Fantasy Football: Top targets at ADP for QB, RB, WR and TE
For all the time fantasy managers spend scouting players and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the fantasy market might be more important to your ultimate success. Today, I'm going to give you a peek at my shopping list, presenting four players I am trying to target at their current Yahoo ADPs.
Quarterback: Kyler Murray, Cardinals
To be fair, there's basically a bottomless cup of right answers at quarterback for 2024. The position has something for everybody — runners and pocket quarterbacks, young players and old players, stars on good teams and lesser players chasing volume on bad teams. You're free to choose your own adventure.
Kyler Murray is my preferred target at the moment, landing at QB7 and overall pick 58.4 in the current Yahoo market. Murray is finally healthy again, and that presents a fun upside as a dual-threat quarterback. And the Cardinals offense has a fun group of rising offensive talents: rookie hotshot WR Marvin Harrison Jr., emerging TE star Trey McBride and perhaps a splash of rookie RB Trey Benson (though James Conner is also a useful back).
No one in Arizona will miss the departed Kliff Kingsbury, and the Cardinals offense might be pressed into a bunch of shootouts, trying to offset a leaky Arizona defense. Throw in a climate-friendly schedule and the Cardinals look like one of the carnival teams of 2024, where high-scoring games will flow regularly. Get your tickets now.
Running Back: Devin Singletary, Giants
I openly admit Singletary isn't a sexy, swing-for-the-fences pick. But if you're building a backfield on a budget (I like the Hero or Anchor RB strategy, where you get one signature star and then look for values later), Singletary makes a lot of sense as a supplemental piece. He's drafted as an RB3 in Yahoo leagues (RB30 at the position, 97.7 overall) but has a fair chance to bump a tier. Said another way, you're likely drafting him at his floor, but there's a mild amount of upside, too.
Singletary did more than expected last year, shifting to Houston and eventually pushing Dameon Pierce out of the way. Over the last nine weeks of the year, Singletary charted as the RB9 in half-point PPR scoring. Now, of course, he's on the Giants, a lesser offense. But there's little competition behind Singletary on the depth chart, and he already has goodwill banked with head coach Brian Daboll; they spent time together in Buffalo. You don't have to target Singletary with an aggressive pick; scoop up your value when your opponents overlook a boring but useful veteran player.
Wide Receiver: Amari Cooper, Browns
Most of my roster builds will be heavy on receivers, which means Cooper is in play as my possible WR3. I'm excited for that. I want to draft a team of wide receivers who start themselves.
Cooper was the WR14 last year in half-point PPR scoring, showing he could be productive with any Cleveland quarterback (and the Browns rolled out five last year). Even Joe Flacco, off the couch, made beautiful music with Cooper. And the Browns might have to be pass-heavy from the jump this fall, with Nick Chubb's rehabilitation a work in progress.
Cooper has been durable, consistent and maybe even a little bit boring in his nine-year career. Mix it all together and a decent fantasy value pours into the cup.
Tight End: Kyle Pitts, Falcons
I think it's more important to get tight end right this year than in most years. I don't see as many splashy high-end sleepers in the late rounds as opposed to previous seasons. And with that, I have Pitts as a target player in the first half of your draft. And I realize that makes some fantasy managers nervous, given how Pitts has disappointed the last couple of years.
It's easy for me to excuse Pitts for the recent lackluster production. Departed head coach Arthur Smith fell in love with his running game, and he stubbornly refused to feature his best options in the passing game. Now the Falcons have fresh blood at the two most important spots: QB Kirk Cousins to lead the offense, and OC Zac Robinson (from the Sean McVay tree) to call the plays.
I refuse to believe that every glowing scouting report on Pitts three years ago was off base. He doesn't turn 24 until October. As messy as last year was, he still graded out as the TE13. Cut that number in half and you have a reasonable target for 2024; I'm happy to aim for Pitts around his current Yahoo ADP in the mid-60s. And I won't be surprised if he crashes the party and joins the first tier of tight ends.