Who doesn’t love a shiny new toy on the biggest fantasy football draft weekend of the year? My stance on that is, more or less: don’t threaten me with a good time.
I’m a known sucker for rookies, and I think that’s just fine! I like getting excited about new things. I want to see the next generations succeed. Etc.
But, as is the case nowadays, there are so dang many of them. How to best choose? Easy. I’ve done it for you.
Check out the five names below for the five rookies I think we should all be drafting.
Brock Bowers, TE, Oakland Raiders
I wrote about taking Bowers as a second TE in the tenth round for my 12-Team PPR Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Picking from the No. 6 spot column. Ideally, you’ll draft him as your TE1 then.
But he’s still worth a look around his ADP even if you’ve drafted another premium tight end in the early rounds:
I just think the Raiders have big plans for Bowers, and think the ceiling is incredibly high for how strong a fantasy producer he can be.
In ten games last year at the University of Georgia, he led the team with 56 catches for 714 yards and six receiving touchdowns. Bowers also finished second in the nation among eligible tight ends in rec. yards (714) and sixth in receiving TDs.
There will be people who will tilt their noses at the idea of drafting two TEs in the first ten rounds of a draft. But Bowers is slated to be a reception machine, and could be a suitable flex if he returns TE1 value. At the very least, he’ll be wonderful trade capital for the rest of the season, and I have other big positional plans for the rest of my bench.
He is a little banged up, but we’re thrilled to hear he’s playing in Week 1, which I reported on for DKN here.
A 100-target season is not unfathomable. An 85-target season is more likely, and seeing how highly Bowers grades as an athlete, he should be able to convert that many looks into solid production.
He’s huge and he’s fast, and the Raiders are going to move him all over the formation. Michael Mayer will steal some looks, but he’ll be blocking on some plays when Bowers is running routes.
I’m reaching for the ceiling, here.
Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
Going to quote directly from my 5 Best PPR league-winning players for Fantasy Football 2024 column, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t yet:
I’ve written about Rome Odunze fairly exhaustively this offseason, seeing as I think people are undervaluing him in a crowded receiver room. So, obviously, I love him.
Now you know that I love him with such bursting magnitude that I’m calling him a league-winner at his current ADP.
Here’s my analysis on Odunze from my 5 Best PPR ADP value players to draft for Fantasy Football 2024 column for DKN:
Odunze’s over-the-top prolific career at the University of Washington is an incredible resumé to behold. Especially his 2023: he led the FBS in receiving yards (1,640). He also registered 21 catches on deep throws (targets with 20+ air yards), and hauled in 24 contested catches—both also FBS-bests.
The ceiling is stratospherically high, here. Odunze’s build grades similarly to Ja’Marr Chase’s. He’s 6’3″, 212 pounds—so we know he’s physical at the line and at the point of a catch. He grades in the 94th percentile in speed score for all rookies and 97th for catch radius. Still, with all that size and speed, Odunze cleared the 86th percentile for his agility score.
The upside is just too good. It also could just flat out be a ton of fun. He will soon be the top receiver in this offense, and it could happen this season. His rapport with Caleb Williams is apparent.
If you’re getting Odunze as your WR4, which you are at this price, you’re getting an absolute steal. I have him as my WR32, over guys like Keenan Allen, Jayden Reed, and Xavier Worthy.
The Bears didn’t draft him to be a role-player. He’s a true-as-anything alpha at a role-player price on draft day.
Other folks are excited about him, too, especially after the off-platform connection with Williams in preseason Week 2. You might have to reach.
Is it possible to have written so much about one man that your excitement for him feels like numbness? That’s where we’re at now.
Please—just draft Rome Odunze.
Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This is a bit more of a late-round flier, but I wanted to include Odunze’s former teammate right beneath him on this list.
I wrote about him, as well, in my 5 Best undrafted PPR players to watch for Fantasy Football 2024 column:
2024’s No. 92-overall pick Jalen McMillan very well could have had the season at Washington in 2023 that Rome Odunze had, were it not for health concerns. In the season prior (2022), McMillan broke out with 1,098 receiving yards and 9 receiving TDs.
A knee injury then seemed to derail any shot at reaching his potential. At Washington in 2023, he caught 45 receptions to 559 receiving yards and 5 receiving TDs. He scored a TD in both the CFB playoffs vs Texas and Michigan in the National Championship.
He didn’t appear injured at NFL combine, where he ran a 4.47 40-yard dash and registered a high jump of 37” inches. All this at 6’1″ and only 197 pounds.
The path to volume is tough, and that’s why McMillan is purely a deep stash/watchlist guy for now. Trey Palmer still seems to be the WR3 for the Bucs, and Chris Godwin will see a lot of work in the slot this year under his new OC. McMillan played over 90% of his snaps in 2023 from the slot.
Should any of the wideouts in Tampa get injured—which, we know, does happen quite reliably—McMillan might get an opportunity to flash some of that talent we saw briefly during his tenure as a Husky.
You really should draft him, but only as your sixteenth-round pick.
Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
I was among the folks who drafted Robert Griffin III when he was the rookie starter out of Baylor for Washington. It paid dividends, and won me a championship that year. We might be looking at a similar situation here with Jayden Daniels.
This pick has a lot to do with Daniels’s stats and pedigree—both of which we’ll get to later. But, to be honest, a lot of it has to do with where he’s falling on draft boards. His current ADP on FantasyPros is 103.6, which is a heck of a lot higher than it was before his gangbusters preseason. But I think that’s still a value in the ninth round.
Why are we drafting quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, and Jordan Love? These are pocket passers with high-upside, sure. But Jayden Daniels’s rushing ability is out of this world. And his 2023 at LSU (during which he threw for 40 touchdowns and averaged 11.7 YPA) speaks for itself.
He’s better than a top-12 quarterback, and he’s being drafted as a top-15 one. If you’re waiting until the ninth round or later for a QB, this is your guy for 2024, even though he’s a rookie.
Again—think about how good RGIII was in his first season. That’s what I’m anticipating, here.
Ladd McConkey, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Another one of my players on the 5 Best PPR league-winning players for Fantasy Football 2024 ballot makes this list.
McConkey is the new-and-potentially-better Hunter Renfrow, with a better quarterback throwing him the ball, and a better offensive line buying his quarterback time.
All we’ve heard all offseason is how McConkey is an automatic early contender for 100+ receptions. So how do we not get in on these 10/1 odds (for Most receiving yards by a rookie) at DraftKings Sportsbook?
Health is a definite concern; he’s apparently fine now, but McConkey suffered a lower-body injury during training camp that kept him out of practice for a bit. He battled through a knee injury and caught a bad case of turf-toe in 2022, and missed five games last year with both back and ankle injuries. We don’t like that his historically-bruised lower body is already feeling NFL wear and tear.
But, including the four receivers favored more than him (Marvin Harrison, Jr., Malik Nabers, Keon Coleman, and Xavier Worthy), McConkey is the only of the five who will routinely line up in the slot. And we’ve all seen the viral clip of Tom Brady talking about football theory, specifically re. keeping your offensive skill players happy. He says it’s far easier to get the ball to guys inside the numbers (like Edelman and McConkey) than outside (like Harrison, Jr, Nabers, et. al).
When it comes to simplicity and efficiency with regards to a quarterback delivering a rookie the ball such that he could rack up receptions, Herbert’s dynamic with McConkey takes the clear advantage, here.
And, honestly—who else is Herbo going to throw to in high-leverage, short-to-medium yardage situations? CVS-brand Mike Williams (read: Joshua Palmer)? No. It’ll be McConkey, who was a good, reliable Ladd and averaged just under an 80% catch rate in his career at Georgia.
When it comes to simplicity and efficiency with regards to a quarterback delivering a rookie the ball such that he could rack up receptions, Herbert’s dynamic with McConkey takes the clear advantage, here.
We like this prop especially because of McConkey’s advanced metrics as compared to his other rookies. Among the 2024 class, he finished third in first downs/reception, fourth in yards after catch per reception, and fourth in missed tackles forced per reception. Which means he generates plenty of yards after the catch. What one might call slippery, indeed.
It’s not going to be a sexy offense in 2024—been a while since we could really say that about the Chargers, much to Herbert’s chagrin—but someone is going to have to catch the ball a lot. If McConkey can stay on the field and develop even a slight rapport with his quarterback in the red zone, we’re looking at a potential 2021 Hunter Renfrow line, here.
120 targets is not out of the question, here, and you’re getting him at a tenth-round ADP. He’ll return flex value at worst. I project him for just over 100 receptions, 1,000 yards, and seven touchdowns. He’s a YAC machine.
A good Ladd, indeed.
Happy drafting! And be sure to check out some futures bets for all of these players on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information
