This is what we’ve been waiting for, fantasy football enthusiasts. The NFL Draft is under way, and we finally get to see where the rookie prospects are going to launch their professional careers. And NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values.
Throughout the draft, we’ll take a closer look at fantasy-relevant prospects, giving you an overview of their strengths and weaknesses, and assessing their fantasy value in both redraft and dynasty formats.
Let’s dig in.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook
Fitz’s Fantasy Football Outlook
The Las Vegas Raiders have selected small-school RB prospect Dylan Laube with the 208th overall pick of the NFL Draft.
A lightly regarded prospect in high school, Laube really came on late in his college career at New Hampshire. He redshirted as a freshman in 2018, and his team played only one game in 2020 due to the pandemic. After playing a part time role in 2021, Laube broke through in 2022 with 1,205 rushing yards, 405 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. His rushing productivity slipped a bit in 2023 (749 yards), but Laube scored 16 touchdowns and was a prolific pass catcher, with 68 receptions for 699 yards in 10 games.
Laube is more than just a dump-off option out of the backfield. He’s a fluid, nuanced receiver who runs good routes and can do damage downfield. The 5-9½, 206-pound Laube is too undersized to be a regular contributor on early downs. Laube had some fumbling issues in college, and it will be a major adjustment to go from an FCS program to the NFL. Laube is also an older prospect who will turn 25 in December.
It’s not ideal that Laube wasn’t drafted until the latter part of the sixth round. But Laube wound up in a pretty good spot. The relatively unproven Zamir White sits atop the Raiders’ RB depth chart, and White profiles as an early-down back only. The Raiders also have Alexander Mattison as a backup, but Laube has a reasonable chance to become the Raiders’ primary passing-down back.
I have Laube ranked RB14 in my dynasty rookie rankings, with an overall dynasty ranking of RB68. His pass-catching ability could give him instant utility in dynasty leagues, although Laube may never be anything more than a third-down back.
Laube has an Underdog best-ball ADP of RB70, and I think he’s a good value at that price. With a predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking of RB99 in half-point PPR redraft leagues, Laube wasn’t on many rankers’ radars before the draft.
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Thor’s NFL Draft Profile & Player Comp
5097/206 | RAS: 8.74
Player Comparison: Danny Woodhead
As a runner, Dylan Laube lacks the power to break tackles. At the next level, his speed and burst won’t be sufficient enough to make up for that. But, man, is he a smooth receiver. He gets into his routes quickly and has a fluidness to him along his path. Snaps off the breaking routes clean and with little advanced warning. Will threaten down the sidelines with haste on wheel routes if you aren’t careful. One differentiator between him and many other collegiate backs is Laube won’t break his momentum catching the ball if you lead him. He seems to accelerate through the catch process. Very good balance and body control. Laube will be a specialist in the NFL but he’s going to catch a metric ton of balls.
Check out more NFL Draft profiles and player comps from Thor in our 2024 NFL Draft Guide
Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings
Our analysts provide their latest rookie draft rankings below. And also check out our expert consensus dynasty rookie draft rankings!
More Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- DBro’s Top 50 Rankings & Player Notes
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