Dynasty League Rookie Rankings
With fantasy football draft weekend upon us we are proud to bring you our rookie rankings for dynasty leagues. In redraft this list would look a little bit different with immediate results getting a higher priority when assigning ranks, however here we will be looking at player values and upside over the long term.
At number one we have Giovani Bernard who also happens to be the first running back taken in the 2013 NFL Draft. Gio has to usurp BenJarvus Green-Ellis for the starting job but we feel that this will take place by mid-season with Bernard holding a significant talent edge over BJGE. Gio will become a top-20 running back for years to come and will probably crack the top-15 in PPR formats on a yearly basis.
Eddie Lacy arguably deserves the number one ranking here but we suspect the game will eventually slow down for Johnathan Franklin allowing coach McCarthy the luxury of deploying both of his 2013 picks for heavy snaps. Lacy has more talent but Franklin may well become the better option on third down. Lacy is a powerful, bruising runner and should remain a top-20 fantasy running back for years to come.
Montee Ball proved in college he can handle a big workload and that is the role he is ticketed for in Denver once he gets his pass protection skills up to par. Ball should easily become a top-20 option from 2014 on and like the two names ranked ahead of him has sure fire top-15 potential.
Marcus Lattimore comes in fourth on our ranking due to his immense talent. We do not yet know if he will ever be the same running back he was pre-injury but after witnessing Willis McGahee and Michael Bush return from catastrophic injuries in their final years of college we believe Lattimore will be able to follow in kind. Remember Lattimore was the consensus top running back in this draft class before his injury and there is still a considerable talent gap between him and the names ranked above him on this list. Lattimore has top ten running back skills.
Christine Michael was the star of this years draft combine and only the team he was drafted by caused him to be ranked so low on this list. Michael is not expected to be in the mix to be a starter until 2015 with Marshawn Lynch only being 27 years old and currently one of the top running backs in the entire NFL. Lynch may find himself suspended next season which could open the door for the talented Michael to run with the feature back job in Seattle.
Tavon Austin was a special talent in college and we hope that the Rams will employ his as the moveable chess piece his skill set calls for. Some have concerns about his lack of size and thus durability but his upside is a poor mans Percy Harvin or Randall Cobb.
DeAndre Hopkins and Cordarelle Patterson come in next on our list with both looking like they will need a couple of years to truly break out. Hopkins will be running as the number two in Houston and should feast on single coverage as long as AJ is around…which may be a while. Patterson on the other hand is an athletic freak but is still a little raw and has one of the NFL’s worst starting quarterbacks at the helm of his offense. He will probably have to wait until the Vikings give up on Ponder before he has a chance to truly maximize his potential and breakout.
Le’Veon Bell is next on the list simply because there are no other respectable options in Pittsburgh. I was not impressed by Le’Veon Bell’s college highlights but he has the build and skill set of a workhorse so he is a no doubt top ten rookie.
Next up we have four wide receivers with Robert Woods, Keenan Allen, Markus Wheaton and Kenbrell Thompkins. Thompkins looks like he will be the top redraft rookie in this draft class but does not possess the upside or skill set of a true number one receiver like the three names ranked ahead of him. Robert Woods is already the Bills most talented receiver and the same can be said of Keenan Allen with the Chargers. If you remember coming into the 2012 college season it was Woods and Allen who were lauded as the top of the class and those skill sets remain despite other receivers being taken before them in the 2013 NFL Draft. Woods and Allen both have top-25 wide receiver upside. Markus Wheaton will eventually fill the Mike Wallace role in Pittsburgh and that combined with the fact he already runs better routes than Wallace does highlights his true potential. Like the other four on this list Wheaton has top-25 upside.
EJ Manuel has a solid QB2 skill set for fantasy purposes and he will sprinkle in games where he puts up QB1 numbers. The Bills have added some nice receivers and Manuel should not want for wideout weapons with Woods, Johnson, Goodwin and Graham in the stable.
The next nine names all possess varying degrees of upside but may need a break in order to truly break out for fantasy purposes. Justin Hunter has loads of talent but has a deep depth chart to climb playing behind Britt, Wright, Washington and Williams. Hunter may be being groomed to be Kenny Britt’s replacement. Knile Davis was a speed score darling but is stuck in cement behind the excitingly talented Jamaal Charles. Davis has a believer in Andy Reid but will have show and prove to truly eat in to Charles workload barring injury. Franklin as mentioned above is probably going to be stuck behind Eddie Lacy as long as he is in Green Bay but may actually be a superior fit for the Packers zone blocking scheme. Franklin is the more versatile and has a load of talent in his own right, we may one day see Franklin steal Eddie Lacy’s job if he proves the superior passing down option for a passing team. Tyler Eifert has the upside to become a top five fantasy tight end while Zach Sudfeld and Zach Ertz both look to have potential TE1 careers ahead of them. Aaron Dobson is the only player on the Patriots with a true number one receiver skill set but needs to find consistency before he pushes either Amendola or Thompkins out as a starter. Kenny Stills should eventually beat out Lance Moore for the number two job in New Orleans which would make him a sure fire WR3 as long as Drew Brees remains a Saint.
There are 20 more names on our ranking which will be updated throughout the season. If you have any dynasty league related questions we would be happy to answer them on twitter at either @fantasysportdoc or @fantasyfbandbb.
