The best and worst post-draft landing spots for 2024 rookies in redraft leagues

The NFL Draft is always a benchmark for fantasy football, it marks a time for many to start thinking about drafting their own teams in the fall. Its also the time when the NFL itself validates our opinions of the incoming rookie class. Now that the 2024 NFL Draft is over, we get to analyze the situations in which these rookies find themselves.

While we typically want to look at these player's talent, sometimes we need to look at the situation to determine just how quickly they get a chance to show that talent. Here we're going to analyze the situations some of these rookies find themselves in for their first year, so just through the scope of how well we expect them to perform this upcoming season.

Best Landing Spots - These players should make an immediate impact on our fantasy rosters

JJ McCarthy - Getting to throw to Justin Jefferson has to be one of the easiest situations a quarterback has ever walked into. Pair that with Jordan Addison coming into his second year, TJ Hockenson coming off of his best season as a pro, and Aaron Jones coming out of the backfield. It is hard to think of a better situation for a rookie quarterback to get drafted. Nick Mullens was averaging 370 passing yards in the games he started last season, and while Sam Darnold is there to bridge the gap, the expectation is that McCarthy will be able to take over sooner than later and is at least set up to thrive better than most rookie quarterbacks.

Marvin Harrison Jr. - This is an easy one, as he is one of the most highly-touted prospects to come into the league, but usually these guys end up on teams with little to nothing at quarterback. That is not the case here as he gets Kyler Murray who, while he has his flaws, can get the ball to his top guy. Deandre Hopkins' first year with Murray’s Cardinals he was targeted 160 times for 115 receptions, 1407 yards and 6 touchdowns. With very little target competition and a wealth of talent himself; Harrison should see lots of targets right away from a former number 1 overall pick.

Jonathon Brooks - Brooks lands in a decent situation if he can make his recovery from late-season ACL surgery. If he is ready, he is talented enough to take over from Miles Sanders, who the Panthers lost confidence in last year. While Brooks sat behind the likes of Roschon Johnson and Bijan Robinson, he took the reins last year and was on his way towards possible first round draft capital when he tore his ACL. The new coaching staff is the same one who turned Rachaad White into a fantasy star last year with over 330 touches, and we can look to grab Brooks as long as he gets a clean bill of health.

Keon Coleman and Ladd McConkey - As these two were back-to-back picks in the draft, they're going to be linked together for a while. Both of these receivers are joining teams that lost their two top target earners and have quarterbacks who average over 35 pass attempts per game the past 4 seasons. There are over 240 vacated targets on each of these teams, and both McConkey and Coleman seem talented enough to take advantage of a good portion of these targets. Expect each of them to make an immediate impact both in fantasy and real-life games as they should see over 100 targets from top tier quarterbacks.

Worst Landing Spots - While they have plenty of talent, roster construction and depth chart concerns mean these players are unlikely to contribute to our fantasy teams in 2024

Drake Maye - It didn’t matter which quarterback ended up with New England, none of them would be set up for success. They have a middling offensive line and a below-average wide receiver room, even after drafting two wideouts. This is a team that wants to play defense and run the ball, and hiring a defensive-minded coach is not likely to change that mindset. Their new offensive coordinator's average finish in passing yards per season in 24th, and with the personnel they have it does not seem likely the Patriots will end much higher than that this coming season.

Every RB not named Jonathon Brooks - Trey Benson, Blake Corum, MarShawn Lloyd, Jaylen Wright, Bucky Irving, Will Shipley, Ray Davis, Isaac Guerendo, and Braelon Allen were all drafted in the third and fourth rounds, but all landed on teams with either entrenched starters or newly signed free agents with decent to good guaranteed money. It will be a tough time for any of them to make an immediate impact without an injury to the backs ahead of them on the depth chart.

Jalen McMillan, Jermaine Burton, Rome Odunze - A lot of similarities for these three receivers. They all come in to decent situations with solid quarterback play, but none of them are likely to find fantasy super-stardom in year one due to depth chart concerns. All three are buried behind one established star (Mike Evans, Ja'Marr Chase, DJ Moore) and a solid number 2 receiver (Chris Godwin, Tee Higgins, Keenan Allen) with one year left on their current contracts. While they are all talented and can certainly make an impact, they will be at best the third option for the 2024 season and unlikely to make a massive fantasy impact.