Your Fantasy Football Draft Won't Go Like This... But It Should!

There are few things more satisfying or exciting to me than drafting your fantasy football team for the upcoming season. Those 15 selections will make or break your happiness for the seventeen weekends throughout the fall and if you are lucky and win a fantasy title, it is a great start to your new year!

When we draft, we have an idea of how our drafts will go. At times it will be mainly chalk, and sometimes, we are delightfully surprised a player we wanted fell into our possession, or it can go in the opposite direction... We can be irate because someone we had an idea of who we were going to build our entire roster around went way earlier than expected, thus it throws off your entire strategy.

As some of us start to ease into football season over the coming month with basketball and hockey coming to an end, here is how I believe the first round of a fantasy draft should go as of June before NFL training camps open in July.

Note: This was done with Standard Rosters in mind, with PPR Scoring

Pick 1.01: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

This is going to be controversial. Christian McCaffrey is and will likely remain the consensus number-one overall pick in most drafts. My counterargument to that would be over the last few years the player who was most projected to be the top player in fantasy ended up either having injury-plagued, or down seasons.

Last 5 Players Who Were Conesus #1 Pick and Where They Finished (PPR):

2023- Justin Jefferson, WR33

2022- Jonathan Taylor, RB33

2021- Christian McCaffrey, RB38

2020- Christian McCaffrey, RB53

2019- Saquon Barkley, RB10

With that as a factor, including McCaffrey's name being on that list twice, I am going to look at that trend and go with CeeDee Lamb, who is coming off a career year where he put up eye-popping numbers for Dallas in 2023. The Cowboys seem to be running in it back on offence, besides getting worse in the backfield with the loss of Tony Pollard. Therefore, I expect this again to be a volume-heavy year for Lamb, who is my top projected player for the 2024 fantasy season.

Pick 1.02: Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers:

I may not have McCaffrey as my top overall player going into 2024, but I'm not psychotic. The 49ers dual threat in the run and passing is still the engine that Kyle Shannan's offence runs through. Since he was traded mid-season in 2022 to the Bay Area, his past injury woes seem to be a thing of the past. As long as he remains, CMC can be counted on to produce for fantasy owners.

Pick 1.03: Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins

Would it be the most shocking thing if a 30-year-old wideout started to decline? No, but until I see it with Hill, I expect him to be a contender to win the receiving yards title with his ability after the catch and as long as Mike McDaniel continues to call the plays in Miami, he will make sure the ball gets in the hands of his best player consistently.

Pick 1.04: Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

The best receiver in the league is my WR3 for the 2024 fantasy season with it simply being because of quarterback uncertainty in Minnesota. I am not a Sam Darnold believer and with the Vikings seeming committed to having him be their starter for now over tenth-overall pick J.J. McCarthy, it would not be the most surprising thing if Jefferson's play is hindered through no fault of his own.

Pick 1.05: Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

As long as Joe Burrow is healthy, Ja'Marr Chase is going to be dominant. With Tee Higgins future in Cincy also up in the air, expect the offence to run through Chase even more than usual in 2024 as the Bengals begin to plan for life without Higgins in 2025 or perhaps sooner.

Pick 1.06: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions

There are always those players who are fantasy players than they are in real life, Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of those players. In terms of fantasy, St. Brown is potentially the best slot receiver in the league, and he seems to always get open in those crucial moments for the Lions. With Ben Johnson returning to call the offence this season, St. Brown will remain the focal point for Detroit in 2024.

Pick 1.07: A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Perhaps the most physically gifted wide receiver in the league was highly paid this off-season with a mega-new contract. With the new deal in place, the Eagles will look to prove their investment in Brown was worth it, and he will be the catalyst of this loaded unit that has Super Bowl aspirations in 2024.

Pick 1.08: Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets

After a slow start in 2023 due to just coming back off a torn ACL, Hall looked like he did during his 2022 rookie season and as the RB3 in fantasy. With Aaron Rodgers coming off a torn Achilles, expect Hall to get a lot of usage as the Jets look to ease in their veteran signal-caller who is coming off a catastrophic injury of his own.

Pick 1.09: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions

Jahmyr Gibbs split a lot of carries with David Montgomery throughout his rookie campaign. Entering his sophomore season, expect the leash to be taken off Gibbs, where he will not only be the workhorse in the run game but will also be used often in the passing attack with his ability to make plays with the ball in his hands.

Pick 10: Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons

His rookie season may have been underwhelming to some because of the way he used but expect Robinson to be the focal point in this offence as the Falcons also have a veteran quarterback, who is coming off a torn Achilles in Kirk Cousins.

Robinson has said that he expects to be used similarly to how the 49ers utilize Christian McCaffrey, and if that is the case, we are in store for a special season from Bijan with a young Falcons squad who are looking to return to the post-season in 2024.

Pick 1.11: Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams

There was not a player whose production was more shocking than Puka Nacua in 2023.

Nacua went from a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft to setting the all-time rookie receiving yards record a few months later. Nacua helped fill in the void that All-Pro receiver Cooper Kupp left open as he dealt with injuries most of the season.

Even with Kupp returning in 2024, he is still a 31-year-old wideout who has been dealing with hamstring injuries for the better part of two seasons. Sean McVay will make sure to get the ball in Nacua's hands as he was as productive as can be last year. The Rams will also need to make sure Kupp can remain healthy throughout the year if they want to contend for a Lombardi Trophy once again.

Pick 1.12: Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

With contract issues behind him and another year in the Shane Steichen heavy run system, expect Jonathan Taylor to help make up one of the scariest backfields in the NFL with second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson set to return from injury for the Colts as Indy could be a sneaky contender to win the AFC South in 2024.