Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Profile: Dylan Laube, RB New Hampshire
When the Senior Bowl rosters were released at the beginning of this year, I couldn’t help but chuckle. A football player out of the University of New Hampshire? Growing up in New England, I knew UNH as a decent hockey school. When I found out a friend of mine committed to play football there, I was surprised to hear they even had a football team! And now, here we are talking about an NFL Draft prospect out of UNH. But despite coming from such a small school, Dylan Laube is one of the sneaky, sleeper running backs of the 2024 Draft class.
The Stats
Images courtesy of ESPN.
Hailing from Long Island, Laube played high school football and lacrosse for Westhampton Beach. As a senior, he led the school to its first Long Island Class III championship. He set a Long Island record with 47 touchdowns and rushed for a school-record 2,680 yards on 249 carries (10.76 YPC). In the championship game, he rushed for 227 yards and six touchdowns, another school record. He came out of high school as a no-star recruit and was mostly ignored by national scouting services. He actually received better offers to play college lacrosse, but stuck with football because of his love of the game.
He enrolled for his first semester in Durham back in 2018, and his collegiate career spanned six college seasons. 2018 was a redshirt season for Laube, but he did appear in four games. 2019 through 2021 were successful, albeit quiet seasons for Laube. In ‘21 he posted his career-high in YPC with 6.3.
2022 was the first season that put him on the map nationwide at the FCS level. He finished the season as the national leader in all-purpose yards per game (194.3). He also ranked in the top ten in total touchdowns (#2/19) and rushing touchdowns (#8/15). In the first round of the FCS championship, he totaled 284 yards (157 rushing/127 receiving) and four touchdowns on 33 touches. He added production in the return game as well, posting 16-413-1 on kick returns and 18-246-1 on punt returns. He was named to seven All-America postseason teams, five as an all-purpose player, one as a kick returner and one as a punt returner. He also made the CAA All-Conference team three times, first-team as a punt returner, second-team as a running back and third-team as a kick returner. After this season, Laube actually received transfer interest and NIL opportunities from several ACC programs, but decided to finish his college career at New Hampshire.
In the 2023 season, he continued to dominate the CAA and FCS as an all-purpose player. He finished number one in the nation once again in all-purpose yards (209.5 per game). He also finished number two in the country in total touchdowns with 18. He was a nine-time All-American this season and a Walter Payton Award Finalist. Against Central Michigan, he set a school record in receiving yards, catching 12 balls for 295 yards, scoring twice from 80 and 71 yards out in that game.
Laube went on to participate in the Senior Bowl once his collegiate career was over. He was one of the headline-makers in practices, showing up early and impressing scouts with his motor and receiving ability.
New Hampshire’s Dylan Laube has such ridiculous ball tracking ability for a running back. Has been flexing his pass catching prowess all Senior Bowl. pic.twitter.com/Mq8s3NipYd
— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) January 31, 2024
Dylan Laube pressing the hole then explodes outside pic.twitter.com/e9oB9nnyY8
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) January 30, 2024
The Film
For more film of Dylan Laube, check out his DLF Profile.
Of course, any film analysis of Laube has to start with the level of competition. Playing in the FCS, against teams like Dartmouth, Stonehill and Towson, there is a lack of talent on the defensive side of the football. Most of the players UNH faced up against will never sniff the NFL Draft. Only 113 players made initial 53-man rosters in the NFL last season, and only seven of them were running backs. Jerick McKinnon, Chase Edmonds and Pierre Strong highlight that list. With that being said, Laube’s tape against these opponents is impressive nonetheless.
Laube is a do-it-all back who will likely make his biggest impact at the NFL level as a receiver and a returner. He is a one-cut runner who is very deliberate in his movement. He has decent vision approaching the line of scrimmage. He runs low to the ground with quick feet, but he doesn’t have much power to break tackles. In the NFL, bringing him to the ground shouldn’t be a problem.
He can line up in the slot or out of the backfield as a receiver. He runs routes nicely and gets upfield quickly for yards after the catch. He doesn’t have a large catch radius, but he’s sure-handed when the throw is on his frame.
He’ll likely earn a role on a team as a special teams weapon at first, likely as a returner. With the changes to the rules this year, there’s been an increased focus on return specialists, and Laube could be coveted for those skills in the draft.
The Measurables
Image courtesy of NFL.com.
Dylan Laube is a RB prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 8.79 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 232 out of 1904 RB from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/I7EcZiABF1 pic.twitter.com/RsVrfepOIt
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 16, 2024
Laube comes in undersized at under 5’10” and 206 lbs. With that size, you’d like to see a better 40-yard dash time, but he clocked out at just a 4.54. It’s a decent time, but for a small-school player who is going to find his most value in the return game, you’d like to see him come in a bit faster in the 4.4s.
He excelled in the agility drills the most, posting 4.02 seconds on the shuttle and 6.84 seconds on the 3-cone. The shuttle was the fastest in the class at the Combine, but only six players ran it. Blake Corum and Tyron Tracy were the only backs to run better than Laube at the three-cone.
He didn’t particularly stand out in any of the Combine drills, except for his celebration at the end of the session.
New Hampshire RB Dylan Laube with the celebration in the endzone after Combine drills😂@dylan_laube @UNH_Football pic.twitter.com/dk11Gu2uWd
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) March 2, 2024
The Value
Image courtesy of NFL Mock Draft Database.
Laube seems to be locked in as a day-three pick in the NFL Draft, though I would not be shocked if he goes undrafted. If he does, he’ll be a priority add as an undrafted free agent in the days following the draft. Most analysts project him as a fifth or sixth-round pick. With that kind of draft capital, his rookie draft value will be minimal at best.
Data from DLF One Quarterback ADP.
He’s currently the 69th running back being selected in DLF Startup Dynasty drafts, 214 overall. He’s the 12th rookie running back being drafted in those drafts. The DLF Rookie Rankings agree with the ADP. He’s the RB12 in those rankings, topping out at 11 on Dan Meylor’s rankings. His rookie draft ADP is 40th overall, an early fourth-round pick.
Dynasty Outlook
Dylan Laube is an interesting player who could have a solid NFL career ahead of him. Despite that, I don’t think he’ll ever carry much value in fantasy football. His ceiling tops out as an elite returner and a third-down weapon in the passing game. It’s unlikely he’ll ever be a factor in the fantasy game with those attributes.
His value as a fourth-round pick in rookie drafts is right where he should be going. At that point in the draft, you’re usually making Hail Mary picks. Those fourth-round picks may not even be on your roster come August, so don’t feel like you need to be a hero and draft Laube ahead of his ADP. He is a fun player, who is easy to root for, but you don’t get points in fantasy football for grittiness. Unless he finds his way onto a team that decides to feature him often in the passing game, he likely won’t find his way into your starting lineups without an injury.
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