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2024 Fantasy Football Notes: Everything We Learned Watching NFL Preseason

by Kyle Murray (kmurray03) Last Updated 2024-08-13 21:06:18

jayden-daniels-preseason

Didn’t catch any NFL preseason games? No worries — fantasy football analyst Kyle Murray has you covered, as he breaks down everything he learned during last week’s games. Follow along, update your fantasy football rankings accordingly, and keep these notes in mind as you prepare for NFL DFS.

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1. Jayden Daniels showed he can add an explosive dynamic to this new look Washington offense. Daniels was able to stretch the ball down the field and also flashed what his rushing upside can do from a fantasy perspective, as he scampered in for a 1-yard TD. This rushing ability, especially in the red zone, will likely result in downside for both Commanders RBs.

2. Tank Dell was the odd man out in 2-WR sets for the Texans, but he also caught a long TD in this game, so overall, people will likely remain high on him. I wouldn’t worry too much about his snap rate in 2-WR sets. Obviously, you would rather have him out there, but the Texans are going to play a lot of 3-WR personnel; they did in this game with the 1st team offense. The real question with Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and Dell will be how C.J. Stroud is going to distribute targets to them, and unfortunately, we might not get a clear answer to that in the preseason.

3. Jets running back Braelon Allen does in fact look like a monster. The rookie from Wisconsin ran for 54 yards on merely 6 carries. He is the clear RB2 here, and obviously, Breece Hall will not be unseated, but you do have to wonder how much work Allen will be able to steal away from Hall.

4. Marquise Brown goes down. Brown made a catch on the first play of the first drive but came up injured. It sounds like he has a collarbone/chest injury that could sideline him for a month. This is brutal for him, and it probably helps rookie Xavier Worthy in terms of him getting a chance to earn a larger role and more targets from Patrick Mahomes.

Related: Find out where Brown sits in our best ball rankings and season-long prop projections now.

5. Khalil Shakir looks like the safest Bills WR based on the Week 1 preseason usage. Shakir played 7 snaps, while Josh Allen played 8. Those two seemed pretty connected in terms of playing time. which bodes well for Shakir’s place on the depth chart. He also saw 3 targets on his 5 routes. Curtis Samuel should also have a role (2 targets on 9 routes), and I would still expect Keon Coleman to be a starting outside receiver for this team sooner rather than later.

6. As expected, Rome Odunze was the odd man out in 2-WR sets for Chicago. I don’t think this situation is as clear as the Texans due to the fact that the Bears can likely run 12 personnel more, but Odunze will still see plenty of playing time. I still feel he is going too high in drafts though.

7. Brock Bowers is going to be a swiss army knife for the Las Vegas Raiders. He played just 12 snaps, but he lined up in 4 different positions (inline TE, FB, outside WR, and in the slot). He hauled in 2 catches for 25 yards.

8. The Packers WR group may be more of a rotation than we had hoped. I have serious expectations for Christian Watson and Jayden Reed this season, but based on the way they ran out their starters in Week 1 of preseason, it sounds like Romeo Doubs is going to be more involved than we hoped. Dontayvion Wicks was the odd man out to start the drive, as he played just 1 of the 3 snaps while Watson and Reed each played 2 snaps, and it was unexpectedly Doubs to be the only one of these four WRs to play all 3 snaps. I am still not too concerned with Watson and Reed, but this does raise some flags about Doubs potentially being more important than I figured him to be. We should expect a pretty clear rotation from these four, at least to start the season. It is also worth noting that Wicks caught a 65-yard TD pass from Jordan Love on the first drive.

9. Jalen Tolbert rested alongside other key Dallas players. Tolbert is one of my favorite sleeper picks of the season, and him being rested and not forced to compete for the WR3 job in these games tells me that job is squarely his.

Editor’s note: Use our Sleeper promo code to get a $100 sign-up bonus for NFL DFS Pick’ems before the 2024 season kicks off!

More 2024 Fantasy Football Notes

Patriots

- Drake Maye saw 6 snaps that turned into 3 pass attempts, and he completed 2 of them for 19 yards. He saw his day cut short very quickly.

- Rhamondre Stevenson played just 4 snaps as the Patriots looked to protect their best offensive player. He had 1 carry for 11 yards.

- Ja’Lynn Polk saw a surprisingly high 32 snaps, and maybe more surprisingly, saw 0 snaps with the 1st-team offense.

- I wouldn’t worry too much about the fact that Polk didn’t play any snaps with the 1st team though, as three cut candidates did see snaps with the starters. One of them was JuJu Smith-Schuster, who played just 2 snaps and was cut the next day.

Panthers

- Majority of starters sat this one out, but Jonathan Mingo played and ran 6 routes on 11 snaps. Terrace Marshall saw pretty similar usage, and it seems like Carolina followed a plan with these two.

- Exciting rookie TE Ja’Tavion Sanders also saw limited playing time (10 snaps, 4 routes). Carolina is dealing with some TE injuries, but this bodes well for him in the TE1 competition.

Lions

- Starters rested for Detroit, and we didn’t get a great look at any of these WRs competing for the WR3 job thanks to the poor play from Nate Sudfeld, but Daurice Fountain saw the most playing time amongst the WRs, playing 27 snaps and running 16 routes.

Giants

- The majority of starters sat for the Giants, however, Malik Nabers (very surprisingly) played and ran 8 routes on 12 snaps. He luckily avoided injury but then got banged up in practice a couple days later. Fortunately, the injury sounds minor, and he is day-to-day.

- Tyrone Tracy seems to have the RB2 job locked down despite big preseason games from other RBs in this one. With Devin Singletary resting, Tracy started and played 17 snaps. Unfortunately, it sounds like Tracy has suffered a serious leg injury in practice. Hopefully he is okay, but that situation will have to be monitored for fantasy purposes.

- Theo Johnson only played 12 snaps (ran 6 routes), but Daniel Bellinger only played 11 snaps, so it is difficult to gauge that situation right now. However, Johnson was the TE on the field in all of the 1-TE sets with the “starters,” but it will be difficult for him to see consistent usage if their is a rotation of TEs seeing snaps.

Falcons

- The starters were rested, so we got to see rookie Michael Penix get the start. He played 24 snaps and completed 9 of 16 passes for 104 yards.

- Not too sure there were many other fantasy relevant takeaways from this one, but Casey Washington was the WR to stand out, as he ran 24 routes on 35 snaps and saw a whopping 9 targets. With Rondale Moore out, Washington could be on the list of names to push for the WR4 role.

Dolphins

- Key players rested here as well, and it was potentially a Jeff Wilson farewell party. He played 17 snaps while rushing 5 times for 7 yards and hauling in 3 catches for 18 yards and a TD.

- It was Jaylen Wright who stole the show at the RB position, as he had 10 carries for 55 yards and a TD.

- Malik Washington saw limited playing time, as he played just 6 snaps. This was positive news, as it seems the Dolphins valued protecting the rookie WR.

Texans

- The starters played in this one after sitting the Hall of Fame game. CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, and Stefon Diggs all played 6 snaps.

- Tank Dell saw fewer snaps than Collins and Diggs, and he was the odd man out in 2-WR sets, but he was the only one to see a target and also made the big play in the group, hauling in a 34-yard TD from Stroud.

- Dameon Pierce played a little bit after the starters exited the game, as he saw 10 snaps.

Steelers

- Justin Fields got off to a rough start to say the least. He played 17 snaps and fumbled 2 of the first 3. He settled down a bit to complete 5 of his 6 passes for 67 yards, but he definitely could have done more to make a case for the QB1 role.

Eagles

- Starters sat for both of these teams, to no surprise, so we didn’t get a ton of actionable information. Kenny Pickett made Steelers fans smile, as he completed 14 passes for 89 yards (4 yards per attempt, woof.)

- Will Shipley played 19 snaps, while Kenneth Gainwell played 11 snaps. These two are reportedly fighting for the RB2 job behind Saquon Barkley.

Ravens

- Got nothing here for you for the Ravens.

Commanders

- The hype train will likely continue to gain steam for Jayden Daniels, as he conducted a TD drive, completing 2 of his 3 passes for 45 yards including a 42-yard dime to Dyami Brown. He capped the drive off, keeping a read option for a 1-yard TD run.

- Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson both played but were very limited. Ekeler saw 6 snaps, while Robinson saw 5. Ekeler was out there for 2 passing plays though (1 target), while 1 of Robinson’s 5 snaps were on passing plays.

- Jahan Dotson did see extended playing time in this one, which was interesting. He played 32 snaps, while Terry McLaurin played just 11 snaps. However, 50% of those snaps came from the slot. This is an interesting change from his first two seasons and could have played a role in his extended run.

- Luke McCaffrey might be a bit buried on this depth chart, as he was seemingly behind both Olamide Zaccheaus and Dyami Brown in this one.

Jets

- The starters rested for the Jets, so no news on any of those key guys, but Braelon Allen shined. He saw 6 carries and turned them into 54 yards while running over a defender or two. He should be firmly cemented as the RB2 in this Jets offense, and it will be interesting to see how much he can eat into Breece Hall’s workload.

Bears

- We saw Caleb Williams and co. in live game action for the first time. Williams played 20 snaps, completing 4 of 7 passes for 95 yards, including a 42 yards screen pass to D’Andre Swift.

- Keenan Allen and DJ Moore played 17 snaps, and as expected, Rome Odunze only played in 3 WR sets with those two so he saw fewer snaps (11) than the top 2 WRs.

- Keenan Allen went untargeted on 10 routes, while Moore saw 3 targets on 7 routes. Odunze ran 6 routes, but saw just 1 target.

- D’Andre Swift played just 2 snaps, and Khalil Herbert saw plenty of work with the starters after that. Roschon Johnson sat this one out, likely due to injury. The current RB rotation seems clouider than originally expect, but rumors of Herbert being on the move continue.

Bills

- Josh Allen and the starters got some work here as well, Allen played just 8 snaps.

- James Cook played 12 snaps, while Ray Davis played behind him with Ty Johnson out, and played 26 SNPs.

- The Bills WR snaps were a bit hard to decipher as well, Khalil Shakir was seemingly connected to Allen as he played just 7 snaps, which I would think speaks to their value in him. Curtis Samuel played 12 snaps and ran 9 routes, while Keon Coleman saw more work (no surprise being a rookie) as he ran 13 routes on 20 snaps. Mack Hollins missed this game and there have been reports that he is the current WR4 on the Bills.

- Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox were also limited with Allen, as they played 8 and 9 snaps, respectively.

Raiders

- Aidan O’Connell started the game and played one long drive that equaled 14 plays, Gardner Minshew followed him an played 21 snaps.

- Zamir White played 13 snaps, and much like last year, he played as many early down snaps as possible on the first drive of the game with the starters, but left the field for 3rd downs.

- Alexander Mattison saw the 3rd down work for the Raiders first team, not Dylan Laube.

- Jakobi Meyers played in the first drive with the starters, while Davante Adams was out. Meyers played 55% of his snaps from the slot.

- Brock Bowers ran a route on 75% of his snaps, and was moved around the formation, as we expected. He saw 2 targets, and caught both for 25 yards.

Vikings

- J.J. McCarthy has been getting all the buzz in camp, and he backed that up in this one. He came in after Sam Darnold played 12 snaps, but he impressed more. He threw a pick on his first drive, then followed that up with 188 yards passing on 11 completions. He had two TD passes, the first of 45 yards and the second one of 33 yards.

- Trishton Jackson and Jalen Nailor both had strong games, as they compete for the WR3 role in Minnesota. That could become more important pending the news on Jordan Addison. Jackson posted a 4/100/1 stat line on 5 targets, while Nailor caught 3 of 4 targets for 63 yards.

- Aaron Jones was rested, while Ty Chandler played 15 snaps. Chandler will undoubtedly be the RB2 here, but how much can he work into Jones’ workload?

Packers

- The starters played one drive, and the $220 Million Dollar Man, Jordan Love, picked up right where he left off, throwing a 65-yard TD to Dontayvion Wicks.

- However, Wicks was the odd man out to start the drive, as he played just 1 of the 3 snaps while Christian Watson and Jayden Reed each played 2 snaps. It was unexpectedly Romeo Doubs to be the only one of these four WRs to play all 3 snaps. We should expect a pretty clear rotation from these four, at least to start the season.

- Josh Jacobs played all 3 snaps (including a 3rd down) and saw 2 touches. AJ Dillon was the back to follow Jacobs, not Marshawn Lloyd. Although it was encouraging to see Lloyd play after he has dealt with a hamstring injury this preseason. Dillon also only had 2 yards on 4 carries.

Browns

- The Browns rested most of their key players, so there isn’t much to take away.

Bengals

- Some starters played, including Joe Burrow, who led a 12-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a 10-yard TD to Tee Higgins.

- Despite Higgins playing, Ja’Marr Chase was rested, and it was Trenton Irwin and Andrei Iosivas who started alongside Higgins.

- Jermaine Burton seemed firmly behind Iosivas for playing time coming into this one, but maybe he made a strong case for that to change, as he turned his 19 routes (20 snaps) into 3 catches for 82 yards and a TD on 4 targets, including a nice 37-yard TD (props to Logan Woodside for the certified DOT on that one). However, that was late in the 4th quarter, which speaks to the concern of Burton’s playing time.

- A preseason darling of mine has been Mike Gesicki, and while he only played on 8 of the 13 snaps with Hurrow, 6 of his 8 plays were passing plays. This doesn’t change too much in my eyes, as Gesicki should be expected to play exclusively as a pass catcher.

- Chase Brown played 13 snaps with Burrow, but Zack Moss was out for this game. Brown ran 4 routes and also played on 3rd down with the 1st-team offense.

Buccaneers

- The Bucs rested their starters, but there were some young players fighting for roles on display.

- Bucky Irving started and touched the ball plenty on the first two drives. Irving played 17 snaps, ran 9 routes (2 targets), and had 6 carries. He capped off a nice drive with a TD, and he posted a 6/28/1 rushing line.

- Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer continue to fight for the WR3 role, as they played 10 and 11 snaps, respectively.

Chiefs

- The starters and Patrick Mahomes played one drive, and while they were able to get down the field for a field goal, they saw Marquise Brown suffer a serious collarbone/chest injury that is expected to sideline him for at least a few weeks. The Chiefs opened the game in a 3-WR set, with Brown on the field along with Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. We’ll have to monitor Brown’s injury status, but I would suspect this will result in a bump for Worthy. Sounds like Brown was lucky enough to avoid surgery, but his Week 1 status is now in question.

Jaguars

- The first drive for Jacksonville was a 20-yard TD drive thanks to the new kickoff return rules, as Parker Washington had a 73-yard return. This ended up in a 9-yard TD pass from Trevor Lawrence to Travis Etienne.

- We got to see this new look WR trio, and it wasn’t appealing for Christian Kirk, who was left off the field in 2-WR sets, although he did still play on 7 of the 9 Lawrence plays and ran 4 routes. Both Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis hauled in big plays, as Davis caught a 20-yard pass and Thomas made a nice 41-yard catch down the sideline.

Titans

- We saw most starters in action, and another exciting return led to a short field for the 1st-team offense, as Kearis Jackson had a 63-yard return.

- Will Levis and Co. cashed in for a 15-yard TD drive that was capped off with a 1-yard rushing TD by Levis himself.

- Thanks to the short drive, the Titans came out for another drive, and this time they went 64 yards in 7 plays for another TD. Calvin Ridley had a 22-yard grab on the drive, which was capped off with a 4-yard TD from Tyjae Spears.

- Spears and Tony Pollard had a fairly even split, with Pollard playing 8 snaps to Spears’ 6. But it was Spears who ran 3 routes to Pollard’s 2. Spears also saw 3 snaps inside of the 10, while Pollard saw 2.

49ers

- The starters rested for the Niners, and Jordan Mason had the chance to continue to push for the RB2 role with Elijah Mitchell also out. He had 6 carries for 34 yards and a TD.

Seahawks

- The starters didn’t see any playing time, but Sam Howell looked good, as he completed 16 of 27 passes for 130 yards and a TD.

Chargers

- Some healthy players who may play a role for this team suited up, but the amount of healthy players is few and far between right now.

- With Ladd McConkey and Josh Palmer out, Quentin Johnston still wasn’t able to crack the starting lineup, as both DJ Chark and Brenden Rice seem to have the current edge over him.

- Hayden Hurst and Will Dissly were the starting TEs, as expected, and it was Hurst who had the more appealing receiving role of the two. He ran 5 routes on the 5 passing plays he was on the field for.

- It sounds like Kimani Vidal was rested, which bodes well for his current role after some speculation about Jaret Patterson making a case for the RB3 role. But he was also dealing with an injury a week ago, so we’ll have to continue to monitor this situation.

Saints

- Derek Carr led two drives of equal success: punts. The production was disappointing, but we did get to see how this Saints 1st-team offense looks to line up.

- Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams both saw snaps with the 1st team, as expected. Kamara played 6 snaps and ran 4 routes. Williams worked in some with the 2nd team as well. He played 11 snaps and ran 4 routes.

- Chris Olave and Cedrick Wilson led the WRs on the first two drives, and with Rashid Shaheed out for this game, that shows us that Wilson is likely leading the WR3 race right now.

- With Juwan Johnson out, Foster Moreau played 9 snaps and ran 5 routes, while Taysom Hill ran 4 routes on 6 snaps.

Cardinals

- Many key Cardinals sat out, including Kyler Murray, Trey McBride, and James Conner. Despite that, we still got to see a little bit of rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr., who played 3 snaps and was not targeted on his 1 route.

- Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch, and Zay Jones were all amongst the players who rested, so we could not get a look at how this WR room might shake out.

- Rookie RB Trey Benson played 18 snaps but was only on the field in early-down situations. This does not bode well for his current chances to have a role alongside Conner, and he should likely be considered nothing more than a handcuff at this moment.

Broncos

- Jarrett Stidham started but was quickly overshadowed by the play of Bo Nix. Nix showed some dual-threat ability, as he was 15-for-21 for 125 yards and a TD through the air and also added 17 yards on 3 carries.

- Javonte Williams started and played the first two drives, with Samaje Perine playing on passing situations during those drives. We are still expecting Perine to be a likely cut candidate despite this.

- Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime played after those two. Estime posted a 10/31/1 rushing line, while McLaughlin had 7 carries for 30 yards while adding 26 yards on 2 catches.

- Tim Patrick saw significant snaps with the 1st-team offense, suggesting he might be the WR2 opposite Courtland Sutton. Josh Reynolds was the WR3, which brings up concerns with Marvin Mims. Although he played on the first snap of the game, he played into the 2nd half.

- Troy Franklin was seemingly buried in this offense, as a handful of WRs, including fellow rookie Devaughn Vele, saw playing time before the rookie WR from Oregon.

Colts

- This preseason game brought the return of Anthony Richardson to NFL action. Richardson and this 1st-team offense played the first two drives, both ending in punts.

- Jonathan Taylor played all 7 snaps with Richardson. He will continue to project for an elite, 3-down role in this Colts offense.

- The WR room was interesting but maybe not 100% telling of their situation, as Josh Downs missed this game. Adonai Mitchell ran 8 routes, with 4 of them coming from the slot (which will be Downs’ role in the regular season). Alec Pierce ran 10 routes, with 8 of them coming on the outside. This suggests that Pierce likely leads Mitchell in the battle for the other outside role opposite Michael Pittman, but Mitchell will likely fill in for Downs as the slot WR until he returns.

- The stock for Jelani Woods looks shaky right now, as both Mo Alie-Cox and Kylen Granson played with the 1st team over him. Granson ran 3 routes to Alie-Cox’s 2. Woods ran 8 routes on his 16 snaps with the 2nd unit.

Cowboys

- With Dak Prescott sitting and veteran Cooper Rush barely playing, the keys were turned over to Trey Lance, who was 25-for-41 for 188 yards. He also added 44 yards on 6 carries.

- Rico Dowdle started and played 6 snaps, while Ezekiel Elliott was rested. The Cowboys were likely giving the young, inexperienced Dowdle a chance to make a statement, as they gave him 3 carries in the 6 snaps he played. He turned in 14 yards on those touches.

- Brandin Cooks and CeeDee Lamb obviously did not play, but another preseason darling for us, Jalen Tolbert, also did not play. That is great news, in my opinion, as Tolbert seems to securely have that WR3 role locked up.

Rams

- The starters never play for Sean McVay, and that did not change here. However, when looking back at last season, we saw Puka Nacua get some decent playing time in the first game of preseason before getting rested for the remainder of the games. Blake Corum is already being rested, so this suggests that the Rams could include their 3rd round pick (Corum) in their regular season plans early on. Kyren Williams also rested in last year’s preseason.

- Jordan Whittington showed out after having a big training camp. He hauled in 6 catches for 74 yards on 9 targets. It will be interesting to see his playing time the rest of the way as he competes for the WR3 role.

Image Credit: Getty Images

About the Author

kmurray03
Kyle Murray (kmurray03)

While finishing up his college degree, Kyle Murray (aka kmurray03) became a full-time DFS player in 2018 after he won the first FanDuel FantaSea Live Final event for a $250,000 score. He has appeared in 6 Live Finals, qualifying for 10 total seats in that time, and has accumulated multiple 6-figure scores across several sports. In recent years, he has also added a focus towards prop betting, where he has turned a profit in multiple sports, such as NBA, MLB, and PGA. You can find all of Kyle’s sports betting analysis on our sister site, ScoresAndOdds. Follow Kyle on Twitter – @KMurrDFS