Safest players to pick after Round 4 in 2024 fantasy football drafts

Safest players to pick after Round 4 in 2024 fantasy football drafts

You can gain an advantage over your league rivals by selecting safe players—those who are highly likely to be reliable producers—in the middle rounds of your fantasy selections. Every year, some talented players slip through the draft, possibly as a result of their age, dull pick appearance, injury experience from the previous campaign, or lack of top-10 potential. However, you can’t gamble heavily with every selection. The seven players listed below are probably going to be available following Round 4 to give your squad a consistent high floor and bankable production. The average draft position (ADP), which is based on 12-team PPR leagues, is taken from Fantasy Pros. Interestingly, three Cowboys players made it onto this list, which led me to believe that Dallas may be greatly underappreciated.

1. Amari Cooper

Cooper has averaged 14.8 fantasy points per game over the previous two seasons while playing with a number of different quarterbacks (12th among WRs since 2022, min. 20 games). Despite his struggles over the last two seasons, Deshaun Watson, the quarterback for Cleveland, has developed a close bond with Cooper. With the exception of Week 7, when Watson had one completion before leaving, Cooper averaged 17.6 fantasy points and 96 receiving yards in the five games that Watson played in 2023. In 2024, the Browns’ offense is expected to rely heavily on passes, especially with star running back Nick Chubb recovering from a serious knee injury and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to play. Cooper should have no trouble surpassing his current price tag unless an injury prevents him from continuing.

2. James Conner

Conner finished as a top-five RB in four of the eight weeks he played with Kyler Murray last season — that is more top-five finishes than Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon had over the entire 2023 season. Over his three seasons with the Cardinals, Conner has averaged 16.1 fantasy points per game, which ranks ninth most among RBs since 2021 (min. 20 games played). Please don’t let the addition of third-round pick Trey Benson scare you off of drafting Conner; it is extremely rare that any rookie drafted that late beats out a solid veteran, and Benson is still fighting to climb the depth chart behind Conner. If injury concerns are keeping you away, given that Conner has missed eight combined games over the past two seasons, that is fair, but the price (RB19) nicely cushions that risk, making Conner an appealing choice late in Round 5.

3. Dak Prescott

The player who finished 2023 as the QB3 in total fantasy points (only Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts scored more) and actually led the league in that category from Week 6 to 18 can be had in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts this season. There is no reason to expect much to change for Prescott this season; the Cowboys will still need to heavily lean on the passing game, maybe even more so after the offseason departures of RB Tony Pollard and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

4. Christian Kirk

Although he may not have been the most thrilling selection, Kirk has a good opportunity to lead the Jaguars in targets this season because veteran Gabe Davis and youngster Brian Thomas Jr. are Kirk’s main competitors at the position following Calvin Ridley’s departure via free agency. I am aware that in 2023, tight end Evan Engram led Jacksonville in targets; but, a large portion of those targets were obtained following Kirk’s season ending too soon due to a core muscle injury. In terms of receiving yards between Weeks 1 and 13, Kirk led Jacksonville with 787. After leading the Jaguars with career highs on receptions (84), receiving yards (1,108), and receiving touchdowns (eight), he also finished as the WR12 in total fantasy points in 2022.

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