What's Going On With The 2024 WR Draft Class?

2024 Receiver Draft Class

The 2024 wide receiver class is weird. This was recently a topic of conversation on the Ringer Fantasy Football Podcast so I can’t take credit for coming up with it but their conversation made me want to dive deeper into the wide receivers drafted in 2024. There were 32 receivers drafted that have had significant playing time, with a whopping seven drafted in the first round. And of those 32, we don’t really know what we have in any of them yet. Sure, they’ve only played two seasons and perhaps that’s too small a sample size to draw any conclusions with… fine, I get it. But still, you’d think at least one of them would have Jamaar Chased us by now, given the hype around these guys. Anyway, let’s look at the class, starting with the first round:

Round 1

Like I said, there were seven receivers selected in the first round of the 2024. That’s a lot. In fact, the only other time that’s happened this century was in 2004 when a young upstart named Larry Fitzgerald was taken third overall by (funnily enough) the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals tried to repeat history 20 years later by selecting Marvin Harrison Jr 4th overall. Did they manage to capture lightning in a bottle again?

Marvin Harrison Jr.

Short answer? It doesn’t look like it. More accurate answer? It’s too early to tell. The hype around this kid coming into the draft was loud. He was being touted as a once in a generation can’t miss prospect, and no one blinked when he was taken fourth. And since then, the hype has cooled. Now… has he been bad? No, especially considering the team that’s been around him the past two years, particularly at the QB position. He has the second most touchdowns in his draft class and the third most yards. But he certainly hasn’t lived up to the hype. I think we (the NFL fans + media at large) tend to conflate bad with disappointing too much, especially when fantasy is involved. Harrison is not a bad wide receiver and he certainly has room to grow. I think the main question is, will the Cardinals ever give him the opportunity to do so?

Malik Nabers

Going by eye test alone, Nabers looks like the best wide receiver in the class. I would be willing to wager that after a few more seasons play out in which he remains healthy, that will prove to be the case. But health is the concern at the moment. His season was cut short by an ACL tear last season and it looks like this season will be cut short by that injury as well. But if his rookie year is any indication, once he’s back to 100%, he’ll be a force. Gaining twelve hundred yards and 7 touchdowns in his debut, Nabers has Giants fans excited.

Rome Odunze

I don’t hear a lot of talk about Odunze. Part of that is due to his middling fantasy performances over the past two seasons. Receivers who don’t hit 1,000 yards and/or nearly double digit touchdowns tend to get disregarded. That said, 734 and 661 season yards respectively as well 9 total touchdowns is not bad. Also, now that D.J. Moore is off to Buffalo, Rome will probably get a lot more chances to shine.

Brian Thomas

When I say this draft class is weird, Thomas is one of the main reasons why. His rookie campaign was stellar and we all had high hopes for him coming into the 2025 season. Then that season was just…weird. When he wasn’t injured he still seemed just not on the same page as Lawrence… I don’t really know what happened there and I’m not interested in speculating. The point is, he was primed to snag the 2024 WR crown and just disappointed. He currently still has the most (regular season) receiving yards in his draft class. So which year was the anomaly? The 2024 1282 yard season or the 2025 707 yard season. Will we learn in 2026?

Xavier Worthy

Perhaps it was unfair of us to compare Worthy to Tyreek Hill but when the Chiefs drafted him late in the 1st round, that’s what we all did. He’s so fast! The Chiefs offense will be scary again! And… it didn’t quite pan out like that, did it? His numbers are similar to Odunze, so we can’t say he’s been bad… but he certainly didn’t meet the (possible unfair) expectations.

Ricky Pearsall

Man, if bad luck had a name it would be Ricky Pearsall. We all know he got shot his rookie year, and then his injury that cut short his second year will now completely shut down his third year entirely. But… When he is on the field, he looks great. Amazing even. And boy could the 49ers have used him this season. He was a favorite of mine in fantasy this year but now, who knows what his future looks like. Hopefully we can get a full season from him in 2027.

Xavier Legette

What’s there to say about Xavier Legette? His rookie year was meh so the Panthers went out and drafted Tetairoa McMillan #8 overall. McMillan, by the way, had more yards and the same number of touchdowns in one season than Legette did in two. So perhaps Legette will settle in a solid #2 in an improving offense. But that’s a disappointing result for a first round draft pick.

Round 2

Keon Coleman

There was real buzz around Coleman when the Bills drafted him. The first pick in the second round? That’s practically a first round pick. Finally, Josh Allen has a guy he can really rely on now. Watch out AFC…

Two years later, the Bills are paying a lot to get D.J. Moore in the building. So what happened? Averaging around 500 yards and 4 TD a season is not what Buffalo signed up for, and they have made their frustrations plain. The word “maturity” gets tossed around a lot when talking about Coleman. Well, the good news is that maturity is one of the few skills that naturally grow over time (usually… one would hope…)

Ladd McConkey

I don’t plan on showing the stat breakdown like this for every single receiver drafted in 2024, but this guy right here is why I’m including the second round. Because, if there was a redraft of these players right now, he might actually go first. If not, he’d certainly be in the first round. Like Thomas, he had a stellar rookie season and a less than stellar sophomore season. Unlike Thomas, there are some solid reasons for this… not the least of which are the offense was crippled by an utterly decimated offensive line and he was mogged (as the kids say) by Keenan Allen, especially on third downs. Well, Allen is once again no longer a Charger (for now), the offensive line is healthy (for now) and with McDaniel calling plays (for now) this offense, and Ladd with it, are poised to shine brighter than ever.

Ja’Lynn Polk

No snarky comments about the lack of stats here. Polk’s story is a sad one. Notably, the Patriots traded back from 34 with the Chargers to get Polk at 37, it was that pick at 34 where the Chargers got Ladd. After an abysmal rookie year with the Patriots, Polk was traded to the Saints but before he could play a single snap with them, his season was ended because he needed shoulder surgery. Then just a few days ago, Polk announced his retirement. It’s a bummer because it’s a heck of a what-if: what if he had been drafted by the Chargers instead and had Herbert throwing to him instead of Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye during that whole Jerod Mayo debacle?

Adonai Mitchell

Another receiver who got traded early is Adonai Mitchel; who was drafted by the Colts but sent to the Jets in the middle of the 2025 season as part of that Sauce Gardner trade. I think his splits in 2024 are worth looking at:

He played 8 games for each team, but had significantly more catches on the Jets as well as two touchdowns. He obviously plays a larger part in their offense than he did in Indianapolis, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares next season with them. There aren’t a lot of high hopes for them this season, but one of the teams no one belieives in always surpises us each year. Why not the Jets?

Like I said, I’m not really going to dive into the later round guys (with the exception of one). But here are the remaining receivers drafted:

Round 3

Luke McCaffrey stands out here mainly because of who his brother is. Also, my buddy is a huge Commanders fan and he had high hopes for his very own McCaffery. Those hopes have…diminished since.

Rounds 4 & 5

Troy Franklin has done well for the Broncos.

Round 6

Malik Washington is currently ostensibly the Miami Dolphins #1 receiver, which does not bode well for them. Flournoy has had some good games for Dallas.

Round 7

Devaughn Vele

Another receiver drafted by Denver, but apparently they were happy enough with Troy Franklin that they traded him to the Saints

Though used more by the Broncos, Vele did well for the Saints and seems to be a rising star for them. I remember watching him torch the Dolphins. He’s a late round gem.

He and Franklin are the only receivers drafted after round 2 to be in the top 12 for yards:

And that’s all I got for now. This remains an interesting draft class and I’ll revisit them at the end of the upcoming season.