Depending on how much experience you have with dynasty football and dynasty rookie drafts, you may or may not know how to value rookie draft picks. You also may not be sure just when it’s wise — or foolish — to go out and buy some rookie draft picks.
If you’ve tried to acquire some high rookie draft picks recently, chances are it is very difficult or that owners of the higher picks aren’t budging. This is the time of year that the hype surrounding rookie draft picks is as high as it gets, and as the 2020 NFL Draft rolls around, it’s going to get even harder to acquire them.
Whether you’re the type of owner who loves to hoard draft picks, or you’re the owner that sells all of their picks to acquire players in hopes of winning now, there are many different ways to approach your dynasty leagues, and we can all agree that drafting stud rookies can be one of the most fun things about dynasty football. Especially when you draft a young stud who ends up being a huge part of your dynasty team for years.
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First-Round Rookie Draft Picks
The first-round rookie draft picks, especially the higher ones, can be extremely hard to acquire right now. As the NFL Draft approaches, those early first-round picks are going to get even harder to buy.
If you’re looking at trading into the first round of your dynasty rookie drafts, I’d recommend looking for mid-late picks. If you have a top-nine or top-six pick in your rookie draft, depending on the format, I’d be pretty happy. If you’re in a Superflex or 2QB league, you’ve got Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert as the pretty much consensus top rookie quarterbacks, and depending on how your draft goes or how your league values quarterbacks, there’s a chance you’ll land one of them. As for wide receivers, there’s CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy as the top options for me, but depending on who you talk to, that could vary. Jonathan Taylor, D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, and Cam Akers are my top rookie running backs and are pretty much the consensus top four guys in this class. That comes to nine players that I’d be very happy to own in this year’s rookie class, not even including a handful of potential stud wide receivers and running backs like Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Henry Ruggs, and Jalen Reagor. Notice we haven’t even gotten into this tight end class, or some of the later rookie quarterbacks who will be available.
In short, this isn’t the best time to acquire early first-round picks. Unfortunately, if you hadn’t bought them already, it’s a terrible time to do so now. If you can target picks 6-12 in your rookie draft, that’s really the only way I’d try and trade into the first round right now. One way that you could trade up is if you’ve got a few later first-round picks, and you’re looking at moving up into that top five to eight range.
If you own high-end rookie draft picks, hold on to them. During your actual rookie drafts, you’d be able to sell them for even more. Especially when those picks are actually on the clock.
Second Round Rookie Draft Picks
The second round is where I’m looking to trade for draft picks right now. This class has so much depth, especially at the wide receiver position, that you’re going to be looking at several very exciting names with your second-round picks. Often times, second-round draft picks can be thrown into deals, and if you’ve done a fair amount of negotiating on dynasty trades, you know how often times a second or third-round draft pick can be thrown in when you’re close to getting a deal done.
Early second-round picks will obviously be the most difficult to acquire, but the middle second-round picks are where I’d be looking. These second-round picks are going to end up being very valuable when your rookie draft rolls around, especially in Superflex and 2QB leagues. With the increased popularity of the TE Premium scoring, there are definitely some tight ends that will go off the board around this time. Quarterbacks like Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts, Jake Fromm, and Jacob Eason are going to end up available around this time in some leagues. Tight ends such as Brycen Hopkins, Cole Kmet, and Hunter Bryant should also be very valuable at this point. This list doesn’t even include wide receivers like Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins, or Denzel Mims. The depth of this 2020 class can’t be overstated, and now is a good time to look at acquiring those 2020 second round rookie picks.
Third Round Rookie Draft Picks
Similar to the second-round picks, the third-round will definitely have some random players that will be worth taking a look at. With all of the hype around the top rookie picks, the cheapest way to get a piece of this rookie class would be to target some third-round picks if possible. Once the NFL Draft gets here, these third-round picks will get more expensive, and I’d be looking at acquiring these third-rounders before the rest of your league realizes just how deep this class is.
2021 Rookie Draft Picks
I know it may be early, and every single year it seems like the rookie class gets too much hype, but the 2021 rookie class is already shaping up to be a strong one as well. Chuba Hubbard, Najee Harris, and Travis Etienne are three running backs that would’ve been in the 2020 class had they chosen to declare, but they’ll lead the way for the 2021 rookie running backs. We all were able to see Ja’Maar Chase put on a show in the National Championship game for LSU, and he’ll be up there for the wide receivers. Don’t get too carried away, but this can be a good time to acquire some second-round 2021 rookie picks fairly easily as well.
If you’re curious about what players you should trade or not trade for certain draft picks, feel free to Tweet me @aaron_schill and I’m happy to give my input.
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Aaron Schillinger is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his profile and follow him @aaron_schill.
