Fantasy Football Targets 2024: NFL Target Chart & Receiving Totem Pole

There are some misconceptions about fantasy football. And one of the biggest ones comes from the “WR3” label. In our minds, sometimes we think WR3 on a good NFL offense means WR3 in fantasy football. But there are only 36 players that can be WR1/WR2/WR3s in fantasy football, when the top three wide receivers from every NFL team would give you 96 guys. And there certainly aren’t 96 fantasy-relevant wideouts – the WR36 last year was Romeo Doubs.

In fact, let’s for a second take all the wide receivers and tight ends and put them in one bucket. Then let’s look at the guys who finished the season third on their team in targets. Here are top finishes in PPR in fantasy:

• San Francisco 49ers: Deebo Samuel - WR15 (injury)
• Minnesota Vikings: Justin Jefferson - WR33 (injury)
• Dallas Cowboys: Brandin Cooks - WR38
• Houston Texans: Tank Dell - WR39 (injury)
• Buffalo Bills: Gabe Davis - WR41

The top healthy players were Brandin Cooks and Gabe Davis. And neither finished as a WR3. The reality of fantasy football is that we want FOCAL POINTS of these offenses, which means top two targets on the team. That’s especially true for tight end where every TE1 in PPR last season finished as either the first or second in targets on the team. And to give ourselves the best chance of acquiring these guys, we’ve created the Fantasy Football Target Totem Pole.

Essentially, what we do is take each position player from every team. We then rank them based on our best estimate for the target pecking order and include their projected role in the offense. From there, we color code them based on our confidence level in obtaining either an elite or fantasy-relevant share of targets. Here is the color-coding system followed by our grid and some notes on this year’s players.

NFL Targets: Fantasy Football Target Chart 2024

Notes, Help & Advice: 2024 Fantasy Football Targets

• Last season, no team had three players get 100+ targets, per Pro Football Focus. Here is how the target distribution shook out:

• Over the last three years, per Pro Football Focus, there has only been one team to have three players ALL get over 100 NFL targets (the 2022 Vikings). And T.J. Hockenson was acquired via trade mid-season, so there is a bit of an asterisk. From the Hockenson trade on, Adam Thielen was not on a 100+ target pace.
   
• Last season, every WR1 in PPR got 120+ targets except for Nico Collins, who finished as the WR12 with 109.
   
• The only WR to finish inside the top 24 with fewer than 100 targets was Deebo Samuel (who added 37 carries). For four straight years, every top 24 WR in PPR has had over 100 NFL targets + carries.
   
• Highly consolidated targets for teams like the Dolphins, Rams, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, Lions and Eagles make the top players fairly safe bets.
   
• We can find upside in uncertainty in the later rounds – teams like the Broncos, Chargers, Patriots, Packers, Giants, Chiefs, Colts and Bills have fairly uncertain target pecking orders.
   
• There are only four tight ends we project to lead their team in targets, though there are at least 17 that have a potential path to being a top two target on their team.
   
• As usual, there are very few running backs with a shot at 100+ targets. Last year, no running back did it and the only one who was on pace was Alvin Kamara (had 86 NFL targets in 13 games, which is on pace for 112).

2024 Fantasy Football: Related Draft Guide Articles

Heighten your understanding of 2024 fantasy football by checking out some other draft guide articles, packed with additional tips and guidance for the upcoming season:

• Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• Fantasy Football TE Rankings
• Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• Fantasy Mock Draft