We at Underdog Fantasy release our pick-by-pick data to the public just so we can learn about the fantasy football industry every offseason. For me (Hayden Winks), that's another excuse to come up with some ridiculous charts to complete today's objective: Create a 2024 fantasy football recap by finding out who were the worst picks in all 18 rounds of drafts, and why they sent you to the last place punishment. This is the follow up to my best pick column.

Round 1 - RB Christian McCaffrey

So that training camp calf injury turned out to be a thing. A big thing. The saying goes, "Don't draft injuries. They will already find you." McCaffrey was coming off another historical season in terms of touches and was entering his age-28 season. That's not a guarantee to be a bad sign (see: Derrick Henry), but it's at least a red flag when cost adjusted. CMC was the consensus 1.01 on Underdog Fantasy. Oops.

Round 2 - Basically Every WR

Here were the WR options in Round 2 ordered by fantasy points over replacement per game during the regular season: Nico Collins (WR4), Cooper Kupp (WR6 before colossal busting in the fantasy playoffs), Drake London (WR19), Davante Adams (WR27 before owning in the fantasy playoffs), Marvin Harrison (WR33), Chris Olave (WR49), Deebo Samuel (WR50 before owning in the fantasy playoffs), and Jaylen Waddle (WR57). That's a 13.6% advance rate for this cohort. Unreal. It's just a reminder that the S Tier WRs and A Tier WRs aren't actually neighbors. They live in a gated community with security. It's not easy to be worth a top-20 overall selection at WR in half PPR.

Round 3 - WR Michael Pittman Jr.

The Colts offense was going to look way different moving from RPO-based Gardner Minshew to vertical-based Anthony Richardson, who was also going later than Pittman despite having dual-threat ability. I just never understood how Pittman would be more valuable than Richardson if Pittman was going to pay off this Round 3 ADP, especially with youngsters Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, and AD Mitchell threatening Pittman's target share. Of course, Pittman (10% advance rate) and Richardson (7%) had lots of issues all year long.

Round 4 - RB Travis Etienne Jr.

In terms of advance rate and production throughout the season, Isiah Pacheco was a worse pick but that was due to injury. Etienne straight up was benched for Tank Bigsby, who was the laughing stock of the best ball community for his drops and fumbles as a rookie. The Jaguars turned this into a committee almost immediately and completely went away from Etienne at times. Only 10% of Etienne teams were able to advance, partially because he was sandwiched between Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs in ADP. We'll see if the Jaguars want to keep Etienne in his last year of his contract with likely a new coaching staff in place. Either way, Etienne hasn't proven to be a consistent difference maker on tape.

Round 5 - TE Dalton Kincaid

The 1st-round sophomore never wowed as a rookie, and the sophomore season didn't come with a leap. The Bills didn't trust him as a blocker, so he missed out on some red zone production, which was already being dominated by Josh Allen's legs. By the end of the year, Dawson Knox was running more routes than Kincaid. He's turned into a finesse check down option with Khalil Shakir, James Cook, and even Ty Johnson getting more schemed up looks. Bills OC Joe Brady is a masterful at mixing in different personnel, and Kincaid's talent is not worth keeping him on the field at all times. Kincaid's 12% advance rate would've been a lot worse if there were other TEs who stepped up.

Round 6 - QB C.J. Stroud

An extremely promising rookie season was set back by play caller, skill group, and offensive line regression. Everything about the scheme, pass protection calls, and the WR depth was terrible. By the time Week 17 ended, the Texans were 31st in success rate driven by an early-down run tendency, a No. 31 rushing success rate, a No. 29 screen success rate, and the most unblocked pressures per PFF. Once Stefon Diggs (ACL) went down and once it was clear Tank Dell wasn't going to be the same with his broken leg, Stroud's season was a wrap because those downfield connections he made in 2023 were no longer available. It was a train wreck to watch on tape, but it was even worse in fantasy football because Stroud doesn't have the dual-threat skill set that's nearly required to be a top-6 option in 2024. Ultimately, the Stroud to Dell connection had a 3.7% advance rate when drafted together. Stroud's by himself was at 8.8%. Yikes.

Round 7 - WR Diontae Johnson

What a bizarre, multi-million evaporating season from the Tomlin dog houser. Johnson did nothing in Bryce Young games, had WR6, WR9, and WR12 finishes with Andy Dalton, and then played himself off the Panthers for a future 5th-to-6th-round pick swap... and then it got worse! Johnson couldn't beat out Tylan Wallace, Nelson Agholor, and Devontez Walker to join the Ravens 3-WR sets, and his attitude was bad enough to warrant an out-right release. It's hard to score fantasy points when you're dismissed from the team. Despite his production, Johnson is on the fast track out of the league or on cheap prove it deals moving forward.

Bonus: Here's what I wrote about Christian Watson before I realized Diontae Johnson was an even worse pick... We knew the Packers were going to be a good offense, but we didn't know how snaps were going to be divvied up with 4 WRs and 2 TEs available for snaps in an already balanced offense. Well, Watson and Reed were rotational members only, while taking a back seat to the emerging Romeo Doubs. Watson's per-game finish at WR67 was sandwiched between Jalen Coker and Calvin Austin. He had some signature drops on downfield targets, which was his only path to making good on this ADP. Moving forward, there's little hope Watson is going to turn into anything more than an athletic vertical-based role player. Those are deep-league bench options only. He had a 14% advance rate while being drafted next to super smash picks in Brian Thomas, Ladd McConkey, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Jordan Addison.

Round 8 - RB Zamir White

We all saw this coming. Who was drafting him? Truly.

Round 9 - RB Jonathon Brooks (Rookie)

When healthy, Brooks looked to be a difference-making RB, especially as a pass catcher in the less-explosive mold of Breece Hall. But the warning signs grew brighter as the offseason played out. The Panthers had no incentive to rush him back on a rebuilding roster, and coach Dave Canales repeatedly said as much. Brooks never practiced in training camp, and the optimistic reporting around his ACL rehab slowly went away. That should've sent his ADP down multiple rounds, but the upside case kept him in the mid rounds. What wasn't considered was how well Chuba Hubbard played in 2023 and how much Canales talked him up throughout the offseason. Even if Brooks was healthy, Hubbard meant too much to this staff to replace him entirely. It was terrible luck for Brooks to re-tear his ACL late in the year, but Brooks was probably going to be stuck in a committee this entire time. Committees on bad to average offenses aren't good picks in this range.

Round 10 - RB Javonte Williams

Like Brooks, Williams was a promising prospect with some nice rookie numbers, but he hasn't been able to fully rebound from his multi-ligament knee tear from years ago. Last year's numbers were bad, and he was an expiring contract on a rebuilding team with a coaching staff that didn't draft Williams directly. Instead, coach Sean Payton played Jaleel McLaughlin in 2023 and drafted power back Audric Estime in this past draft. That was a sign that Williams wasn't going to be a bellcow back for a team only projected for 5.5 wins. Even with the Broncos nearly doubling their win total this year, Williams did next to nothing. Part of the reason is Payton's history of committee approaches, but a lot of this falls squarely on Williams not being the same player as he was viewed as a prospect. The answer in the Broncos backfield was nobody. There are teams were that is the answer.

Round 11 - WR Adonai Mitchell (Rookie)

There were real flashes at Texas, but I had my down-to-down doubts after watching his junior tape. Mitchell wasn't polished, and there were credible reports about his character throughout the draft process. Once we got the tanked draft capital, we should've fully re-set our Mitchell expectations. The Colts also had all 3 starting WRs returning to the team, one led by a completely unproven passing QB. Mitchell couldn't beat out Alec Pierce for snaps, and he wasn't live to replace recently-paid Michael Pittman or impressive slot Josh Downs. His rookie tape also left a lot to desire. He dropped passes, made classic rookie mistakes, and often needed some help (like on a mesh concept) to get his YAC ability going. To me, when a boom-bust prospect is showing us signs of busting early, we should pay attention.

Round 12 - WR Ja'Lynn Polk (Rookie)

Polk wasn't a great prospect to me. If he was going to be a 2nd-rounder, it was because he was a willing blocker and a do-everything fine type of role player for a real life NFL team. He wasn't a great athlete, nor dominated in advance metrics in college. The Patriots, who have quite the WR track record, were a bad landing spot for him, even if there were available targets to be had. The reality was that OL and skill group was F Tier, and they just weren't going to be in the red zone enough to score. He didn't stand out in training camp per reports, and his preseason tape looked iffy. Whenever he was given a chance during his rookie season, Polk looked slow, sloppy, and agitated. It was as concerning of a rookie season as a top-40 pick can muster, enough so where he's squarely on my do not draft list in 2025.

Round 13 - QB Deshaun Watson

He was bad in 2022, 2023, and that trend continued in 2024. It's really as simple as that, even with a better skill group surrounding him. Watson's theoretical play-making style was zapped by injury and confidence, and coach Kevin Stefanski needs someone to play on time, which is why Kirk Cousins might be heading to Cleveland next offseason. Watson's torn achilles probably makes him a candidate to never see the NFL field again. That's perfectly fine with me.

Round 14 - RB Khalil Herbert

The (flawed) advanced analytics for the RB position signaled Herbert was the Bears best RB (and they might've been right), but the reality is the front office and coaching staff signed D'Andre Swift on the first day of free agency and drafted Roschon Johnson in the previous draft for a reason. That being they didn't see Herbert as "a guy". Instead of wish casting RB trades in the offseason that just rarely happen, it was best to figure Herbert was going to be a low-volume committee member on an bad to average offense with a suspect OL.

2nd- and 3rd-Team Worst Picks In Every Round

1. WR Tyreek Hill and RB Breece Hall

2. All The WRs

3. WR Brandon Aiyuk and WR Tank Dell

4. TE Sam LaPorta and WR Amari Cooper

5. QB Anthony Richardson and WR Christian Kirk

6. WR Christian Watson and TE Kyle Pitts

7. WR Keon Coleman (R) and TE Jake Ferguson

8. WR Curtis Samuel and RB Raheem Mostert

9. WR Josh Palmer and RB Devin Singletary

10. WR Tyler Lockett and WR Dontayvion Wicks

11. RB Ty Chandler and RB Ezekiel Elliott

12. TE Luke Musgrave and RB Jaylen Wright (R)

13. TE Noah Fant and RB Braelon Allen (R)

14. WR Jahan Dotson and RB MarShawn Lloyd (R)