Many rookie-only drafts for dynasty leagues have either happened or will happen soon. With that in mind, I wanted to share how one of my rookie-only drafts unfolded in a 12-team, Superflex dynasty league.
Here was my roster prior to the draft. I finished 6-8 last season, and just before the trade deadline, I dealt Mike Evans for a first- and third-round pick, which ended up being 1.12 and 3.12.
QB: Matthew Stafford, LAR
QB: Geno Smith, SEA
RB: Kyren Williams, LAR
RB: Austin Ekeler, WAS
RB: Chase Brown, CIN
RB: Miles Sanders, CAR
RB: Samaje Perine, DEN
RB: Dameon Pierce, HOU
RB: Jamaal Williams, NOS
WR: Garrett Wilson, NYJ
WR: DeVonta Smith, PHI
WR: Quentin Johnston, LAC
WR: Romeo Doubs, GBP
WR: D.J. Chark, LAC
WR: Rondale Moore, ATL
WR: Darius Slayton, NYG
WR: Tre Tucker, LVR
TE: Dalton Schultz, HOU
TE: Isaiah Likely, BAL
TE: Chigoziem Okonkwo, TEN
TE: Tyler Conklin, NYJ
The scoring for this league is PPR, with four points for passing touchdowns (minus-2 for interceptions), and we start 13 players (QB, 3 RB, 5 WR, TE, DEF, FLEX and SUPERFLEX). My picks in the rookie draft were 1.05, 1.12, 2.05, 3.05, 3.12, 4.04, 4.05, 5.04, 5.05 and 6.05. I only intended to make seven of those selections at most, which is what happened.
My plan going into the draft was to get a quarterback at 1.05 since I needed reinforcements behind Stafford and Smith. I anticipated J.J. McCarthy being the selection, and I like his situation in Minnesota better than what Drake Maye has in New England.
The first four picks were Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers, so now I was faced with McCarthy vs. Maye or Rome Odunze at 1.05. With quarterback more of a priority for me in this league, I drafted McCarthy. I'm hopeful he'll be the starter for the Vikings for the next decade -- or more.
At 1.12, I had the choice of Ladd McConkey, Keon Coleman and Ricky Pearsall at receiver, along with Trey Benson at running back. I also could have selected another quarterback in Bo Nix.
Since we start five receivers and a Flex in this league, I wanted another receiver, and I like McConkey the best of this group. Now, I have three members of the Chargers receiving corps, which might not be ideal, but hopefully, McConkey and Johnston step up this season in Los Angeles with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams gone.
At 2.05, I nearly got the player I considered at 1.12 in Pearsall, but he went at 2.04. I went with another receiver in Xavier Legette, and I'm hopeful he becomes the No. 1 option in the passing game for the Panthers.
I had a tough decision with Legette vs. Adonai Mitchell and Troy Franklin, and what swayed me was the Panthers decision to trade back into the first round of the NFL Draft for Legette. I'm expecting him to be heavily involved early in his rookie campaign.
I was torn between two players at 3.05 with Ben Sinnott and Kimani Vidal because adding running back depth for this team was a priority. But I thought there was a chance Vidal could slip to 3.12, while Sinnott still being available at 3.05 was a slight surprise.
I took the safer and likely more talented player in Sinnott, and I'm hopeful he will be my starting tight end by 2025, if not sooner. He has the potential to be a top-12 Fantasy tight end right away in Washington's offense.
When it got to 3.12, I had three picks in the next six selections, so I planned to get some running back depth next. My first pick was easy with Tyrone Tracy Jr. and he should have a role with the Giants right away this season behind Devin Singletary.
At 4.04, I went with Audric Estime, and I'm hopeful Sean Payton allows Estime to compete with Javonte Williams for the starting job this year. I thought about another running back at 4.05 with Dylan Laube, who could be the No. 2 running back in Las Vegas as early as this season behind Zamir White. But instead, I went with another quarterback in Spencer Rattler.
We'll see if Rattler becomes the heir apparent to Derek Carr in New Orleans. But at this point in the draft, Rattler was worth the risk compared to other players I was considering, including Laube, Malik Washington and Theo Johnson.
So I came away from this draft using seven selections to get two quarterbacks (McCarthy and Rattler), two running backs (Tracy and Estime), two receivers (McConkey and Legette) and a tight end (Sinnott). I'm happy with this haul.
That being said, I'll likely always compare some of these players to other options I could have selected instead (McCarthy or Maye, McConkey or Coleman, and Legette or Mitchell), but I'm happy with my roster. And here's what the entire rookie draft looked like in this league.
1.01: Caleb Williams, CHI QB
1.02: Jayden Daniels, WAS QB
1.03: Marvin Harrison Jr., ARI WR
1.04: Malik Nabers, NYG WR
1.05: J.J. McCarthy, MIN QB
1.06: Rome Odunze, CHI WR
1.07: Jonathan Brooks, CAR RB
1.08: Brock Bowers, LVR TE
1.09: Drake Maye, NEP QB
1.10: Xavier Worthy, KCC WR
1.11: Brian Thomas Jr., JAC WR
1.12: Ladd McConkey, LAC WR
2.01: Keon Coleman, BUF WR
2.02: Trey Benson, ARI RB
2.03: Bo Nix, DEN QB
2.04: Ricky Pearsall, SFO WR
2.05: Xavier Legette, CAR WR
2.06: MarShawn Lloyd, GBP RB
2.07: Michael Penix Jr., ATL QB
2.08: Jaylen Wright, MIA RB
2.09: Adonai Mitchell, IND WR
2.10: Troy Franklin, DEN WR
2.11: Blake Corum, LAR RB
2.12: Jermaine Burton, CIN WR
3.01: Ja'Lynn Polk, NEP WR
3.02: Roman Wilson, PIT WR
3.03: Javon Baker, NEP WR
3.04: Bucky Irving, TBB RB
3.05: Ben Sinnott, WAS TE
3.06: Erick All, CIN TE
3.07: Jalen McMillan, TBB WR
3.08: Kimani Vidal, LAC RB
3.09: Luke McCaffrey, WAS WR
3.10: Ja'Tavion Sanders, CAR TE
3.11: Ray Davis, BUF RB
3.12: Tyrone Tracy Jr., NYG RB
4.01: Malachi Corley, NYJ WR
4.02: Isaac Guerendo, SFO RB
4.03: Braelon Allen, NYJ RB
4.04: Audric Estime, DEN RB
4.05: Spencer Rattler, NOS QB
4.06: Jacob Cowing, SFO WR
4.07: Malik Washington, NYJ WR
4.08: Dylan Laube, LVR RB
4.09: Will Shipley, PHI RB
4.10: Devontez Walker, BAL WR
4.11: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KCC RB
4.12: Drew Lock, NYG QB
5.01: Rasheen Ali, BAL RB
5.02: Theo Johnson, NYG TE
5.03: Cade Stover, HOU TE
5.04: No Pick Made
5.05: No Pick Made
5.06: Jared Wiley, KCC TE
5.07: No Pick Made
5.08: No Pick Made
5.09: Jawhar Jordan, HOU RB
5.10: No Pick Made
5.11: No Pick Made
5.12: No Pick Made
6.01: No Pick Made
6.02: Joshua Dobbs, SFO QB
6.03: Joe Milton, NEP QB
6.04: Blake Watson, DEN RB
6.05: No Pick Made
6.06: Cody Schrader, SFO RB
6.07: No Pick Made
6.08: No Pick Made
6.09: No Pick Made
6.10: No Pick Made
6.11: No Pick Made
6.12: No Pick Made
