If you are currently curating your fantasy football lineup for the 2024 NFL season, you are very much aware of the hype surrounding Marvin Harrison Jr. But does that mean you should back him for the entire season?
Oddsmakers are high on the rookie wideout to have a big professional debut after the big numbers he put up at Ohio State. (Being the son of a Hall of Fame receiver doesn't hurt, either.) Even with Harrison playing on an Arizona Cardinals team that had a mediocre offense last season, DraftKings lists Harrison as the +185 favorite to lead all rookies in receiving yards this season.
Who will challenge Harrison? Here are other rookie receivers you should back.
Chargers Round 2 rookie WR Ladd McConkey saw his first preseason action this weekend.
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) August 19, 2024
- 15 snaps
- 4 as the pre-snap motion man
- 60% slot rate
- Only played in 3+ WR sets
Here's his only target: pic.twitter.com/fBwZLINR3b
In addition to having an awesome sports name, this Georgia Bulldog has upside heading into his rookie campaign thanks to his speed and agility. Injuries hampered McConkey's senior seasons, but he still finished with 30 receptions for 478 yards in nine games.
He also has little competition on the Chargers depth chart, so he should be one of Justin Herbert's prime targets this season. If Herbert stays healthy — a big factor for LA — he is expected to target McConkey often, which makes the young receiver a solid bet at 9-1 odds of leading all rookies in receiver yards.
No surprise Worthy is expected to have a big rookie campaign, considering he was drafted by a team with a pass-heavy offense anchored around a multi-Super Bowl-winning QB. But he is still putting in the work, and his preseason performance has upped the excitement.
One thing that makes Worthy a bit of a risky bet at 8-1 is that KC has a deep receiving corps. To be fair, he could get more looks if Hollywood Brown is out for an extended stint because of a shoulder injury. Still, it is hard to determine how much work Worthy will get since he's on such a stacked team.
Here we have another receiver who was drafted to a pass-heavy offense featuring one of the top QBs in the league. Coleman is also joining the Bills receiving corps following the departure of Stefon Diggs, so he has a prime opportunity to climb the depth chart. How soon that happens is another story, however.
"My guess is that Coleman will end up moving to a flanker/big-slot role, but that may take some time to implement," Yahoo! Sports fantasy analyst Matt Harmon wrote. "When you see him start taking more reps off the line and inside, that will be the moment to move his stock upward."
Nabers led all college wide receivers with 86 receptions for 1,546 yards, and 14 touchdowns his junior year at LSU. He now joins the Giants as they continue to transition, and he is expected to be WR1 when the season opens up.
As Bleacher Nation and other sites have pointed out, Nabers' rookie production hinges on the Giants' quarterback situation -- which isn't great. Daniel Jones is still rebounding from an ACL injury and Drew Lock -- who is playing for his third team in four seasons -- is also hurt.
Long story short: Nabers is capable of taking on a big workload and producing in his rookie season. However, New York's QB sitch makes backing Nabers at +330 a bit risky.
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