5 must-have fantasy football players from the SEC

NFL fantasy football is heating up. With the season kicking off in just a few weeks, fantasy football drafts have either happened or are happening soon. With many leagues waiting until the end of training camp to execute their drafts to ensure the most accurate rosters heading into the season, I thought it would be a good time to share some players to target out of the SEC that are now in the NFL.

The happenings so far in training camp have seen stock of some former SEC players fall and rise. Former Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs suffered a hamstring injury, and LSU wide receiver Malik Nabors does not look to have the best quarterback situation heading into 2024.

These are just two examples of what can be gleaned from pre-season for players maybe you want to think twice about drafting in your fantasy league. If you draft too early, variables like this may not have been seen heading into the first week of the season, which is when it really starts to matter.

Five former SEC players to draft in NFL fantasy football

James Cook (RB, Buffalo Bills)

The third year running back out of the University of Georgia shared carries in college with Zamir White, which puts less tread on his tires so-to-speak than other running backs heading into their third year in the NFL. Cook emerged last year as the premier back for the Bills rushing 237 times for 1,122 yards on the ground. He also was a threat in the receiving game with 445 yards receiving and four touchdowns through the air.

Cook’s production took off when the Bills fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and replaced him with Joe Brady who will be the Bills’ offensive coordinator in 2024. Many remember Brady from his time at LSU as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2019. That season, the Tigers won the National Championship with quarterback Joe Burrow at the controls, and a cast of receivers including JaMaar Chase and Justin Jefferson.

With Brady at the controls, look for Cook’s production to keep sky rocketing. His ability to not only run between the tackles but catch the ball out of the backfield on a team that has question marks at the wide receiver position heading into 2024 makes him a promising option.

Cook’s expert consensus ranking according to Fantasypros is 15th at the running back position.

Jaylen Waddle (WR, Miami Dolphins)

Tyreek Hill unquestionably enters the 2024 season as the top option at wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, but Waddle is more of a “1b” option than a second option. Last year, Hill caught 119 passes for the Dolphins for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns. Waddle caught 72 passes for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite the amount of touchdowns being heavily in Hill’s favor, he is getting older, and Waddle is right in the middle of his prime. Therefore, expect this scale to tip more by seasons end in Waddles’ favor. Hill may still have better numbers at years end than Waddle, but expect Waddle to close the game.

Another factor is quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s transparent chemistry with Waddle back to their days with the Alabama Crimson Tide. The pair goes into their fourth year together with the Dolphins and third under head coach Mike McDaniel. All of the pieces are there for the Dolphins and Waddle to take off in 2024.

Waddle’s expert consensus ranking with FantasyPros is 18th, while Hill’s is second. For the reasons mentioned above, this makes Waddle a very appealing value pickup for your 2024 team.

Jayden Daniels (QB, Washington Commanders)

Waddle has been impressing with his dual threat ability for the Commanders so far in the preseason. The 2023 Heisman Trophy Winner and former LSU Tiger was drafted second overall in the 2024 NFL Draft after leading the Tigers to the SEC Championship game.

The astounding incremental improvement during his two seasons as the starting quarterback for the Tigers is showing it has promise of that trend continuing at the NFL level. During his first two preseason games, Daniels has gone 12-for-15 passing for 123 yards.

Drafting an unproven rookie is always a risk, especially at the quarterback position. I do believe however Daniels will turn out to be the best quarterback of the 2024 draft class which included six quarterbacks drafted in the first round. And that starts this year.

Ladd McConkey (WR, San Diego Chargers)

Everyone is sleeping on Ladd McConkey. All of the talk leading up to and after the 2024 NFL Draft as far as rookies go at the wide receiver position has been about Malik Nabors, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze. That trio was drafted in the first round and are thought to be the top three receivers from the draft class.

McConkey actually was not drafted until the second round at 34th overall by the San Diego Chargers and head coach Jim Harbaugh. He was the ninth receiver taken in the draft. When healthy for the Georgia Bulldogs, McConkey showed ability both in his pass catching and running after the catch. This combined with an impressive Senior Bowl performance and NFL Combine shows me that plenty of teams and fantasy owners are sleeping on McConkey.

Harbaugh and the Chargers do not have much else at the receiver positions with the exits of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. This propels McConkey up the board at the receiver position for the Chargers. Also helping McConkey’s situation in San Diego is that he does not have a question mark at quarterback with Justin Herbert at the controls.

McConkey is ranked as the 46th expert consensus wide receiver according to FantasyPros. This puts him in the undrafted category. Use your last round pick on this steal of the draft out of the SEC.

Zamir White (RB, Las Vegas Raiders)

“Zeus” is a nickname you will come to know for this former Georgia Bulldogs running back who has been the backup to Josh Jacobs for his first two season in the NFL with the Raiders. With Jacobs’ exit to the Green Bay Packers, White figures to be the primary running back for the Raiders.

White and Cook split carries during their time in Athens. So as mentioned above for Cook, this gives White less tread on his tires as well. White got his most work last season with Jacobs going down for part of the year. He ran for 451 yards on 104 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per rush attempt.

Look for the average yards per rush to increase in 2024 as not only will White be more in rhythm, but he looks to have transformed his body this offseason as well.

White’s FantasyPros expert consensus ranking is 23. Talk about a steal.