Fantasy Football: ‘My Guys’ — Scott’s Pianowski’s favorite draft targets of 2024

Once upon a time, this yearly piece was called “What’s In My Wallet,” meant to outline the players I’ve drafted the most. Not long ago, we pivoted to a “My Guys” approach, where it’s still covering players I love drafting, but it also allows me the latitude to include players I’m sold on, even if I’m not lucky enough to land multiple shares of them in my drafts.

My cards are on the table. My opponents know the guys I want. Basically, I’ll mess up my remaining drafts here, for your benefit. As always, season this to taste, and apply it to the unique challenges of your rooms. You know your setup better than I ever could.

The first round of fantasy drafts has become a minefield this year, with holdouts, injuries and uncertainty. St. Brown is the type of safe pick that can help you sleep at night. The Lions maintained their offensive infrastructure and the Sun God will easily lead his team in targets. And this isn’t just a floor-securing pick; St. Brown was the WR3 in half-point PPR scoring (17 weeks) last year.

Anthony Richardson is on a lot of breakout and target lists, but I wonder if that’s a solution in search of a problem. The QB pool is absurdly deep entering 2024. Daniels probably offers the same rushing upside as Richardson, and Daniels was a much better passer in his college days. Reps matter, too; Daniels threw 1,438 passes in college, Richardson just 393. You can draft Daniels about 4-5 rounds after Richardson in Yahoo rooms right now.

The Atlanta offense was submarined by poor quarterback play and questionable play calling in recent years. Now Kirk Cousins is here to solve the QB room, and new OC Zac Robinson has impressive credentials after working with Sean McVay. Throw in an absurdly easy schedule that’s mostly indoors and you have a destination offense.

You can throw in Drake London as well if you like, though I haven’t been able to get him much this summer. Bottom line, you want to draft some Falcons this year. They look like the overwhelming favorite in the NFC South, and fantasy production is usually correlated with team success.

He might not slip into the second round of your draft but be ready to pounce if he does. Aaron Rodgers has always been good to his primary receivers, and Wilson’s combination of athleticism, intelligence and competitiveness give him a chance to become the NFL’s top receiver someday. The Jets have a strong defense, which might mitigate some volume. But Wilson will always be a proactive pick for me.

The Ravens somehow escorted the ordinary Gus Edwards into the end zone 13 times last year. Now Henry, a slam-dunk Hall of Famer, steps into the pilot chair and is the obvious favorite to lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns.

Baltimore‘s offensive line does have some concerns, but some of that is mitigated by Lamar Jackson‘s rushing ability, which will spread defenses out and open up running lanes. And remember the Ravens rarely call Jackson’s name at the goal line, which means others get to score the chippies. Henry is one of the best second-round picks you can make, and highway robbery if he somehow slides to your third round.

Once upon a time, Lawrence was the golden boy of the league, the next superstar ready to go after landing as the first pick in the draft. It’s been a little rocky since then — losing his rookie year to the Urban Meyer mistake didn’t help. But Lawrence has quietly charted as the QB7 and QB12 the last two years, and he’s currently drafted as the QB16. When you’re getting around to drafting your second quarterback, he’s an excellent target.

It took a while for both of these players to enter the full circle of trust last year, but the rules were different down the stretch. Pacheco had eight touchdowns in his final eight games of last year (including the playoffs), and he was useful in the passing game, catching 31 balls. Rice’s final 10 games leaped off the page, too: 69 catches, 822 yards, four touchdowns. He’s not dynamic on deeper routes, but Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid will keep him relevant.

Rice’s ongoing legal situation has to be mentioned, but it’s starting to feel like he’ll either face a short suspension this year or the case will be pushed into 2025. I am not afraid of drafting Rice proactively.

I’m linking all three of these players because they’re boring-value vets, the type of players who generally provide a nice pocket of value simply because they’re not shiny new toys.

• Cooper proved quarterback-proof while the Browns used five different quarterbacks last year; he’s turned into Mike Evans-lite, with just a little less touchdown equity.

• Singletary was a surprising hero in the second half of 2023, and he holds immediate security with the Giants because of his Buffalo history with Brian Daboll.

• Montgomery’s upside is capped with Jahmyr Gibbs around, but Montgomery might have more goal-line equity and the Detroit offensive line is fantastic.

Chemistry doesn’t arrive overnight; you can’t order it on the internet. Shakir is the only Buffalo wide receiver who’s ever caught a regular-season pass from Josh Allen, and new face Curtis Samuel is dealing with a turf toe injury. Shakir posted a snappy 13.6 yards per target last year, and while those stats can be misleading for support players, we can’t ignore that Shakir was better than Stefon Diggs down the stretch — and Shakir also had 10 catches and two touchdowns in the playoffs. Shakir is the Buffalo receiver I’ve been targeting, affordably slotted as the WR54 in Yahoo drafts.

Bengals D/ST

I take a “play for today” approach most of the time with my DS/T picks. The Bengals are the biggest Week 1 favorite, spotting 9.5 points to a New England offense that could be an early shipwreck. Sounds good to me. Let’s roll Cincinnati in Week 1, and worry about the rest of the schedule later. Many leagues will allow you to stream the defense position all season.