Draft Talent Galore

The 2020 class is shaping up to be one of the best draft classes we've seen in some time. The draft class is stacked from Joe Burrow to Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb, to Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jonathan Taylor and D'Andre Swift. There is reason to believe it could be just as good if not better than the legendary 2017 class. If you still haven't drafted in your rookie drafts, you'll want to keep reading and take some notes, because this class has the chance to cause shock waves in your dynasty leagues this season.

The way I typically look at dynasty rookie drafts and how I approach them is as such:

1. First half of the 1st round is solid
   — I want one of these picks
2. Second half of the 1st round is hit and miss
   — I'm trying to trade up or trade back
3. 2nd round is a bit of a crap shoot
   — Trying to trade back or trade for vets
4. 3rd and 4th rounds are a needle in a haystack
   — Again trying to trade back or trade for vets

The first 5-6 picks of a rookie draft is where you usually find your elite level talents. Josh Jacobs, Miles Sanders, Kyler Murray, Saquon Barkley, D.J. Moore, Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, and Dalvin Cook have all been drafted on average from these picks over the past three dynasty rookie drafts. This is usually where you want to be picking from. Talent can be found in every round, but this is where the majority hit from. This is why my strategy for dynasty (and it has served me well) is to typically trade out and get a solid veteran. Especially my later round picks. This year however, I did things a little different...

2020 is stacked. What you want to look for is how many fantasy players get drafted during Day 1 and Day 2 (rounds 1-3) of the NFL Draft. These are the rounds where players are given the best shot to succeed. Players taken later than that have a much more difficult time rising up the depth charts. When looking at that, here is why you have to be excited about the 2020 Class.

Number of QB's + RB's + WR's + TE's drafted during the first three rounds of the NFL Draft:

• 2016 Class = 22
• 2017 Class = 34
• 2018 Class = 29
• 2019 Class = 33
• 2020 Class = 35

If you take a look at FantasyPros Dynasty Rankings right now, you'll see that 1/3 of the players in the Top 24 came from the 2017 draft class which had 34 fantasy players drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. With the 2020 class having one more than that, they stand a good chance at at dominating the top 24 rankings in a year or two.

I just had my long-time 12-team dynasty league draft last week. About a week before the draft, I looked up about 10 sites with mock drafts and counted how many fantasy players were being mocked in the first three rounds. The average came out to 33. When I saw that, I got excited and I started making trades to get even more picks in the draft. I didn't have a 1st round pick because I traded it during the regular season, and was kicking myself for not having one. I did have two 2nds though. I attempted to trade into the 1st round a couple of times, but nobody was moving those picks, which didn't surprise me, but I was able to make a number of different trades and ended up with six 3rd round picks and one 4th. I wanted as many players from this draft class as I could get. My draft ended with me having Justin Herbert, Joshua Kelley, Jalen Hurts, K.J. Hamler, Devin Duvernay, Lynn Bowden and Van Jefferson. I reached a little on Hurts, but I liked his upside and given I had so many picks, I felt ok taking him. I got Jefferson (a 2nd round pick by the Rams) in the 4th round. There are still players in the free agent pool (waivers haven't been processed yet) who were 3rd round NFL picks. You don't see that in most rookie drafts. Usually by the 4th round you're drafting players who were 5th round picks or later. 

The point is, I'm usually the guy trading away all of my 3rd and 4th round rookie picks to get veterans, because it's so hard to hit on players in rookie drafts. This draft class however....I was drafting as many players as I could, and am hoping to reap the rewards in the next couple of seasons. Maybe Justin Herbert ends up being the next Josh Allen, Joshua Kelley the next James Conner or Van Jefferson the next Chris Godwin. Only time will tell, but I like my odds of a few of these players hitting. Until then, fingers crossed🤞

If you are interested in playing year round fantasy football, consider joining a dynasty league. The offseason is just as fun as the regular season. Once you start playing dynasty, redraft leagues will feel like a cake walk. Click here to learn more about what a dynasty league is and how it differs from your traditional fantasy football league, and if you're interested in finding a league, shoot me an email.