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 lower on compared to our expert consensus rankings.
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Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice: Players to Avoid
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
The Giants traded up to select Dart late in the first round of this year’s draft. They have the luxury of bringing Dart along slowly after signing veteran QBs Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in the offseason, but Dart could be the starter by midseason if the veterans struggle or if the Giants’ season starts to go sideways. Dart has an NFL-caliber arm and a quick release, and he’s capable of providing fantasy value as a runner. But Dart could have a difficult adjustment transitioning from Lane Kiffin’s QB-friendly system at Ole Miss to the NFL.
– 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
The depth of this running back struck another of my predraft love list players as Devin Neal fell to the sixth round of the NFL Draft. The New Orleans Saints stopped his tumble. Neal will compete with the oft-injured Kendre Miller and Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the RB2 job behind Alvin Kamara. Kamara’s contract will keep him in the starter’s chair in the Big Easy for at least the next two seasons. Miller also isn’t an unrestricted free agent until 2027. We’ll see if New Orleans moves back to more of a committee approach with the backfield in 2025, but that hasn’t been the case in recent seasons, with Kamara soaking up nearly all of the work. This also might not have been the case had Miller stayed healthy for any period, but that’s just guessing. I loved Neal predraft as a running back who has displayed the ability to soak up volume, flash a three-down skillset, and rank in the top 20 in breakaway percentage in two of his final three collegiate seasons (per PFF). With the disappointing draft capital and muddied landing spot, Neal is only a fourth-round rookie pick and taxi squad stash.
– Derek Brown
The 49ers selected James in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. He’ll likely begin the year as the team’s RB3 with the opportunity to push Isaac Guerendo for the backup job behind Christian McCaffrey. Jordan Mason and Guerendo proved last year that being a solid backup for the 49ers can be fruitful if injuries strike, so for this reason, he’s worth a stash on taxi squads. I’m not exceptionally high on him as a prospect, though. Last year, James ranked outside the top 65 FBS running backs in yards after contact per attempt (107th), breakaway percentage (151st), and elusive rating (68th, per PFF).
– Derek Brown
The big, bruising back out of Oklahoma State was selected by the Dolphins in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. He’s currently the RB4 on the depth chart behind Jaylen Wright and Alexander Mattison. He could hop both of them by the end of the season if he can regain his 2023 form. Gordon had a disappointing 2024 season, but the year prior, he ranked 39th in yards after contact per attempt and seventh in breakaway percentage (per PFF). I’m not immensely high on Gordon. He’s at the bottom of a long tier of taxi squad stash backs. If I can add him to a dynasty roster for cheap, that would be fine, but I’m not bidding aggressively with FAAB to do so.
– Derek Brown
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 muddly 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
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
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are apparently hoarding slot receivers after adding Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson to their wide receiver depth chart alongside Chris Godwin, Sterling Shepard, Rakim Jarrett, and Trey Palmer. The Bucs selected Johnson in the seventh round. I’ll let others pick up Johnson on waivers. With this size, rough draft capital, and underwhelming athletic testing, Johnson will be the outlier of all outliers if he turns into a consistent fantasy producer. This isn’t the type of profile to chase for dynasty fantasy football purposes.
– Derek Brown
Pat Bryant‘s rookie ADP has surged since being selected in the third round by the Denver Broncos, but fantasy managers should approach with caution. The Illinois product was ranked well outside the top tiers of the class pre-draft, and the history of “mid-round reaches” at wide receiver offers more misses than hits. Bryant profiles as a size/speed possession receiver at 6-foot-3, 204 pounds, but he lacks standout athleticism – he ran a 4.61 40-yard dash and didn’t break out until age 20. He recorded just one career game with double-digit targets and was actually out-targeted this past season by teammate Zakhari Franklin – who went undrafted. While some may latch onto the idea that Sean Payton sees a “Michael Thomas” archetype in Bryant, the underlying data suggests this is a bet on projection, not production.
– Andrew Erickson
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.
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