Fantasy Football 2024: Sleepers to Target and Possible Team Names for Your Squad
Zach Buckley@@ZachBuckleyNBAFeatured Columnist IVAugust 23, 2024Fantasy Football 2024: Sleepers to Target and Possible Team Names for Your Squad0 of 3
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The most successful fantasy football managers are the ones who know where and how to extract value at the draft.
The hope is building a roster of players who meet or, ideally, exceed expectations. It’s much easier said than done, of course, but you can help your chances by correctly identifying some of the top sleepers of the 2024 NFL season.
Whether unappreciated for their previous production or overlooked for a potentially significant workload expansion, the following two players loom as two of the best values of draft season. After making their sleeper case, we’ll close with a batch of team names to consider.
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys1 of 3
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Rico Dowdle has patiently awaited his big break, and the 2024 campaign should be the one that finally sounds opportunity’s knock.
The 26-year-old positioned himself for an increased role last season, when he turned 106 touches (89 carries and 17 catches) into 505 scrimmage yards and four scores. Then, the Cowboys increased Dowdle’s odds of seeing more action by letting Tony Pollard walk in free agency and bringing back Ezekiel Elliott, who turned 29 this summer and set a slew of career-lows last season, including 3.5 yards per carry and five touchdown.
Dowdle offers more explosion than Elliott. The latter might handle the heavier workload early, but it shouldn’t take long for the former to emerge as the preferred option.
This should be one of the league’s best offenses—the Cowboys paced the NFL in points per game last season—and Dowdle has a real chance to become its primary running back. Getting him outside of the top 100 (average draft position: 128th, per FantasyPros) feels like a no-brainer.
Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins2 of 3
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Tua Tagovailoa has some frightening injury problems in his past. He’s also coming off a campaign in which he played 17 games for the first time—and promptly posted top-five rankings in passing yards (4,624, first) and passing touchdowns (29, tied for fifth).
And he hit those marks, by the way, despite seeing his numbers sag in the second half. Over his first eight games, he averaged 302 passing yards and 2.3 touchdowns. Over his final nine outings, he was down to 245.3 and 1.2, respectively.
Perhaps that decline is cause for concern, but there’s also a chance it simply clearance-priced a top-line fantasy quarterback. How good could he have been had he maintained that early success? Certainly way too productive to be drafted 107th overall (14th at quarterback) as he is now, per FantasyPros.
Tagovailoa’s situation is elite. He has one of the league’s top receiving tandems in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, plus a creative playcaller in head coach Mike McDaniel. Don’t be surprised if Tagovailoa makes a push for the position’s top five by season’s end.
Team Names3 of 3
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Ja’Marrio Brothers
Mahomes Alone
Catalina Wine Mixon
Baby Back Gibbs
Slim Pickens
To Infinity and Bijan
Better Call Hall
Davante’s Inferno
Run CMC
Just the Tua Us
Natural Born Kylers
Levis 501
Hurts So Good
April Showers Bring Zay Flowers
Zeke and Destroy
