This list will identify six players who went high in 2023 who fantasy football managers should let slide in 2024. This is specifically for PPR scoring formats. These players should be rostered but they are no longer elite fantasy prospects and should be taken in mid or late rounds.
Six Fantasy Football Players to Let Slide in 2024
Quarterback
Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow was sporadic in 2023. Burrow scored a total of 31.51 fantasy points in the first four games of 2023. A putrid average of 7.87 per game. Burrow righted the ship scoring at least 20 points on four occasions between weeks 5 to 10. This includes a torrid stretch of three straight. Burrow was on pace for a big fifth game before leaving week 11 with a season-ending wrist injury. The Cincinnati quarterback came into the season with a calf injury and finished with the aforementioned wrist ailment. He also has had an ACL tear in his career. Durability is suddenly a concern.
Burrow is still one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the league but availability is one of the best attributes to have in fantasy football. Injuries are fickle enough in football, so fantasy managers should be prudent to have trepidation on drafting an injury-prone player. Burrow is still worth drafting, but fantasy managers either need a strong backup or to avoid using a high draft pick on him.
Running back
Tony Pollard
Tony Pollard will suit up for the Tennessee Titans next season. Pollard had a disappointing season in his first year as the primary running back for the Dallas Cowboys. Pollard finished outside of the top 10 (12th) in his position in PPR leagues. He started all 17 games, yet only had 4 games with 100+ all-purpose yardage. Only one of those games was 100 yards of rushing. This is particularly disappointing considering Dallas is run-heavy with a gifted offensive line. Pollard finished with 1005 rushing yards on 4 yards per carry and 6 rushing touchdowns. He also added 55 receptions but for only 311 yards and no touchdowns. 1300 total yards is nothing to scoff at in fantasy but it’s hard to not view Pollard’s season as a letdown.
Pollard is leaving Dallas for a Tennessee team that has the worst offense in every facet. Pollard didn’t look dynamic in 2023 and is headed to a team in which he may find even fewer running lanes. Derrick Henry is coming off his least productive season in 6 years. If King Henry had difficulty, then Tennessee would have to greatly exceed expectations for Pollard to not fare even worst. Fantasy football players should pass on Pollard until after the 8th round..
Austin Ekeler
Austin Ekeler went in the first round of most fantasy drafts in 2023, but that won’t be the case in 2024. Brian Robinson Jr. will be the lead back in Washington barring an injury. Ekeler is a great fit for the Commanders and will have a positive impact that his fantasy numbers won’t reflect. Ekeler is one of the finest receiving backs of all time and will be used as a third-down/pass-catcher. This will give him value in PPR leagues. However, Ekeler likely won’t see more than ten carries a game, dampening his ceiling.
Ekeler was banged up in 2023, so he will be more explosive than he was in 2023, but fantasy managers should not draft Ekeler above round 8 unless Robinson Jr. gets hurt.
Wide Receiver
Cooper Kupp
The 2021 Offensive Player of the Year had some huge fantasy games reminiscent of his dominant self. Cooper also had some very quiet games. Durability has to be a concern and injuries may start to be taking their toll. Cooper Kupp is not a first-round pick and probably shouldn’t be taken in the second, either. Puka Nacua has supplanted Kupp as the primary receiver but Kupp is still a very good player, just no longer an elite one. Fantasy managers who view Kupp as an elite fantasy prospect could be letting past greatness cloud their judgment. Fantasy success is reliant on what players will do, not what they have done. It would be a mistake for fantasy managers to use one of their first two picks on Kupp.
Davante Adams
Davante Adams’s numbers from 2023 don’t reflect the up-and-down season that it was. Adams finished with 103 catches for 1,114 yards and 8 touchdowns. These are solid but not spectacular numbers of someone of Davante Adams’s pedigree. This is no shot at Adams’s talent as he trudged through terrible quarterback play. Adams impressively finished tenth in his position in PPR leagues. This is misleading as his numbers were skewed by a couple of stratospheric games. Adams had a 42.2-point fantasy game and a 37.6-point one, respectively. He also added three other games with over 20 points. Unfortunately, he had five games with single-digit scoring, which included a particularly dreadful 1.4-point game. Davante Adams shouldn’t be the first wide receiver taken by fantasy managers until his quarterback situation improves. Adams is still one of the most gifted wide receivers in the league but his ceiling and consistency are capped until further notice.
Tight End
Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce is still an elite tight end, yet fantasy managers should no longer take him in the first or even second round. Kelce was a fantasy cheat code, putting up wide receiver numbers as a tight end. He’s taken a step back and has come down to Earth with the rest of us mortals. Kelce is still a great tight end to start but you can wait on him until after round 3.
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