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Sure, the 2023 season, postseason included, is fully in the books, wrapped up with the Texas Rangers' World Series Game 5 win on Nov. 1. But for us fantasy analysts, 2024 is already firmly in our sights. For this columnist, it began with the all-too-early rankings --- both points-based and rotisserie! -- immediately following the regular season's conclusion.

However, the real jump-start moment of the new season for many of us is the First Pitch Arizona conference, annually coinciding with the Arizona Fall League's "Fall Stars Game" weekend, generally scheduled for the first weekend of November and directly before the beginning of the annual free agency period. Yes, this year's event began less than 24 hours after the 2023 season concluded. Welcome to the year-round process that is fantasy baseball analysis.

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Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, Los Angeles Angels: Among the most-asked-about players related to injuries, Ohtani should be ready to serve as a full-time hitter from the onset of 2023, but be unable to pitch again until the beginning of 2024. That said, we don't at all know the specifics of his Sept. 19 elbow surgery, so it's understandable that fantasy managers might have some doubt about his utility for our purposes come Opening Day.

Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B, Cincinnati Reds: Speaking of those early NFBC (National Fantasy Baseball Championship) ADP returns, De La Cruz's are out of control, seeing him at No. 20 overall with high and low selections of 15th and 35th. To be clear, I love the guy and see a potentially spectacular career ahead for him. For 2024 alone, however, he's much more rotisserie-angled, and more likely to set the single-season record for strikeouts than to return top-25 overall fantasy value.

Yainer Diaz, C, Houston Astros: There's plenty of chatter about his prospective 2024 role, especially after general manager Dana Brown told KPRC-2 Houston recently that Diaz is "going to be the main guy" behind the plate. Diaz only once all season started as many as five games across any 10-game span, had subpar framing metrics (minus-4 runs above average, per Statcast) and the team's highest ERA when catching (4.06), but he also had well-above-average raw power metrics (96th percentile expected slugging percentage, 79th percentile Barrel rate) that appeal to fantasy managers.

Lucas Giolito, SP, Free Agent: After he became the first player in the modern era to surrender eight-plus runs in a game for three different teams -- and he did so within a 49-day, 9-start span at that -- it's interesting to hear anyone make a "buy low" case for the free agent. Still, that was the case -- granted, hardly a passionate one -- during Saturday's pitching spotlight panel, and it's a fair point that he's still only 29 years old and had seven 20-point fantasy performances in 2023 (the same number as Ohtani, Pablo Lopez and Freddy Peralta, for a reference point). He'll be a pitcher on my spring watch list.

DL Hall, RP, Baltimore Orioles: While everyone gravitates to Yennier Cano as the Orioles' prospective 2024 closer, Hall is the skilled alternative who meets the sleeper description. His trio of offerings (four-seam fastball, slider, changeup) each had at least a 30% whiff rate (percentage of hitters' swings that were flat-out misses) and his 33% career minor league strikeout rate says he has the potential for more. Saturday's pitching panel brought a universal opinion that Cano is a less-attractive fantasy closer than either Adbert Alzolay or Andres Munoz.

Fantasy football drafts signal the annual rite of fall. The NFL season is nearly upon us, and it's time to shake the pandemic blues, bust out your tablets, do your research and plunge head-on into fantasy football on ESPN.com. Matthew Berry's 10 lists of 10 is as much a staple of fantasy draft prep as calling a caterer. You'll find potential breakout players, bold predictions, fun team names and much more. Still need a league? Sign up for free today!

But over the years, fantasy football has become insanely popular and eclipsed all other fantasy sports by a significant margin. As a result, interest in fantasy football content during the offseason increased in a big way. And my interest in doing fantasy baseball content went in the complete opposite direction. So with the bosses' blessing, I quit baseball to focus on fantasy football in 2014.

So I reached out to Peter King. Peter, of course, is a legend in our industry and most well-known for his iconic "Monday Morning Quarterback" column that he wrote for Sports Illustrated for so many years. He's now at NBC with "Football Morning in America." I didn't know Peter very well back then, but we followed each other on Twitter. I knew Peter played fantasy football, so I took a chance and slid into his DMs. I asked Peter if I could get 10 minutes on the phone to ask his advice on how to get the most out of the NFL combine.

Embracing the fun spirit of fantasy sports, ESPN senior fantasy analyst Matthew Berry and his unconventional cast of characters aim to make fantasy football players smarter and help them win their leagues. Watch the latest episode

6. That the Jaguars will have a pass-happy and fantasy-friendly offense this year. And that, behind WR DJ Chark, two camp standouts will have much more fantasy-relevant roles than their current ADP suggests: WR Laviska Shenault and TE Tyler Eifert.

10. That Darrel Williams is the Chiefs RB you want if you are looking for insurance behind Clyde Edwards-Helaire. A reminder that in the three games with 10-plus touches last year, Williams averaged 15.6 fantasy points per game.

A few years ago, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told his team not to eat chicken because "it's a nervous bird." To be clear, if I could be fried and eaten at any given moment I'd be nervous too. Anyway, fantasy football is often an emotional game. So here are 10 big-name players who I am nervous about this year, either due to injury, the offense, the players around them, the high ADP it will cost to draft them, and/or other reasons. All talented players, all ranked appropriately, but something about them gives me pause when I'm drafting, and when it comes to the point where they should be picked in PPR, I tend to go with a different but similarly ranked player.

6. New Orleans Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders. A very good real-life player and a nice signing for New Orleans. But last season Saints WRs not named Michael Thomas combined for just 56 receptions. In fact, 2016 was the last time a Saints WR not named Michael Thomas saw 70-plus targets. I'm not the biggest Jared Cook fan (see below!), but he will require some targets. Over the past two years, Thomas and Alvin Kamara have accounted for 54.6% of Saints receptions. Volume is unlikely for Sanders given the other options, so he needs to score, which also seems unlikely given Thomas, Kamara, Cook and Taysom Hill gadget plays. Remember, since 2017, 67 players have seen 200 targets. Sanders has scored on 3.9% of his targets, 15th lowest among 67. (For comparison, Jamison Crowder and Duke Johnson have higher rates.) Add in that he's 33 years old and has missed eight games since 2017 and, yeah, I'm nervous fantasy-wise here.

8. Miami Dolphins WR DeVante Parker. Every year the fantasy industry has been wrong on him. His first four years we all loved him as a sleeper and he was merely asleep. Last year no one liked him and he exploded. Until WR Preston Williams got hurt last year (through Week 9) he averaged 11.5 points compared with Williams' 11.4. Much prefer Williams at his ADP this year, and seriously, we've all been wrong on him for five straight years. What makes you think we've finally figured it out?

10. New Orleans Saints TE Jared Cook. He makes me nervous every year. Most years I'm right. Fourth-highest drop rate among tight ends last year, seventh in drop rate league-wide since 2017 (minimum 100 targets). Needs TDs for fantasy value (49.4% of his fantasy points came via TD), and, as I mentioned above, New Orleans just added WR Emmanuel Sanders.

&#8226 Cheat sheet: Draft tips, sleepers

&#8226 Clay's Ultimate Draft Board

&#8226 Schefter's value picks, more

&#8226 Karabell's running back tiers

&#8226 Karabell's wide receiver tiers

&#8226 Complete fantasy football draft kit

Quarterback A: 19.0 fantasy points per game, 19 pass TDs, 217 rush yards, 18% off-targetQuarterback B: 18.0 fantasy points per game, 24 pass TDs, 274 rush yards, 16% off-targetQB A is the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, and QB B is ... the Giants' Daniel Jones (his only 12 games as the starter).

Quarterback C: 16.8 fantasy points per game, 237 pass YPG, 1.5 pass TDs per game, 27.5 rush YPGQuarterback D: 17.4 fantasy points per game, 250 pass YPG, 1.6 pass TDs per game, 11.4 rush YPGQB C is the Jaguars' Gardner Minshew II, and QB D is ... the Packers' Aaron Rodgers.

Running Back E: 12.7 fantasy points per game, 179 rush yards, 285 receiving yards, 3 total TDsRunning Back F: 13.0 fantasy points per game, 691 rush yards, 117 receiving yards, 2 total TDsRB E is the Browns' Kareem Hunt, and RB F is the Browns' Nick Chubb (starting when Hunt came back from suspension).

My thinking: The second-best QB last year in total points and the QB with the most rushing touchdowns since he came into the NFL, he's playing for a new deal in a fantasy-friendly offense, and he has three big-play wide receivers in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb.

My thinking: With arguably a better supporting cast than even 2007, a fantasy-friendly, offensive-minded coach, and defensive rules that make it much harder to defend the pass, Brady is set up for success. Determined to prove everyone wrong, he wants a massive season and will stay in to throw even in blowouts, and when they are in close he will check out of run plays for cheap touchdowns as well. e24fc04721