on your bench Rico Dowdle coming in at number 11 give me Dallas Cowboys Rico dle all day every day he's one of my favorite sleepers he's one of fantasy PR's favorite sleepers you can see it on the consensus sleeper ranks yes Ezekiel Elliott is back and will have his share but Rico d looks like the number one and has been treated in most cases as the number one again in spots where you can get a top running back this late you have to take it and as much as I am not a zero RB guy boy do some of these running backs really speak to the people that want to go heavy heavy wide receivers and guess what that is what we have done in this draft because guys like Rico D who can be our fourth running back and be the number one sky the limit if he's not we are back into a dual share of a guy like Ezekiel Elliott who will not hold up in this offense who at least will be sharing if not being the top guy he won't be old school Tony Pard but there is so much upside again promise you Rico do will beat his ECR ADP this season on JK Dobbins the home stretch here coming in at number 12 it's our last running back we're going to take it is JK dobins this one may even cost a little bit higher you got to push it this Rico doule JK Dobbins territory they are close but JK Dobbins is obviously coming off of a brutal injury there is a big back field to deal with in in there is a big backfield that the Chargers are dealing with and a lot of people have banked on Gus Edwards but JK Dobbins is healthy he has been in Camp he is cutting and the team is behind him and he has huge lofty expectations I think he will be a primary back in this offense he is dirt cheap maybe he doesn't quite have the upside of being the true number one to where Rico da could be but I think he at least can be a huge huge Target share in the backfield so give me JK Dobbins all day every day coming in at pick 13 we're Josh Downs going with Josh DS with the Indianapolis Colts Josh DS was one of the most popular sleepers and then he got hurt in the beginning of the Season got put in question but he early on outside of Michael Pitman has look like Anthony Richardson's favorite Target we saw Richardson struggle a bit in that final preseason game and if we're being honest one of those things is Josh DS can be one of those safety nets he didn't have made some bad throws but he also didn't quite have his on safety nets I think Josh DS comes back quicker than people expect and I think he jumps right back into being Richardson's favorite Target and is going to destroy expectations this year and you're just getting a discount because he got injured so give me Josh DS and every one of my drafts and that takes us to the final pick here Ja’Lynn Polk pick 14 we want upside at the end of my draft give me Jaylen pulk in every single draft now I think Luke mcaffrey is a very popular pick for this now looking like he could play out of the slot for Washington but Jaylen pulk is another one of these that could be the number one wide receiver for their team unfortunately it's for the Patriots and that offense looks dicey but Jaylen pulk has looked good so far in all these exhibition games and can be the number one for this team there's a likelihood that you could see two rookie wide receivers Vault into being starters pop Douglas is going to get some run here but there is a lot of room for someone to become a playmaker on this team that is named R Andre Stevenson and I love the opportunity for Jaylen pulk because it is all ceiling if he doesn't work out you cut him if he does you got a number one on an offense for free at the end of your draft and those my friends are my favorite draft targets and there you Closing have it those are the players that I want in lots of drafts as a matter of fact the first two players I gave you I just took in our fantasy pros our inside fantasy pros draft I took Justin Jefferson and Derrick Henry so little money where my mouth is and I had pretty close to the spot that we talked about who are your favorite players in each round do it below let's hear in the comments all your favorite players whether it's one or some of your favorite draft targets let's hear them because we love to hear from them and it pays off plus I want to remind you guys you've got a chance to win an autograph Joe Burl helmet for free courtesy of our friends at pristineauction.com again all you got to do go to fantasypros.com /c contest complete the form and then either download the fantasy pros draft Wizard app leave a review for the podcast or follow us on X Instagram or Tik Tok at fantasypros the more stuff you do the more entries you're going to get and we'll be announcing it right here on the podcast and on the YouTube if you are on the YouTube make sure you got notifications on so you don't miss when we do this awesome giveaway if you're loving some of my favorite targets per round let's say there's a couple other people that you really like Erikson Debo P of Pat Fitz Morris can I uh upgrade you to well guess what you can go over and create cheat sheets of your favorite fantasy pros analyst and tons more that you can take into your Draft when you use draft assistance so go to fantasypros.com draft Wizard and you can start the whole process I would suggest go to fantasypros.com sync sync your leagues in then you can create your own special cheat sheets with all your favorite people and you can get your drafts rocking plus it is not too early to be thinking about my Playbook because in seon stuff is just about to happen I know this is the big draft weekend but my playbook is going to help you in season with the waiver assistant the trade assistant and tons more fantasy pros that got you hooked up thank you friends for hanging out with me and we'll talk to you next time right here on fantasy pros [Music]