Fantasy Football Today: Player outlooks for every third-round draft pick by consensus PPR rankings

2024 fantasy football the season is coming and the fantasy football Today’s team drafted its initial player outlooks for the entire player pool prior to training camp. Things will change when it comes to injuries, free agency and possibly the trade market, but the fantasy football The team led by Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings and Dan Schneier created player outlooks based on 2024 projection, June ADP (average draft position) and where these players fell off the board in our mock (and real) drafts until May and June. We will use FFT’s consensus PPR rankings (Jamey, Dave, and Heath rankings) to analyze player by player in the third round (12-team leagues) of their drafts.

*These consensus rankings will be updated by June 10.*

Round 3

“There is a lot of excitement surrounding London heading into his third season for two main reasons: the new offensive system he is playing in and the upgrade at quarterback, moving from Desmond Ridder to Kirk Cousins. In 2023, under Arthur Smith, London played just the 29th-most snaps among WRs and he had just the 33rd-most targets per game. Those numbers are expected to make a significant jump in 2024. The upgrade for Cousins ​​is even more significant. , delivering the ball to all areas of the field and giving London the contested catching opportunities that his skill set demands. However, Cousins ​​will need to turn London into the weekly WR1 machine he made for Justin Jefferson to pay off his ADP in London. You’re going to have to grab him sometime in the second round if you want him to be on your 2024 Fantasy lineup.” -Dan Schneier

“We are drafting Waddle as a high-end No. 2 wide receiver early in the third round of full PPR drafts. While Waddle’s 2023 output may seem like a disappointment after 2022, it had more to do with health than anything. In 12 games where he played more than 50% of the snaps, Waddle averaged 15.6 PPR Fantasy points per game, a slight increase from his 2022 pace. He is one of 10 wide receivers to earn at least 350 targets since the beginning of 2021 and averaged. better than nine yards per target also has a huge advantage if something happens to Tyreek Hill. He scored 28.2 fantasy points in his only game without Hill last year. up than down next year.” – Heath Cummings

“Aiyuk would be a Fantasy monster if he got more than the 6.6 targets per game he had in 2023, but he’s still a borderline top-12 WR even without the mega volume. O NFL last season, ranking in the top three at the position in yards per reception (17.9), yards per route covered (3.06), yards per target (12.8 was the most in football) and explosive reception rate ( a gain of at least 16 yards on 35.2% of his catches, far ahead of others in the league). The best part is that of Aiyuk’s 37 catches of 16-plus yards, a dozen were on short catches that Aiyuk parlayed into longer gains. This suggests Aiyuk is more than just a deep ball receiver, although it was those plays that helped him put together some dominant weeks last year (four with 20+ PPR). An increase in targets would do a lot more for him, and it’s a possibility not only because of his talent and value to the Niners, but also because of the targets-eliminating ages of Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. Take Aiyuk playing in a contract year and you have the potential for a huge season. Aiyuk is worth rolling the dice in Round 3 in all leagues.” – Dave Ricardo

“Collins finally broke out in 2023 after showing signs of it early in his career. The combination of CJ Stroud at quarterback and a Bobby Slowik-designed offensive scheme that allowed him room to operate made the difference in his breakout. The Slowik system was designed to create yards after the catch and Collins had a career year in that metric. He also finished second among all WRs in yards per route run (3.11) – a persistent metric used to project Collins’ future success. seventh-most fantasy points per game in 2023, but that number may be hard to repeat if Tank Dell can play a full season and with the addition of Stefon Diggs Still, Collins is a solid target in the third round of their draft picks. Fantasy.” – Dan Schneier

3.5: Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers

“Samuel proved in 2023 that he is still a fierce stat producer, averaging 17 PPR points per game, although he abandoned one of his 15 games after nine snaps. It helped that he averaged 2.5 field goal attempts. rushing per game and 6.1 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns – take them away and he would average 12.7 PPR points per game If he maintained his prominent role in the Niners’ offense, he should be a starter. remember he’s 28 years old and has missed multiple games in three of his last four campaigns, Samuel is a quality #2 fantasy WR worth a third-round pick, but young Aiyuk has more upside. – Dave Ricardo

“LaPorta was one of the biggest revelations in 2023 as a rookie when he averaged 14.1 PPR points per game. He enters this season with a chance to be the No. 1 Fantasy tight end on Draft Day, and is worth drafting in late Round 2 or early Round 3 across all leagues. It will depend on whether LaPorta gets ahead of guys like Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews or Trey McBride, and we like LaPorta first of that group, slightly ahead of Kelce. remains a focal point for Jared Goff this season in Ben Johnson’s offense, and LaPorta was one of seven players to score at least 10 touchdowns in 2023. He should continue to improve in his second year in the NFL, and LaPorta has a chance to will be the No. 1 fantasy tight end for years to come.” -Jamey Eisenberg

“Mahomes will be one of the first quarterbacks, if not the first, to be picked in fantasy drafts. To some, this may be surprising, as he was 10th among passers last season with just 20.9 fantasy points per game. The offensive lineman will recognize new Chiefs wide receivers Marquise Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy as reasons why Mahomes’ numbers could see a resurgence. Both wideouts offer impressive speed and can stretch defenses, perfect for Mahomes to connect for early plays or find open options closer to home. line of scrimmage And if Travis Kelce isn’t forced to play due to injuries like he was last year, Mahomes’ receiving corps will be quite strong. Frankly, no elite quarterback has seen his situation improve more than Mahomes this offseason, which is scary. thought for his opponents and a magnificent thought for those who have him on their rosters, Mahomes will be a top-three pick in Superflex/two-QB leagues and one of the first quarterbacks off the board between 20th and 35th overall at a QB. formats.” – Dan Schneier

“Is a bad, injury-plagued season enough to demote or even overlook Kupp? In the previous two seasons, Kupp averaged 25.3 and 22.4 PPR points per game in what were golden seasons as a top receiver unquestioned from Matthew Stafford. The situation obviously changed with Puka Nacua becoming a prominent target, but Kupp still saw 7.9 targets per game from Week 5 onwards, and that includes a Week 11 game that Kupp left early as well. had an advantage over Nacua in red zone targets and tackle avoidance rate in that span and scored the same number of touchdowns (five) Kupp fell behind in explosiveness, where Nacua clearly looked like the fresher player, which he wasn’t. no surprise, as Nacua is about eight years younger and hasn’t been injured like Kupp. If Kupp can get through the preseason without setbacks and perhaps some glowing reports, he’ll set himself up to be among the top bounce-back candidates in Fantasy. Count on him as a WR2 worth a third-round pick in the PPR overhaul, and a fourth. -rounder in non-PPR.” – Dan Schneier

3.9: Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs

“Kelce will be one of the first two tight ends drafted across all leagues because of his large role in the Chiefs offense, but Father Time is working against him. Battling injuries for much of 2023, Kelce averaged 19.5 PPR points per game in his first seven games, then 10.4 PPR points per game over the next eight before recovering to 21.5 PPR points per game in four playoff matchups, including 18.3 in the Super Bowl. Kansas City’s additions at receiver will hinder Kelce to some extent, but the biggest factor is that he will turn 35 in October and is clearly at some risk after starting last year with a bone bruise in his knee from a knee injury. ankle. and then he had a little neck problem that sidelined him for one game. Even with that risk, Kelce has undeniable upside, as evidenced by his start and finish in 2023. Don’t ignore that. Fantasy managers who want an elite tight end without age and injury concerns will opt for Sam LaPorta over Kelce, but that doesn’t mean Kelce isn’t worth considering as a top-30 pick, as he still will see many targets like Patrick Mahomes’ most reliable pass catcher.” -Dave Richard

“We are selecting Hurts as a top-three defender across all formats, worthy of a third-round pick in defender leagues. Hurts’ passing efficiency took a step back in 2023, with his yards per attempt and touchdown rate both dropping more than 10% from his career highs in 2022. He made up for some of that drop with a record 15 rushing touchdowns. of your career. We expect Kellen Moore’s arrival to be positive for Hurts’ passing efficiency and Saquon Barkley should do just that. more with his targets than running backs last year as well. This should help offset any regression in terms of rushing touchdowns. After all, we’re not sure the push will work well without Jason Kelce. The Dynasty’s floor is helped by the long-term deals signed by AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith this offseason. -Heath Cummings

“Henry has turned the page on his Titans career by joining the Ravens offense that made Gus Edwards a Fantasy stalwart. Henry will immediately have a double-digit touchdown lead with the Ravens and could end up challenging Christian McCaffrey for the league lead in TDs. He won’t improve his receptions with Lamar Jackson, but Henry has aged well. Despite now playing on the wrong side of 30, his advanced metrics have held up. and his touchdown upside should keep him in the RB1 range all season.” – Dan Schneier

“Jacobs is expected to be the Packers’ standout and a candidate to be a top-12 Fantasy RB. While his 2023 season with the Raiders was marred by injuries and a preseason holdout, his 2022 was outstanding as he led the NFL in rushing yards that 2022 season, Jacobs had 15+ touches in 15 games, averaging 20.8 PPR points in those games (and 19.3 for the season; he had 11 games with 15+ touches and averaged of 15.1 PPR points).(13.9 for the season). As with most running backs, Jacobs has proven to be productive when in position to get 15 or more touches in Matt LaFleur’s five years as head coach. Packers, at least one running back had at least 15 touches in 67 of 83 regular season games That workload should bode well for Jacobs, as long as he’s healthy. Fantasy takes Jacobs, 26, from 18th to 30th overall. , then take rookie MarShawn Lloyd as an insurance policy to shore up Green Bay’s running game if Jacobs misses time. – Dave Ricardo