The 2023 fantasy football season wrapped up for most people in Week 17 of the regular season. You may think that you can forget about fantasy football until August, but that’s not the case. Best ball drafts are already up and running, so now is the time to familiarize yourself with players and see how they are being valued heading into 2024.
Best ball comes with deeper rosters, so you will be drafting more players than your traditional fantasy football leagues. This is where rankings come in handy as they tell you which players you should be targeting, as well as giving an idea of where certain players are being drafted. While 2023 could have a bad taste in your mouth for some players — cough cough Christian Watson — 2024 hits the reset button and gives everyone a clean slate.
2024 best ball rankings: Top 139 wide receivers
Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb is our top wide receiver in bestball. He had the second-most receiving yards last season (1,749), trailing only Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill by 50 yards. Lamb added 12 touchdowns, which were the third-most in the NFL. He projects to be quarterback Dak Prescott’s top target in the Dallas Cowboys offense. Lamb should maintain his high target share, making him worthy of being the first wide receiver taken in the draft.
Regression from one year to the next is certainly something that a player can go through. Typically, a wide receiver also takes a step forward in his second season. This creates an interesting spot for Los Angeles Rams wideout Puka Nacua. He was a fifth-round draft pick but wasted little time in showing that he was going to make an early impact. Nacua broke Jaylen Waddle’s rookie reception record and had 105 receptions for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns. Expectations are that he avoids regression and follows the stereotypical step forward, resulting in his being the overall WR6 for best ball.
Doing best ball drafts now does mean that you won’t be able to know the landing spots for rookie wide receivers, but you can check out mock drafts to see where analysts have them likely going. This draft class is deep at wide receiver but is top-heavy, with three WRs possibly being drafted in the top 10. Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. is expected to be the first wide receiver drafted, going as high as No. 3 overall to the New England Patriots. With that kind of draft capital invested, it can be assumed that the team has plans to involve that player early and often. Harrison Jr. is the first rookie to appear in our rankings and he comes in at WR38, and that should hold strong even if he falls a few picks in the draft.