5 Biggest Fantasy Football Takeaways From the Preseason

The preseason is over for the NFL, which means that the regular season is only weeks away. Even though the outcomes of the preseason games don't matter in the grand scheme of things, playing time, roles, and other factors can be vitally important for fantasy football.

There are more and more teams each year that elect not to play starters in the preseason, but there is still value in taking notice of the players who aren't active as their roster spot and role could already be secure. Meanwhile, other teams provide a glimpse of what their offenses could look like once the 2024 campaign kicks off, giving their starters minimal playing time to get them accustomed to the speed of the game.

Taking all of that into account, here are a few takeaways from the preseason to consider for fantasy football before Week 1 arrives.

Biggest Fantasy Football Preseason Takeaways

The Steelers Could Still Have a QB Issue

The Pittsburgh Steelers were aggressive in trying to upgrade at the quarterback position this offseason, signing Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields while moving on from former first-round pick Kenny Pickett. Even though the combination of Wilson and Fields are better than Pickett, there hasn't been much confidence in either signal-caller during the preseason.

Wilson received all of the snaps with the starters in the second preseason game and he played just one drive in the third game, finishing with only 73 yards on 10 completions while he was sacked three times. On the other hand, Fields played in all three preseason games, totaling 199 passing yards on 19 completions while being sacked five times.

Upon the preseason ending, the Steelers are among the lone teams who have yet to announce their starting quarterback for Week 1, and Mike Tomlin hasn't seemed confident in naming one either. Tomlin did say Pittsburgh will decide on a starter 'sometime next week', but it's tough to have lofty expectations for the Steelers' offense if Wilson and/or Fields struggle under center in Arthur Smith's offense.

This Could Be a Special Rookie QB Class

There were six quarterbacks selected inside the top 12 of this year's draft, and the majority of them showed flashes of brilliance in the preseason. Beginning with Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick out of USC made some special plays in the preseason for the Chicago Bears, showing off his arm talent on off-platform throws.

While Williams completed only 50% of his 20 attempts in the preseason, he aired it out for 170 yards, and he proved he has dual-threat upside with a rushing touchdown. Another first-year quarterback with rushing upside is Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders, who impressed by completing 12 of his 15 attempts for 123 yards -- including a fantastic deep ball to Dyami Brown in Week 1 of the preseason.

Although Williams is in a much better environment with more weapons, it's easy to envision breakout seasons for both Williams and Daniels in fantasy football. Our Austin Swaim listed Daniels finishing as a top-three quarterback in fantasy football this year as one of his favorite bold predictions.

Even though the New England Patriots haven't announced their starting quarterback, the drum beat for Drake Maye continues to grow louder. Maye has shown off his off-script ability and his strong arm in the preseason, logging 192 yards and a touchdown on 21 completions through three games.

Bo Nix was named the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos in Week 1 after completing 76.7% of his 30 attempts for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns in the preseason. Sadly, J.J. McCarthy has been ruled out for the 2024 season due to a knee injury after having 188 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 1 of the preseason while Michael Penix Jr. didn't see the field much for the Atlanta Falcons despite being taken with the No. 8 pick.

If their performances in the preseason are a precursor for what we should expect, this year's class of rookie signal-callers could produce a handful of reliable options in fantasy football for years to come.

The Raiders Could Have More of a Committee at RB Than Expected

With how last season ended and Josh Jacobs departing for the Green Bay Packers in free agency, many expect Zamir White to handle a massive workload for the Las Vegas Raiders. After watching how the Raiders deployed their running backs in the preseason, there is more doubt setting in for those who believed White was in store for a productive season.

White tallied 12-plus half-PPR fantasy points in each of the final four weeks of the 2023 season while handling 94 carries during that span. However, White has split starting snaps with veteran Alexander Mattison in the preseason, and he's even seen playing time in the second half of an exhibition contest, which is unusual for definitive starters.

From the moment there was buzz for White's fantasy football prospects this offseason, it was tough to get overly excited about the Raiders' backfield with either Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell at quarterback. Sharing first-team snaps with Mattison in the preseason and a lack of receiving chops makes White someone that is more worth avoiding than taking a chance on.

While head coach Antonio Pierce wants to lean on the ground game and defense to win games, it could be a mixture of White, Mattison, and even rookie Dylan Laube earning touches in the backfield. As a result, none of them may have much of a ceiling in fantasy football unless an injury takes place.

Chicago and Pittsburgh Have Potential Rotations at TE

Regardless of where Shane Waldron and Arthur Smith are calling plays, they tend to bring their wonky personnel and player usage with them. For the Bears, Waldron elected to have Gerald Everett and Cole Kmet split playing time with the starters in the preseason as he'll be running plenty of 11 and 12 personnel -- which he did with the Seattle Seahawks at his last stop.

Kmet finished as the TE8 in fantasy points per game in 2023, but Everett's receiving ability could put a major dent in Kmet's ceiling. Instead of targeting Kmet or Everett, it's best to just take D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen (in that order) to get exposure to Chicago's revamped passing attack.

On the other hand, Smith had Darnell Washington and even MyCole Pruitt taking snaps alongside or instead of Pat Freiermuth at the tight end position. Washington was known for his run-blocking ability coming out of college last year while Pruitt has experience playing for Smith on the Falcons and the Tennessee Titans.

Freiermuth was the TE8 in fantasy points per game in 2022, and many hoped a quarterback change would help him return to that form in 2024. At the moment, Kmet and Freiermuth are better off avoiding in drafts given the headaches they could cause due to their respective offensive coordinators having rotations at the position. Just address the tight end position earlier in drafts to prevent yourself from even needing to consider either Kmet or Freiermuth.

We Still Don't Know Who Will Be the Lead RB for Cowboys, Chargers, or Bengals in Week 1

Whenever training camps began, the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers, and Cincinnati Bengals had running back rooms that had yet to be decided. Fast forward to the end of the preseason, and we still don't have enough information from any of those three teams to definitively say who will start in Week 1.

Ezekiel Elliott was inactive throughout the entire preseason in his return to the Cowboys while Rico Dowdle got just six snaps before his preseason concluded. Given what we do know, Elliott may get the goal-line work and Dowdle could be the more efficient runner with how Elliott looked last year with the Patriots.

The Chargers are expected to have more of a run-heavy approach with head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, and they brought in Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, and rookie Kimani Vidal in the offseason. Edwards and Dobbins didn't log any snaps in the preseason while Vidal got playing time in the second preseason game before also being inactive in the final preseason contest.

Edwards will likely see most of the goal-line work, but it's tough to have too much confidence in Dobbins as he's missed 25 games in the last two seasons, and he's coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. Someone will receive the passing-down work in this offense as Edwards has never caught more than 12 passes in a season, so Dobbins or Vidal have a chance to earn a decent-sized role for the Chargers.

Lastly, the Bengals are going to lean on Zack Moss and Chase Brown after trading Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans. Moss wasn't able to play in Week 1 of the preseason because of an illness, leaving Brown to get all of the snaps with the starters. That being said, both Moss and Brown didn't play in the final two preseasons games for Cincinnati.

Being that Moss has averaged just 4.6 yards per touch throughout his four-year career, I'm a little more inclined to take Brown in hopes he can be more explosive and provide receiving production with Joe Burrow as his quarterback.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.