Fantasy Football Rankings: Matthew Freedman's Way-Too-Early Top 150 for 2024.

The Super Bowl is almost here, which means it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2024 NFL season.

With that in mind, this week I pumped out the initial version of my Top 150 (half-PRR scoring, always).

I initially suggested to the editors that I do a Top 15. They countered with Top 1,500.

I think we all know who won that negotiation.

Some notes.

• It’s best if you think of this initial Top 150 as a first draft. I will regularly update my 2024 fantasy rankings throughout the offseason.
   
• I glanced at early 2024 Underdog ADP after I created the Top 150 to spot-test my rankings, but I’m likely off-market with some players. This early in the year, I’m fine with that.
   
• Rookies are tough to project right now. I’ve included a number of them, but I imagine that my opinions on many of them will have changed by the time we reach the NFL draft.

So here’s my Top 150, followed by miscellaneous position-by-position notes.

As a reminder, you can start applying these rankings TODAY on Underdog Fantasy, where you can get a 100% deposit match of up to $100 when you sign up below with promo code LIFE:

Top 150 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings

Looking for even more rankings? Be sure to check out Dwain McFarland's initial top 150 to see where he and Freedman agree and disagree for 2024!

Quarterbacks

• Josh Allen (QB1) has scored 24.2 fantasy points per game in each of the past two seasons. He has a penthouse floor.
   
• Patrick Mahomes (QB4) doesn’t have the rushing consistency to crack the top three, but his ceiling is unrivaled.
   
• C.J. Stroud (QB5) and Jordan Love (QB6) are both attractive investment opportunities given that they could be even better as second-year starters in 2024.
   
• Brock Purdy (QB12) and Tua Tagovailoa (QB13) have solid floors and deceptively high ceilings. Their best seasons could be ahead of them.
   
• Jayden Daniels (QB14) is the late-round QB I want. He impressed as a true freshman starter at Arizona State (9.4 AY/A), he dominated as a Heisman winner last year at LSU (13.6 AY/A), and he proved himself as a legitimate runner (1,134 yards, 10 TDs rushing in 2023).
   
• Aaron Rodgers (QB16) is a 40-year-old pocket-bound passer with a bum Achilles and a bum playcaller. What could go wrong?
   
• Justin Herbert (QB19) feels low, but I expect the Chargers under new HC Jim Harbaugh to have a conservative run-heavy offense.

Running Backs

• Christian McCaffrey (RB1) will be 28 years old this season, but he led the league this past year with 2,023 yards and 21 TDs from scrimmage. It requires too much of a projection to put anyone else atop the RB rankings.
   
• I can see a case for any of Breece Hall (RB2), Bijan Robinson (RB3), Kyren Williams (RB4), and Jahmyr Gibbs (RB5) as the guy who immediately follows McCaffrey. It doesn’t matter to me how you order them. But (right now) I feel fairly strongly about those guys as the top five.
   
• De’Von Achane (RB7) has gotta be in the top 10. Absolute must. As wild as this sounds, he might be the guy with the best chance of putting up 2,500 scrimmage yards this year.
   
• I’m optimistic about Nick Chubb (RB16), but he’s a 28-year-old back recovering from a severe knee injury: He might not be the same guy when he returns.
   
• David Montgomery (RB17) has 1,000-plus yards in each of his five seasons and had 15 TDs in his 16 full games last year (including playoffs). I could rank him only so low.
   
• I can’t decide if having OC Arthur Smith as the Steelers playcaller is good -- or bad -- for Najee Harris (RB23), Jaylen Warren (RB27), or both … or neither?
   
• I’m worried that Austin Ekeler (RB32) will be a timeshare back in 2024.
   
• Ty Chandler (RB39) will crush this ranking if he ends up as the lead back for the Vikings, but I could see them drafting someone to play ahead of him … like Johnathon Brooks (RB38), Trey Benson (RB40), or Blake Corum (RB42).

Wide Receivers

• Justin Jefferson (WR1), Tyreek Hill (WR2), and CeeDee Lamb (WR3) are a solid top three. As great as Hill and Lamb were last year, I think Jefferson still deserves the headlining spot.
   
• A.J. Brown (WR6) has back-to-back 1,400-yard seasons since joining the Eagles, and he could be even better this year with the addition of OC Kellen Moore.
   
• DJ Moore (WR9) is quietly one of the league’s best receivers, and he might end up with the best passer of his career if the Bears take a QB with the No. 1 pick.
   
• It’s a bit of a cop-out to rank teammates Deebo Samuel (WR10) and Brandon Aiyuk (WR11) -- and I guess also Nico Collins (WR12) and Tank Dell (WR13) -- right next to each other, but I think this is the bigger picture: I’d like to be invested in all four of them.
   
• Keenan Allen (WR15) feels low, but he’ll be 32 years old when the season kicks off, and the Chargers might part ways with him this offseason. He carries a ton of uncertainty right now.
   
• It feels ridiculous to rank a rookie as a top-20 WR, but Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t a typical rookie, and I’m already below market on him.
   
• Tee Higgins (WR22) and Jaylen Waddle (WR23) feel like bounce-back WR2s with WR1 upside.
   
• Drake London (WR25) is ready for a breakout. I think?
   
• I’m not 100% sure that Jayden Reed (WR34) should be ranked ahead of Christian Watson (WR40), but I’d be happy to roster either Packers WR.
   
• On the one hand, I’m lower than the market on Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR39). On the other hand, I think my ranking is probably still too high.
   
• I’ve been impressed with Khalil Shakir (WR51) when he’s had the opportunity to play as a full-time contributor.
   
• Am I the only person who thinks Rashid Shaheed (WR56) could have a random 1,000-yard, 10-TD season within the next three years?
   
• I’ll be curious to see where Gabe Davis (WR60) lands as a soon-to-be 25-year-old free agent with 1,500 yards and 14 TDs over the past two years.
   
• Quentin Johnston (WR68) and Treylon Burks (WR 69) are outside my Top 150, in case you are wondering. Tough look for #TeamBigWR.

Tight Ends

• I have 15 TEs inside my Top 150 … and I kind of am fine with all of them?
   
• Sam LaPorta (TE1) and Travis Kelce (TE2) both had 11.5 fantasy points per game last year. Given their current trajectories, I give LaPorta the edge, but I wouldn’t fault anyone for keeping Kelce at the top of the TE rankings.
   
• With Trey McBride (TE4), Dalton Kincaid (TE6), Jake Ferguson (TE8), and I guess even Kyle Pitts (TE9), the position has several upside candidates. This might finally be the year that TE is loaded?
   
• Brock Bowers (TE11) is either way too high or way too low in my rankings.
   
• T.J. Hockenson (TE13) would be in the top six if not for his late-season knee injury.
   
• Cole Kmet (TE14) and Dalton Schultz (TE15) are not bad at all as high-end TE2s. Again … maybe TE is deep-ish this year?