With “draft weekend” upon us, here are my last-minute rankings, including my top 25 quarterbacks, 50 running backs, 60 receivers and 25 tight ends for 2024. My opinions have been changing by the hour as I rank and update, but this is how I will personally be picking in my three remaining drafts. I’ve attempted to be format-agnostic, but like most these days, I skew PPR.
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Top 25 Quarterbacks
1. Josh Allen — Like Mahomes before him, Allen is in his WR winter. Unlike Mahomes, Allen always rushes for 10 TDs.
2. Patrick Mahomes — We’ve established his absolute floor: 4,200 yards and 27 TDs.
3. Lamar Jackson — Best supporting cast in years should prevent MVP regression.
4. Jalen Hurts — Everything — OC, Kelce — has changed. Nothing — Hurts rushes for 10 TDs in his sleep — has changed.
5. Joe Burrow — Healthy for potential “last dance” season with Chase, Higgins.
6. Anthony Richardson — A groupthink rank where I can’t help but go along with the crowd.
7. C.J. Stroud — Special young talent who needs to pump up 4.6 TD percentage.
8. Kyler Murray — Player who has never put it all together has his best setup in some time.
9. Dak Prescott — Gunslinger from a different era with supporting cast problems.
10. Jordan Love — Strong top-five odds if touchdown percentage holds steady.
11. Jayden Daniels — Beanpole who plays like a tree trunk. Must avoid congested areas.
12. Brock Purdy — Not really a week spiker — or craterer.
13. Caleb Williams — Special young player being set up for success. Now just show it.
14. Tua Tagovailoa — Shed weight in hopes of doing something, anything on the move.
15. Jared Goff — Every-week starter — at home.
16. Trevor Lawrence — Something always off, but this is an impressive supporting cast.
17. Kirk Cousins — Coming off major injury with solid but unproven weapons.
18. Geno Smith — Primed to be further elevated by new OC Ryan Grubb’s approach.
19. Justin Herbert — Summer injury all but guarantees the conservative approach of nightmares.
20. Matthew Stafford — The stat-padding only sometimes includes enough TDs.
21. Aaron Rodgers — Top-heavy skill corps paired with likely run-heavy approach.
22. Derek Carr — Saints bought Klint Kubiak at the Kyle Shanahan dollar store, but it’s worth a shot.
23. Baker Mayfield — Underrated career, unrepeatable 2023.
24. Deshaun Watson — Unclear how much Watson still likes football.
25. Will Levis — Betting on Levis’ youth and unknown upside over Sam Darnold at 25.
Top 50 Running Backs
1. Christian McCaffrey — Age and workload cliffs loom, but not as large as the upside.
2. Breece Hall — Receptions and goal-line dominance set to print money.
3. Bijan Robinson — The Allgeier fear is real. So is the Arthur Smith correction.
4. Jonathan Taylor — Health the only concern for RB with pitch-perfect role.
5. Jahmyr Gibbs — Lions lack incentive to alter two-back approach, but Gibbs’ wild ride will win plenty of weeks.
6. Derrick Henry — Lamar rarely calls his own number at the goal line.
7. Saquon Barkley — Eagles ditching committees. What about the “tush push”?
8. De’Von Achane — Will either break the game or fantasy teams as second-rounder.
9. Josh Jacobs — Safe-harbor pick who should improve upon last year’s horrendous efficiency marks.
10. Travis Etienne — Jags have bravely talked up bigger Bigsby role. Believe it when you see it.
11. Kyren Williams — Panic at the disco? Or acknowledgement that Williams himself has talked up a smaller role.
12. Isiah Pacheco — Consolidated role suddenly under threat from Samaje Perine.
13. Kenneth Walker — Seems to be gathering rather than shedding touches.
14. Joe Mixon — Building his entire plane out of high-value touches.
15. Alvin Kamara — Clown-show backups don’t seem to be applying pressure.
16. James Cook — Lots of nutritious touches, but risk he loses juiciest work to Ray Davis.
17. Rachaad White —How much longer can White fight inefficiency city hall?
18. David Montgomery — Highly compensated to keep scoring touchdowns.
19. Aaron Jones — RB1 dark horse potential if he somehow improves durability at age 29.
20. Rhamondre Stevenson — Workhorse is this offense’s only proven weapon.
21. D’Andre Swift — Could end up drastically under-drafted in ascending offense.
22. Javonte Williams — Never let a true summer competition develop.
23. Raheem Mostert — Ran out of gas last year but goal-line favorite in elite O.
24. James Conner — Won’t repeat last season, but better overall environment.
25. Jaylen Warren — We will never be free of this cursed committee, but ample evidence Warren is simply better.
26. Najee Harris — Value resistant at seemingly any ADP, Najee badly needs an Art bailout.
27. Austin Ekeler — History of third-down and red-zone dominance looms large.
28. Tony Pollard — Another year healthier. Has early-down track record Spears lacks.
29. Brian Robinson — Clear starter who could land in touchdown purgatory.
30. Devin Singletary — What peak touches-based FLEX status looks like.
31. Zamir White — Stuck in bad O. Failed to decisively demonstrate RB1 status this summer.
32. Zack Moss — Hoping to clean up goal-line work for a post-injury offense.
33. Jaleel McLaughlin — Could expand on Samaje Perine’s money-printing PPR fare.
34. Tyjae Spears — Does cool stuff. Will he have a cool role?
35. Jerome Ford — Could be a top-20 running back for over a month.
36. J.K. Dobbins — Seems to have easily claimed 1A status in what could be gonzo committee.
37. Blake Corum — Only thing we know: He’ll have a role.
38. Jonathon Brooks — Hard to hand out injury benefit of the doubt in this offense.
39. Rico Dowdle — Mid-career journeyman who only needs to be better than end-times Zeke.
40. Ray Davis — The dreaded “Latavius Murray role” just refuses to die.
41. Chuba Hubbard — September spot starter could quickly outstrip ADP.
42. Ezekiel Elliott — Now in decline as long as he was good, Zeke is texting prayer emojis for goal-line work.
43. Chase Brown — Hunting for early-career Ekeler usage.
44. Gus Edwards — Zero ceiling. Questionable floor with Dobbins’ re-emergence.
45. Zach Charbonnet — Contingency, contingency, contingency.
46. Trey Benson — Immediate standalone role behind famously banged-up starter.
47. Bucky Irving — A few 3.7 Rachaad White YPCs away from rotational role.
48. Nick Chubb — Time has not been on Chubb’s side this offseason.
49. Ty Chandler — Immediate rotational role with the potential for more.
50. Tyler Allgeier — Beware the ides of Art even with Smith in another city.
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Top 60 Receivers
1. Tyreek Hill — “McDaniel Tyreek” exceeds not only “Mahomes Tyreek,” but *everyone*.
2. CeeDee Lamb — Clear claim to top spot. Could push for 200 targets.
3. Justin Jefferson — I tiebreak in favor of the best skill player on the planet.
4. Amon-Ra St. Brown — A JaMo emergence could actually help ARSB over the middle.
5. Ja’Marr Chase — Healthy Burrow should be enough to bust last year’s WR12 “slump.”
6. A.J. Brown — Back-to-back 1,400-yard seasons is rarefied air in any era.
7. Garrett Wilson — 180 targets within reach after last year’s WR32 fiasco.
8. Chris Olave — Target commander who hopefully, finally has a legitimate OC.
9. Drake London — A 30-40 percent increase in targets is entirely realistic.
10. DK Metcalf — Maybe the biggest “coaching change” winner at the position.
11. Marvin Harrison Jr. — Best WR prospect since probably Amari still needs to show it.
12. Davante Adams — Jimmy G and Josh, but efficiency and yardage both cratered last season.
13. Brandon Aiyuk — Long national nightmares do occasionally end.
14. Puka Nacua — Injury history got longer before the games were even played.
15. DJ Moore — I have trouble fading a player who did that in that offense.
16. Nico Collins — Texans WR corps is one of the stranger brews in recent memory.
17. Jaylen Waddle — Elite compiler was touchdown unlucky last season.
18. Malik Nabers — Watching the targets flow… we just hope the Dimes water isn’t too polluted.
19. Deebo Samuel — Volatile early-round pick wins more weeks than he tanks.
20. Mike Evans — I’m not hitting on 17 with a Baker Mayfield career year.
21. DeVonta Smith — The ultimate early-round “glue guy.”
22. Cooper Kupp — Aging in a hurry but healthy this summer.
23. George Pickens — Sometimes you just have to bet on an awesome dude.
24. Michael Pittman — Pittman doesn’t do “ceiling.” What if A.D. Mitchell does?
25. Zay Flowers — Showed the things he needed to show as a rookie.
26. Rashee Rice — Some uncertainty remains, but probably a top-20 WR going at a discount.
27. Tee Higgins — Potential severe underrank for a healthy player looking to get paid.
28. Terry McLaurin — Not apples to apples, but is McLaurin this year’s DJ Moore?
29. Stefon Diggs — Was last year age or attitude? I’m not willing to find out in top 24.
30. Amari Cooper — Top-20 WR last season remains clear No. 1 Browns option.
31. Calvin Ridley — Quarterback downgrade. Potentially dramatic OC upgrade.
32. Christian Watson — Potential alpha if he’s finally solved hamstring woes.
33. Diontae Johnson — Strange player in strange situation that at least has upside.
34. Keenan Allen — Elite slot man in for a rude target competition awakening.
35. Xavier Worthy — High-variance pick with mouthwatering outcomes.
36. Tank Dell — I’m probably missing the boat. Only so high you can rank a WR3.
37. Jameson Williams — The kind of player you push up the board even if regret is just around the bend.
38. Jaxon Smith-Njigba — “Light comes on” summer riser I’m probably not streaming enough.
39. Chris Godwin — A Lockett-style freebie who could be going 15 spots too late.
40. Courtland Sutton — No one was asking for “poor man’s Mike Evans,” but here he is.
41. DeAndre Hopkins — Would it really be surprising if Hopkins kept chugging?
42. Jayden Reed — This situation is frankly too difficult for me to forecast.
43. Christian Kirk — No one really plans on taking Kirk, but he’ll be top 36 more weeks than not.
44. Jordan Addison — Compiled but was not efficient amidst last year’s QB chaos.
45. Rome Odunze — Serious FOMO, but the No. 3 with a rookie QB is just that.
46. Marquise Brown — Has Marquise Brown ever been good? That, and more tonight at 10.
47. Adonai Mitchell — Eye-popping preseason usage for boom/bust prospect.
48. Brian Thomas — Fade rookie first-rounders at your own peril.
49. Rashid Shaheed — Boosted ahead of WR5 competition because of week-flipping potential.
50. Tyler Lockett — Injury-marred camp means we never got a legitimate JSN debate.
51. Keon Coleman — Do you believe the bad GIFs or the good GIFs?
52. Mike Williams — In danger of being glorified role player for conservative O.
53. Curtis Samuel — What do you win when you win?
54. Darnell Mooney — Clear-as-day No. 2 WR for thin skill corps.
55. Joshua Palmer — Defaulting into least satisfying sleeper campaign in some time.
56. Khalil Shakir — Steady option with fewer avenues to upside than Samuel, Coleman.
57. Jerry Jeudy — Can’t find a normal offensive environment to save his life.
58. Ladd McConkey — Too much weird for me to sift through to enthusiastically place this bet.
59. Jalen Tolbert — Purely a vibes-based WR5 flier dart throw.
60. Ja’Lynn Polk — Anything but fine preseason, but only Pats profile worth betting on.
61. Greg Dortch — Had to make the list 61 just to include Dortch.
Top 25 Tight Ends
1. Travis Kelce — Kelce is no longer alone at the top, but remains an elite bet.
2. Sam LaPorta — LaPorta can’t compete with Kelce’s floor, but has the highest TE ceiling.
3. Trey McBride — Increased target comp, but led all TEs in YPRR last season.
4. Mark Andrews — Injuries have mounted, but maintains TE1 overall upside.
5. George Kittle — You have to take the bad with the oh-so-good.
6. Jake Ferguson — Lacks target competition following second-year leap.
7. Dalton Kincaid — Wide range of outcomes in position-less Bills skill corps.
8. Evan Engram — Won’t be a great sign for Jags’ O if Engram again flirts with TE catch record.
9. David Njoku — A few extra 2023 TDs away from an entirely different perception.
10. Kyle Pitts — We really are on the verge of true madness with this one.
11. Dallas Goedert — Could still surprisingly finish top five … or top 15.
12. Brock Bowers — Foot injury latest complication for TE in complicated situation.
13. Tyler Conklin — I’m probably taking this one too far, but look at his competition.
14. Pat Freiermuth — Spooked by the Art Smith chicanery, but easily-achievable upside.
15. Dalton Schultz — Too much target competition to truly compete for TE1 status.
16. Taysom Hill — Call your congressperson about these deceptive business practices.
17. T.J. Hockenson — Hard to stash a tight end for 33 percent of the fantasy regular season.
18. Noah Fant — TE competition melting away just as Seahawks go more pass heavy.
19. Hunter Henry — Hunter Henry is here to score five touchdowns and … well, that’s it.
20. Jonnu Smith — Dire part of the board. Might as well place a bet on Mike McDaniel.
21. Cole Kmet — Has apparently been informed by Gerald Everett that it’s never been more over.
22. Cade Otton — I know a $.01 compiler when I see one.
23. Juwan Johnson — For when Hunter Henry is just too expensive.
24. Luke Musgrave — Hard to survive the Packers’ targets thunderdome.
25. Ben Sinnott — This year’s rookie with room to grow despite questionable early role.