2015 Dynasty Rookie Rankings: Consensus Third Round

Ken Kelly Posted On May 9, 2015

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Editor’s Note: Make sure you’re ready for your fantasy league draft by checking out our ORANGE Report, the Rookie Draft Board, the IDP Rookie Draft Board our new multi-part Rookie Draft Study, our Rookie Draft Cheat Sheet and our archive, featuring over 100 in-depth articles already this year. Dominate your leagues, people!

We brought you the consensus first two rounds earlier this week and now it’s time to turn our attention to round three.

Again, these lists are really designed to give you the general area in which players are ranked as well as give you a basic idea of value for each of the rookies.

The third round is where you really start taking some chances. The hit rate for these players is very small and while you may think you have the next Randall Cobb, you probably have the next Cedric Cobb instead. In short, very few of these players will ever end up being fantasy contributors, but finding a productive player late in your draft could be the difference in rebuilding or reloading in the future. Take some chances here and hope for the best!

With that in mind, we bring you round three.

3.01 = Tyler Lockett, WR SEA

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The prevailing thought with Lockett is the Seahawks were enamored enough with his return game to trade #95, #112, #167 and #181 in the NFL Draft to move up and get him. I don’t buy it. If Seattle was strictly looking at him as a returner, that seems a bit excessive. While it’s going to take a while for Lockett to move up the depth chart, he doesn’t exactly have a group of All Pro players ahead of him. Jimmy Graham is obviously going to be a target hog, but Lockett has the speed to excel as a future slot receiver. If he shows well quickly, he could get playing time as early as this season – at this point in the draft, that’s about all you can hope for.

3.02 = Chris Conley, WR KC

Conley is going to make for a very interesting selection in rookie drafts. On one hand, he has all the athletic ability in the world and simply blew up the combine. On the other, his skills don’t match up with noodle armed gun slinger Alex Smith. Conley really needs a year or two to develop and anyone who owns him is likely hoping (if not expecting) Smith doesn’t last more than a year or two more as the starter in Kansas City.

3.03 = Mike Davis, RB SF

If you get the “2013” version of Mike Davis in round three, you have a pick you’ll look back on in years and see as a turning point in your franchise and a running back who can seriously challenge Carlos Hyde for carries. If you get the “2014” version of Mike Davis, you’re getting a player with conditioning and effort questions who likely won’t last in the league more than a couple of seasons. At this point in a draft, the reward outweighs the minimal risk.

3.04 = Jeremy Langford, RB CHI

Langford was the replacement for Le’Veon Bell and thrived the past two seasons at Michigan State. Could he now be the heir apparent to another great back in the form of Matt Forte? Langford is one of my favorite late round picks as he’s one of the few runners in this draft who could be a true three down workhorse. While the chances aren’t great that he’s the running back of the future in Chicago, I’d certainly rather take my chances with him than Jacquizz Rodgers or Ka’Deem Carey.

3.05 = Justin Hardy, WR ATL

Someone has to replace Harry Douglas in “Hotlanta” and Hardy has the ability to do that. While he’ll likely never be the WR1 for the Falcons, he has a good chance to carve out a decent role fairly quickly. The only question is if it will be enough to merit roster consideration in dynasty leagues or if he’ll just be a roster clogger with inconsistent production.

3.06 = Tre McBride, WR TEN

A substantial investment in McBride means you’re hanging your hopes on Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham don’t ever turn the corner. A third round selection of McBride is likely coming with the hope at least one of them fizzles. To me, that’s a much wiser investment.

3.07 = DeAndre Smelter, WR SF

If you’re expecting anything soon from Smelter, you’re kidding yourself. He’s coming off a torn ACL and will take a lot of time to learn the nuances of an NFL offense and refine his route tree. That being said, he’s a long-term project who likely would have been a second round selection in rookie drafts had he not been hurt. Smelter makes for a really nice stash at the bottom of your roster as a player with great athleticism and future opportunity.

3.08 = Stefon Diggs, WR MIN

If you’re in a devy league, you’ve probably been pretty disappointed with Diggs over the years. A once highly regarded High School recruit, he consistently underachieved at Maryland, never really living up to his massive potential. The Vikings are likely looking at him to help on special teams and hope he can finally have a breakthrough to become a future contributor on offense. You could have a steal here but this could also go bad pretty quickly.

3.09 = Clive Walford, TE OAK

Walford has a lot of ability, but this situation isn’t great at all. He’ll battle Mychal Rivera for snaps and it’s unlikely he’ll ever develop into a dominant option in fantasy leagues. In short, his ceiling is probably that of the big group of TE2 options who seem to be a dime a dozen.

3.10 = Josh Robinson, RB IND

Frank Gore is going to be the unquestioned starter and bellcow for the Colts in the short term. However, Indianapolis knows their time with him short. While it’s very possible (if not probable) the future starter for Andrew Luck to grow old with isn’t on the roster, Robinson is worth a shot here. I personally like to target late-round SEC running backs and Robinson fits the bill as a productive runner from Mississippi State.

3.11 = Matt Jones, RB WAS

Alfred Morris is entering a contract year, so Jones is worth a dart throw. While not overly dynamic or explosive, he tends to get what he needs and has shown well against good competition (notably a 192-yard effort against Georgia). It’s doubtful he’ll ever be anything more than a short yardage back or backup, but you could do worse in round three.

3.12 = Vince Mayle, WR CLE

Mayle goes from an XBOX One video game offense at Washington State to a, well, Atari-style one in Cleveland. There are concerns about his tendency to drop balls and his learning curve is going to be stunted by a broken thumb that’s limiting him in camp, but he has talent. With the Browns, that’s been pretty rare at the receiver position as of late and he could earn time early if he performs well in camp.

There are still several other big names on the board you could make a case for taking in this round. That list includes Rashad Greene, Cameron Artis-Payne, Ty Montgomery, Bryce Petty, Brett Hundley and Karlos Williams.

We’ll continue to bring you mock drafts and updated rankings all Spring and Summer long!

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Ken Kelly

Co-Founder at DynastyLeagueFootball

Ken is a corporate trainer by day an a tireless editor of dynasty content by night. His passion for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks is second only to his love of fantasy football and the dynasty format.

Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK