Top Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Surprises: 2nd-Year WR Breakout Stars & Sleepers for 2025 Drafts

The 2024 NFL season was full of surprises, from expected playoff teams like the Cowboys and 49ers faltering during the regular season to unexpected players breaking out.

While the top three wide receivers in fantasy scoring weren't a surprise to anyone (Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Amon-Ra St. Brown), some of the names that followed them on the leaderboard were. There were mild surprises like Drake London finishing as the WR5 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the WR10, and then there were even bigger surprises.

Below are six big surprises at wide receiver from the 2024 fantasy football season.

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Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

No one should be surprised by Brian Thomas Jr. being the best of this year's rookie wide receivers. Sure, Marvin Harrison Jr. was the consensus No. 1 receiver during the draft cycle, but Thomas was no slouch. There's a reason he was drafted in the first round.

However, Thomas finishing as the overall WR4 in half-PPR scoring was not on my bingo card in 2024. Thomas scored double-digit fantasy points in four of his first five games, coming strong right out of the gate.

In the end, Thomas finished with 87 receptions for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. His presence was felt at the end of the year, as he had double-digit targets in each of Jacksonville's final six games.

In addition, Thomas hit the 100-yard mark in three of the final four games. He'd only reached that level once before. His performance to close out 2024 has hopes high for a strong 2025 follow-up showing.

Ladd McConkey, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

As I said above, Brian Thomas Jr. being the best rookie wide receiver wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise is that three rookies finished in the top 12 in half PPR last season and one of those names was Ladd McConkey.

This was a deep rookie class, at least as far as how many players went early. Three wide receivers were taken in the top 10. Another four were taken in the first round, then the first pick of the second round was Keon Coleman.

Then, one pick later, McConkey went off the board as the ninth wide receiver drafted. Sure, he was drafted to a great position since the Chargers had an elite quarterback and one of the league's worst supporting casts around that quarterback, but to reach the heights he reached was very much unexpected.

Ladd McConkey's FOOTWORK IS INSANE.

🤯🤯🤯

It's pretty wild that he fell to the second round. Ladd had some of the best footwork of all time coming out of college.

MANY TEAMS WILL REGRET NOT DRAFTING LADD.
pic.twitter.com/dP18BRnXLK

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 20, 2024

McConkey caught 82 passes for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns in his first NFL season. He closed the year with 80 or more receiving yards in seven of the final eight games, including the playoff loss to Houston.

Jerry Jeudy, WR, Cleveland Browns

Jerry Jeudy arrived in Denver with plenty of hype as the No. 15 overall pick in 2020, but he never really found his stride with the Broncos, topping out at 972 receiving yards in 2022 before falling off in 2023.

Jeudy's game was reborn in Cleveland this past season, though, where he posted career highs in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. After a bit of a slow start, Jeudy took over as the lead receiver once Cleveland traded away Amari Cooper.

The biggest moment of Jeudy's season came against Denver on a Monday night. While his former team got the 41-32 victory, Jeudy still got his revenge on the stat sheet, catching nine passes for 235 yards and a touchdown.

Cleveland has Jeudy under contract for three more seasons on a pretty reasonable deal. The Browns have a lot of questions about their quarterback position, but having Jeudy at wide receiver will make life easier for whoever the team starts under center.

Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos

In a vacuum, Courtland Sutton playing as well as he did in 2024 isn't a shock. Sure, this was his first 1,000-yard season since 2019, but he was coming off a 2023 campaign where he caught 10 touchdowns.

But with the Broncos making the move to rookie quarterback Bo Nix, no one had high hopes for Denver and its passing game. However, Nix adjusted exceptionally well to the NFL and Sutton was able to benefit from that.

Courtland Sutton
First season with a real QB :
-81 receptions
-1,081 yards
-8 Touchdowns
-3rd highest 3rd down Rec EPA % in whole NFL

UNDERRATED pic.twitter.com/pm29gXNADl

— Zack🦈 (@NixForSix) February 21, 2025

Sutton, who will be entering his eighth year in the league next year, probably doesn't have much room to get better than he is now, but in 2024, he proved he can be a reliable No. 1 option for Nix.

Ideally, Denver will want to add a high-upside player across from Sutton this offseason, which could mean less production for the former SMU Mustang. In 2024, though, we got a perfect storm that led to arguably the best year of Sutton's NFL career.

Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers

There's no good way to slice this: Deebo Samuel Sr. was a disaster in 2024. After a nice start to the year, Samuel would average 3.1 catches for 28.9 yards over his final seven games. That's without taking into account another pair of stinkers earlier in the season, like when he was held without a catch by the Chiefs.

Then, add in Brandon Aiyuk tearing his ACL and MCL in October and you get a huge mess at wide receiver in San Fran. However, Jauan Jennings stepped up, catching 77 passes for 975 yards and six touchdowns, all career-best marks for the fourth-year pro.

Jennings finished as the overall WR25 in half PPR. On a per-game basis, he averaged more fantasy points than Tyreek Hill and DK Metcalf.

2024 was a forgettable season for the 6-11 Niners, but getting solid production out of Jennings was a silver lining. He can't be a team's true No. 1 receiver, but he can be a great complementary piece going forward.

Alec Pierce, WR, Indianapolis Colts

There shouldn't have been room in Indianapolis for Alec Pierce. Between the team drafting Adonai Mitchell and the projected breakout of Josh Downs, Pierce looked like he'd be the No. 4 receiver behind those two and Michael Pittman Jr.

Pierce wound up just third on the team in targets behind Pittman and Downs, but he was still able to make a big impact because the Colts used him as the primary deep threat. Despite catching just 37 passes, Pierce led the Colts in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Alec Pierce pic.twitter.com/2E1ewKYu9Y

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) January 29, 2025

That allowed Pierce to finish as the overall WR39 in half PPR leagues. It wasn't great, but fantasy managers who pulled Pierce off the waiver wire were able to get an upside play who they could play in an emergency.

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