2024 Preseason Rankings

The 2024 KAOS Draft has been completed and everybody is ready to roll as the NFL Season kicks off this Thursday at 8:25 PM when the KC Chiefs play the Baltimore Ravens. We also get a bonus Friday Night game as well when the Philadelphia Eagles go to Rio de Janeiro to take on the Green Bay Packers. Please be sure to set your lineups early to account for the Thursday and Friday Night games.

This year should be a competitive one in KAOS. For the most part, everyone did a good job with their keeper selections followed up by a solid draft. I did not see any egregious picks for those that drafted live and even Dan’s auto-draft (aside from the notable QB debacle) has a playable team with assets to get a QB down the road if needed. Interestingly, Craig’s internet went out in the 14th round and auto-drafted his 14th (JK Dobbins) and 15th (Dontayvion Wicks) round picks. No harm/No foul though as both were solid pickups late in the draft. Now on to the rankings:

I would like to remind you of a few things before we get to the rankings:

The rankings are based on the analysis from four different fantasy sites: Fantasy Pros, Rotowire Fantasy Life and ESPN. I just take the average of those rankings to determine each team’s position.

These ratings will change throughout the season. The team you draft is never going to be the team you finish with. Injuries, trades, breakout performances and player regression happen to all of us. Keep combing the waiver wires and look to make trades to strengthen the team you drafted throughout the season.

To give you an idea of how wrong these rankings are, this is how each team’s 2023 final record compared to their preseason projection:

Pre-season Poll guessed correctly: The preseason rankings had an accurate year in 2023. Stick Rock, Flanders, Ghostbusters, Dark Helmet and Skoal Bandits all finished within 1 spot of their predicted wins last year.
Pre-season poll was off by 2-3 spots – Mel Kiper BA (-2) finished worse than expected while Flanders (+2) and Tomlins (+2) were better.
Preseason Poll was off 4 or more spots. Wrath of Kahn (+3) outperformed expectations while ’69 Olds (-5) did worse.

I mentioned earlier that the Keeper selections were solid throughout the league, but I won’t let it stop me from making a few second-guesses.

Wrath of Kahn – I would have held on to Dak Prescott as my third keeper. Jared snapped him up at the beginning of the 3rd round. I would also argue that Travis Kelce should have been thrown back with a goal of getting a stronger QB or WR2. Sam LaPorta was the #1 ranked TE this year and he didn’t come off the board until the end of the 5th round.
Mel Kiper’s BA – I like LaPorta and thought he would have been a better selection than Drake London. I know London is ranked high and is expected to have a bust-out year, but I’d rather go with the certainty that LaPorta would have provided.
Stick Rock – Cooper Kupp was a borderline keeper for the 4th round. He could be a Top 10 WR, but the injury concern with him is a lot to overlook. I would have looked for a more reliable option there.
Dark Helmet – Probably should have thrown everyone back and started over.

Now on to our rankings…

Ghostbusters

Hoping to put last years nightmare behind them, Ghostbusters reconstruction began early with pre-draft trades that sent out Davante Adams, Jonathan Taylor, Jordan Love and Cooper Kupp and returned Amon St. Brown. St. Brown + Ja'Marr Chase are a killer WR duo and QB's Joe Burrow and Kyler Murray have high floors. If Breece Hall can stay healthy, this team should make it to the Finals.

Strengths: WR/RB.

Weaknesses: TE

One guy who can make or break your season: Kyler Murray

What-if: Instead of drafting Kyler Murray in the 5th round, they instead select Sam Laporta.

Conclusion: As long as everyone can stay on the field, this team will have an easy path to the playoffs..

Milford Football Team

A strong cast of Keepers made the draft anti-climatic. The starters here are first rate especially with the QB combo of Josh Allen and Jordan Love. That's 50 points each week before the rest of the team even enters the game. Could probably use an elite WR to make them unbeatable. Perhaps Davante Adams can shake of last year's down season.

Strengths: QB/RB/TE

Weaknesses: WR/Bench

One guy who can make or break your season: Davante Adams.

What-if: Looking at the picks individually, this was a good draft. But taken as a whole, there are a lot of rookies that will need to contribute this year. Mixing in a few veterans would have given CJ a more consistent roster.

Conclusion: Another lock for the playoffs as long as injuries do not derail the season.

'69 Olds

Once again, Ray is trotting out his A+ QB duo and pairs them with a C- supporting cast. The RBs and WRs are just okay, with no bell cow back or elite receivers that would give him a solid floor each week. Mark Andrews should help at TE as long as he can stay on the field.

Strengths: QB/TE

Weaknesses: RB/WR

One guy who can make or break your season: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

What-if: You traded one of the QBs for an elite Receiver then kept only 1 QB and that receiver. Ray could have re-built the roster instead of the same formula that leads to middling results each year.

Conclusion: Work needs to be done to get this team into the playoffs. Maybe use one of the QBs down the road to get back needed RB and WR talent.

Stick Rock

Last year's front-runner for most of the season, this team crashed and burned in December. Let this be a reminder to everyone. The team that dominates early seldom wins the championship. This year's team looks solid up and down the lineup, but it is lacking the one stud player that can carry them. Could Jonathan Taylor or Garret Wilson rise above their inconsistent play and become that type of contributor? That will go a long way in determining Rocky's playoff fate this season.

Strengths: RB/Flex/Bench

Weaknesses: QB/TE

One guy who can make or break your season: Cooper Kupp

What-if: James Connor in the 8th round would have been a better pick than Stephon Diggs.

Conclusion: A lot of upside potential here, but Kittle, Diggs and Kamara will have to buck their recent trend of injuries and ineffectiveness.

Mel Kipers Best Available

A solid draft for Pete as he adds youngsters Jayden Daniels and Rashee Rice to a strong cast of Keepers. Dalton Kincaid was nice value in the 7th round and Brock Bowers in the 12th gives him the all-important good/young/talented TE that will rot on his bench all season long that for some reason is an important position for him.

Strengths: QB/WR - Geno Smith in the 11th round is incredibly good value.

Weaknesses: RB

One guy who can make or break your season: Jayden Daniels

What-if: Waiting to draft a QB2. Jayden Daniels could have a big season, but there will be some down weeks as he learns the league. Joe Mixon or Alvin Kamara in the 5th round then Trevor Lawrence or Caleb Williams in the 6th would have been better balance.

Conclusion: The Kipers should contend for a playoff spot this season. Javonte WIlliams, Tony Pollard or Zach Charbonnet will need to emerge as a reliable RB2.

Wrath of Khan

A head-scratching draft, especially in the 3rd and 4th rounds when Jimmy elected to take RBs with back-to-back picks. RB is probably the third most important position in our league. Those premium spots probably should have been used on a QB/WR duo that are plug and play every week. Recovered nicely in the 5th getting Caleb Williams who I had going in the Keeper Rounds.

Strengths: TE/RB

Weaknesses: Flex/Bench

One guy who can make or break your season: Caleb Williams

What-if: Gibbs was a good pick in the 3rd, but Derrick Henry was overkill in the 4th. Jayden Daniels, DK Metcalf or Nico Collins would have made more sense there.

Conclusion: This roster will need to be tweaked if they hope to return to the playoffs. Trading one of the RBs for a top 20 WR would help the roster make-up.

Peeping Tomlin's

This is a tough team to analyze. There is nothing egregiously bad with the roster, but there is not any one thing I can point to that can carry them to victory each week. The WRs are okay and the QBs are solid. I like the Dak Prescott pick in the 3rd round. Jared's best hope for contention is if Calvin Ridley can bounce back to his WR1 days in Atlanta and if Nico Collins emerges as the #1 option in Houston's receiver trio.

Strengths: QB1/WR1

Weaknesses: Flex/Bench

One guy who can make or break your season: Rachaad White

What-if: Throwing back Kyren Willams and using that spot to grab another WR would have given this roster an entirely different complexion.

Conclusion: There are some assets on the bench that could be used to upgrade the roster later in the season. The current roster does not look like a playoff contender. Bo Nix was a good stash selection in the later part of the draft.

Springfield Flanders

Every year, the draft analysis tools hate Glenn's team, and most years he proves them wrong. He'll need that to be the case again this year. Kahn's double RB stunt in rounds 3 and 4 doomed both of these teams as Glenn switched gears and went Brock Purdy with the 4th pick. Justin Herbert in the 8th round and Amari Cooper in the 10th were nice value.

Strengths: WR/Bench

Weaknesses: QB/RB/TE

One guy who can make or break your season: Brock Purdy

What-if: Taking one of the kids (Jayden Daniels or Caleeb Wiliams) with the 4th pick instead of Purdy and drafting Sam LaPorta in the 5th. The 6th and 7th round picks could have been used for RBs. Josh Jacobs, James Cook, KW III and James Conner were all available.

Conclusion: Some tweaks will need to be made to get this team in the playoffs and there are assets on the bench that can help with any trade.

Skoal Bandits

For those who love irony, you must have been thoroughly entertained when the cable guys internet went out in the middle of the 14th round last night. Aside from that, the Bandits had a solid draft. This team is young and can burst into the playoff picture if the younger players (Richardson/Bijan/Harrison/Spears) deliver on the pre-draft hype. Brandon Aiyuk and Mike Evans join rookie Marvin Harrison to form a potent WR trio.

Strengths: QB/RB/WR

Weaknesses: Bench

One guy who can make or break your season: Anthony Richardson

What-if: I did not like the Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson picks, but that was a personal preference. Trey McBride would have been a better selection in the 6th round then choose among QBs Justin Herbert or Aaron Rodgers later on.

Conclusion: This team can be great or it can suck. It's all on Anthony Richardson's shoulders.

Dark Helmet

Last and certainly least, we have our annual auto-draft champion. AS far as auto-drafts go, this could have been a lot worse. The main issue with this draft was it's failure to secure a QB2 earlier. Daniel Jones QB2? Yikes!

Strengths: TE/Flex/Starters

Weaknesses: QB2/Bench

One guy who can make or break your season: Tua Tagovailoa

What-if: What if Dan tried to log in sooner and test his connection so he could have drafted live?

Conclusion: This team has a very competitive starting lineup, QB2 issue aside. Hit the waiver wire and try to upgrade to fill in the roster gaps.