Vacated Targets: Teams Open for Opportunity in 2024 (Fantasy Football)

In fantasy football, opportunity is king. It can be even more important than talent. Players with enough opportunities can outscore more skilled ones. That’s why vacated targets play an important role in predicting favorable outcomes and finding potential league winners.

What’s a Vacated Target?

Every offseason, many players become free agents, others are traded, and some retire. Each one of these moves leaves a volume of targets up for grabs. Some of these targets are inherited by the next player in the depth chart but most of them usually go to newly signed players and in some cases to highly drafted rookies. Over the years, the Fantasy Footballers have explored the topic including Kyle Borgognoni’s Vacated Targets & Predicting the Future and Vacated Targets & the RB Position in Fantasy Football.

Let’s take a look at the teams with the most vacated targets and analyze possible outcomes to help us make decisions this next draft season. If you want to go deeper into vacated opportunities, you can find a full team opportunity section in the Fantasy Footballers UDK+ Dynasty Pass, an amazing tool for any fantasy football player.

1. Los Angeles Chargers

 

The Chargers are at the top of the list as the team with the most vacated targets. They were also the team with the most total targets in 2023. But a lot will change this season since they had to let their most talented skill-position players go. Keenan Allen’s 150 targets amount to the vast majority of their WR vacated opportunities but Mike Williams and Jalen Guyton also left the team. Will Quentin Johnston and Joshua Palmer earn a bigger slice of the pie? The Chargers recently signed D.J. Chark and he might start the season as Justin Herbert’s main target but rookie WR Ladd McConkey should emerge as the team’s alpha wide receiver sooner than later. There will be enough opportunities for him to prove himself and earn the role.

It will be very interesting to see who gets Austin Ekeler’s RB targets. Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins are capable players, but neither of them has Eleker’s pass-catching prowess. Very few players do. So maybe some of those targets will also get spread around the WR corps, but if one of these RBs is capable of earning a similar role to Ekeler’s, it would be great for fantasy. Most of Gerald Everett’s TE targets should go to Donald Parham, but they also signed Hayden Hurst and Will Dissly a.k.a. “Big Montana”, so I wouldn’t be too confident in any of these tight ends.

2. Buffalo Bills

The Bills also had to cut some expenses to be able to pay Josh Allen’s salary. Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis’ departure left them as the team with the most vacated WR targets. They signed Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Mack Hollins. But the one who should get the biggest slice is rookie WR Keon Coleman. Just like Ladd McConkey, he landed in the perfect spot to get plenty of opportunities to shine and maybe become this season’s most impactful rookie WR for fantasy. Khalil Shakir finished the season strong, so he should also get his share of volume and of course, the young TE Dalton Kincaid might also get an uptick in targets after a very good rookie season.

3. Washington Commanders

 

Most of the Commander’s vacated targets belonged to Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas. Their departure might be what we all needed to finally start getting some decent fantasy production from Terry McLaurin and  Jahan Dotson, who ran an insane amount of routes last season but Sam Howell simply didn’t like to look his way. With Jayden Daniels as their new rookie quarterback, things might need a little time to settle, but the opportunity will be there for Washington’s wide receivers. Logan Thomas’ vacated targets will also open opportunities for Ben “the Senator” Sinnott to be somewhat relevant for fantasy, but let’s keep in mind that the Commanders also signed Zach Ertz, so it might take some time before Sinnott gets a prominent role in this offense.

4. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals also lost important offensive players this offseason. Joe Mixon went to the Houston Texans, leaving his targets up for grabs. They signed Zach Moss, who has shown pass-catching chops in the past, and after taking the fantasy world by surprise with a great 2023 season as an Indianapolis Colt, he will now have the chance to get a more than decent passing volume in new OC Dan Pitcher’s offense. Tyler Boyd’s departure leaves enough opportunity for rookie WR Jermaine Burton to carve a role in the offense and hopefully, this will also make Tee Higgins a less volatile player this season. Mike Gesicki also joined the Bengals and he will have a chance to earn the majority of the vacated TE targets.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

 

The Jaguars are in a similar situation to the Chargers and Bills. They lost their most targeted wide receiver (Calvin Ridley) and they cut Zay Jones after drafting one of the most interesting first-round WR prospects. Brian Thomas Jr. will have the chance to compete for a nice amount of targets with Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis. The truth is there are enough targets available for all of them, but Christian Kirk should maintain his role as Trevor Lawrence’s top option and Thomas should find his way into the team’s WR2 role.

6. Arizona Cardinals

Isn’t it great that the top rookie WR from this draft class landed in a spot with 164 WR vacated targets and virtually no competition for them? Marvin Harrison Jr. should immediately inherit Marquise Hollywood Brown’s volume. Kyler Murray will also be one year further removed from his ACL injury, which means the offense will move far better than last season. Zay Jones should get his share of targets, but they most likely will come from Greg Dortch or Michael Wilson‘s slices. The TE target situation is also very interesting. Trey McBride had a great second half of the 2023 season, and he’ll now get all of Zach Ertz’s vacated volume, so a TE1 finish is well within his range of outcomes. Arizona will be an exciting team to watch in 2024. Mark my words.

7. Atlanta Falcons

 

Another ideal scenario. I hope you’re still holding on to those Kyle Pitts and Drake London shares in dynasty because most of the vacated WR targets should go to London and practically all of the TE targets should go to Pitts. And the general passing volume should increase as well. Last season the Falcons were among the teams with fewer targets. They were committed to establishing the run mainly because they didn’t have a good quarterback. But things will be very different with Kirk Cousins as their QB and Raheem Morris as their head coach. 

Teams without Enough Targets to Spread Out

Just as vacated targets create great opportunities for rookies and recently signed free agents, the lack thereof makes it harder for some players to shine and stand out. For example, a lot of people seem to be excited about 49ers rookie WR Ricky Pearsall, but he was drafted by the team with the second-fewest available targets. If Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel are still on the roster by the time the season starts, there won’t be enough volume for him unless an injury happens.

Rome Odunze is another good example. The Chicago Bears only have 68 vacated WR targets and Keenan Allen will demand most of them. Odunze might find a way to earn some throughout the season, but it still isn’t an ideal situation. Remember Jaxon Smith-Njigba‘s rookie season. Great talent but in a crowded receiver corps. When the draft season comes, take vacated targets into account. It might help you choose wisely.