The 2022 NFL Draft has come and gone, and that means it’s time for dynasty rookie and startup drafts to really take off. We’ll have you covered throughout the draft season. You can find our full dynasty startup, dynasty rookie, and dynasty superflex rookie rankings that will be updated through draft season.
You can also practice and prepare for your dynasty rookie and startup drafts using our FREE dynasty mock draft simulator. Let’s take a look at a dynasty startup mock draft.
1.01 Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)
My highest-ranked rookie running back is Breece Hall. The Jets selected the Iowa State product at the top of Round 2, signifying his status as the team’s locked-in RB1 for the foreseeable future. Hall’s three-down skill set suggests he never has to come off the field, and the sheer volume he garners will vault him into redraft top-20 running back territory.
The Iowa State product totaled over 4,500 yards from scrimmage, 50 touchdowns and 80 catches over three seasons in the college ranks.
A workload of approximately 240 touches – based on ESPN fantasy analyst Mike Clay’s projections and how many touches the cumulative Jets RB1 earned last season – would place Hall inside the top-15 considering every running back last season that hit that threshold finished inside that ranking.
2021 fourth-rounder Michael Carter had his moments as a rookie, but the Jets know he’s just a No. 2 running back. Anticipate Hall to shoulder 15-20 touches per game based on the workload that Carter received last season when Tevin Coleman missed time.
From Weeks 7-9 with Coleman sidelined, Carter averaged 19 touches per game and a 66% snap share. Upon Coleman’s return from injury in Week 10, Carter averaged 14 touches per game and a 55% snap share in the games they played together.
2.01 James Cook (RB – BUF)
Rookie running back James Cook has immediate sleeper fantasy appeal across all PPR formats based on his second-round draft capital, pass-catching prowess, explosiveness and offensive situation. The 5-foot-11, 199-pound running back has more than enough heft to manage a decent workload especially as a receiver out of the backfield. The 5-foot-7, 203-pound Devin Singletary was the RB3 over the last six weeks of the regular season when the Bills entrenched him as the featured guy. Cook with an ECR of RB44 seems priced closer to their floor than his ceiling considering Round 2 running backs have finished as top-36 running backs more than half the time (55%) since 2013.
3.01 Desmond Ridder (QB – ATL)
Desmond Ridder falls in the same third-round bucket as Malik Willis and Matt Corral from this class. Marcus Mariota might have been signed as the team’s bridge quarterback option, but that doesn’t wipe Ridder off the map to possibly win the job out of camp. The draft capital doesn’t ensure he’ll be given that shot, but Arthur Smith knows Mariota quite well from their time in Tennessee. If Smith thinks Ridder can bring something more to the table or operate similarly to Mariota, he could win the starting call. Smith’s love for play-action passing will help Ridder. Last year Matt Ryan ranked 11th in play-action dropback rate (minimum 200 dropbacks, per PFF). In 2021, Ridder was tied for 17th in play-action passing touchdowns out of 121 qualifying quarterbacks (minimum 200 dropbacks, per PFF).
4.01 Tyquan Thornton (WR – NE)
Say hello to the fastest man on Earth. Well at least by the NFL Combine standards for a short period of time. Baylor’s Tyquan Thorton broke John Ross‘ 4.22 record with an unofficial 4.21 40-yard dash – the fastest mark ever recorded.
Although, he did not hold the record for long as his official time came in just short of the record at 4.28 seconds.
The Baylor wideout was barely on my radar for fantasy football purposes before the NFL Combine, which was clearly an oversight on my part. His speed alone got him great draft capital.
Thornton’s speed translated well into on-field production as he graded out as a top-10 wideout in PFF receiving grade from the intermediate level of the field (10-19 yards) last season.
5.01 Ty Chandler (RB – MIN)
The senior out of North Carolina will bring some speed to the Minnesota backfield after running a 4.38 at the combine. He had 1308 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns this past season while also returning kicks. He will be gadget player for Minnesota while behind Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison on the depth chart.
Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft Results
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 12 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 11 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 10 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 9 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 8 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 7 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 6 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 5 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 4 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 3 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 2 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, No. 1 Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, Superflex, Late Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, 12-Team, Early Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Five-Round, Superflex, Middle Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Four-Round, 12-Team, Middle Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Four-Round, Superflex, Middle Pick
- Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Four-Round, Superflex, Early Pick
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2022 Dynasty Rookie Rankings
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