This season, the Eels provide enough for Fantasy owners to be excited about, including two potential weapons at HLF and a wealth of EDG talent capable of hitting elite-level scores.
Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown, who finished the regular season as the fifth and sixth best players in their respective positions, will be a staple on many rosters in 2024 after demonstrating their ability to coexist as productive scorers.
As a cash cow prospect who transformed into a low-cost keeper, J’maine Hopgood made waves last season. Now that he’s a designated MID and EDG, the Eels will have four excellent EDG players in 2024: Hopgood, Bryce Cartwright, and Shaun Lane.
After years of being a mediocre (or worse) Fantasy scorer, Cartwright in particular is an intriguing player. He averaged 48.5 points per game in 2023 and was a standout, but it’s unclear if his role will remain the same with Kelma Tuilagi joining the team from the Sea Eagles during the off-season.
With an average of 60.9 points per game, J’maine Hopgood, 24, had a breakout season last year, ranking third among all MIDs. There’s a chance his minutes, and probably his Fantasy points, decrease off a touch because of the amount of mouths to feed in the Parra pack, but that shouldn’t deter you. Hopgood will be a top-tier MID option and an elite EDG even with a few fewer points, and his dual position status makes him an excellent addition. In addition to having a tonne of offload potential and assist metrics, he has very strong base numbers.
This is still far from a safe option until we find out how Brendan Hands ($406k) and Joey Lussick ($459k) will share the minutes at hooker, but the latter appears to be an enticing HOK buy on paper. Lussick averaged 40.2 tackles in five games during the previous season, which helped him stabilise at little under 36 Fantasy points per game. He was severely hampered by a staggering 22 missed tackles during that span, but if he can get that fixed, he will have an instant opportunity to go into the 40s. It’s unclear who will start at number nine, but considering that Lussick is signed through the end of 2025 and coach Brad Arthur has stated that he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on Hands.
