Fantasy football discourse relies heavily on a long list of overused and terrible terms, none of which is worse than “league-winner.”
Just an absolutely dreadful thing we all commonly say, usually in reference to players who are definitely not gonna be the singular reason anyone wins a league.
In any given season, there are generally only two to five players who can accurately be described as having significantly tilted championship odds in fantasy. Last year, it was Christian McCaffrey, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua and CeeDee Lamb — and, if we’re being generous, Breece Hall.
(Honorable mentions to Tyreek Hill and Raheem Mostert, who were both looking very league-winner-ish before late-season injuries.)
For any player to truly earn the league-winner badge, they need to not only drag our fantasy squads into the playoffs, but then also feast in the money weeks. You aren’t a league-winner unless you offer a massive statistical edge over the average fantasy starter at your position. Additionally, you are not a league-winner if you’re a no-show in late December. Those are the rules.
So, um … apologies in advance for our future misuse of this moniker across various fantasy platforms. We apply it too broadly and often to players who are obviously undeserving. But these clicks won’t bait themselves, folks.
Today, I have been tasked with compiling a list of potential fantasy league-winners, and — as you might have deduced — I am struggling with the term. It’s a label I actively seek to avoid. I’m certainly not interested in burdening any player with CMC-level expectations.
However, one of my guiding principles in fantasy football is to take big swings, up and down drafts, on players with exceptionally high ceilings. This is a game in which your squads will usually go as far as your best players take them.
In that spirit, today we present a curated list of draft targets, each possessing the sort of spectacular upside necessary to swing fantasy titles. Please note that we are highlighting names from the early, middle and late rounds, because golden ticket players can be found anywhere.
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets (ADP 12.9)
Wilson has heroically opened his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, overcoming one of the worst quarterback situations in recent memory. With Aaron Rodgers now at the controls of the Jets offense, there is a non-trivial chance that Wilson can challenge for the receiving triple crown.
Last week, when Rodgers and Wilson took a flamethrower to the Giants defense in a joint practice (see above), it should have become apparent to everyone that a vintage Davante Adams/Jordy Nelson season might be on deck. If you don’t already have a few shares of Wilson in your fantasy life, maybe get yourself signed up for another league or two. He’s about to detonate (in a good way).
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs (19.1)
In another era, Pacheco would have been an easy and obvious first-round fantasy pick. It’s kinda crazy that he’s not viewed as such this season. He’s the unchallenged featured back for an elite offense and coming off a year in which he averaged 84.2 scrimmage yards per game and 4.6 per carry. Pacheco also hauled in 44 of his 49 targets, so he’s fully approved for use as a receiving option. He was among the biggest offseason fantasy winners, too, because — with all due respect to preseason legend Carson Steele — Kansas City didn’t make any significant additions to its backfield. (And no, Samaje Perine does not qualify as a serious threat to anyone other than Steele and CEH.)
DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks (38.9)
New offense in Seattle, same old unsolvable Metcalf:
Under new OC Ryan Grubb (previously of the University of Washington), it’s reasonable to expect greater passing volume from the Seahawks, and with fresh concepts. Metcalf is an outrageous size/speed receiver who averaged 9.4 yards per target and 16.9 per catch in 2023. If we ever get to see a season in which he actually draws 150-plus targets, he can challenge for overall WR1 status.
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals (56.4)
Pretty much every best-case scenario argument being made on behalf of Anthony Richardson should also apply to Murray. Both quarterbacks have spectacular rushing upside — and in Kyler’s case, that upside already resulted in a top-three positional finish back in 2020. We don’t have to imagine what a full season might look like from Murray; we’ve seen it and it’s awesome. He’s never had a receiving corps as deep and talented as this year’s crew, either.
If we’ve nailed the preseason ranks on Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR8) and Trey McBride (TE3), then Murray is about to produce a supernova season, assuming his usual rushing volume.
Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills (59.4)
Kincaid enters his second NFL season as one of Josh Allen’s few circle-of-trust receivers. As a rookie, he delivered 673 yards and caught a ridiculous 80.2% of his opportunities, with plenty of highlight grabs included. Fantasy-wise, we love exactly this variety of tight end, because he isn’t burdened with many of the position’s traditional responsibilities. He’s essentially just a large slot receiver.
Let’s also recall that over 240 vacated targets are up for grabs in Buffalo’s offense, many of which will be claimed by Kincaid. He’s well-positioned to lead his position in receptions in the year ahead.
Christian Watson, WR, Green Bay Packers (112.4)
Industry consensus on Green Bay’s receiving room is that everyone in it is talented and fantasy-relevant, but no one is likely to serve as a true target magnet. I’d simply like to remind you that one of these guys, purely as an athlete, is not like the others.
Watson is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound human who entered the league with 4.36 speed and a 38.5-inch vertical — rare physical tools, even by NFL standards.
Availability has been Watson’s issue, but it legitimately seems as if he’s addressed the root cause of his persistent hamstring injuries. Watson needed a quiet, healthy training camp in the worst way, and that’s exactly what he got. When he’s fully operational, he’s basically un-coverable:
Watson is still only 25 years old, far from a finished product yet already well-established as a dangerous playmaker. No other receiver in his ADP neighborhood has a ceiling like his.
Blake Corum, RB, Los Angeles Rams (126.9) and Jaylen Wright, RB, Miami Dolphins (130.7)
The same fundamental argument applies to each of these rookie understudy backs: if an injury creates a path to significant workload, these guys would immediately qualify as empty-the-wallet waiver claims.
Both players are serious talents tied to offenses that produced enormously valuable running backs just last season. Corum was an unstoppable TD machine at Michigan last year; Wright is a burner with 4.38 speed who averaged 7.4 YPC against an SEC schedule. These two are not to be slept on. Each rookie should open the year as a rotational runner behind a back with a complicated injury history — the news that Kyren Williams will have a role in the return game is also clearly a positive sign for Corum. They are priority targets in the late rounds.
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