Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice: Elijah Arroyo (2025 Fantasy Football)

This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is underway, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects will 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. Here’s our dynasty rookie draft advice for Elijah Arroyo.

Let’s dig in.

Fantasy Football Dynasty Rookie Draft Outlook

Fantasy Football Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice

It’s been a long time since the Seahawks have had a fantasy-relevant tight end, but Arroyo has a shot to change that. Sometimes we have to think twice about trusting draft capital for tight ends, who are often selected for their blocking ability, but Arroyo is first and foremost a receiver. He ran over 50% of his routes from either out wide or in the slot in his final season at Miami, and that isn’t likely to change in the NFL.

However, that stat about playing in the slot makes this a bit of a confusing fit. Both of the Seahawks’ top two receivers, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, ran the majority of their routes from the slot in 2024. Is Seattle really planning on giving routes and targets to Arroyo instead of one of those two wideouts? With that issue in mind, Arroyo looks like more of a third or even fourth-round Dynasty Rookie draft pick, even with this solid early second-round draft capital.

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DBro’s NFL Draft Scouting Report & Player Comp

Scouting Report:

Elijah Arroyo is an athletic move tight end who can be a mismatch for any pass defense. Arroyo was utilized in motion, up the seam and on screens a ton in 2024. This was done to maximize his after-the-catch abilities, give him free releases off the line and hide some of the route-running growth he still needs to achieve.
Arroyo is an upright runner and long strider who can chew up space quickly in the open field. He has 4.5/4.6 40-yard speed. He has surprisingly good deceleration and nice footwork for his size. He doesn’t use his plus feet enough in his route running or off the line to this point. Linebackers that are physical and can run with him don’t have a hard time staying with him. Arroyo’s routes lack that added nuance that can allow him to separate early and late, and his release package is limited. Arroyo can succeed against zone coverage with a decent feel for finding the holes in the coverage, but he’ll need to grow his game if he hopes to become a true mismatch weapon that can match with man coverage and good coverage linebackers.
Arroyo uses his speed well after the catch, but he needs his play strength to show up more consistently. He forced only five missed tackles in college. He has the athleticism and upper body strength (as exhibited in his blocking) to improve in this area. I’d love to see Arroyo stiff-arm defenders in the NFL.
Arroyo is a functional blocker. He has a decent anchor, can set the edge in run blocking and can operate as a puller. He displaces defenders but isn’t an overwhelming people mover.

Player Comp: Evan Engram