In today’s Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Yahoo fantasy:

It’s the last week to draft your fantasy football teams and it’s time to dominate. There’s no reason not to be prepared with all the tools, rankings, articles and videos here at Fantasy Life.

It is advisable to start with a blueprint for the draft, but make sure you adapt to the draft board. In competitions with friends and colleagues, wild things can happen. Surprising choices are made and it is important to be flexible.

In high stakes formats most people are well informed and players are pushed well above ADP. In some leagues there are weak drafters who make confusing choices. It is important to know your competition.

Be familiar with the league settings and rules. Some formats have a starting lineup of two running backs, two wide receivers, and one flex, while others have three wide receivers and two flex spots. There are also Superflex leagues that allow a quarterback to start as a flex. And if you’ve never tried a guillotine league, I highly recommend it. The point is that different formats change the way you build a team.

Have an idea for a plan with quarterbacks and tight ends. If things don’t go your way, have a backup plan. We’ve all been in a draft where a team selects a second quarterback or tight end before you select your first. Don’t panic, have alternatives.

The draft is a piece of the puzzle and the foundation for the season. The waiver wire is crucial and trades can be made to overcome weaknesses in the draft. Be confident, have fun and let us help you on your way to a title.

What else is in today’s newsletter?

• Fantasy Football Bounceback Candidates
• Want to draft rookies? We have the right place.
• Water cooler: Beat the ESPN draft in three steps.

Rankings, projections, start/sit and more!

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2024 Bounceback Candidates: Fantasy Life Staff Picks

Tee HigginsCincinnati Bengals

As I noted in my piece detailing my favorite season-long WR props, Higgins played in just 12 games last year and was plagued by rib and hamstring injuries throughout the campaign. Additionally, QB Joe Burrow struggled with a calf injury in the first month of the season and then missed much of the second half of the season due to a wrist injury.

The result for Higgins was a subpar performance, marked by career lows in targets (76) and receiving yards (656).

But in his previous three seasons, Higgins had been a consistent and productive pass catcher.

• 2020 (16 matches): 108 targets | 908 yards
• 2021 (14 matches): 110 targets | 1,091 yards
• 2022 (16 matches): 109 targets | 1,029 yards

With Burrow and Higgins both healthy to start the season, we’ll likely see the Bengals’ offense return to form. That likely means around 110 targets and 1,000 yards receiving for Higgins, with room to improve as a teammate WR Ja’Marr Chase decides to sit out a number of games due to his dissatisfaction with his current contract. – Matthew Freedman

Fantasy Life’s 2024 Fantasy Football Design Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all the content you need to dominate your concepts.

JK DobbinsLos Angeles Chargers

Dobbins has a bad injury history.

• 2021: ACL Tear, LCL Tear, Hamstring Tear
• 2023: Achilles tendon rupture

While that certainly undermines my confidence in Dobbins, he’s only 25 and has been one of the most explosive backs in the league his first two seasons.

• Attempts of more than 10 meters: 16% vs. NFL average of 10%
• Failed tackles forced: 20% versus 16%
• Average number of meters after contact: 3.3 versus 2.7

Offseason reports indicate that Dobbins looks excellent. If he’s even 70% of what he once was, he could explode in fantasy football, playing behind an offensive line loaded with first-round NFL talent and a coaching staff dedicated to running the football. If he’s anywhere near 100%, watch out.

Dobbins is one of my favorite late picks in fantasy, and I prefer him over Gus Edwards. – Dwain McFarland

More candidates to regroup

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Getting Started

Meet your beginner’s needs

The rookie craze continues into 2024. When rookies shine in training camp and preseason, prices rise. If you have players like Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunzeor Jayden Daniels In redraft competitions this is your chance with FastDraft.

One of the games is the Origins, where the best-ball draft consists of only rookies at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end. There are 10 teams per league with six rounds and a 20-second clock.

It’s PPR scoring with no position limits, third round reversal, and a cap of 150 entries with a $25,000 prize pool. Entry is $5.

There is a Turbo Mode that allows you to pre-rank players and participate en masse. There are four captain boosters with 2x the maximum and the four highest scores are selected as the starters for that week.

It helps to make an early pick to get one of the quarterbacks, but if you get one on the back end, there’s a chance to pair Odunze with Bria Thomasas I did in one of my concepts.

It’s fun to draft players who don’t play in average leagues like Jalen McMillan, Malik WashingtonAnd Brenden Rice. If you’re not playing in formats deep enough to take rookies you love, this is your chance. The best part is that most drafts are five minutes long.

Additionally, all new users who sign up using the code LIFE will receive a 100% deposit bonus up to $100.

Assemble your rookies today

The latest analysis and insights from our cheerful group of football nerds:

🔥 Everything you need to dominate the ESPN drafts. Come prepared.

👀 Are you drafting? Adonai Mitchell? Dwain has thoughts.

🤣 Prank war between quarterback and head coach. Drew Brees talk about getting Sean Payton.

📈 Jameson Williams gets high school number retired. Has high goals for this season.

😬 Who wouldn’t want to play for the Chiefs? Josh Jacobs was not interested.