If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen dozens of these dynasty rookie mock drafts. I know it’s the common thing to do, and every site will have these types of articles. That’s the thing though: I’m not like these other sites.
I play in over 20 fantasy football leagues of different shapes and sizes. These leagues are 10 teams, 12 teams, 14 teams, and 16-team leagues. My leagues are 1QB leagues, Superflex leagues, and even a 2QB+ Superflex league. Starting lineups range from eight starters, all the way to 14. These fantasy football leagues are vast, with scoring bonuses and and boosts like Point Per Receptions(PPR), Points Per Carry(PPC), and Tight End Premiums(TEP). If you’re going to read any dynasty rookie mock drafts, it might as well be one who is actively following the advice they give.
For this dynasty rookie mock draft, I will be using my ideal league type. If I were to create a new league and invited people to join the startup, this would be the format for that league. This mock will be based on a 12-team, start 11 Superflex, with full PPR, and a 1.75TEP. That means every reception a TE gets will be worth 1.75 points instead of 1 point for WRs and RBs.
As you can see, this gives more value to the non-QB positions which will affect this dynasty rookie mock draft. The mock draft will be two full rounds of 12 picks. Again, this is a mock of what I would do and how I would value the rookies in this format. Other formats will change my rankings. Let’s just get into it.
I know this feels chalk and boring, but there’s a good reason for that. Caleb Williams is one of the best QB prospects in the past 15 years. Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence, and Caleb Williams are the three QBs who have been viewed as can’t-miss prospects coming out of college. All three went first overall in their respective NFL drafts.
Caleb is also going to the best landing spot of all the rookie QBs in this year’s draft. Chicago may have had a bottom-10 offensive line in terms of PFF’s Run Blocking and Pass Blocking, but that won’t stop Caleb. He’s a mobile QB who will be surrounded by amazing talent at every level of the field. With Pro Bowl WRs Keenan Allen and DJ Moore, fellow first round rookie Rome Odunze, TEs Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett, and a RB rooming of D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, and Khalil Herbert, Williams is suffocated in talent! He is an easy 1.01 and is in a tier of his own for me.
Tier 2 starts here and goes through 1.04 for me. Marvin Harrison Jr is one of the greatest WR prospects in the draft. His body control is better than everyone in this class. His frame is massive at 6 feet 4 inches and 205 pounds. He is built like an Alpha WR on a team that is in desperate need of one. To top it off with an ideal landing spot in Arizona and you get a recipe for success in fantasy football. Kyler Murray has been willing to hyper-target his WR1 and the Cardinals have over 200 vacated targets. I don’t believe Marv will get all 206 targets, but don’t be surprised if he eclipses 120 targets as a rookie.
Jayden Daniels is my QB2 in this class and lands on a team with some solid pass catchers. Fantasy players have been desperate for Terry McLaurin to get a QB like Daniels. Daniels plays a lot like other notable rushing QBs. Looking at the way he plays reminds me a lot of Justin Fields, but more accurate and a better arm. Remember how much of a cheat code Fields was for fantasy football? That’s what I imagine Daniels could be with the reloaded Commanders. Adding Ben Sinnott at TE and Luke McCaffery at WR will help give Daniels more targets with great hands.
Malik Nabers lands in New York with one of the worst QB rooms. He’s either going to be catching passes from Daniel Jones or Drew Lock. Neither are going to be high efficiency targets for him. However, he’s going to get targeted more than anyone else on that team.
Look back at Drake London with Desmond Ridder/Taylor Heinicke or Garrett Wilson with Zach Wilson. Those were two other really talented WRs with poor QB play that showed out and got tons of targets. We could even look at a situation like DJ Moore in Carolina or Terry McLaurin’s career prior to last year. All four of these WRs were fed targets like an all-you-can-eat buffet and produced like WR2s in points per game at the worst of times! Worst case scenario is Nabers stuck with Danny Dimes this year and next, before getting a veteran – or a rookie QB in the 2026 draft. I’d be happy holding onto a fantasy WR2 with WR1 upside for two years till he blows up with a new QB.
To me, JJ McCarthy goes to the second best landing spot of all these quarterbacks. A solid offensive line, poor defense, a RB who is a pass catching specialist, two great WRs, and one of the top TEs in the league gives McCarthy plenty to work with his rookie year. While he’s not a rushing QB like Daniels, he’s more mobile than Kirk Cousins ever was. I know most may be shocked by this pick, but look at how effective McCarthy was in college when it was third-down. He had one of the highest completion rates and highest conversion rate of all the QBs coming into this rookie class. I’m a big hater of Michigan football, but I love this landing spot of McCarthy to Minnesota. He’s my QB3 in this dynasty rookie mock draft.
The way I see it, we have to treat Rome Odunze like we should have treated Jaxon Smith-Njigba last year. By that, I mean we need to recognize Odunze will not be a viable starter for fantasy football this year, but know he will be valuable to hold onto for 2025 and beyond. The biggest difference between Odunze and JSN is landing spot and draft capital.
Look at JSN: drafted 20th overall, behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, and Geno Smith at QB. Now look at Rome’s situation: drafted 9th overall, behind Keenan Allen and DJ Moore, and Caleb Williams at QB. Odunze was drafted higher, behind WRs that are just as talented as those in Seattle, and will have the better QB throwing the ball. The good news is that Keenan is on the last year of his deal and DJ Moore only has one more after this year. Odunze could be the Bears’ WR2 in 2025 and WR1 in 2026.
I’m not the biggest fan of this landing spot (mostly because I wanted Brock Bowers to fall to the Colts at 15), but I cannot let him go any lower in a 1.75TEP league. He’s the top TE in this class and a top 2 TE of the past ten years. If we look back at last year, the Raiders will be willing to target the slot receiver when Davante Adams is covered. I expect Bowers to be used as one of their main options to lineup in the slot with Jakobi Meyers as the other option.
Drake Maye was drafted highly to the Patriots. However, that’s the issue – it’s the Patriots. Who knows how their pass catchers will be?! They’re bringing back Kendrick Bourne and Demario “Pop” Douglas at WR, along with TE Hunter Henry. They then drafted Ja’Lynn Polk early in the second round of the NFL Draft and Javon Baker on Day 3. On top of that, their top two RBs are both pass catching weapons with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. While none of these players are elite game changers, all of them are viable options for rookie QB Drake Maye. I doubt that Maye will be a fantasy football QB1 this year, but he could be in the future.
Man, the Chiefs love those fast WRs! Now they have the fastest player in NFL Combine history! Xavier Worthy fits in pretty similar to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and will likely start off as a slot or short area receiver. This is definitely not a problem, considering Patrick Mahomes has the lowest Average Depth of Target (ADoT) of all starting QBs last year. Defenses know they need to beat Mahomes deep, but that only opens up the short area for the Chiefs. With the likelihood that a Rashee Rice suspension is looming, I like Worthy to start off the year as one of Mahomes favorite pass catchers. I still think going forward that he will be behind Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice over the course of the season. However, I like Worthy for Dynasty.
The Chargers traded up into the early second round to draft Ladd McConkey at 34th overall. They drafted an offensive tackle with their 5th overall pick, but they knew they needed to address the WR room. Los Angeles got one of the best short area receivers in the draft. We all expect the Chargers to run the ball more than most teams, but when they need a chain mover, I expect Ladd to be that guy.
It’s quite simple: I draft first round QBs in this range. I don’t like this landing spot, but I love the draft capital and I love Michael Penix‘s game. I think he’s got one of the best arms and placements of the QBs in this draft and he is used to airing the ball out to elite WRs. If Kirk Cousins misses any time this year, I would be willing to fire up any and all shares of Drake London and Kyle Pitts.
With this pick, it’s the same logic as with Penix, I would take Bo Nix in this range in rookie drafts. Nix received top-12 draft capital to a team in desperate need of a QB. I like the landing spot more than I like the player. I do like how they Broncos are trying to give him every opportunity to succeed by drafting his college teammate Troy Franklin. They have a solid core built around him. Like Maye, I don’t expect Nix to be relevant in fantasy this year, but he could be in the future.
I like Jonathon Brooks, but I don’t think he will be the main guy in this back field to start the year. If they end up with an earlier Bye week, I could see him taking over then. The backfield isn’t too crowded and he is probably the best RB on the Panthers if/when he’s fully healthy.
Trey Benson was my RB1 going into the NFL Draft. I love this landing spot, but it does mean that he won’t be the starter this year. If James Conner misses time this year, I think Benson could take over as the main guy in that backfield on a really good offense.
I know Brian Thomas Jr a first round WR, but I’m not a fan of this spot for BTJ. I love it for Trevor Lawrence and his chances of being a fantasy QB1! It’s just a bit of a crowded WR room and BTJ plays a similar role to Gabe Davis, who just signed a three-year contract in Jacksonville.
Keon Coleman is a hard player to evaluate. On one hand, he’s going to be the top WR in Buffalo. On the other, he’d be best as a big slot and that’s Khalil Shakir‘s role. If the Bills try to use Coleman like the Chargers used Quentin Johnston last year, he will be a bust for fantasy football.
Xavier Legette a first round WR who’s a big target going to a team whose head coach was a great coordinator for DK Metcalf and Mike Evans. The only issue is that Legette was a fifth year breakout in college and only had one productive year. He’s a big swing and will either hit hard or miss completely.
As a Colts fan, I love this landing spot for Anthony Richardson and the Colts franchise! However, this isn’t a great place for Adonai Mitchell to produce every week. If this was a best ball league, I’d have Mitchell a lot higher on my board.
Same thing as BTJ and Legette. Ricky Pearsall is a first round WR who’s going to a crowded WR room, but could be the WR2 next year if they let Brandon Aiyuk walk in free agency.
I love Ben Sinnott’s game! Watching his college film reminded me of how George Kittle makes big plays for the 49ers. If Sinnott can learn from Zach Ertz for a year, he could hit Year 2 of his career like Trey McBride did this past season.
Ja’Lynn Polk could easily start the year as the main slot receiver in New England and become Drake Maye’s go-to guy. I think it was a bit of a reach to take him early in Round 2, but he could be worth it. If he’s not lining up in the slot, I’m not sure how he will do.
Malachi Corley is a fun player to watch. He’s got a lot going for him with what seems like a quick way into the starting lineup with the Jets. The way I see it, I expect Corley to line up in the slot with Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams on the outside. Plus, he will have 4x NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball this year. He’s worth a shot this late in this dynasty rookie mock draft.
Blake Corum is a winner. He’s a got shorter, bigger frame that could be great for a redzone role. I do think that he will only get a couple of rushes per game unless Kyren Williams misses time. Sean McVay loves to use his Bell Cow RB and no one else. He’s a backup RB worth rostering. I view him as one of the high-end backups this year.
The Broncos traded up to start Day 3 by taking Troy Franklin to join fellow Oregon rookie Bo Nix. If they continue the trend of college QB/WR pairings like Jalen Hurts/DeVonta Smith or Joe Burrow/Ja’Marr Chase, Franklin will be worth the 2.12 in every league.
As you go into your rookie drafts, keep in mind your league mates and their needs. This is just how I would draft these players in a Superflex, 1.75TEP league. Good luck in your rookie drafts!
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