Every year in fantasy football rookie drafts, dynasty managers will try to outsmart their league-mates by selecting players who went undrafted in the NFL Draft. While there are a handful of UDFA success stories, such as Wes Welker and Arian Foster, they are the exception. Typically, these players struggle to make active rosters or spend their careers as bench depth in the NFL.
In the past two seasons, there were two players who headlined the group of UDFA fantasy football players. Clemson’s Justyn Ross was signed as a UDFA by Kansas City in 2022 and Sean Tucker was signed by Tampa Bay out of Syracuse last season. Ross has six career catches for 53 yards. Tucker got 15 carries in the Bucs offense last year for a whopping 23 yards. In rookie draft ADP last year, Tucker was picked ahead of Puka Nacua. Nacua only scored 293.3 more PPR points in his rookie season than Tucker did. Selecting a UDFA in your rookie drafts is extremely risky.
The undrafted free agents in 2024 are highlighted by one running back at the top who will likely earn consideration in rookie drafts. After that, there are several players you could consider either stashing on the back of your deep rosters, or adding them to your watch list in case they make a roster in August.
Rookie Draft Consideration
Blake Watson, RB DEN
