Fantasy football 2024: Puka Nacua, Josh Allen among riskiest picks in drafts
One of the keys to building a winning fantasy football roster is managing risk. Too little and you end up with a boring team that finishes in the middle of the pack. Too much and you'll likely find your key players underperforming or getting injured.
TOP 200: Overall player rankings for 2024 fantasy drafts
CHEAT SHEET: The best fantasy players at each position for 2024
MORE LISTS: All-sleeper team | All-bust team | All-breakout team | All-value team
Here are some of this season's riskiest players at each position. Be very careful if you're considering drafting them. They could help you win a championship, but they could also ruin your title dreams. (ADPs from all August drafts, courtesy of NFFC)
QUARTERBACK
QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (ADP: 28, QB 1): The Bills had a major exodus of talent at wide receiver and on the offensive line. Allen will still be a top quarterback, but is he really the top quarterback?
RUNNING BACK
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers (ADP: 1, RB 1): He's averaged a hearty 336 touches per year the last two seasons. At age 28, and already nursing a calf injury that will keep him from playing in any preseason games, that’s a recipe for trouble if you take him first overall.
WIDE RECEIVER
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams (ADP: 13, WR 8): A legit talent, but wasn’t nearly as prolific once Cooper Kupp returned to the lineup. He also got his knee "banged up" making a touchdown catch in practice, so his reps figure to be limited the rest of camp.
TIGHT END
Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders (ADP: 104, TE 11): Recency bias is real (see Sam LaPorta's success as a rookie tight end a year ago). There are just too many mouths to feed, no matter who's under center, to justify this rookie being an every-week fantasy starter.
KICKER
Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs (K 3): Since finishing as fantasy's No. 1 kicker in 2019, he's had only two seasons inside the top-12. High ceiling, troubling floor.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Buffalo Bills (D/ST 7): Considerable personnel changes in the offseason; the division got tougher, too. Don’t get overzealous based on their past success.
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