Dynasty Rookie Draft Targets: Kimani Vidal, Isaiah Davis, Ladd McConkey, Javon Baker (2024)

Both the NFL Draft and dynasty rookie drafts begin in Mobile, Ala., as the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl has kicked off. Here are some Senior Bowl participants work monitoring in upcoming dynasty rookie drafts.

Let’s break it down!

2024 Dynasty Rookie Draft Targets

Running Back

Kimani Vidal (Troy) | 5’8/218

A favorite of my colleague Thor Nystrom for his CFF contributions, Kimani Vidal led the nation with 295 carries and 1,661 rushing yards this season for the Sun Belt Conference Champion Troy Trojans. The squat, low-center-of-gravity bowling ball ranked second in FBS with 94 broken tackles and boasts the highest pass block grade in the 2024 NFL Draft RB class. Ninety-one career receptions on 112 targets (81.3% catch rate) for 693 receiving yards shows that Vidal has the aerial chops to handle what is asked of him in the passing game.

Vidal uses his lack of height as a weapon, slipping underneath arm tackles while having the advantage of coming from underneath in the majority of his leverage encounters. It’s difficult to knock Vidal off his line when he has a head of steam, and he has surprising contact balance for a runner with his build. The Troy bell cow has quick, discerning feet when sifting through traffic and is adept at attacking tackler’s edges. He’s not a blazer, though, and could run in the 4.7s range as far as his 40-time, potentially limiting his usage out of the backfield and pegging him for a two-down pounder role. Vidal has some buzz heading into camp, but he also has much to prove on Mobile’s big stage.

Isaiah Davis (South Dakota State) | 6’1/220

The SDSU standout amassed 1,578 yards on 6.7 YPC and 18 touchdowns with a pristine 94.6 PFF run grade. So you can understand why Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy would extend an invite to Isaiah Davis on production alone. Davis also posted a 33% broken tackle rate with 3.96 YAC and a ridiculous 54 rushes of 10+ yards, thoroughly dominating the FCS level.

A big, physical one-cut back, Davis runs headlong into the line with controlled aggression but manages to keep his feet underneath him and stave off defenders with a probing stiff arm. He finishes with authority to the extent you could see the weariness of his opponents trying to tackle him in the fourth quarter. Fluid hips and a keen sense of spacing help him navigate the interior and squeeze extra yards out of each run.

Davis can run high at times, such is life as a 6’1 running back, which can cause him to run outside his frame and stumble. He gets in trouble when he tries to stop/start and can get caught running into a pile instead of finding another path. Though he isn’t a natural pass-catcher, Davis showed enough on tape that I’m intrigued by his body of work and am excited to get eyes on him this week.

Wide Receiver

Ladd McConkey (Georgia) | 5’11/185

In 2022, I made a near mint off Ladd McConkey’s artificially low CFB player prop lines, with the technically refined wideout working his way open with regularity thanks to a dizzying array of tricks. Though he was hampered early on, McConkey once again thrived with new QB Carson Beck under center, catching 30-of-37 targets (81%) with a 3.26 yards per route average that ranked eighth nationally.

His release package is NFL-ready, and McConkey is a maestro at working the Cover 2 hole shot, routinely getting three-plus yards of separation out of his razor-sharp cuts. A tireless competitor, he goes just as hard selling his routes on run plays as on pass plays. McConkey routinely wins on the outside with expert defensive manipulation tactics despite his 5’11/185 frame, causing a handful of defenders to fall down in their attempts to cover him and contributing mightily to his strong 27% missed tackle rate. I’ve got a Round 2 grade on McConkey, but I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing him ply his craft in person yet.

Javon Baker (UCF) | 6’1/208

A former top-five, four-star wide receiver recruit who attended Alabama for the first two years of his collegiate journey, Javon Baker played only sparingly during his time in Tuscaloosa, receiving just 11 targets. He transferred to UCF, where head coach Gus Malzahn immediately heaped 100 targets on him in 2022, with Baker catching 56 for 706 yards and five touchdowns with a 71.9 PFF receiving grade and 2.0 yards per route average.

After getting his bearings as a starter in 2022, Baker entered this season as UCF’s co-No. 1 WR alongside Kobe Hudson before quickly establishing himself as the alpha of the Golden Knights’ WR room. A deep threat of the first order, Baker led all Power Five wideouts in yards per reception at 21.9. Of the 33 1,000-yard FBS wideouts, he needed the second-fewest targets to get there with 85 (USC WR Tahj Washington needed the fewest targets at 74).

An impressive 35% of his targets this year were 20+ yards downfield, with Baker reeling in 15-of-30 (50%) for 574 yards and a near perfect 99.9 PFF deep grade. He even led the nation in contested deep catch rate, catching 6-of-8 deep contested targets for a sparkling 75% success rate. He was so effective at stretching the field that 76% of his total targets were at least 10+ yards down range, enhancing his 3.21 yards per route average that ranked eighth in FBS. If there’s a persistent issue with his profile, it’s Baker’s troubling 11.4% career drop rate.

Despite his big-play value, Baker flexes impressive acceleration for his size. He also broke a respectable 19 tackles over the last two seasons, showing he has the power to break away from defenders. His short-to-intermediate range footwork is better than I expected, given his deep-ball specialist reputation. Baker is rocked up with proportions similar to Emeka Egbuka but with a more refined long game than Egbuka, making him a very intriguing evaluation at the Senior Bowl.