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 I am higher on compared to our expert consensus rankings.
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Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice: Players to Target
Here are 11 dynasty rookie draft picks I love to target.
Harvey is set to explode in his rookie season. The runway is clear for takeoff. Sean Payton just put second-round capital behind a back that enters a room that Audric Estime and Jaleel McLaughlin led. No, I’m not worried about either of those backs when they couldn’t carve out consistent roles last year with only the ghost of Javonte Williams standing in their way. It’s hard not to love a player like Harvey, who has ranked inside the top 20 among FBS running backs in each of the last two seasons in breakaway percentage and elusive rating (per PFF). Add in Payton’s running back usage, and Harvey looks primed to smash. Over the last two years, Payton has ranked fifth and first in running back target share. Harvey is a strong RB2 who could finish as an RB1 this season.
Hunter is arbitrage Bhayshul Tuten in fantasy football drafts. Hunter, much like Tuten, is headed to the NFL (Rams) via the fourth round of the NFL draft. Also, like Tuten, Hunter finds himself possibly buried for 2025 behind two veterans, but he also possesses the talent and pathway to surpass one or maybe both of them in the running back pecking order. Kyren Williams is a free agent after this season. The Rams thought so much of Blake Corum‘s rookie season that they addressed running back again this year. Hunter is incredibly talented. Hunter has ranked inside the top 24 in yards after contact per attempt in each of the last three seasons while also sitting in the top 22 in breakaway percentage in two of three years (per PFF). Hunter offers the Rams an explosive element that neither Williams nor Corum has. Last year, among 46 qualifying backs, Williams ranked 44th in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 40th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Hunter could be one of the best values of the fantasy football draft season.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (RB – WAS)
Croskey-Merritt was a predraft love lister for me. Sadly, he dropped all the way to the seventh round of the NFL Draft before the Commanders picked up the phone. If Croskey-Merritt hadn’t had his 2024 season cut off by an eligibility issue, he would have gone much higher than this. His 2023 season was excellent. He ranked 19th in yards after contact per attempt and 12th in elusive rating (per PFF). He’s a no-nonsense runner who makes one cut and gets downhill. He’ll have his work cut out for him to climb up a crowded running back depth chart, but he has the talent to do so. Pick him up with your final rookie pick (late fourth round or fifth round) or as a priority waiver/taxi squad add.
Harris, the soul-snatching route savant, lands with the Bolts in the second round of the NFL Draft and should quickly become Justin Herbert‘s trusted second option in the passing game opposite Ladd McConkey. Yes, Harris will have to hop either Mike Williams or Quentin Johnston to crack the starting lineup, but I’m not worried about his ability to do so. We’re discussing a player who has ranked first and ninth in yards per route run over the last two years, stacked up against arguably a former first-round bust and a veteran who looked like he was running on empty last year (per PFF). The Chargers are looked at as a run-heavy team, but that isn’t necessarily true and might not be in 2025. Last year, after Week 7, the Bolts ranked 11th in neutral passing rate and seventh in pass rate over expectation (per Fantasy Points Data). Harris sits atop my Tier 3 of rookies and should be considered a borderline first-round rookie draft selection. Yes, I know I’m aggressively above consensus depending on which ADP of other ranking set you’re looking at, but I want to be with a player who was my WR2 predraft and is my WR3 post-draft with the new addition of Travis Hunter in my wide receiver rankings. Harris is set to smash in his rookie season.
Higgins got the capital I was hoping for as the fifth wide receiver selected in the NFL Draft at the top of the second round. Higgins should immediately file in as the starting outside receiver opposite Nico Collins. Higgins was an underrated player during the entire draft process after ranking 27th and 16th in yards per route run and first and 18th in receiving grade during his final two collegiate seasons (per PFF). The addition of Higgins and fellow former Iowa State wide receiver Jaylin Noel should push Christian Kirk while also hopefully fueling a big bounce-back season for C.J. Stroud. With Tank Dell likely out for the entire 2025 season, Higgins has a clear path to playing time and should be selected no later than the mid-second round of dynasty rookie drafts.
The Packers added another piece to their already complicated wide receiver room with the selection of Savion Williams in the third round of the NFL Draft. Green Bay looks to continue their wide receiver by committee by approach. Williams is a jack of all trades and master of none, and Matt LaFleur will have fun deploying while fantasy gamers will want to pull their hair out. Williams looks like the WR4 (at best) on the Packers’ depth chart, with some duplicity in his possible usage with Jayden Reed. Williams could be LaFleur’s version of Deebo Samuel in Green Bay. Last year, he ranked 22nd in missed tackles forced and piled up 322 rushing yards (six rushing scores). Williams is yet another fourth-round/taxi-squad addition that could pay off handsomely if everything swings in his direction.
Watkins was a receiving prospect that I got to late in the evaluation process, but I really liked him. In his final collegiate season, he ranked 36th in yards per route run and 41st in yards after the catch per reception (per PFF). He can play from the slot or on the perimeter, and he has an extensive history of both in college. He’s a strong route runner with a varied release package. He could be the 2026 replacement for Jauan Jennings, who will be a free agent after this season. He’s another late fourth-round pick or priority waiver pickup (taxi squad must).
Arroyo is headed to Seattle after the team called his name in the second round of the NFL Draft. The former Miami Hurricane is an athletic mismatch weapon who will push Noah Fant for snaps from the jump if his blocking is up to snuff. Fant is an unrestricted free agent after this season, so while the outlook for 2025 has its worries, it should be wheels up for Arroyo in 2026. If Cooper Kupp also proves in 2025 that he doesn’t have much left in the tank, Kupp could be gone, which would leave Arroyo as the second target in the passing attack behind only Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In his final season in college, Arroyo ranked 23rd in yards per route run and second in yards after the catch per reception among tight ends (minimum 20 targets, per PFF). Arroyo is a late second-round selection in dynasty rookie drafts that will occasionally fall into the third round.
The Rams now have their heir apparent to Tyler Higbee. Higbee is a free agent after this season. I expect Ferguson to get his feet wet in his rookie season and assume the starting role in 2026. At tight end, high-end athleticism is so highly correlated to high-end production. Ferguson checks that box emphatically with a 9.32 RAS score, a 4.63 40-yard dash, and 91st percentile or higher marks in the vertical and broad jumps. Last year, Ferguson also crushed it in nearly every efficiency metric I can find, ranking 14th in yards per route run and receiving grade, third in yards after the catch per reception, and 22nd in missed tackles forced (per PFF).
Fannin Jr. received strong draft capital for a tight end (third round) when the Browns selected him as the heir apparent to David Njoku, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Fannin Jr.’s raw athleticism might keep him from ever becoming a truly elite option in fantasy, but he now has a path, the athletic juice, and receiving chops to become Zach Ertz 2.0. Fannin Jr. ranked first and third in yards per route run and first and fifth in missed tackles forced over the last two collegiate seasons (per PFF). Fannin Jr. is a late second-round rookie draft pick who will fall into the third round in some leagues. He’s an auto-pick in that range and could likely go higher in tight-end premium leagues.
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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