• Los Angeles Chargers: Los Angeles’ expectedly efficient offense features Nos. 1 and 2 depth chart battles across three different skill positions.
• Denver Broncos: The entirety of Denver’s fantasy-relevant offensive positions will be decided by preseason competition.
• Dominate fantasy football season with promo code PFF25: Unlock all of PFF's fantasy content and tools, including full access to the fantasy football mock draft simulator, for 25% off using promo code PFF25.
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Many NFL teams enter preseason play with clearly defined depth charts but in some instances, fantasy-relevant roles remain up for grabs in late August. With limited time to consume NFL preseason content, identifying teams with a large number of available roles helps direct fantasy managers toward teams that need to be studied prior to the Week 1 kickoff.
The article below details three NFL offenses, plus one defense, that fantasy managers should watch through the 2024 NFL preseason to identify which players should be targeted come draft day.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers’ new-look offense, led by head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, will undoubtedly be a run-heavy affair, but its wide-open skill position depth chart provides opportunities for new high-volume starters to emerge at multiple positions. Each unit should be closely monitored throughout NFL preseason play. Quarterback Justin Herbert’s elite quarterback traits elevate all involved. His 83.1 PFF passing grade ranks 10th among 32 NFL quarterbacks with at least 280 dropbacks.
Los Angeles allowed to walk four of its top-five target earners and both of its top-two rushers from 2022-to-2023, clearing the way for a fresh starting lineup. Los Angeles nearly ran the table in my pre-2024 NFL draft best landing spot series, making the final lists at wide receiver, tight end and running back.
Los Angeles’ pass-and-run games will be protected by improved blocking along the offensive line after turning in a 24th-ranked 62.5 PFF offense grade in 2023. The front office drafted former Notre Dame tackle and the No. 5 overall player on PFF’s 2024 NFL Draft big board Joe Alt (90.8 PFF offense grade) with the fifth-overall 2024 NFL draft pick, and free agent signee center Bradley Bozeman (63.5 PFF offense grade) makes for a seamless transition following center Corey Linsley’s (63.4 PFF offense grade) surprising and unfortunate retirement.
As detailed in the wide receiver article linked above, the offense should still yield nearly 500 passing attempts despite its run-centric nature. Fourth-year veteran Joshua Palmer produced a career-high trio last season, including a 67.6 PFF receiving grade, 17.5% target rate and 1.71 yards per route run (YPRR) average. He has the inside track to two-receiver sets.
Second-round rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey has shined in training camp. He is the best bet to take over Los Angeles’s inside/outside wide receiver role held by former stalwart Keenan Allen. As detailed in “3 must-sraft rookie wide receivers,” McConkey has a 100-plus-target outlook in year one. His 83.3 PFF receiving grade ranks 24th among 76 Power Five wide receivers with at least 160 targets over the last three years.
Wide receiver Quentin Johnston enters a make-or-break preseason after a 2023 rookie-season flop. His fate is likely determined by his ability, or inability, to beat out journeyman D.J. Chark Jr. Johnston’s 13.3% target rate edges out Chark’s 12.8%, but both Chark’s 60.0 PFF receiving grade and 1.08 YPRR beat Johnston’s 58.7 PFF receiving grade and 0.88 YPRR.
Michigan’s 48.7% 12 personnel (two tight ends) rate under Harbaugh last year ranks sixth-highest among Power Five teams. Free agent signee tight end Will Dissly is the best all-around player in the position group, registering a 60.3 PFF receiving grade, an 83.5 PFF pass-blocking grade and a 77.2 PFF run-blocking grade. Incumbent Donald Parham (64.0 PFF receiving grade) is his likely play-to-play companion.
The front office reunited Roman with his former Baltimore running backs, Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins, and drafted former Troy running back Kimani Vidal in the sixth round. Vidal was identified pre-draft as one of the best rushers in the 2024 NFL Draft and as detailed in “3 must-draft rookie running backs,” “Edwards and… Dobbins once formed a frightening duo rushing under Roman… but debilitating lower-body injuries have lessened Edwards’ efficacy and rendered Dobbins a fringe NFL talent. Edwards produced four career-lows last year, including his 75.4 PFF rushing grade. Dobbins’ pre-Achilles-tendon-rupture 49.6 PFF rushing grade from 2023 fails to inspire.”
“[A]mong 47 FBS running backs with at least 175 rushing attempts, ‘Vidal ranks second in missed tackles forced (94), first in explosive run plays (47), eighth in missed tackles forced per attempt (0.32) and 17th in explosive run play rate (15.9%)… He forced 10 missed tackles on 18 senior-season receptions and his 83.5 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks second among 14 FBS running backs with at least 100 pass-protection snaps…’ Vidal earned at least 22 targets in all four college seasons while maintaining an 80.7%-plus catch rate.” He is a complete three-down player.
Los Angeles’ starting running back will be startable as a volume-based RB2, no matter the player. Vidal’s enticing profile simply increases the upside.
Fantasy managers should monitor Los Angeles’ preseason games closely.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos have starting roles available across the starting lineup, including quarterback, wide receiver, tight end and running back. Both the wide receiver and tight end rooms have talent-related questions that need answering but the running back room is perhaps the league’s deepest. It is an offense to watch in the 2024 NFL preseason.
Denver gave 2020 first-round pick, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy four years to develop, but his failure to crack 1,000 receiving yards in a single season eventually contributed to his trade to the Cleveland Browns. He takes with him a career 74.3 PFF receiving grade.
Veteran incumbent wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick have flashed at times but lengthy injury records and correspondingly shaky play jeopardize their depth chart footholds — Patrick’s more so than Sutton’s. Grade 3 ACL and MCL tears highlight Sutton’s medical sheet and Patrick has failed to log a single snap since the 2021 NFL season after suffering consecutive season-ending summer injuries over the last two years (ACL tear and a ruptured Achilles tendon, respectively). He earned a 71.8 PFF receiving grade that year.
Sutton remains the wide receiver corps’ most proven player, recording 777, 830 and 776 receiving yards from 2023-to-2021, respectively. He has a 75.6 PFF receiving grade to show for it, likely securing his spot in three-receiver sets.
Youthful challengers include second-year speedster, wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. and fourth-round rookie wide receiver Troy Franklin, who spent the last two seasons catching passes from Denver’s first-round pick, quarterback Bo Nix.
Mims’ dichotomous rookie season depicts an elite ball-in-hands talent with a problematic target-earning profile. Among 112 NFL wide receivers with at least 30 targets and 85 receiving snaps, Mims top 12 in aDot (15.2), yards per reception (17.1) and yards after the catch per reception (7.1). His skills translate to the return game as well. Among 26 NFL returners with at least 25 combined kickoff and punt returns, Mims ranks fourth in return yards per kickoff attempt (26.5), ties for second in missed tackles forced per kickoff return attempt (0.6) and ranks No. 1 overall in both longest kickoff return (99 yards) and return yards per punt return (16.4).
Among qualifying NFL wide receivers, Mims ranks 90th in target rate (13.1%), 53rd in YPRR (1.54) and 32nd in catch rate (68.8%) though. His sixth-ranked 34.4% deep-target rate serves as a saving grace, albeit a potentially volatile one.
Franklin flamed Power Five defenders as a 2023 20-year-old. Among 31 Power Five wide receivers with at least 95 targets, Franklin ties for 15th in missed tackles forced (14) and ranks 13th in target rate (23.7%), 11th in aDot (12.8), 10th in deep-target rate (21.9%), ninth in catch rate (71.0%) and yards after the catch per reception (6.6), and top five in yards per reception (17.1), YPRR (3.32) and explosive pass plays (36). His 87.3 PFF receiving grade ranks ninth. Franklin possesses the highest upside among Denver wide receivers but he must first earn head coach Sean Payton’s trust.
Nix is a classic Payton quarterback, effectively distributing the ball as a quick processor. Among 30 Power Five quarterbacks with at least 380 dropbacks, Nix ties for third in yards per passing attempt (9.5) and ranks second in average time to throw (2.44 seconds) and first in adjusted completion rate (85.5%). His 92.7 PFF passing grade ranks No. 1. He is the deserved favorite to start Week 1.
Nix totaled 50-plus rushing attempts in all five college seasons, twice surpassing 90 attempts. He is quietly in play as a dual-threat fantasy starter.
Denver’s five-deep backfield is detailed extensively in Ambiguous Backfield to Target in 2024, though fifth-round rookie running back Audric Estimé was identified early as one of The Best Rushers In The 2024 NFL Draft; “[a]mong 27 Power Five running backs with at least 175 rushing attempts, Estimé leads the nation with a 94.0 PFF rushing grade, 6.4 yards per rushing attempt and 4.3 yards after contact per rushing attempt.”
Denver’s offense is one to watch in the NFL preseason.
Los Angeles Rams
Both the Los Angeles Rams offense and defense have fantasy-relevant questions that will be answered by preseason play. Head coach Sean McVay helpfully rests his starters once they have won a starting role. NFL preseason Weeks 2 and 3 are particularly important in this regard.
As detailed in the PFF Fantasy Football Podcast’s recent sleeper wide receivers episode, Los Angeles wide receiver Demarcus Robinson is a potential 2024 sleeper after winning the No. 3 wide receiver role in 2023. He earned a 69.6 PFF receiving grade from Week 13-on.
The Athletic’s Los Angeles Rams beat reporter Jourdan Rodrigue recently profiled the team’s budding tight end competition, indicating McVay intends to increase his 12 personnel (two-tight-end sets) usage this season. While free agent signee Colby Parkinson’s three-year, $22.5 million contract is notable, Rodrigue has regularly highlighted second-year tight end Davis Allen’s development, even invoking her “significant mental workload” phrase, on Jorge Martin’s Familia FFB show, used to describe imminent breakout wide receiver Puka Nacua last summer.
Allen was identified as a potential DFS option in Week 15 last year. His 72.8 PFF receiving grade ranks second among Los Angeles’ 2023 pass catchers while Nacua’s 89.3 PFF receiving grade ranks No. 1. Parkinson earned just a 53.7 PFF receiving grade with the Seattle Seahawks in 2023.
Starting tight end Tyler Higbee opened camp on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list following his January 14th Grade 3 ACL and MCL tears. He earned a 58.7 PFF receiving grade.
Per Rodrigue’s report, tight ends coach Nick Caley reportedly turned down an offer to assume the vacant New England Patriots offensive coordinator role this offseason, at least in part due to Los Angeles’ promising tight ends. He famously coached New England’s tight ends from 2017-to-2022.
Third-round rookie Blake Corum’s potential preseason playing time looms large. Should he sit in preseason Weeks 2 and 3, he may hold standalone fantasy football value. His 95.0 PFF rushing grade ties for second among 29 Power Five running backs with at least 300 rushing attempts over the last two years.
Los Angeles’ cornerback corps recently lost cornerback Derion Kendrick to an ACL tear and free agent signee Darious Williams suffered a hamstring strain of unknown severity. The unit may be one to target in wide receiver-cornerback matchups early in the year. Kendrick earned a 60.4 PFF coverage grade in 2023 while Williams received a far superior 85.3 PFF coverage grade.
Fantasy managers should watch for Los Angeles players who rest during the 2024 NFL preseason.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.