QB Jordan Love, GB - Love undoubtedly got knocked on my early rankings due to a schedule that ranks up there with Josh Allen's as the most difficult for the recognized QB1s this summer. He also does not run as much as some of his counterparts, although it is hard to knock any quarterback with 30-touchdown upside who is coming off a season in which he added 247 yards and four scores on the ground. Ultimately, the one thing that probably gets lost the most in last season's breakout is how often he was without arguably his best (or at least most talented) receiver in Christian Watson, who was limited to nine games. Love also did not have the services of Luke Musgrave or Aaron Jones for six contests apiece. Watson may have finally corrected his hamstring issue, while Jacobs is an upgrade - certainly from a durability perspective - on Jones. Even with all the chaos surrounding him, Love finished the season by throwing for at least two touchdowns in 10 of his last 11 outings (including playoffs). A healthy Watson should open up parts of the playbook that were not assessable at times last year, so Love should be able to build on last year's production even though the schedule promises to be more challenging.

RB Najee Harris, PIT - To hear most fantasy enthusiasts talk about it, drafting Harris is akin to taking out the garbage. No one wants to do it, but someone has to. (It is not that bad, people!) Name another running back who has played every game and handled at least 270 touches in each of the last three seasons. The surprising answer is Harris. His worst fantasy season was last year when he rushed for 1,035 yards and eight touchdowns. He is the perfect back for Zero RB truthers: a workhorse that is durable and cheap. Perhaps this is the year that Harris' streak of 270-plus touches ends, but that seems like a poor bet playing for a play-caller in OC Arthur Smith. His offenses have ranked in the top 10 in rush attempts in four of his five seasons when he was calling the shots on offense (and I assume the one "off" year was a product of having Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson toting the rock for Atlanta in 2021). Making Harris' case even more compelling entering this season is that the Steelers' offensive line should be better now than it has been at any point during his pro career. Additionally, Jaylen Warren could start the season slowly as he completes his recovery from a hamstring injury.

RB Javonte Williams, DEN - It was less than a month ago that Williams' status on the 2024 roster was in question. Now it appears as though he is a safe bet to push for another 250 touches, as the 187-pound Jaleel McLaughlin is not going to be asked to handle more than 10 touches per game. Audric Estime may be the starter for Denver in 2025, but HC Sean Payton has no incentive to start putting heavy miles on his odometer with Williams still on the team. At his best, Williams is a tackle-breaking machine capable of being a featured back. Fantasy managers saw him handle a heavy load last season, if only because the Broncos did not have another viable option like Estime on the roster. Williams was unable to capitalize in large part because he probably was not fully ready to go following his 2022 ACL surgery. Almost two years removed from that injury now, Williams should have a chance to flash the same form he showed as a rookie in an offense that loves to share the wealth AND targets the running back position. How much are running backs targeted in Payton's offenses? The running back position has averaged 127 catches and 159 targets in Payton's last 10 offenses. The lowest catch and targets mark over that stretch were 95 and 134, respectively, in 2021 with the Saints. Rookie QB Bo Nix made a living of throwing short and quick at Oregon, which means my catch and target projections for this backfield (102 and 127) might be a bit on the low side. After starting around RB30 for me in PPR formats, Williams will finish in the low-end RB2 range.

RB Jaylen Wright, MIA - There are few better run-game designers in the NFL than Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel. Raheem Mostert is 32 with a lengthy injury history and De'Von Achane is a sub-200-pound back who missed six games as a rookie. While the majority of people seem to be flocking to Achane and his ridiculous efficiency, it begs the question: who benefits if/when either one or both backs get hurt? No one is advocating for Wright to be selected in the single-digit rounds, but he warrants consideration as a RB4 option as soon as Round 10. The only reason he is not ranked higher above is that McDaniel cannot justify taking too many snaps away from the back who just set a single-season team record for most rushing touchdowns or the most efficient rookie running back in league history. The problem with letting someone else take in fantasy drafts this year is that - like Blake Corum - it will be hard for McDaniel to take Wright off the field once he proves he can handle it. If I were more confident he would begin the season on the tail end of a 45-35-15 split and not merely as a third wheel, he would be ranked in the same range as Corum.

WR DK Metcalf, SEA - Since serving as the overall WR30 as a rookie in 2019, Metcalf has posted WR6, WR15, WR14 and WR21 finishes. Those efforts came under the watchful eye of HC Pete Carroll, who likely had a hand in former OCs Brian Schottenheimer and Shane Waldron running some of the more conservative offenses in the league. It seems unlikely OC Ryan Grubb will air it out as much as some are expecting, but there also is not much doubt this offense will throw more than it has at any point in recent memory. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is obviously a consideration to see more work than he did as a rookie (93 targets), but his additional looks figure to come mostly at the expense of Tyler Lockett. Even if that is not the case per se, Metcalf seems likely to remain the team's primary deep threat and man-coverage beater. He has attracted at least 119 targets in four straight seasons and should handle the Rome Odunze role in Grubb's offense (assuming there is a fair amount of carryover from his offense at the University of Washington). If that is the case, this year figures to give Metcalf his best chance - at least to this point of his NFL career - to maximize his ridiculous upside. While Metcalf's schedule is no walk in the park despite his 14 combined green and white matchups, Grubb is almost certain to move his receivers around more often than Schottenheimer and Waldron did.

WR Terry McLaurin, WAS - Using Fantasy Pros ADP going back to 2020, McLaurin was drafted as the WR24, WR10, WR16 and WR22 over the previous four offseasons. Over the past few months, Washington has added perhaps the best quarterback prospect in its franchise's history and removed any potential for serious target competition for him by letting Curtis Samuel walk in free agency and trading away Jahan Dotson. This summer, McLaurin is the WR30 on average after delivering his four straight seasons with at least 77 catches, 1,000 yards and four touchdowns. While this season's low ADP is partially a product of all the receiver talent in the league in 2024, McLaurin is arguably set up more for success this year than in any of his previous five seasons. New OC Kliff Kingsbury's offenses tend to play with pace and throw the ball a fair amount as well (554 pass attempts was the low-water mark for his offenses during his four-year stay in Arizona).

Let us say for the sake of argument that the Commanders' tight end and running back groups each soak up 100 targets, which is a fair expectation given the additions of Zach Ertz and Austin Ekeler. Assuming at least 550 pass attempts, this leaves somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 targets for the receivers. The Commanders' defense is still very much a work in progress, so this offense should throw plenty.) Washington's receiver group is not overly inspiring either (Dyami Brown, 62 career targets in three seasons; rookie Luke McCaffrey; 31-year-old Jamison Crowder, whose last season over 20 targets was in 2021; Olamide Zaccheaus, who has twice exceeded 50 targets in a season; 32-year-old journeyman Martavis Bryant). Not only should McLaurin's targets be of higher quality the season (thank you, Jayden Daniels), but there should be more of them. While a 100-catch season feels a bit rich, he should push for 90 to go along with about 1,200 yards and at least six scores. (As a point of reference, Chris Olave was the overall WR17 with an 87-1,123-5 line last season.)

WR Christian Watson, GB - It seems unlikely that the strength imbalance that likely has been the cause of Watson's repeated hamstring injuries in the NFL was not also an issue for him back in college. With that said, the Packers and fantasy managers alike are happy that Watson took it upon himself to discover what has been his biggest problem through two professional seasons: staying healthy. One of his legs (the left one, in this case) was reportedly 20 percent stronger than the other one, so it makes sense why the weaker (right) leg gave him problems. Especially in Green Bay's loaded receiver room, it seems unlikely that Watson will be the alpha receiver that he appeared to be after his incredible rookie showing. Nevertheless, he offers the kind of athletic package that would make most NFL receivers drool. Assuming the hamstring issues have been mostly solved and managers can get about 14 games from Watson this season, he could push for 60 catches, 900 yards and 8-9 touchdowns, which is about the same territory DK Metcalf (WR21) and George Pickens (WR28) resided in last year. Fantasy managers cannot assume Watson will now be the picture of durability simply because he did some research on his hamstrings, but it seems reasonable to believe the kind of strength imbalance he was dealing with was likely the biggest issue.

WR Brian Thomas Jr., JAX - About 4 1/2 years ago, the question was posed of which LSU player (Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson) contributed the most to the Tigers' historic offense. Sometimes, the answer is all three players. The reason this is relevant is that Jayden Daniels encountered doubts about his ability during the NFL Draft process, largely due to the kind of prospect many thought Malik Nabers was. Even Thomas suffered a bit from the Nabers' effect, as the criticism of him was that he was mostly a vertical receiver. That may be true to a point for now, but Thomas is not that much different of a prospect from Christian Watson - albeit without the durability issues. Thomas' talent and athleticism are for real; the only things that could hold him back as a rookie are the lack of a diverse route tree and/or general inexperience. The No. 23 overall pick this spring appears destined to be a star; the biggest question with him is if the 21-year-old's arrival on the scene will come this year or next. Christian Kirk and Evan Engram probably steal enough targets from Thomas to keep him from reaching his ceiling in 2024, but the fact that probability is not a given says a lot. Thomas is one of those players I would rather have blowing up on my bench than in some other manager's starting lineup.

WR Michael Wilson, ARI - Wilson has been mostly brushed under the rug in the eyes of many fantasy managers following last year's Trey McBride breakout, the addition of Marvin Harrison Jr. and the preseason hype of Greg Dortch. All three players are legit, but so is Wilson. While his reps with Kyler Murray were limited last year, Wilson typically performed well when he saw at least six targets as a rookie (14.4 fantasy points per game). He may never become an alpha receiver - especially with Harrison in the desert now - but he certainly possesses the size and route-running chops to make a name for himself as a solid complementary receiver. Unlike the other receivers mentioned above, there is almost no path to Wilson becoming a league-winner type as both Harrison and McBride would have to miss significant time. With that said, Wilson has a shot to earn 80-plus targets if he can stay on the field, although his lack of durability has been a problem. Consistency may be an issue in what should be a loaded offense, but Wilson should have some spike-week potential.

TE Isaiah Likely, BAL - Although there has been plenty of movement on my Big Board over the last few weeks at tight end, few of them have moved up very much. Zach Ertz is one player, but it will always be hard for me to buy too much into a 33-year-old tight end who has played in only 17 of a possible 34 games over the last two seasons. Worse yet, he will do much after the catch. The other tight end who has probably experienced the biggest jump is Likely, who likely did enough during his extended stretch as a starter last season to make himself a regular part of the offense. Don't get it twisted: Mark Andrews will still be Lamar Jackson's favorite target and Zay Flowers will not be far behind. While Likely's value will only truly be maximized if Andrews misses time again, there is also the real possibility he steals a few more snaps from Andrews than he has in the past AND eats a bit into Rashod Bateman's playing time out wide. (Nelson Agholor saw the most work in the slot in 2023, but a repeat of that seems highly unlikely if Likely has made the improvement from Year 2 to Year 3 that is being reported.)

Neither Andrews nor Likely are great blockers, so the likelihood that Baltimore utilizes 12 personnel (two tight ends) does not mean as much here as it would in other offenses. Nevertheless, 12 personnel should be a more featured part of this offense with Derrick Henry on the roster. In short, the reason to draft (and stash) Likely is because he should have some value as a part-time player - which is rare for a backup tight end - and would once again become an every-week starter if Andrews gets hurt. He is the one backup tight end in the league that can be considered a quality handcuff.