Fantasy Football Player Notes

Nico Collins' third-year breakout was truly remarkable. The former Michigan product had glimpses of potential in his first two seasons, but being paired with C.J. Stroud unlocked his fantasy ceiling in 2023. He was a YAC God. Nearly 1500 receiving yards with 1,370 air yards. 641 yards came after the catch. 24% target share. His 3.11 yards per route run ranked second among all WRs. Only three other players have accomplished this feat since 2017 - Tyreek Hill, Cooper Kupp and Julio Jones. Collins averaged 14.6 points per game in 17 games played in 2023 and 15.7 points per game in 15 games played alongside Stroud. Even if newly acquired veteran Stefon Diggs eats into Collins' target share, his efficiency should remain high with another viable weapon for the defense to be concerned about.

A magnificent rookie season for C.J. Stroud has fans and fantasy managers clamoring for more in 2024, and the trade that brought WR Stefon Diggs to the Texans gives the young quarterback one of the best sets of pass catchers in the league. The second overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft behind Bryce Young, Stroud was a revelation in his first NFL season, throwing for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns in 15 games. Stroud ranked third in the league in passing yardage per game (273.9) among QBs with at least six starts, third in yards per attempt (8.2), sixth in passer rating (101.8) and first in interception percentage (1.0%). The future looks bright for Stroud, who, in addition to Diggs, can also leverage the talents of exciting young WRs Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Stroud doesn't provide a great deal of rushing value, with only 167 rushing yards and three TD runs, but his proficiency as a passer will make him a coveted fantasy asset in 2024 drafts.

Joe Mixon and Rachaad White were the Spiderman GIF last season. Both were exceptionally inefficient runners who survived on volume and passing game work. Mixon was the RB11 last season, ranking eighth in snap share, third in opportunity share, and seventh in weighted opportunities. He was whopping fifth in carries and 13th in targets as Cincinnati worked in Chase Brown only sparingly. He has the opportunity to reprise that same workload in Houston. With only Dameon Pierce, J.J. Taylor, and Gerrid Doaks behind Mixon, he should be the unquestioned bellcow for the Texans in 2024. Last season, Mixon's per-touch efficiency was horrendous. He was 36th in yards per touch, 35th in yards created per touch, and 41st in breakaway run rate. That didn't stop him from being an RB1 last year, and it likely won't this season.

2023 was a terrible year for Stefon Diggs. He was WR10 overall, but he averaged just 13 points per game as the WR15 in half-point scoring. And his lackluster finish is what had fantasy football gamers pulling their hair out. From Week 10 onward, Diggs was the WR45 averaging a meager 7.3 points and 42 receiving yards per game. This was right around the time the Bills swapped Joe Brady as their new offensive coordinator as Ken Dorsey was fired after Week 10's loss to the Denver Broncos. And it's not like Diggs wasn't seeing opportunities. On the year, the Bills' polarizing WR finished just below a 30% target share with over 1,800 air yards. 12th overall in weighted opportunity. Even during the bad finish, Diggs still had a 25% target share and strong route participation at 85%. That makes it tough to draft Diggs confidently coming off career-lows across the board entering his age 31 season. Even with C.J. Stroud as his QB, competition from both Tank Dell and Nico Collins could mark the end of Diggs' alpha WR status in fantasy football.

Tank Dell posted an identical air yards share to Nico Collins (31%) while falling just short in target share (21%). Note that Dell posted over 1,000 air yards in just 10 games played.
In those games, Dell posted a 20.5% target share, 33% air yards share and 14.2 points per game. In the 8 games, Collins and Dell played together - each missed a game with injury - the production was nearly identical. 13.9 points per game for Collins and 14 points per game for Dell.

Dalton Schultz hasn't been able to recapture the glory of his 2021 season, when he had a career-high 808 yards and eight touchdowns to finish as the fantasy TE3, but he's been a decent fantasy performer over the last two years. Schultz had 57-577-5 in 2022 and 59-635-5 in 2023, finishing TE10 and TE11 in PPR fantasy scoring in those two seasons. Schultz re-signed with the Texans in the offseason, so he'll continue to play with impressive young QB C.J. Stroud. The problem is that Houston traded for WR Stefon Diggs in the offseason, so Schultz will likely be No. 4 in the target pecking order behind Diggs, Nico Collins and Tank Dell, limiting his top-end fantasy potential.

The expectations for Dameon Pierce to follow his stellar rookie season with a bang were palpable last summer. Sadly, that's now how Pierce's sophomore season panned out. In Weeks 1-8, he averaged 16.9 touches, producing only 58.7 total yards. He was running behind an offensive line that was beaten up and struggling in those first seven games as Houston ranked dead last in adjusted yards before contact per attempt (Weeks 9-18, 12th-best). Pierce sprained his ankle in Week 9, and when he returned from injury, he found himself replaced by Devin Singletary as the starter. With Joe Mixon in town, Pierce's hopes of reclaiming the starting role have essentially been snuffed out. He falls into middling handcuff status for 2024.