This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is under way, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects are going to launch their professional careers. And NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values.
Throughout the draft, we’ll take a closer look at fantasy-relevant prospects, giving you an overview of their strengths and weaknesses, and assessing their fantasy value in both redraft and dynasty formats.
Let’s dig in.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook
Fitz’s Fantasy Football Outlook
The Buffalo Bills have selected Re’Mahn “Ray” Davis with the 28th pick of the fourth round.
Davis had a five-year college career that took him from Temple to Vanderbilt to Kentucky, so he’s a somewhat overaged prospect who’ll turn 25 in November. He capped off his college carer with a fine 2023 season for Kentucky, rushing for 1,129 yards and 14 touchdowns, with 33 receptions for 323 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 5-8, 211-pound Davis is a tough, hard-nosed runner with good vision and quick feet that keep pumping through contact. He’s dangerous on cutbacks, using his lateral agility to find open space. Davis has also displayed utility as a pass catcher with 62 receptions and 10 TD catches over his final two college seasons.
Davis clocked a 4.52 at the combine, so he isn’t especially fast for a smaller back. He can also be too much of an east-west runner at times. While Davis is a capable pass catcher, questions about his pass blocking could keep him off the field on obvious passing downs.
Buffalo is a nice landing spot for Davis. He’s not going to leapfrog lead RB James Cook early on, but Cook is a smaller back who could use a tag-team partner in the backfield. The Bills had an amalgam of veteran backups behind Cook last year, including Latavius Murray, who’s now 34. I think it’s fair to say Davis has the inside track on the No. 2 job.
I have Davis ranked RB6 among the rookie RB prospects and RB40 in my overall dynasty rankings.
For redraft, Davis had a predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking of RB70 in half-point PPR redraft leagues and an Underdog best-ball ADP of RB54. He’s a good value at those rummage-sale prices.
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Thor’s NFL Draft Profile & Player Comp
Ray Davis (Kentucky)
5083/211 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Ke’Shawn Vaughn
Bowling ball-back with some juice. Spent the beginning of his career as the bell cow on terrible Temple and Vanderbilt teams, consistently ganged up on. Has worked on his body since then and has more burst to show for it. Perhaps because of his formative years behind bad lines, Ray Davis has honed a strong field vision. At Kentucky, he was adept at hitting cut-back lanes into open grass and punching the gas. Does a nice job of following block progression to take at minimum what is given to him on any given play. A fighter on the field who is always contorting forward for the extra yard. He runs with his knees bent and a heavy leg churn, staying low to the ground and giving defenders a small surface area to hit. Davis has improved enough as a receiver that he could now be called decent in that area. He’s got work to do in pass-pro, however. Davis profiles as an RB2 at the next level.
Check out more NFL Draft profiles and player comps from Thor in our 2024 NFL Draft Guide
Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings
Our analysts provide their latest rookie draft rankings below. And also check out our expert consensus dynasty rookie draft rankings!
More Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- DBro’s Top 50 Rankings & Player Notes
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