At last. The week of binging food and football is over. The holiday season has finally begun.
With that, we fast approach the end of the college football season. All that’s left are championship games, bowl games, and of course, the College Football Playoff.
That means, generally speaking, there’s just not that much more evaluation to be had for the upcoming rookie class. Yes, there are still injuries to occur, declarations to be made, and, again, the College Football Playoff.
But there’s not much evidence to suggest that a player’s performance in the playoff or in bowl games has any more impact than what they did all season long.
Ultimately, it’s just another data point. Another notch in the belt. So without further ado, let’s go out on a major limb and see if we have all the data we need to nail your average superflex dynasty rookie mock draft.
2024 Dynasty Football Rookie Mock Draft
1.01 – Caleb Williams, QB, USC
This is going to be subject to change, as it’s going to be on a lot of boards. Playing the long game though in dynasty, you’ve got to go with Caleb Williams and his long pedigree.
Caleb Williams has been fantastic every season he’s played making him one of the best quarterback prospects in quite some time. If not for his three-interception game against Notre Dame, we’d likely still be talking about Williams as potentially the first player to win the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back seasons since 1975.
While the lack of willingness to run is a problem for fantasy football, he has athleticism to offer. This could be the next Patrick Mahomes, even as crazy as that sounds.
1.02 – Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
Drake Maye has been climbing up several draft boards and has overtaken Williams as No. 1 in many newer NFL mock drafts. Personally, while I see a fantastic prospect, I just don’t know if Maye has shown the same level of processing that Williams has both in and out of structure.
If Maye does in fact go number one overall though, I would reconsider my position. While Maye doesn’t possess either a Josh Allen or Justin Fields type of rushing ability, he certainly finds lanes to scramble through. This has led to back-to-back seasons of at least 500 yards rushing.
That’s going to matter as it creates some level of buffer. As we’ve seen with Bryce Young, if you’re not immediately flourishing in the pass game, just a little bit of rushing could go a long way. Instead, Young has been dead in the water, and it’s hard to imagine that changing anytime soon.
1.03 – Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
Listen, I understand that there are going to be those who feel their needs are stronger at wide receiver than at quarterback. I certainly won’t be too hard on anyone who decides Marvin Harrison Jr. is the direction they’re going in for the first pick.
But even though this rookie mock draft is a glorified rankings board, I still wouldn’t personally suggest taking Harrison Jr. before the third pick.
You don’t need me to explain how special of a wide receiver prospect this is. The pedigree makes the promise, and the game film follows through. But this is superflex. And this is dynasty football. The best player available approach is the smartest for any team. And the best player available in a superflex rookie mock draft is almost always a top QB prospect.
1.04 – Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
Jayden Daniels is your odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this year. That however does not make him a top quarterback prospect.
Daniels definitely has the talent to be drafted in the first round. But that’s not why we’re grabbing him. We’re talking about an elite rushing prospect at the QB position. After the advent of Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields, you just can’t ignore a guy like this anymore.
1.05 – Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Bowers hasn’t quite had the year everyone was hoping for from the widely hailed generational tight end prospect. But the position is a wasteland and we’re talking about a guy who’s currently playing after having surgery in the middle of the season.
He’s a little more George Kittle than Travis Kelce in terms of how he operates on the field, but he’s a three-down tight end any way you look at it. If you’re tight end premium, this is a no-brainer at this position.
1.06 – Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
I’ve made clear my love for route running in the wide receivers I target. Gaining separation in the NFL is the best way to negate any disadvantage a player may receive from poor quarterback play.
Whereas the big-bodied Drake London has had a hard year with Desmond Ridder, Chris Olave is thriving with an also bad Derek Carr due to his exceptional route running. Nabers has top-tier acceleration and prototypical size. Don’t hesitate.
1.07 – Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
We’re talking about a man running potentially a 4.3 – 4.4 for his forty time, at 215 pounds. Add to that an unmatched ability to high point the ball and you have a special WR prospect.
If it weren’t for this being such a deep draft for wide receivers, you wouldn’t find Odunze this late. He can’t quite separate the same way Nabers can, but he’s still more than worth a pick in this slot.
1.08 – TraVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
It’s a bit surprisingly late, but here is your RB1 for this 2024 rookie mock draft. A complete back, I would still likely consider many of the still available wide receivers to be better dynasty prospects.
But because there are simply so many good options at wide receiver, it may be worth trusting the second round for WR help if you’re hurting for running back.
1.09 – Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
Case in point, we have Emeka Egbuka. While he’s a bit overshadowed in his own wide receiver room, the biggest knock on Egbuka has really been that he hasn’t been fully available this season.
With decent route running, Egbuka does a ton of damage from the slot despite possessing nice size at 6’1″ and 200 lbs. In the right situation, Egbuka could certainly fill a Joker-style role a la Cordarelle Patterson or Deebo Samuel.
1.10 – Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
Nix has much more demonstrated arm talent than Jayden Daniels. He’s just lacking a lot more in the dual-threat category, even as Nix has shown wheels from time to time. Still, this is likely the third QB to go in the NFL Draft, and that will count a lot toward projecting Nix as a long-term asset.
1.11 – Jonathon Brooks, RB, Texas
Prior to tearing his ACL, Brooks was on track to be RB1 of the class. Again, would I take him in a vacuum over some of the available wide receivers? Probably not. But in gauging this draft class, taking a talent like this here gives the best chance of diversifying your positional investments.
1.12 – Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
Penix Jr. has been putting on a clinic this year. The ACL is certainly a concern moving forward. But most of the other injuries that he’s docked for are unrelated, meaning Penix Jr. may not be as injury prone as everyone seems to imagine.
If Penix Jr. wasn’t boasting a -14 rushing yards this year (yes, negative) he’d be much higher on this board.
Also check out our Week 9 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty