Dynasty fantasy football leagues are a powder keg. An established dynasty league quickly zeroes in on the rookie draft as the main item on the offseason agenda. Some leagues are as hyperactive as a toddler chugging Mountain Dew from a sippy cup, with rookie picks exchanging hands for other future picks and established veterans on a minute-to-minute basis. Like my home dynasty league, others are still slumbering deeply with two unclaimed orphans. The rookie draft is crucial whether you’re in a dynasty league with a meat-grinding assortment of industry sharks, with your dad and that one uncle who thinks Frank Gore is still on the 49ers.

My sleepy home league is the only one of my dynasty leagues that hasn’t given in to the Mephistophelian Superflex format. Although not nearly as prevalent in dynasty as in redraft leagues, the 1QB format is the mother language of fantasy football. Most leagues are 12 teams, and the rookie draft is four rounds. The 2022 rookie class will be a fascinating case study, as it is widely considered to be a class more heavily laden with talent in non-skill positions. I have divided the plan of attack into three unique mindsets.

Gotta-Gets

Assuming a rookie draft has 48 selections, there is a good possibility that the elite talent this year will dry up with at least 36 selections left (end of the first round). My rookie rankings have only six “must-have” rookies, where a dynasty manager wouldn’t consider their own roster needs to grab one of them. In a 1QB league, the quarterback position is virtually without value. Most, if not all, of the teams would have at least one viable starter at the position. Even though Malik Willis is one of the six players I would typically grab, I would probably forgo selecting him at his ADP in a 1QB rookie draft. Breece Hall is as close to a consensus 1.01 in this format as it gets, but some very loud barkers prefer Kenneth Walker III. The wide receiver triumvirate of Drake London, Garrett Wilson, and Treylon Burks (in no particular order) round out my “gotta-gets.” After these players are gone, we enter the next mindset for the rookie draft.

Fence Posts

The “fence posts” group is the largest pool of players I’m targeting. From the middle of the first round to the end of the second round, my goal is to use my selections to shore up positional weaknesses in my roster. If I somehow need a quarterback, I’m partial to Sam Howell and Carson Strong a little later than Willis. Running back depth pieces in this range that I like are Isaiah Spiller, Dameon Pierce, and Zamir White. The receiver class is nice and deep here. Jameson Williams is a splurge at the tail end of the first round if he’s still around, with Chris Olave slotting in as a similar player for a lower price. Don’t forget about Skyy Moore, Christian Watson, George Pickens, and David Bell either. The only tight end I’m interested in for this group is Trey McBride.

Collector Cards

Once we hit the end of the second into the start of the third, you must match the question marks on the players with leaps of faith. One strategy is to lump the later picks into a trade offer to get an earlier pick with a higher hit rate. This year’s rookie drafts will have at least 20 picks that will be nothing more than a wing and a prayer that they amount to anything worth rostering in the future. I have a suspicion that this class won’t produce a ton of Pro Bowl talent outside of the highly-touted few.

Sometimes it does pay off to have a buckshot approach with later picks, hoping that one of them turns into James Robinson (RB – JAX) or Elijah Mitchell (RB – SF). Even if one turns into a DJ Chark (WR – DET), flipping those later picks at peak value during the season is a positive move. Taking shots on running backs like Jerrion Ealy, Ty Chandler, Jerome Ford, and Tyler Badie seems to have potential upside.

Wide receivers like Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalen Tolbert, Calvin Austin, Tyquan Thornton, and Alec Pierce provide some excitement at the back end of the 2022 rookie class. Tight ends are like late-round free squares for deeper dynasty rosters. Isaiah Likely, Jelani Woods, and Cole Turner can sit on a taxi squad or the bottom of the bench for a year or two before blossoming into perennial fantasy starters (or can be quickly dropped).

Stay On-Brand

The rookie draft shouldn’t be overly daunting this year. This is one of the clearest-cut classes by tier in the last few seasons. It is still important to stay fluid within the process. For example, if you’re sitting in the third or fourth round and the players in your queue were sniped into oblivion, trade your pick for a mid-tier veteran who is just rotting on someone’s bench. Picks are never worth more than during the draft itself. Once a name is attached to it, that bubble is popped. Mold your roster in your desired image and take no prisoners.

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