We’ll have you covered as you prepare for your 2025 dynasty rookie drafts. In order to dominate your dynasty rookie draft, check out our expert consensus dynasty rookie draft rankings. And sync your dynasty league to practice with fast and free dynasty rookie mock drafts. Below, we dive into dynasty rookie draft picks our analysts are higher or lower on compared to our expert consensus rankings.
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice
There’s an excellent case to be made that Travis Hunter is the best wide receiver in this year’s draft class. He’s a ridiculously fluid athlete with extraordinary ball skills. His route running needs refinement, but it’s scary to think about how good he could become once he develops that part of his game. The big question is Hunter’s role. He played both wide receiver and cornerback in college, and some people believe he’s better as a cornerback. The Jaguars, who traded up to select Hunter second overall in this year’s draft, say they intend to use Hunter primarily as a wide receiver in his rookie year, though Hunter has made it clear he wants to play both ways. Does double duty end up limiting Hunter’s offensive snaps? And what if the Jags eventually decide they want to make Hunter a full-time cornerback who plays, say, 30% of the offensive snaps. That sort of usage could crush his fantasy value. On talent alone, Hunter should be a first-round pick in dynasty rookie drafts, and he’ll probably go in the fourth or fifth round in redraft. But Hunter’s investors may have to live in fear of a role change.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
The Browns selected Judkins in the second round of the NFL Draft to be their new early down volume thumper. With Judkins and Dylan Sampson added to this depth chart, I expect Jerome Ford to become a sparsely utilized change-of-pace option. I wasn’t high on Judkins as a prospect, as he ranked outside the top 65 backs in each of the last two seasons in yards after contact per attempt and elusive rating (per PFF). The draft capital and immediate high-volume role have helped to quell some of my pessimism, but Judkins could be held back by the overall ecosystem of the Browns’ offense and his lack of pass game upside. Cleveland’s starting quarterback situation is murky at best. Judkins finished college with 0.76 yards per route run, which isn’t an awe-inspiring number. He’s an RB2/3 for 2025.
– Derek Brown
Tyler Warren posted absurd 2024 numbers for Penn State (104 catches, 1,233 yards, 8 TDs) and has ideal size (6-6, 257). But there are reasons for fantasy gamers to consider pumping the breaks on Warren. He’s 22 and will be 23 when his first NFL season begins. The fact that Warren didn’t truly break out until he was a fifth-year senior playing against younger competition makes his numbers from last season slightly less impressive. The age issue is far from disqualifying, however. Warren was a freaking monster in 2024, looking like a George Kittle/Travis Kelce hybrid. Perhaps more concerning is that Warren is going to a team that has Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones at quarterback. Still, he’s a worthy first-round pick in dynasty rookie drafts, and he should probably be considered no worse than a high-end TE2 in redraft.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
The manufactured touch king of Missouri heads to the Chicago Bears via the second round of the NFL Draft. The Ben Johnson faith and steam will give Burden a high floor in dynasty rookie drafts despite the muddy path to significant targets in his rookie season. Chicago did this last year with Rome Odunze as they tossed him into a crowded target tree, and it didn’t work out. Burden faces a similar hurdle with Odunze, D.J. Moore, and possibly Colston Loveland ahead of him in the hierarchy. I also didn’t even mention Cole Kmet or D’Andre Swift. Burden enjoyed a ton of schemed and easy looks in college as he wasn’t asked to just line up every down and route guys up. It’s tough to see Burden finding his way to high-end fantasy relevance in 2025 if everyone stays healthy. He’s more of a long-term play in dynasty as you invest in what we hope to be a much-improved version of the Bears offense and Caleb Williams moving forward. Burden is a mid-second-round pick in dynasty rookie drafts.
– Derek Brown
Texas keeps churning out good NFL receiver prospects. Matthew Golden is a burner who runs crisp routes and has sure hands. It’s impressive how adroitly he works the sidelines. Film guys such as Mel Kiper Jr., Daniel Jeremiah and Dane Brugler love him and ranked him as a top-15 overall prospect in this year’s draft. But Golden’s college production profile raises some red flags. Golden has a chance to make an immediate impact for the Packers, who selected him 23rd overall in this year’s draft. Golden should be able to earn significant rookie-year targets among a group of receivers that includes Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks. The Packers also have Christian Watson, but he might miss most of 2025 after sustaining a major knee injury late last year. Golden figures to go late in the first round of dynasty rookie drafts, and he’s a mid-rounder in redraft.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
Williams hive stand up! Williams gained a lot of traction in the fantasy community in the predraft process, with plenty of people hyping up the former Washington State late breakout. I remain a tad below consensus on Williams, but I agree that he is a viable third-round dart throw in dynasty rookie drafts. Williams didn’t surpass 900 receiving yards or 2.25 yards per route run in any collegiate season until 2024 (per PFF). The hope for the Patriots’ third-round draft pick is that he can avoid faceplanting like Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker did last year. He’ll need to hop Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, and Kendrick Bourne to see the field in 2025 as a full-time starter. We’ll see if he can accomplish that task. If not, he could disappear into the ether in 2026 like New England’s receiver draft picks from the last process are seemingly doing this year. With Williams’ concerning analytical profile, I don’t think the ceiling is extremely high in fantasy, but he’s worth selecting in the third round of dynasty rookie drafts if you need wide receiver depth and a flier for your squad.
– Derek Brown
Among this year’s talented rookie RB class, Dylan Sampson was one of the unlucky ones with regard to landing spot. He went to the Browns in the fourth round, which wouldn’t have been bad if Cleveland hadn’t already taken Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins early in the second round. Now, Sampson will have to battle both Judkins and veteran Jerome Ford for snaps and touches. Sampson is blazing-fast and has impressive lateral agility but there’s more to his game than pure speed and flashy moves. Sampson has good contact balance for a back who weighs barely 200 pounds. He’s surprisingly effective between the tackles, fighting for extra yardage. A patient runner who reads his blocks well, Sampson seems to understand the design of every play. He doesn’t panic when defenders get penetration, turning losses into gains with quick thinking and fleet feet. Sampson is a capable pass catcher and surprisingly adept as a pass blocker.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
The former Crimson Tide dual-threat signal caller fell to the third round of the NFL Draft despite drawing some late first-round buzz close to the draft. The Seattle Seahawks stopped his tumble by punching his card with the 28th pick of round three. Milroe slots in as Seattle’s backup quarterback right now behind Sam Darnold, who has two years of strong money in his newly minted contract. Darnold will need to falter for Milroe to get on the field in the next two years as the team’s starter. His draft capital automatically makes him an outlier if he becomes a multi-year starter for Seattle. The rushing upside of Milroe, if he gets the starting opportunity, is enticing, but his skills as a passer are frightening. In his final collegiate season at Alabama, Milroe ranked 60th in adjusted completion rate, 36th in big-time throw rate, and 66th in adjusted completion rate from a clean pocket (per PFF). Milroe will go before I’m willing to take him in most Superflex rookie drafts. It feels more like burning a rookie draft pick than a well-composed dart throw. He’s a viable late second-round draft pick if you want to take the plunge, but I’m not drafting him until the late third round.
– Derek Brown
Here are our latest Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings from our consensus of fantasy football experts. You can find the latest Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings and sync your fantasy football league for specific advice.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
