The start of the fantasy football season is months away, but many will say it began on Thursday night. The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books, and as the dust settles, there are already some clear winners and losers for fantasy football. There are likely fantasy-relevant players still to be drafted in the rest of the draft, but for now, let’s break down the winners and losers from the first round.
Day 1 Winners
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears have to be winners in the first round of this draft. They wasted no time bringing in their quarterback of the future, Caleb Williams, with the No. 1 pick. The Bears were then possibly going to be trading the No. 9 pick, but they held strong at selected wide receiver Rome Odunze. Williams could sneak his way into redraft upside throwing to Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Odunze this year. Odunze likely won’t be fantasy-relevant in redraft leagues as a rookie, but he should be a top pick in dynasty leagues, given his role if/when Allen moves on from Chicago.
J.J. McCarthy, eventually
McCarthy was drafted with the 10th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings. He arguably has the best landing spot among rookie quarterbacks in the early part of the first round, with playmakers Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones and T.J. Hockenson to lean on when they are healthy. He may not start right away and had only two starting seasons at Michigan, so that could cap his redraft value, but McCarthy could be a late first-round pick in rookie drafts for dynasty leagues with the assumption he should take over the offense in 2025.
Patrick Mahomes, Xavier Worthy
You didn’t need any more reason to consider Mahomes as the top quarterback for fantasy football, but the Buffalo Bills have graciously given you one. The Bills traded down and the Kansas City Chiefs moved up to select Worthy. The Texas wide receiver virally broke the 40-yard dash record at the NFL Combine this year and now joins an offense that has won back-to-back Super Bowls. Mahomes should be just fine for fantasy and Worthy could even be a best ball steal or clutch waiver pick-up in redraft leagues depending on if the duo can get on the same page early.
Day 1 Losers
Michael Penix in the short-term
The Atlanta Falcons made a pick at No. 8 that you either love or hate, and it all depends on if you believe in Penix. I don’t think he was the right choice for Atlanta but can see that they are trying to plan for the future despite signing Kirk Cousins to a 4-year, $100 million guaranteed deal this offseason. If he was selected by the Vikings or the Denver Broncos, he would have an easier path to starting this season. Penix shouldn’t be drafted in redraft leagues and should be a late-first or early-second-round pick in rookie drafts for dynasty.
Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers
Bowers was frequently mocked to the New York Jets but ended up falling to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders get a great player in the Georgia tight end, but Las Vegas already drafted Mayer in the second round last year. As a rookie, he had 27 receptions for 304 yards and two touchdowns. These numbers seem middling, but it was largely with Aidan O’Connell under center. This should be a good move for real football when Las Vegas wants to run bigger sets, but it is not a good landing spot for either’s fantasy football outlook.
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
This could change soon on Friday as the Bills are on the clock at No. 33, but Buffalo leaves the first round having traded back twice. This means that they didn’t pick up a first-round wide receiver for Allen and head into the second day of the draft still with Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins as their top wideouts.