What’s in store:

• The 2024 Upper Hand Fantasy Redraft Kit is here! CLICK HERE to learn more and get the Upper Hand in your leagues with last minute draft prep!

• Jahan Dotson has been acquired by the Eagles 🦅 In a rare intra-division trade, his fantasy prospects just got a whole lot worse.

• Bo Nix has the reigns to open the 2024 season. 🐴 Will you be targeting anyone on the Broncos offense?

• Dennis Allen didn’t mince his words about this Saints RB 😬 Repeated absences from practice seemingly have him in the dog house.

• Eagles acquire former Commanders first-round pick WR Jahan Dotson in trade involving multiple pick swaps

  • After seeming to finally gain some traction as Washington’s No. 2 WR over the course of the past few weeks at training camp, the former 2022 16th overall pick has been shipped to Philly along with a 5th-round pick next year in exchange for a 3rd rounder and two seventh rounders in the 2025 draft. Unfortunately for Dotson and his managers, the move to the Eagles cuts short what was shaping up to be a season with bounce-back potential and leaves him buried on the depth chart behind the likes of A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. Dotson could reasonably find his way onto the field in 3-WR sets with just Parris Campbell and John Ross contending for the No. 3 spot in the offense, but it’s unlikely that he earns any kind of full time role unless either Brown or Smith would be injured. As for the Commanders, Dotson’s departure removes one obstacle from the path to fantasy relevance for WR Dyami Brown, who flashed a connection with rookie QB Jayden Daniels in limited action this preseason. More important, though, are the positive consequences of Dotson’s exit from the target distribution for Terry McLaurin. Without a clear No. 2 option in the passing game, McLaurin is primed to spearhead what will likely be a very top-heavy target distribution in Washington. TEs Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott also stand to benefit in the target share department, as well.

• Broncos officially name rookie QB Bo Nix as the team’s starting quarterback for Week 1

  • It’s a development that has been expected since the Broncos made him the 12th overall selection in this past April’s draft, but Nix has officially claimed the No. 1 spot on the depth chart over backups Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. It’s been an impressive run for the Broncos rookie QB through two games so far this preseason, who has run a clean and efficient offense in his limited action ahead of his rookie year. With Nix showing that he is both competent and decisive in an NFL setting, fantasy managers likely won’t be throwing up in their mouths taking shots on WR Courtland Sutton and RB Javonte Williams later in drafts. At the very least, Bo Nix’s potential success opens the door to a fantasy relevant floor for both players in the Broncos offense – a far cry from what would have been an absolute mess had Nix not proven himself capable of taking the reigns in year 1. After all, he is the most experienced college quarterback ever to enter the NFL; that alone should help shorten the time it takes for him to acclimate to regular season gameplay. Nix’s fantasy ceiling remains relatively low (i.e. he should be left on waivers in 1QB formats), but he makes for an intriguing stash and potential QB2 start in superflex and 2QB formats.

• Saints HC Dennis Allen expresses doubt in RB Kendre Miller’s ‘ability to learn the system’ on offense, citing injury concerns

  • Allen has proven to be a man of many words this offseason, many of which criticize the players on his team – but perhaps no player has been on the butt end of more criticism than RB Kendre Miller. The second-year running back has been plagued with the injuries from day one, starting just eight games last year and failing to establish a consistent role for himself in the Saints offense. Those injuries are unfortunately bleeding over into his sophomore campaign, as Miller has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that has kept him off the practice field for some time – and Allen has clearly taken notice. “I don’t know if he can pick up the system because I haven’t seen him out there”, said Allen (per Saints beat reporter Jeff Nowak). Miller was one of the more talented prospects coming out of TCU in last year’s draft, but without the ability to be on the field in the first place, he’s been unable to showcase that talent as Alvin Kamara continues to head up the Saints backfield. We’re not quite ready to echo questions about the security of Miller’s roster spot at this point, but tension between Miller and Dennis Allen over his injury status appears to be building. Fantasy managers should temper expectations for Miller in Year 2 in the early going in hopes of things potentially picking up once he’s back (or as close as he can be) to 100%.

Get the Upper Hand in your Fantasy Leagues with last-minute prep using the Upper Hand Fantasy Redraft Kit!

Zero floor, all upside – shoot for the moon with your last few picks. Let's go over the upside of 8 players who you should be targeting with your last pick in your draft.

If you're in a 12-team league, here are the players I'm aiming for with my last couple of picks (14th round+):

• Rico Dowdle (RB, Cowboys): Word is that Rico is the Cowboys 1A at the RB position, so with a little more clarity, take advantage of grabbing the lead RB on a team that will likely be one of the highest scoring in the NFL.

• Josh Palmer (WR, Chargers): With little competition at the top of the WR depth chart for the Chargers, and even with a run-first approach in mind, Justin Herbert can still elevate receivers to a higher level. Ladd McConkey and Josh Palmer should be the two WRs seeing the highest target share among this WR corp.

• Jaylen Wright (RB, Dolphins): If anything were to happen to Raheem Mostert or De'Von Achane, expect Wright to hop right into the rotation. Because of his breakaway speed, he fits this scheme like a glove.

• Marshawn Lloyd (RB, Packers): Lloyd is a way more talented RB than AJ Dillon, so it's just a matter of time before he becomes the RB2 in Green Bay. He becomes one of the premier handcuffs, especially as we get several weeks into the season.

• Jaleel McLaughlin (RB, Broncos): Sean Payton's offenses consistently produce the top or near the top fantasy backfields as a whole, and McLaughlin was one of the most efficient RBs in the NFL last year. My guess is that he'll be the lightning to Javonte Williams' thunder as a 1-2 punch.

• Rashid Shaheed (WR, Saints): Let's hope is his foot injury isn't serious, but Shaheed has developed into one of the NFL's premier deep threats. Now that he's in a real offense under new OC Klint Kubiak, we could see Shaheed take the next step.

• Dontayvion Wicks (WR, Packers): One of my favorite late round picks, as he's set to enter the Packers WR rotation more often. If he keeps proving himself like he did in the first preseason game, he won't be denied. The talent is there, and he could end up seeing more opportunities come mid-season than you think.

• Josh Downs (WR, Colts): Some platforms have Downs' ADP way too low, and despite the high ankle injury he currently has, he should be good to go early on in the season. He's been THE Colts standout at camp, and he and Anthony Richardson have developed a serious rapport.

See Faraz’s full list of late-round dart throws when you get the Upper Hand Fantasy Redraft Guide!

CLICK HERE to head over to our website and get started! Advanced stats, articles, rankings, strategy, analysis, hundreds of players blurbs, and more await! And speaking of blurbs…

Watson spent just about half of the 2023 season sidelined thanks to trademark hamstring injuries early and late in the year, giving us a relatively small sample to work with to project into 2024.

In short, there wasn’t anything particularly impressive about Watson’s utilization through the nine games he started in the middle of the season from Weeks 4-13: besides air yards share (33.7% - 24th among qualifying receivers), Watson ranked outside the top-40 in all of the relevant target earning and productivity metrics (TPRR, YPRR, target share). He did start to find his groove along with the rest of the Packers offense on Thanksgiving in Week 12 and against the Chiefs in Week 13, posting a 12-165-3 line and averaging 24 PPR points per game in those two starts. However, his role as Green Bay’s deep threat (16.5 aDOT) could predispose him to volatility that Jayden Reed (0.26 TPRR, 10.1 aDOT) and even Dontayvion Wicks (0.23 TPRR, 10.2 aDOT) could reasonably avoid.

With that being said, in what many would consider a lost season, Watson led the Packers in end zone targets, target share, and 1st read target share. He was right behind Reed in receiving yards/game. The time in and out of the lineup hasn’t done Watson any favors in helping him to establish a foothold in arguably the league’s most crowded receiving corps, and with the cream yet to rise on second-year sleeper Dontayvion Wicks, Watson’s share of the target pie could stand shrink even more compared to last season.

Of course, we’d be remiss to forget about the ceiling Watson offers – his four-game run in 2022 where he averaged 24.8 PPR points per game (albeit with Aaron Rodgers at QB and no Jayden Reed) is still well within his range of outcomes - especially if the hamstring issues are truly behind him after making a concerted effort to get that corrected. However, the threat of injury and plenty of target competition loom large over his 2024 prospects and are baked into a heavily deflated ADP relative to the talent Watson has to offer. With that being said, he’s a target at his ADP to the upside he presents.