Navigating rookie drafts can be one of the most exciting parts of the offseason in any dynasty league. Whether you’re looking to trade up in the draft for a specific player you covet, slide back in the draft to accumulate more draft capital, or regain draft capital after a series of trades you may have made last season, there are plenty of factors to consider.

• 2024 NFL Mock Drafts
• Expert Consensus 2024 NFL Mock Draft
• 2024 NFL Draft Guide
• 2024 NFL Draft Prospect Profiles

Where tiers break in drafts and being mindful of those pivot points is a massive key to extracting as much value as possible out of the draft selections you have when your rookie draft rolls around. One of the best ways you can do that is by targeting specific draft picks or draft pick ranges.

Dynasty Rookie Draft Picks to Target

Pick 1.07 – First Round, Seventh Selection

Let’s assume we’re playing in a Superflex format. The seventh pick represents the end of the first big tier for me in rookie drafts this offseason. If you’re locked into having the seventh pick in round one, you can be sure that one of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Marvin Harrison Jr. Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze or Brock Bowers makes it to you. That’s not even accounting for Michigan signal caller J.J. McCarthy, who will likely go round one in Superflex rookie drafts following a likely early round one selection in the NFL Draft.

This is a power position to be in. You can take whichever blue-chip talent falls into your lap but you can also make a play to move up from here if someone you covet begins to slip. It’s easier to sell to your potential trade partner if they’re sliding back to a pick that will still allow them to select a blue-chip talent. Maintaining flexibility leading up to and throughout your rookie draft is the key to feeling as accomplished as possible with the result. Being in control of a pick that offers you a significant amount of that flexibility puts you in an excellent place to either let the board fall to you or plot your next move up or down from here.

Pick 2.01 – Second Round, First Selection

Kicking off round two this year has an exciting feel to it. You’ll have the luxury of enjoying the middle of an extremely exciting wide receiver class and having the opportunity to likely choose from Troy Franklin, Adonai Mitchell or Ladd McConkey. If you’ve already solidified your wide receiver group and are looking for running back help, having the 2.01 will likely allow you to select whomever your favorite running back in the class is.

Once the NFL Draft transpires, there’s always a chance a running back begins creeping into the first round of rookie drafts since we’ll know landing spots for all players. As of now, I expect round one to be dominated by wide receivers and quarterbacks, with Brock Bowers finding his way into every first round. Whether you like Trey Benson, Braelon Allen, Jonathon Brooks or another player, the 2.01 truly gives you the ability to get your guy at the running back position.

Picks 3.01-3.12 – Third Round, All Selections

The first two rounds of rookie drafts always get the love but don’t forget about those latter rounds in drafts. This isn’t meant to be a cop-out by listing all selections in the third round but I will happily take as many swings as I can get in round three during rookie drafts in 2024. There are two main reasons for that.

The first reason is that the 2024 rookie class boasts significant depth at the wide receiver position and has the headline-type talent we mentioned earlier. This year’s sheer depth will push players into the third round who might have been second-round selections in plenty of other draft cycles. When that happens, I’d like to have as many at-bats as possible to pounce on the pass-catchers who have fallen.

The second reason is that, as we mentioned earlier, running backs will likely not start being selected until early in round two. When you combine that with the depth of the wide receiver class we already mentioned, there is a solid chance running backs you like from this draft class will slip into round three.

The best part? Third-round selections get thrown around much easier than picks other managers in your league currently have in the first two rounds. If you are in trade negotiations for a player or another pick, see if you can work a third-rounder into the deal as a throw-in. Plenty of managers will be speedy to throw those third-rounders away. Players emerge late in rookie drafts every year (looking at you, Puka Nacua). Don’t discount the value of draft capital from the third round and on.

Dynasty Trade Value Chart & Advice

Whether it’s a dynasty startup draft or your rookie draft, we have you covered. Our team of fantasy football analysts includes Derek Brown, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Andrew Erickson. And Fitz and Scott Bogman will have you covered every week through the offseason with our Dynasty Football Podcast. They’ve all collaborated to provide our dynasty trade value chart. This is a dynamic chart created using a consensus of the analysts’ dynasty rankings.

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• 4 Dynasty Draft Values & Trade Targets
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