THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON

Training camps are starting to open around the league, signaling the start of football season is right around the corner. While the days are long and the sun is still scorching hot, it’s impossible not to look ahead to Sunday afternoons in the fall when our favorite fantasy football players are taking the field to win fantasy football matchups for their dynasty managers! 

With players beginning to report, we’re hit with the same two stories as always, injuries and holdouts. On the injury front, it’s important to remember that the PUP most players are being put on this week is the active/PUP, not the dreaded reserve/PUP. Players on active/PUP can be activated at any time prior to the start of the season. Oftentimes, it’s more notable when a player isn’t put on active/PUP this time of year, because that means they’re able to participate in all aspects of training camp despite recent or nagging injuries. For example, it’s more notable that Najee Harris wasn’t placed on PUP (after his Fourth of July fireworks incident) than it was that Mike Williams was put on it. 

Another headline to come out of training camp is a surprising holdout, second-round wide receiver Tre Harris. We can expect more and more second-round picks to hold out to start training camp while teams work out the guarantees included in their rookie contracts. 30 of the 32 second-round picks remain unsigned and therefore cannot report to training camp. This all stems from Texans WR Jayden Higgins signing the first-ever fully guaranteed rookie contract by a second-round pick. Browns LB Carson Schwesinger followed with a fully guaranteed contract of his own, and now it appears that the other 30 second-round picks are holding out for fully guaranteed deals as well. It’s an intriguing story from the football business side of things, but it hopefully will not have a major impact on our dynasty shares. 

A player who certainly will not hold out in 2025 is Garrett Wilson after he signed a four-year extension worth $130 million with the New York Jets. This deal includes $90 million guaranteed and will keep him in green through the 2030 season. His $32.5 million AAV makes him the fifth-highest-paid wide receiver in the league. The Jets made it clear that an extension for Wilson was a priority this off-season, so this doesn’t change his value much. What will impact his value is the play of his quarterback in 2025, Justin Fields. If Fields can have a career renaissance in New York (ala Baker Mayfield in Tampa), then Wilson could establish himself as a surefire WR1 for fantasy. 

The 49ers’ wide receivers continue to be unsettled; now Jauan Jennings has reportedly asked for a new contract or a trade. Jennings knows he has leverage right now, after the Niners traded away Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk may be on PUP to start the season. He finished as the WR 24 last season, but he’s being drafted as the WR41 in DLF's Dynasty Startup ADP. I expect he’ll still be playing in the Bay Area this season, and he’s a great value in dynasty leagues right now. 

Finally, we have a concerning off-the-field issue to address with Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins. He has been arrested on battery charges after an accusation of domestic violence earlier this month in southern Florida. Judkins, who still hasn’t signed a rookie deal with Cleveland, now faces legal punishment and potential suspensions from the NFL. While the most important issue is the legal process and the health and safety of the accuser, there are, of course, fantasy football implications. Last year, Browns rookie defensive tackle was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list for the start of the season while a similar legal process played out. Ultimately, he was suspended five games after pleading no contest to the charge, and he was able to make his NFL debut in Mid-October. There are a lot of moving pieces, but you could expect a similar process to play out with Judkins if the accusations are true. Jerome Ford should be upgraded for some early-season value. 

Dynasty League Football has updated all of our rookie player profiles heading into the dynasty fantasy football season. Before you take a risk on any of these first-year players in your dynasty leagues, be sure to search their names on the site to read their player profiles! We’re also helping you win your upcoming rookie drafts with our Navigating the Rookie Draft series. Training camp is here, and the best place to follow the news and win your dynasty leagues is Dynasty League Football. 

Over the past weekend, Jaylen Waddle made headlines, saying he wants to move beyond his struggles in 2024. Waddle had his worst season as a pro, turning in career lows of 58 receptions, 744 yards, and two touchdowns. He was the WR46, only playing in 14 full games. Now, he’s saying 2024 was “definitely the year that I didn’t want as an individual.” He blamed his own hand-eye coordination, but the inconsistent quarterback play could be equally to blame. 

Waddle is the WR26 in Dynasty ADP, going off the board at 50th overall. There was a point in 2023 where Waddle was nearly a top five pick, and now he’s sitting barely inside the top 50. The DLF Expert Rankings are much higher on him, ranking him at WR22 and 36th overall. The public seems to be out on Waddle after back-to-back seasons outside of the top 24, but the experts have more hope for his future. 

He is only 26 years-old and he has the chance to finally surpass Tyreek Hill as the WR1 on this team. Hill fell off a cliff last year, and now, at 31 years old, he’s going behind Waddle in dynasty drafts. He could be a great value in drafts and on the trade market if you believe Tua Tagovailoa and the Mike McDaniel offense can bounce back to relevance in 2025.

NAVIGATING YOUR ROOKIE DRAFT: LATE 4TH ROUND

Dynasty rookie draft season is the time of year when those teams who missed the playoffs turn their attention to the incoming rookie class, and delusions of grandeur take over until the games kick off. Rebuilders are full of glee as they hoard their picks, while contenders are scheming how they can pry some of those picks away, and dynasty players everywhere are champing at the bit to draft their favorite prospect.

This 12-part series will use the latest Superflex Rookie ADP data available at Dynasty League Football. We will focus on the player or players likely to be available in that specific range we’re covering and will also include options based on the 1QB rookie ADP, whenever actionable, for those who play in that format.

The fourth round of dynasty rookie drafts have some intriguing options this season. Typically, the fourth round is just littered with dart throws at the very best, and is typically going to the first players cut from your roster once the season starts. But with a loaded running back class, there are some very interesting players available late in drafts. Let’s take a look at who might be available in the late fourth round of rookie dynasty drafts.

Superflex 4.12 – Damien Martinez, RB SEA

Martinez was a very efficient running back in his three college seasons. He just missed 1,000 yards rushing in his freshman season at Oregon State, before following that up with nearly 1,200 yards as a sophomore. Martinez transferred to Miami in his junior year and did not see as many carries with a pass-happy attack led by Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward at quarterback. Ward eventually would be the top overall selection in the NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. Martinez eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing, while adding a career-high ten touchdowns. Martinez averaged 6.2 yards per carry in his career with over 3,000 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns.

Options/Strategy

It was a bit of a surprise that Martinez fell to the seventh round of the NFL Draft. He was a prospect I liked a lot. I thought he would be taken in the fourth to fifth round range. The landing spot isn’t ideal behind Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Walker’s rookie contract is coming up, and he has struggled to stay healthy missing ten games in his first three seasons. Charbonnet has been a decent backup his first two seasons. It will likely take some injuries to the guys in front of him to see playing time as a rookie. Martinez is a nice stash. If he gets a chance to play, he can be successful in this offense.

Pivots

There are some other running backs who can be had in this area as well. My favorite is the Jaguars’ LeQuint Allen, who was also a seventh-round pick but is buried on the depth chart, but showed a nice receiving profile at Syracuse. Other options are Kyle Monangai for the Bears or Jacory Croskey-Merritt of the Commanders. If you are looking to go wide receiver here, Martinez’s new teammate Tory Horton is a possible option. The Colorado State product has been gaining traction over the past month. The Vikings’ Tai Felton, who was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft, is another player I have my eye on at the end of drafts.

1QB Options

In this scenario, it really just depends on who drops to the end of the draft. I’m shooting for the highest upside or taking a guy who had high draft capital. I’m typically looking to grab a running back here, but if I have already loaded up on RB then I’m taking a wide receiver with a chance to see early playing time. Two of my favorites are the Raiders’ Dont’e Thornton and the Titans’ Xavier Restrepo. Thornton could be Las Vegas’ deep threat, while Restrepo had great chemistry with Ward at Miami. That could help him see the field as a rookie in Tennessee.