Having the second overall pick in a full PPR Fantasy Football draft in 2024 is an excellent spot because it guarantees you'll get the choice of your top wide receiver or your top running back. Even in this format, Christian McCaffrey is likely to be the first overall pick and that was the case in this draft. While I'm a strong believer that there is a big dropoff after three running backs (McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, and Breece Hall) in 2024, thus making them more valuable than their current ADP suggests, I would only move them up my draft board in half-PPR and standard scoring leagues. This made my decision easy to go with my top-ranked receiver.
That's the easy part -- my first-round pick. Things get a bit tricky immediately in Round 2, but my focus remained on finding receiving options that can maximize scoring in a format like this one. I heard Adam Aizer refer to my draft as his favorite and I think a lot of that has to do with the running backs available in this year's Fantasy landscape in the middle rounds. We'll explore that and more below, but first, let's check out how the team developed.
Here's my squad from the second pick:
1.02: CeeDee Lamb, WR, DAL
2.11: Davante Adams, WR, LV
3.02: Travis Kelce, TE, KC
4.11: Joe Mixon, RB, CIN
5:02: Kenneth Walker, RB, SEA
6.11 Terry McLaurin, WR, WAS
7.02 DeAndre Hopkins, WR, TEN
8.11: Brock Purdy, QB, SF
9.02: Raheem Mostert, RB, MIA
10.11: Rashid Shaheed, WR, NO
11.2: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, MIA
12.11: Tyler Allgeier, RB, ATL
13.2: Marvin Mims, WR, DEN
14.11: Jalin Hyatt, WR, NYG
I was excited to grab Mixon and Walker as my starting backs despite passing on the position for the first three rounds. Mixon has three-down upside on what could be one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses. We've already seen Mixon provide a floor during his time with the Bengals in a heavy-volume role, and if he just finds the end zone a few more times, we're talking about getting back-end RB1 value in Round 4. Walker has a little more working against him, but big play upside every snap and talent (and age) that belongs in Rounds 1-2. The situation can change fast if the Seahawks offense resembles the 2022 breakout season we saw with Geno Smith.
Wide receiver depth is my main concern with this build as I leaned heavily into running backs after locking up three elite pass catchers. Hopkins was better than given credit for in 2023 and while volume might be a question mark with Calvin Ridley, Will Levis has a rapport down with Nuk.
In the final third of the draft, I focused on locking up a second quarterback to give myself an opportunity to find a consistent QB1. Between Purdy and Tagovailoa, I feel confident one will work out as a QB1.
Kelce is one of my favorite value buys in all of Fantasy. He was injured in 2023 and played through it while seeing his snap share drop significantly, his yards per reception drop significantly, and his touchdowns split in half from his three-year average. A fully healthy Kelce will bounce back close to 2021-2022 numbers with speedsters Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy drawing coverage and opening up more space in the middle of the field. I am confident Kelce will finish as TE1 and prove to be worth back-end Round 1 value. I'm happy to get him as early as Round 2 and I got him in Round 3 here.
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Walker profiles as a high-upside play given his potential to take any touch for a touchdown, but his efficiency marks are troublesome. More troublesome is the projection I have for the Seahawks offensive line and the potential for second-year RB Zach Charbonnet to work himself into a full timeshare. However, if Seattle returns to 2022 form on offense, Walker will be a steal at this value. When betting on the running back position, I'm looking for forced missed tackles, yards after contact per attempt, age, and injury history -- Walker checks most of those boxes.
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I view Mixon as the make-or-break player of this build because if he can accrue the volume he did with the Bengals, and score more touchdowns, he'll provide my RB1 value and turn this build into a league winner. Mixon has to first prove that he can fend off Dameon Pierce, but after seeing Devin Singletary beat him out in 2023, this feels likely. The key will be Mixon turning more of his red zone touches into scores.
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