The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone. While the real NFL draft is over, the fantasy football drafts are just beginning! That’s especially true when it comes to dynasty rookie drafts. NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values. Let’s dive into our dynasty rookie draft outlook and advice for a few rookies.
- 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
Here’s what Fitz expects for a few rookies selected during the 2024 NFL Draft.
Giants Draft Tyrone Tracy
The New York Giants have selected Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy with the 31st pick of the fifth round.
Tracy spent the first four years of his college career as a lightly used wide receiver at the University of Iowa before transferring to Purdue and becoming a running back. He had 716 rushing yards and eight touchdowns for the downtrodden Boilermakers last year, averaging 6.3 yards per carry behind a weak offensive line. He also had 19 catches for 132 yards.
An extraordinary athlete, the 5-11, 209-pound Tracy ran a 4.48 at the combine and recorded a 40-inch vertical jump. His 9.84 Relative Athletic Score was second-best among the running backs in this class behind only Louisville’s Isaac Guerendo and 30th best of the 1,765 RBs to have posted a RAS since 1987, according to RAS pioneer Kent Lee Platte.
Although he’s relatively inexperienced as a running back, Tracy displayed good vision and instincts last year to go along with his natural burst and agility. He posted a 163.5 elusive rating last season and averaged 4.44 yards after contact per attempt. And as a former wide receiver, Tracy clearly has NFL pass-catching potential. FantasyPros NFL Draft and college football analyst Thor Nystrom is a Tracy enthusiast, ranking him fifth among the running backs in this class.
Positional inexperience is probably the biggest knock on Tracy, who faces a steep learning curve in the NFL. He’s also an older prospect who’ll turn 25 in November.
Tracy landed in a pretty good spot. Devin Singletary sits atop the Giants’ RB depth chart, with Matt Breida and Eric Gray behind him. It’s easy to imagine Tracy opening the 2024 season as the Giants’ primary passing-down back, and he might be able to contend for early-down work as well.
For dynasty, I have Tracy ranked RB12 among the rookies, RB58 overall. For redraft, I have Tracy ranked RB65 as of now.
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
Chargers Draft Kimani Vidal
The Los Angeles Chargers waited quite a while in this year’s draft to address their sparse RB position, but they finally took one in the sixth round, selecting Kimani Vidal of Troy with the 181st overall pick. It might seem silly for fantasy managers to get excited about a sixth-round draft pick, but the marriage between Vidal and the Chargers seems perfect.
The 5-7½, 213-pound Vidal is a compact and productive runner who became Troy’s all-time leading rusher last year. After rushing for 1,132 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior, Vidal went nuclear in his senior season, with 1,661 rushing yards, 201 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in 14 games.
Vidal ran a surprisingly fast 4.46 at the combine and posted a Relative Athletic Score of 8.81. He’s built low to the ground and packs surprising power, using his leg drive to push piles. The shifty Vidal does a nice job of picking his way through traffic, and he saw a lot of it in his last two seasons at Troy, as opposing defenses loaded up the box in an effort to stop the Trojans’ top offensive weapon.
With 315 touches last season, Vidal demonstrated that he can handle bell-cow usage. He’s also a useful pass catcher who had 92 receptions during his four-year college career and impressed onlookers at Senior Bowl practices with his route-running.
The only real knocks on Vidal are that he’s not a burner in the speed department, and he’ll have to make a significant adjustment making the jump from Troy to the NFL.
The Chargers needed some help at running back. They have Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins on the roster, but Edwards is strictly an early-down/goal-line hammer, and Dobbins has endured a torn ACL and torn Achilles in recent years. Vidal has a chance to play a substantial role for the Chargers immediately.
Vidal is a favorite dynasty target of mine. I have him ranked RB7 among the rookies and RB37 overall. Despite the poor hit rate for sixth-round draft picks, I’m hoping to grab him in either the late second round or early third round of 1QB rookie drafts, or in the late third round of superflex rookie drafts.
Vidal was an afterthought in the predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings, checking in at RB101. He has an Underdog best-ball ADP of RB78. I’m tentatively slotting him in at RB52 for redraft
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
Dolphins Draft Malik Washington
The Miami Dolphins have selected Malik Washington of Virginia with the 184th overall pick of the NFL Draft.
Washington went nuclear at Virginia last season after four unremarkable seasons at Northwestern. He had 110 catches for 1,426 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games for the Cavaliers. Washington is a springy athlete who ran a 4.47 at the NFL Scouting Combine and posted a Relative Athletic Score of 8.88. The 5-8½, 191-pound Washington is a surprisingly hard to bring down. He broke 35 tackles at Virginia last season, five more than the second-most prolific tackle breaker in this WR class, Malik Nabers. Washington’s quickness and acceleration make him a tough cover for slot corners.
Washington is a somewhat overaged prospect who’ll turn 24 in October, and he was a one-year wonder in terms of production (though in fairness, the Northwestern offense was a sinkhole while Washington was in Evanston). He’s a small, short-armed receiver who figures to be used exclusively in the slot.
There wouldn’t appear to be much of an opportunity for Washington to become fantasy-relevant in 2024, since the Dolphins’ WR duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle is one of the NFL’s best. But Washington could win Miami’s No. 3 receiver job as a rookie, at which point he’d be one injury away from fantasy utility. Hill is on record as saying he intends to retire after the 2025 season.
In dynasty, I have Washington ranked WR18 among rookies and WR74 overall. Expect him to come off the board in the late second round or early third round of 1QB rookie drafts, or in the late third round or early fourth round of superflex drafts.
Washington’s predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking was WR123 in half-point PPR formats, and he had a predraft Underdog best-ball ADP of WR82. I have Washington ranked WR87 for redraft.
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
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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