Welcome back to another Dynasty draft review! Yesterday, I took a look at a Superflex rookie draft; today I will be moving to the land of 1-QB Dynasty. Obviously, this draft will look dramatically different than the Superflex draft, in which four quarterbacks were selected in the first round. This league features lots of very sharp players, including DrRoto.com’s own Justin Jaksa … and unlike yesterday, I’ll actually make a few picks of my own this time. Let’s take a look at how things went down.
1-QB Dynasty Rookie Draft Analysis
1.01: WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals
This was Justin’s pick, and he made the right choice. In 1-QB formats, MHJ is the obvious first overall pick, in a tier of his own.
1.02: WR Malik Nabers, New York Giants
I held this pick coming into the draft, but I traded it away (more on that shortly). But if I’d held onto it, this is the pick I would have made as well. Malik Nabers is my WR2 in this draft, and the big three receivers are absolutely more valuable in 1-QB leagues than any players at other positions.
1.03: WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears
I didn’t move far when trading away that second overall pick, as this is what I got in return, along with a 2025 second-rounder and two fifth-round picks. My logic was simple: I have Odunze and Nabers in the same tier, so getting a second-round pick to swap one for the other was a no-brainer. Nabers is definitely the player I would rather have, especially for 2024 given Odunze’s crowded landing spot in Chicago, but they are very close in my mind as prospects. Regardless of any trading shenanigans, these first three picks are essentially chalk, and I expect the vast majority of 1-QB rookie drafts will look just like this.
1.04: TE Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
If the first three picks in 1-QB league are relatively predictable, things enter unknown territory from here onwards. Bowers (the consensus TE1 and an elite prospect) is a fine pick here, but I wouldn’t question it if someone picked their personal choice for WR4 or even Caleb Williams at this spot instead. Personally, I’d lean towards a receiver in this spot: Bowers and Caleb are great prospects, but their positions simply aren’t as valuable in this format.
1.05: WR Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
You might expect me to like this pick, as I just said that a receiver should have gone at 1.04 … but not this receiver. I have Coleman ranked as the WR8 in this class and, more importantly, a whole tier behind multiple receivers still on the board. Coleman’s upside is enticing landing with Josh Allen and the Bills, but I don’t think he is a good enough prospect or saw good enough draft capital to justify this pick.
1.06: QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
The consensus 1.01 in Superflex Dynasty drafts (and the real NFL Draft), Williams falls all the way to the middle of the first round in 1-QB. For most QB prospects, I would call this a bit of a reach. With each team only playing one quarterback each week, there are really only 12 QBs that matter in 1-QB leagues … and only six that give you an edge. The chances of a rookie breaking into that group, especially one without elite rushing upside, are slim. But if anyone can do it, it’s Caleb, especially given the insane weapons the Bears have surrounded him with. I probably still wouldn’t have selected him this early in a 1-QB format, but I get it.
1.07: WR Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
I’ve questioned each of the last three picks, but I have nothing bad to say about this one. Yes, Thomas Jr. is technically my WR5, and my WR4 is still on the board. But after the big three, BTJ is in the next tier. This is a great spot to land a player with insane measurables and mid-first-round draft capital.
1.08: RB Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
Oof. Benson is a good prospect, but he wasn’t drafted until the third round (admittedly with the second pick of the third round) and, more importantly, he was drafted by a team that already has a running back in James Conner. Drafting him over multiple receivers with first-round draft capital feels like a hugely losing bet … and that’s before we even get into the fact that Jonathon Brooks is a better prospect with better draft capital and a better landing spot.
1.09: WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
I love this pick!!! (This pick was me.) McConkey is my WR4 in this class, so I was ecstatic to grab him all the way down here. That’s the thing about rookie drafts: They don’t always go how you expect them to, and all it takes is a couple of “bold” picks to open up huge value for everyone else.
1.10: WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Speaking of huge value, I think this is actually the best pick of the entire first round. Yes, I personally prefer McConkey to Worthy, but I have them in the same tier. FantasyPros’ Expert Consensus Rankings have Worthy as the fifth overall player in 1-QB Rookie Drafts. Grabbing Patrick Mahomes’ newest weapon and the fastest man in the history of the NFL Combine at 10 overall is as good as it gets.
1.11: WR Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers
I don’t have Legette as the next receiver in my rankings (Ricky Pearsall baby), but the hyperathletic former Gamecock is in the right tier. However, I would have actually drafted from a different position here, either a quarterback or a running back …
1.12: RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
But not that running back!! I don’t know what to make of this pick. Corum was already a flawed prospect: His efficiency numbers took a huge hit following a torn meniscus in 2022, and it’s hard to determine how much of his college success was simply due to running behind Michigan’s dominant line. And he came out of the draft with an atrocious landing spot, landing behind Kyren Williams in Los Angeles. Yes, Corum is probably a better prospect now than Kyren was coming out of Notre Dame … but that doesn’t matter when one just put up 1300 yards and 15 touchdowns in 12 games in the NFL. Oh yeah, and they’re THE SAME AGE, so we can’t exactly project Corum as some sort of heir apparent to Williams. Barring a truly shocking coaching decision, Corum seems penciled in as a handcuff, albeit a high-value one. And that’s not worth a first-round pick.
Final Thoughts
Well, that was a wild first round, certainly proving the adage that every league is unique. With this many reaches, there are bound to be some players who fall. As we headed into the second round, the two obvious names that were shockingly still on the board are Jonathon Brooks (RB, Carolina) and Jayden Daniels (QB, Washinton). As I mentioned, Brooks is the obvious RB1 in this class, so his falling to RB3 (Justin was lucky enough to snag him with the first pick of the second round) is wild. Daniels is a quarterback, so he is less valuable in this 1-QB format, but he’s also the exact kind of quarterback worth chasing. As an elite rusher, Daniels, if he does stick in the NFL as a starter, has the very real potential to be the rare truly impactful QB in a 1-QB format. This may be blasphemous to say, but I would have a hard choice picking between him and Caleb Williams in this format. Yes, Williams is much more likely to hit as an NFL quarterback, but I might argue that Daniels is the more likely of the first two picks in this year’s draft to become an elite fantasy QB, and that’s what we’re really after. I tried to trade up to grab Daniels in the early second, to no avail, and he was selected with the 2.03, 15th overall.