Fantasy football is basically a game of high-stakes guessing wrapped in a spreadsheet. And at the center of it all stands Matthew Berry. Love him or hate him—and plenty of people do both—his annual manifesto remains the most influential piece of content in the industry. The Matthew Berry Love/Hate 2024 preseason edition set the tone for a chaotic NFL season, and looking back at it now is like reading a time capsule of our own collective delusions.
He gets crushed on Reddit for his long-winded intros. You’ve probably scrolled past 2,000 words about his kids or a chance encounter with a minor celebrity just to find out if he likes your RB2. But there is a reason the "Godfather" of fantasy still commands the room. He isn't just picking players; he’s predicting usage.
The 2024 Ride or Die: Kyler Murray
Berry’s "Ride or Die" is the player he stakes his entire reputation on for the season. In 2024, that was Kyler Murray.
It was a polarizing pick at the time. Murray was coming off the ACL injury and people were worried about his rushing floor. Berry's logic? The Cardinals' defense was so bad they’d be in shootouts every week. He was right. Murray provided that elite dual-threat upside that kept managers in the hunt, even when the roster around him was crumbling. It wasn’t a "league-winner" in the sense of a 2019 Christian McCaffrey, but as a mid-round QB? It was a smash hit.
Why Matthew Berry Love/Hate 2024 Was So Divisive
The biggest criticism this year wasn't even about the picks. It was about the ADP (Average Draft Position).
A lot of sharp players felt Berry was playing it too safe. When you "Love" guys like Derrick Henry or Isiah Pacheco, are you really going out on a limb? Henry went to Baltimore to score 20 touchdowns. Everyone knew that. Pacheco was the clear-cut bell cow in Kansas City.
The "Hate" list is where things usually get interesting. Berry was notably lower on Michael Pittman and Amari Cooper than the general public. He worried about the passing volume in Indianapolis and the age/injury cliff in Cleveland. Honestly, those takes aged like fine wine. Cooper was a massive headache for managers until his trade to Buffalo, and Pittman suffered through the Anthony Richardson/Joe Flacco identity crisis.
The Big Wins: Running Backs and Rookies
If you followed the Matthew Berry Love/Hate 2024 advice on the Ravens' backfield, you're smiling. Berry was all-in on Derrick Henry as a top-tier RB1 when others feared the "age cliff."
- James Cook: Berry loved him. Cook became the engine of the Bills' offense.
- Jayden Daniels: He was an "Honorable Mention" love early on that turned into a full-blown obsession by Week 3.
- Malik Nabers: Berry told everyone to ignore the "Giants' offense is bad" narrative. Nabers turned out to be a target hog of historic proportions.
But it wasn't all sunshine. You can't talk about Berry without mentioning the whiffs. He was very high on Chris Olave in the preseason. Olave is a great talent, but the Saints' offensive line and Derek Carr’s inconsistencies made that "Love" designation feel like a curse for much of the first half of the season.
The "Hates" That Hurt
The hardest part about the Matthew Berry Love/Hate 2024 list is when he "hates" a player you just drafted. This year, he was skeptical of George Pickens early on. While Pickens had some disappearing acts, he also had those 150-yard explosive games that made "hating" him look dangerous.
He also threw some shade at Jordan Mason early in the season when Christian McCaffrey first went down. Berry was worried it would be a messy committee with Guerendo or Taylor. It wasn't. Mason was a top-5 RB for the first month of the season. If you listened to the "Hate" there, you missed the biggest waiver wire pickup of the year.
Managing the Noise
Fantasy football is a game of shifting probabilities. Berry’s columns are best used as a temperature check on the market.
When he says he "loves" a player, he’s usually saying the market is too low on that player's ceiling. When he "hates" them, he’s flagging a floor that is lower than people want to admit.
Takeaways for your next draft:
- Trust the volume: Berry’s best hits (Henry, Cook, Nabers) were all about guaranteed touches.
- Ignore the "safe" loves: If he loves a first-round pick, it doesn't help you. Look for the Round 6-9 names.
- The Intro Matters: Somewhere in those 3,000 words of preamble, he usually drops a nugget about coaching changes or scheme shifts that matters more than the player names themselves.
The 2024 season proved that no one, not even the Godfather, has a crystal ball. But the Matthew Berry Love/Hate 2024 list remains the best way to see where the "public" money is going. If you want to beat your league, you have to know what the rest of the world is reading.
Compare Berry's preseason rankings against the actual end-of-year finishes for the "Love" list players to identify which coaching schemes he predicts most accurately for next season.