5 NFL Players Whose 2024 Fantasy Football Stock Can Explode with Strong OTAs (2024)

NFL teams are beginning organizedteam activities (or OTAs) this week. While these are voluntary, most playersparticipate in these events that allow organizations to run 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and11-on-11 drills for the first time this offseason.

While there is still a longway to go before the regular season kicks off, OTAs at least provide fantasyfootball managers with their first glimpses of new faces on a roster, depthcharts being crafted and systems getting installed.

It might be a tad irrational to put much stock into the reports and highlights that will soon surface from these activities, but that won't stop fantasy football big boards from being impacted by these revelations—sometimes in a major way.

With that in mind, here arefive players who could see their fantasy stock explode with a strong showing inOTAs.

Fantasy football scoring and ADP data is courtesy of FantasyPros using PPR format metrics.

Caleb Williams has the insidetrack to not only becoming the franchise quarterback the Chicago Bears have longcoveted, but also a breakout fantasy football superstar.

After a decorated collegiate career that included winning the Heisman Trophy in 2022, Williams became the top overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was already named Chicago's starting signal-caller for the upcoming season, a decision that came as no surprise after incumbent Justin Fields was traded away to clear a path for the 22-year-old to take the reins.

Now Williams will have a full offseason to prepare as the Bears' QB1, valuable practice time that will allow him to build rapport with the team's loaded receiving corps and arsenal of pass-catching weapons. Receiver is no longer a weak point of Chicago's roster, especially not after the club acquired six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen and landed a blue-chip prospect in Rome Odunze at No. 9 overall.

While the individual fantasy contributionsfrom Allen, Odunze and incumbent Bears skill position standouts like D.J. Mooreand Cole Kmet could be capped due to the sheer amount of competition there willbe for targets in this offense, the sky is the limit for Williams. The rookieis no stranger to airing it out often, having racked up over 8,000 passingyards and amassing 72 touchdowns during his two-year run at USC.

Williams should also tally up a good chunk of fantasy points on the ground. While he's not a run-first quarterback like his predecessor in the Windy City, he punched in at least 10 touchdowns on the ground in each of his seasons with the Trojans. The 6'1", 214-pound quarterback is extremely elusive and can use his knack for feeling pressure and escaping to pick up easy yards and scores on the ground when he's not slinging the rock to his receivers.

Despite his ceiling, Williams is only being drafted as the No. 11 QB with an ADP of No. 99 overall. If he's regularly flashing his considerable upside in OTAs, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Williams start overtaking passers currently being taken ahead of him such as Dak Prescott and Jordan Love.

The Cincinnati Bengals will have a new-look backfield in 2024 after parting ways with longtime running back Joe Mixon earlier this offseason. Following Mixon's trade to the Houston Texans, the door is now open for Chase Brown to become Cincinnati's top back.

Brown joined the team as a fifth-round draft choice last year but didn't make many waves as a rookie. In the 12 games he participated in, the Illinois product accumulated a humble 179 yards on 44 carries. He was utilized a bit more in the passing game, however, reeling in 14 of his 15 targets for 156 yards and his lone professional touchdown.

While these figures certainly don't indicate future stardom, Mixon's presence largely kept Brown off the field when the rookie wasn't sidelined by a hamstring injury that cost him four games. Brown participated in only 93 offensive snaps in total, a far cry from the 752 plays that the starter logged last year.

That should change in 2024 now that Zack Moss is the onlyreal competition Brown has for playing time.

While Moss is likely going to open the year as the starter after signing a $4 million contract, the four-year veteran has struggled with injury and inconsistency throughout his career. Although he earned eight starts in Jonathan Taylor's absence for the Indianapolis Colts last year, he was on the shelf for three games and missed a total of 11 games across the three prior campaigns.

Even if Moss doesn't go down with injury, Brown has enough talent to quickly eat into his more experienced counterpart's playing time. He was a three-down back who proved he could handle a heavy workload in college, including averaging a whopping 27 carries during the 2022 season. That stamina allows him to wear defenses down and helps make up for his lack of big-play ability, but Brown still has more than enough athleticism and versatility to be a capable starter at the NFL level.

If Brown has a strong showing at OTAs, he should start spiking up from his current No. 117 ADP. He has a strong opportunity to earn at least a good chunk of Cincinnati's backfield duties this year and should easily surpass production expected from an RB36.

No team may wind up getting more bang for their buck out of the 2024 free agency class than the Kansas City Chiefs. By signing Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to a one-year, $11 million contract, the Chiefs shored up their suspect receiving corps and brought in a player who could put up some incredible numbers working alongside Patrick Mahomes.

Brown was affordable for theback-to-back defending champions after his career took a downward turn during amiddling tenure with the Arizona Cardinals. After putting up 1,008 yards andsix touchdowns on 91 catches in 2021 for the Baltimore Ravens, he capped out at709 receiving yards and scored seven touchdowns in total during his two yearsin the desert.

Injuries played a big part in this regression. Brown not only missed eight games in total after being traded to the Cardinals, but also didn't get much opportunity to play with Kyler Murray after the star signal-caller tore his ACL late in the 2022 campaign. Now healthy with the potential to become a go-to target for Mahomes, Brown could see a massive surge in fantasy output.

Few quarterbacks are as skilled at throwing a deep ball as Mahomes, a trait that should result in this battery linking up for plenty of big plays. It would hardly be a shock to see Brown's yards per reception number reach career-best marks in Kansas City either, especially after he dropped from 12.1 yards per reception in Baltimore down to 10.9 in Arizona.

The Chiefs should have theluxury of deploying Brown on deep routes often, with players like Travis Kelceand Rashee Rice—who couldface a lengthy suspension to open the 2024 season—able to handle much of the short-yardagework.

Considering he's currently being selected as the No. 36 wideout with an ADP of 63, Brown could return huge dividends from a draft spot that generally indicates a WR3 level of production. Don't expect Brown to linger in this sixth-round territory long, however, as he'll likely catapult up the board if he displays a quick rapport with Mahomes during OTAs.

Ricky Pearsall may have been the San Francisco 49ers first-round choice in 2024, but Jacob Cowing could be the Niners rookie receiver who first emerges as a viable fantasy option despite his Day 3 draft status.

Cowing turned heads for his showing at the combine. While he only measured up at a slender 5'8", 168 pounds, he showcased real speed by blitzing through the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds. A lack of size didn't hinder his ability to produce either, as he put up three consecutive 1,000-plus yard campaigns spanning his time at both UTEP and Arizona.

While the 23-year-old is relatively old for a first-year NFLplayer, that experience should help him get integrated into the offensequickly. Cowing participated in 58 games during his collegiate career, accruinga total of 4,477 yards and 33 touchdowns on 316 receptions. He saw some usageas a rusher in that span as well, turning his 12 carries into 102 yards and ascore.

Expect Cowing's versatility to be on full display in a Kyle Shanahan-led offense.

Shanahan helped develop Deebo Samuel into a multi-positionalstar in his system. While the six-foot, 215-pound veteran is much larger thanhis rookie counterpart, his success as both a pass-catcher who can line up inany spot and rusher out of the backfield could be the blueprint for Cowing tofollow at the next level.

Shanahan said he plans to deploy Cowing in a variety of ways when discussing his reasonings for drafting the elusive playmaker (per SI.com's Jose Sanchez):

"Very similar to what we got with Ricky [Pearsall] in that there's not a route that he can't run. He starts outside the numbers and he's got the speed to get on top of people and threaten with a go. He's got the quickness. Inside he'd be a big problem with just how shifty he is. He can run screens and things like that.

While there won't be a ton of looks to go around right away in this veteran-laden 49ers offense, Cowing currently looks like an excellent stash candidate who could get some early run in deeper fantasy leagues for his home run abilities. If he starts making noise in OTAs and appears on his way to carving out a consistent role as a rookie, Cowing should see a massive jump from his current ADP of 256.

Tight end has traditionally been a position where playersstruggle to make noteworthy contributions early in their careers. Someprospects have been bucking the trend, however, including in 2021 when KylePitts finished as the TE6 and especially last season when Sam LaPorta led theposition in fantasy points produced.

Ben Sinnott could become the latest to make his markquickly.

Just like LaPorta last year, Sinnott was the second tightend off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft. While there was a large gap betweenwhere consensus No. 1 tight end Brock Bowers was selected at No. 13 overall and Washington Commanders landing the Kansas State product at No. 53, itwould hardly be a shock to see Sinnott have not only the best year of anyrookie tight end, but also assert himself as a viable TE1 for fantasy purposes.

Sinnott possesses fantastic hands with a huge catch radius. He gets open with deceptive speed and crisp route-running ability then fights hard for extra yards each time he touches the ball. While his collegiate numbers don't jump off the page, he did put up a respectable 1,123 yards and 10 touchdowns on 80 catches over his final two seasons with the Wildcats.

The Commanders have a pair of star receivers in Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson who will command plenty of targets from rookie signal-caller Jayden Daniels but there isn't much depth behind them. If third-round wideout Luke McCaffrey has a slow start to his career, Sinnott has an even stronger chance of becoming an instant contributor in this offense.

The lack of competition not only in Washington but around the league at the tight end spot certainly helps Sinnott's chances of becoming a worthwhile fantasy pickup. Only nine tight ends had 151 or more fantasy points last year and just four of those finished 2023 with more than 204 points.

Zach Ertz, the veteran who Sinnott will have to directly contend with for playing time and targets, posted a meager 24.7 points across the seven games he suited up for before going down with a season-ending injury.

Sinnott may not become a bona fide superstar in Year 1, but there's plenty of reason to believe he'll greatly outpace his current ADP of 200. He has far more upside than his current TE27 status suggests and could be a perfect late-round flier to take in early drafts before a breakout showing in OTAs.