Fantasy Football Today: Player outlooks for every fifth-round draft pick by consensus PPR rankings

The 2024 Fantasy Football season is on the way and the Fantasy Football Today team has drafted their initial player outlooks for the entire player pool heading into training camp. Things will change on the injury front, in free agency, and possibly on the trade market, but the Fantasy Football team led by Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and Dan Schneier have created player outlooks based on 2024 projection, June ADP (average draft position) and where these players have come off the board in our mock (and real) drafts through May and June. We’ll use the FFT consensus PPR rankings (Jamey, Dave, and Heath’s rankings) to go player-by-player for the fifth round (12-team leagues) of your drafts.

*These consensus rankings are updated through June 10th.*

Round 5

5.1: Christian Kirk, WR, Jaguars

“Kirk has an opportunity to run away with the Jaguars’ WR1 role in 2024 after playing second fiddle to Calvin Ridley at times in 2023. Before his injury, Kirk was the WR19 in Fantasy points per game and that number should rise with an increase in target share. He’ll have to compete with Bills castoff Gabe Davis and rookie Brian Thomas for targets, but Kirk is the only receiver of the three with a built-in rapport with QB Trevor Lawrence. Kirk also occupies the coveted slot role in Doug Pederson’s offense. Kirk makes for an excellent target in the Rounds 5-6 range of your drafts.” – Dan Schneier

5.2: Ken Walker, RB, Seahawks

“Walker is an easy RB to want in Fantasy because he’s young and explosive, but an underwhelming 2023 and cloudy 2024 drags down his potential. In the 10 games in which he had at least 15 touches last season, he averaged 16 PPR points per game. In the other five? 7.8 PPR points per game, though that includes a matchup he left early (9.2 if you take it out). The same thing happened in 2022 — in 10 games with at least 15 touches he averaged 17.1 PPR points per game and did practically bupkis in the others. And since most of those touches throughout his career have been carries, not catches, his PPR upside is really limited. New Seahawks playcaller Ryan Grubb has a track record of leaning into the passing game, and with a dynamic trio of receivers on staff that figures to be the case in 2024. That stings Walker much more than the presence of Zach Charbonnet, who was active for nine of 10 games Walker had a lot of carries in and wasn’t a nuisance near the goal line. Walker figures to be much more consistent in non-PPR than full-PPR, but in both formats he should get taken between 38th and 50th overall as a good No. 2 RB. ” – Dave Richard

5.3: Tee Higgins, WR, Bengals

“Higgins will be a polarizing Fantasy option this season given his contract situation, his injury-plagued 2023 campaign and concerns over Joe Burrow’s injury status. But as long as he’s ready for Week 1, Higgins should be considered a solid No. 2 Fantasy receiver in all leagues, and he’s worth drafting as early as Round 3. At the time of publication, Higgins had still not signed the franchise tag placed on him in February, and that could mean Higgins might not report to training camp on time. Any missed practices will impact Higgins’ Fantasy stock. But hopefully when he does show up he’s ready to prove he deserves a big contract and put 2023 behind him when he played just 12 games and averaged a career-low 11.5 PPR points per game. It didn’t help that Burrow missed the final seven games of the season with a wrist injury, but Higgins still had four games with at least 19 PPR points. Higgins also scored at least 13.8 PPR points per game in each of the previous two seasons, and he’s capable of reaching that level of production again. Keep an eye on Higgins heading into training camp, and hopefully he’s ready to go for Week 1 when it matters.” – Jamey Eisenberg

5.4: D.K. Metcalf, WR, Seahawks

“Metcalf is a known commodity as a touchdown-reliant beast. Of the 29 games he’s cradled at least 15 PPR points in over his past four seasons, only seven came without a visit to the end zone. That’s not surprising given he’s been top-four among wide receivers in end-zone targets every year of his career. Adding more to that role in 2024 is possible as new playcaller Ryan Grubb has consistently dialed up a large volume of targets to his wide receivers, but it’s more often been slot receivers who have benefited the most, not perimeter guys like Metcalf. If you expect around 14 PPR points per game, Metcalf is your guy, but it’s tough to expect more as long as the Seahawks receiver group remains deep. Think of Metcalf as a borderline No. 2 Fantasy WR in full-PPR who is still worthy of a pick around 50th overall, but his value is a little bit stronger in non-PPR where he’d be OK to take in late Round 4.” – Dave Richard

5.5: Calvin Ridley, WR, Titans

“Ridley rose up draft boards last summer after receiving glowing training camp reports with the expectation that he could return WR1 value working with Trevor Lawrence. Ultimately, his 2023 season didn’t live up to the hype. Ridley still topped 1,000 yards (1,016), but he only caught 76 of his 136 targets and finished as the WR17 despite being drafted as a WR1. Ridley led the NFL in end zone targets and he cashed those in for eight touchdowns. Those targets and his overall target share may be harder to come by in a developing pass game after signing with the Titans. Second-year QB Will Levis likely still has growing pains to work through and Ridley will compete with DeAndre Hopkins for targets. Ridley is worth drafting in the Rounds 4-5 range of your Fantasy drafts, but he doesn’t carry the same upside he did heading into the 2023 season.” – Dan Schneier

5.6: Amari Cooper, WR, Browns

“Cooper should once again be the best receiver for the Browns, and we’ll see if he can be among the best Fantasy receivers as well. We view him as a high-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver this season, and he’s worth drafting as early as Round 5 in all leagues. In 2023, Cooper set a career-high with 1,250 yards, and he also added 72 receptions and five touchdowns on 128 targets in 15 games. He did this despite playing with four different quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker. Watson (shoulder) will return as the starter this season, and that’s good news for Cooper. But he also turns 30 in June, and the Browns added Jerry Jeudy this offseason to go with Cooper, Elijah Moore and David Njoku. There’s a lot to like about Cooper at the right price, but don’t reach for him on Draft Day just because of his history. He’s entering the point in his career where he could start to see a downturn in production.” – Jamey Eisenberg

5.7: Chris Godwin, WR, Buccaneers

“Godwin took some time to round into form as he made his return from ACL surgery, but he found his stride at the end of the season with a WR11 and WR13 finish overall in two of his last four games. Godwin’s role in 2023 was high volume, low average depth of target, and minimal impact in the red zone. Assuming he will see some positive regression in the TD department, Godwin makes for an excellent draft day target in the Round 6-7 range, specifically in PPR formats.” – Dan Schneier

5.8: Zamir White, RB, Raiders

“After letting Josh Jacobs leave via free agency, it appears White will be the Raiders’ lead running back — and a top-20 option on Draft Day. Given an opportunity to lead the backfield in the final four games last season, White averaged 15.2 PPR and 12.9 non-PPR points per game while getting 23.3 touches on average. The Raiders went 3-1 in those outings with two blowouts, certainly a result the coaching staff liked. That could be why the only players the team added to it backfield were veteran Alexander Mattison and sixth-round rookie Dylan Laube. White only has those four games to go off of, but if he’s the primary running-downs back for the Raiders then he should see a good amount of work with stats to follow. Consider him when you get to Round 5.” – Dave Richard

5.9: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Bills

“The consensus at CBS is that Kincaid is worth a Round 5 pick as a top-six tight end, but there is a good chance someone in your league will be willing to reach on him. The former first-round pick just earned 91 targets in 16 games as a rookie and now has an enormous opportunity with both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis gone. Year 2 is a common breakout season for tight ends, and Kincaid has the situation to make it happen. He will need Dawson Knox to take a step back in the end zone so that he can improve on last year’s touchdown total. Kincaid is a top-five tight end in Dynasty leagues right now and could leap to No. 1 at the position if he becomes Allen’s top target this season.” – Heath Cummings

5.10: Terry McLaurin, WR, Commanders

“We’re viewing McLaurin as a No. 3 wide receiver in Fantasy Football the season and we’re comfortable drafting him at the end of Round 5 in a PPR league. It feels like we’ve never seen the best of McLaurin due to mediocre quarterback play and there is legitimate reason to hope that Jayden Daniels changes that. On the other hand, Daniels is a rookie quarterback with exceptional running ability, so we should probably anticipate a pretty severe decrease in passing volume for Washington this season. McLaurin could make up for that loss in volume by improving on his minuscule 3.5% touchdown rate over the past four seasons, but it’s hard to see how McLaurin can take a big leap this year. In Dynasty there is slightly more hope that a Daniels/McLaurin marriage could produce long-term elite production, but McLaurin turns 29 in September so it’s probably time to stop talking about what he could be.” – Heath Cummings

5.11: Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals

“Burrow is expected to be 100 percent to start the season after missing the final seven games in 2023 with a wrist injury that required surgery. When healthy, Burrow has top-five upside at his position, and he’s worth drafting no later than Round 5 in the majority of one-quarterback leagues (he’s a Round 1 pick in Superflex and two-quarterback leagues). Burrow has struggled to stay healthy at times in his NFL career, and last year started with a calf injury, followed by his injured wrist in Week 11. But he also can be among the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and he scored at least 23.9 Fantasy points in each of the three games prior to his wrist injury. He also averaged 26.3 Fantasy points in 2022. Hopefully, Burrow will have his top two receivers all season in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and if he does, that’s a huge advantage. But as long as Burrow is healthy, he should be among the best quarterbacks in the NFL and Fantasy.” – Jamey Eisenberg

5.12: David Montgomery, RB, Lions

“Montgomery might be taking more of a backseat to Jahmyr Gibbs this season based on what general manager Brad Holmes said in May, but Montgomery remains a solid No. 2 running back in all leagues. He’s worth drafting as early as Round 6 in most formats. Holmes said that Gibbs should “see more of the load” this season, which could come at the expense of Montgomery, who out-carried Gibbs 219-182 in 2023. Still, we see Montgomery getting close to 200 total touches (he had 16 receptions on 24 targets), and Montgomery will continue to be a factor in the end zone. He scored 13 rushing touchdowns last season, and the Lions will continue to give Montgomery chances to score. He’s better in non- and half-PPR leagues than PPR, but Montgomery is still a quality No. 2 Fantasy option in all formats.” – Jamey Eisenberg