Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Strategy: A View from the 1.09

For many dynasty players, the highlight of the off-season is the annual rookie draft and we are now mere days away from many of those drafts kicking off. Once our respective dynasty teams are eliminated from contention (and sometimes even before), we tend to turn our attention to the incoming rookie class and delusions of grandeur take over. In fact, dynasty players spend nearly the entire off-season preparing for how they will use their draft picks, or if they will use them at all.

In this twelve-part series, I’ll use the latest data available here at Dynasty League Football, namely our April Rookie ADP and the Dynasty Trade Finder to ensure you are as prepared as possible when your draft begins. Based on our most recent ADP data, I’ll suggest the player you could be soon adding to your team, and if you don’t like that, I’ll also include a potential pivot option. In addition, I'll include options based on the updated 2QB rookie ADP for those who play in that format. Finally, using the Dynasty Trade Finder, I will examine some recent trades that have taken place with each specific draft pick.

We all know the first round of rookie drafts includes the players we’ve been hearing about for months, if not years, but difference makers can be found in the second round and beyond, as well. Because of that, I’ll also address the other picks that accompany each respective first-round draft slot.

Rookie Selection 1.09

The Pick: George Pickens, WR Georgia

Go back in time two years. It’s the off-season between the 2019 and 2020 football seasons and the most-coveted devy wide receiver is none other than Pickens. Coming off a very impressive freshman season at Georgia in which he led the team in receiving while setting UGA freshman records, Pickens had the look of the clear WR1 in his eventual draft class - that freshman year, Pickens hauled in 49 passes for 727 yards and eight touchdowns. However, that would prove to be Pickens' best college season. Poor quarterback play and injuries hurt his production over his final two seasons. After a spring ACL tear, the long and lean wideout was limited to just five games in 2021.