Wide Receivers Most Likely to Rise in 2024:

To be fair, Jake Browning did a passable job as Joe Burrow’s replacement from Week 12 on, even connecting with Chase 11 of 12 times for 149 yards and a score in a narrow Thursday night win over the Jags in Week 13. Alas, Chase’s Burrow v. Browning splits over the whole season told a very different story. In 10 games with Joe Cool at the helm, Cincy’s WR1 scored 11.9 FPts/G (comfortable Top 10 territory). In seven games with Browning taking snaps, that per-game average dropped almost in half (6.3).

Burrow is back with his new platinum blonde coiffure and the Bengals have to be excited about having their full arsenal of offensive weapons, old and new, available to start the 2024 campaign. Or…will they? There are only two reasons Ja’Marr Chase doesn’t do what I think he’ll do this season: 1) if he or Burrow is injured again; or 2) if he truly does have the gumption to force Cincinnati’s hand on a new contract by sitting out regular season games. We see this movie every August and it usually ends happily ever after, but this one is starting to make me nervous. I’ve already drafted Chase this month, so (gulp) here’s hoping the two sides can settle their differences soon.

Drake London, ATL: If Chase’s 2023 splits don’t make clear how vital good QB play is to a receiver’s fantasy fortunes, consider the case of Drake London. The SC product headed into last season with fairly high hopes after a solid if not spectacular rookie performance (WR36) in 2022. It was reasonable to expect better production and better TD production when the Falcons added another threat (Bijan Robinson) to the offense but no real competition for WR targets. Instead, London provided slightly worse production (WR42) and exactly TWO touchdowns, a 50% dip from the year prior. Yuck.

It’s not fair to blame the ATL QBs entirely, though Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinecke were quite bad. Arthur Smith’s Stone Age offense was also largely to blame. Only Baltimore and Chicago ran the football more in 2023. I’d run it a lot too if I had the aforementioned Robinson in my backfield, but…see, Smith felt the need to split the carries between his star rookie and Tyler Allgeier almost evenly (roughly 54% / 46%), maddening Falcons fans and fantasy GMs across the land. Who over-indexes on the running game and then wastes all those carriers on a guy who averages 3.7 per tote?

Smith and Ridder were shown the door this past off-season, and replaced by Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins, respectively. The latter is a massive upgrade under center, which is what matters most for London. Setting aside last year, when he was injured, Cousins’ favorite targets in a six-year Minnesota tenure never ranked lower than WR13 (Stefon Diggs in 2019). His favorite target in Atlanta, though not in the same class as guys like Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Justin Jefferson, should take a huge leap in 2024. London’s showing up on breakout candidate lists for a reason, folks. Grab him.

Amari Cooper, CLE: I was an arts and letters guy, so I don't have the mathematical chops to determine if this is scientifically true, but…is there a steadier option at the WR position than Amari Cooper? Despite playing for three different teams in nine seasons, the Bama product has never averaged fewer than 6.8 targets per game or more than 8.53. He’s also dipped below 8.0 FPts/G just once (barely, in 2017), but also never scored more than 10.5 (2019). Those are some tight ranges for an almost decade-old NFL player.

Coop’s also never missed more than two games in a season, though that’s precisely how many he missed last year, costing him a possible Top 10 finish. One of those misses was in Week 17, a week after he clinched fantasy championships for a lot of you with a monster 38.5-point explosion against the Texans. He was less effective in the playoff rematch just two weeks later (5.9 points), but who cares about the playoffs, amiright? We care about the fake football playoffs and that’s where you could find yourself again this year if you’re willing to roll the dice on a wideout who’s reached the productivity danger zone (the 30-and-over club).

Cooper will have to adapt to catching balls from Deshaun Watson again, granted. Watson missed 11 games in 2023 and is several years removed from his stratospheric Houston days. Regardless, and despite Joe Flacco’s improbable / insane backfill work, Cooper averaged 10.36 FPts/G with Watson slinging the pigskin. His full year average was 10.33. The man is simply impervious to what’s going on around him, it seems, making him a good bet to replicate that Steady Eddie act one more time this season.

Good luck in 2024, all!