With the combine in the rearview mirror, it is officially dynasty season. The NFL Draft is just over a month away. Now is the time to get to know this year’s rookie class.
As always, one of the best ways to get to know a class is by hopping in a mock draft. Luckily, the FantasyPros Draft Wizard supports rookie-only dynasty drafts. I have already done a Full PPR 1-QB rookie mock draft and a half-PPR 1-QB rookie mock draft. Today, I will be sticking with 1-QB dynasty but sliding all the way down to the PPR ladder to good old-fashioned standard scoring.
To be honest, though, this distinction doesn’t matter as much as you might think, especially in dynasty formats. There’s so much uncertainty about these players’ skill sets and the roles they will play that I recommend always prioritizing talent over perceived fit with a scoring format. With that said, it’s still interesting to try out a fantasy football mock draft in a different format and from different draft positions. For this particular mock, I was randomly assigned the third overall pick. Let’s get right into it.
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Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft
1.03: Omarion Hampton (RB – North Carolina)
At this point, before the NFL Draft, Omarion Hampton is my undisputed second-overall player in all 1-QB rookie fantasy football rankings. He’s a tier below Ashton Jeanty, but the UNC back has separated himself from the competition for that second spot in recent weeks. Hampton’s stock just keeps rising, and it’s looking more likely than not he will be drafted in the first round following a very strong combine.
First-round running backs have absurd hit rates in dynasty. That’s before we even get into Hampton’s profile, which is excellent across the board. I could see a receiver moving near him following the NFL Draft — either Travis Hunter as a confirmed receiver or someone else with elite draft capital and a nice landing spot. For now, Hampton is in a tier of his own as the second-best player in rookie drafts. I’m more than happy to grab him third overall.
2.03: Colston Loveland (TE – Iowa)
Colston Loveland is very likely to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The hit rates for first-round tight ends are nowhere near what they are for running backs, but that’s still an excellent sign. In general, tight end is a notoriously difficult position to predict. While he’s no Brock Bowers, Loveland is an excellent prospect.
Loveland posted an absurd 49.6% dominator rating in his final season at Michigan at just 20 years old. Loveland’s blocking may leave a little to be desired, but we have to hope any team spending a first-round pick on him has a plan to maximize his talents. As long as he gets that draft capital, he’s more than worth an early second-round rookie pick.
3.03: Bhayshul Tuten (RB – Virginia Tech)
Bhayshul Tuten dominated the combine, running a 4.32 40-yard dash at 206 pounds. And he’s not just an athlete, either, having racked up over 1,000 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in his senior season at Virginia Tech. At this moment, the big question for Tuten will be whether his dominance at the combine will be enough to earn him Day 2 draft capital.
Absurd athleticism means Tuten will still have plenty of upside even as a Day 3 pick, but the floor for running backs drafted that late is zero. That’s a risk I’m more than willing to take with a third-round rookie pick — we should expect most players in this range to end up as zeroes. If he does get Day 2 draft capital, don’t expect Tuten to fall this far in actual rookie drafts.
4.03: Tory Horton (WR – Colorado State)
Normally, I prioritize running backs late. That’s especially true this year, as the 2025 RB class is stacked. But I didn’t love the backs available here. I do like Tory Horton as a late-round dart throw, though. He suffered a knee injury early into 2024, which was going to be his fifth season in college. As a result, he finished the year with just 331 yards in five games played. Among receivers with at least as many as his 38 targets in 2024, Horton ranked second in this draft class with an absurd 3.45 yards per route run rate.
While that number is probably helped by the small sample size, Horton was above 2.7 yards per route run — still a very impressive mark — in both of his previous two seasons. He also recovered from his knee injury in time to run an impressive 4.41 40 at the combine, as well as measuring in at 6-foot-3. Horton is not a perfect prospect — he’s old as a five-year player and light at just 196 pounds. He’s someone to keep in mind late in your rookie drafts, especially if he can sneak into Day 2, which isn’t out of the question.
5.03: Brashard Smith (RB – SMU)
I drafted Brashard Smith in my last Rookie mock draft with the first pick of the fifth round, and I am more than happy to go back to the well here two picks later. Indeed, Smith is probably a better fit for PPR formats than he is for standard — he started his college career as a wide receiver. Even after switching to running back, Smith excelled mostly as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, and that’s likely to be his role in the NFL.
This is especially true because he is undersized, weighing in at just 194 pounds with an 11th percentile BMI. But this late in a rookie draft, I’m shooting for upside above all. Yes, Smith could be typecast as a third-down change-of-pace back, probably making him useless in standard formats. If he lands in the right situation and gets a shot at an expanded role, we are looking at a guy with the athletic ability and three-down skillset to put up elite fantasy numbers. That’s the kind of player to take a risk on with your final pick.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky for more fantasy content or to ask questions.