THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON

Rarely do NFL league meetings have a major impact on dynasty fantasy football, but this week in Minneapolis, the NFL voted on two measures that could significantly alter player values in the coming years. On Tuesday, the NFL voted to allow players to play in the 2028 Summer Olympic games. It should be extremely exciting to watch the best football players in the world don the stars and stripes, but there are some dynasty fantasy football implications. Injuries are a major concern when it comes to international play. We’ve seen it in other sports, players go away for international competition, and return with a new injury. The language of the NFL’s ruling included provisions to attend to player safety, but even if conditions are perfect, injuries can still happen. It won’t be a problem for another three years, but it will be another thing to monitor in that off-season.

Outside of the league meetings, Caleb Williams and his father, Carl, are in the news. According to Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” Williams and his father asked attorneys to look into ways to avoid being drafted by the Chicago Bears. “Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die,” Carl Williams said ahead of the draft. Despite all of their efforts, Bears GM Ryan Poles said, “We’re drafting you no matter what,” and used the first pick on him last season.

It sounds like it was a troubling path to the Windy City for the Williams’, but Caleb is there now and about to enter a second season with massive expectations on his shoulders. The Bears hired offensive guru Brian Johnson as their new head coach, and have surrounded Williams with an improved offensive line and outstanding weapons to throw the ball to. This story raises an eyebrow, but for now, it doesn’t change his value much for dynasty. All of that could change once the end of his rookie contract starts to approach in the next few years. 

Brock Purdy agreed to terms on a five-year, $265 million extension, going from Mr. Irrelevant to one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. The deal should keep him in the Bay Area through the 2030 season. He’ll continue to have QB1 upside in San Francisco, as long as the aging veterans he has playing around him can hold up. He was the QB14 in 2024 despite only playing in 15 games. 

Off the field, Nick Sirianni agreed to a multi-year contract extension after his Super Bowl victory with the Philadelphia Eagles. Sirianni was supposedly on the hot seat at the end of the 2023 season, but he returned to the City of Brotherly Love and led the team to its second championship. Continuity should be a good thing for Jalen Hurts and company heading into the future.

Rookie drafts are underway, and the NFL off-season program has begun. With the schedule revealed, the next step is to finally get these players back on the field. No matter what format you play in, or what kind of dynasty draft you are undertaking, you need DLF now more than ever.

In the pre-draft process, the biggest enigma in the entire class was Travis Hunter. He was the ultimate unicorn of a college player, dominating on both sides of the football and sweeping the college football award season. We knew that Hunter was going to jockey to play both sides of the ball in the NFL, and we knew he was going to be a very early pick, but he was still extremely difficult to rank. He was often ranked outside of the top 12 in pre-draft rookie rankings because of the risk involved in the pick. The narrative around the Combine was that most NFL teams prioritized his talent on the defensive side of the ball over the offensive. Despite that, I continued to rank him as my WR2 in this class.

The NFL Draft went absolutely perfectly for Hunter’s value. He went as high as he could possibly go at two overall. The Jaguars traded up for him, and they plan to focus on him as an offensive weapon first. He’ll join Brian Thomas in Duval, forming one of the most explosive wide receiver duos in the entire league. Rightfully, in post-draft May ADP, his value has skyrocketed.

Dynasty managers who drafted rookies before the NFL Draft were able to get an absolute steal on Hunter. Going back to March ADP, Hunter was the WR42, going off the board 83rd overall. He was the 12th rookie off the board in those drafts and the rookie WR5. In May, he’s the 22nd overall player and the WR15. Amongst rookies, Ashton Jeanty is the only one going above him in those drafts. 

Now the question has to be asked: has the market overcorrected on Hunter? Is he really deserving of a second-round pick in dynasty startup drafts? Brian Thomas was elite last season, finishing his rookie season as the WR4. In May ADP, he’s the WR6 and the ninth player off the board overall. With Thomas and Hunter, the Jaguars are the first team to have two wide receivers off the board in startup drafts. That’s aggressive, but Hunter isn’t ranked that much higher than other “WR2’s” around the league. Tee Higgins is the WR18, Rashee Rice is the WR19, and DeVonta Smith is the WR20. Meanwhile, the Jaguars’ offense wasn’t exactly prolific last season. After Thomas, Parker Washington was the next highest-scoring Jaguars wide receiver. He scored 65 fantasy points, 3.8 per game. The team has cleared space for Hunter though, trading away Christian Kirk and releasing Evan Engram and Gabe Davis this season. 

This is still a risky pick, the Jaguars have barely started working with Hunter on the field and with the offense. A lot can change between now and the start of the season. There is no guarantee that Hunter will be a full-time receiver on this team, running the same amount of routes as a guy like Higgins, Rice or Smith (the other premium WR2’s on teams). With that risk added in, I believe he’s being overdrafted at that ADP. While the upside is spectacular, the risk is extreme, too extreme to spend your second round pick in a startup draft on him. The DLF Expert Rankings agree with that take, slotting him at WR19, 33rd overall. With that being said, I’d still rank Hunter as the number two rookie in all rookie draft formats.

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A HATER’S GUIDE TO THE 2025 ROOKIE RB CLASS

Welcome to part two of this year’s Hater Series. If you missed it, be sure to check out part one about this year’s quarterback class. For the last several seasons I have written my Hater’s guide to the NFL draft. There are several of them, and if you think you’ll enjoy looking back at me trashing picks in years passed, you can find them on my DLF author page. As a pessimist, this is my favorite thing I do every year. The pre-draft process is such a big part of the NFL and arguably even a bigger part of dynasty fantasy football, so when we finally watch the NFL draft and everyone can’t wait to sing the praises of their favorite rookies, all I can think if is all the reasons why they’ll fall flat on their faces.

1.06 Ashton Jeanty, RB LV

Which one of Boise State’s electric running backs has impressed you the most in the NFL? Jay Ajayi? George Holani? Doug Martin? Jeremy McNichols? Alexander Mattison? The most memorable one is probably Ian Johnson, the guy who proposed to the cheerleader on the sideline. Fortunately, the Raiders never miss on their first-round picks, so Jeanty can be part of a recent silver and black first-round alumni group that includes Tyree Wilson, Alex Leatherwood, Damon Arnette, Henry Ruggs, Jonathan Abram, Darius Heyward-Bey, and JaMarcus Russell.

1.22 Omarion Hampton, RB LAC

Much like Jeanty and Boise State, North Carolina has a habit of pumping out exciting college running backs who like to disappoint in the NFL, especially in recent history. Hampton joins fellow Tar Heels Michael Carter, Gio Bernard, TJ Logan, and Javonte Williams in the NFL, prepared to be overdrafted in your rookie drafts.

2.04 Quinshon Judkins, RB CLE

Can you quote yourself? In a recent mock draft article I wrote: “when the Browns double-dipped at running back and added another potential stud in Dylan Sampson and then added two quarterbacks to an already crowded QB room. There were so many other directions they could have gone other than another running back and quarterback. The Browns just find a way to ruin everything. Ding Judkins a small bit, as he suddenly finds himself in a crowded backfield.” I loved Judkins coming into the draft, he was my RB2, and imagining him coming in filling the vacant Nick Chubb role right out of the gates was what dreams are made of, they they went ahead and ruined it, likely relegating him to being a two-down back on a team that will probably be looking at a ton of three-and-outs.