Aaron St. Denis: Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings Explained

Welcome back to another installment in our series of articles where DLF rankers not only explain their dynasty fantasy football rankings, but also include a number of the 2024 rookie draft pick selections so you can see how we each, individually, value those dynasty rookie picks in comparison to players as if it were a dynasty fantasy football startup draft. As would be expected, you will find a great degree of variability in the valuation of these picks as well depending on the style of the ranker. Each draft class has its own quality and depth and, depending on how the ranker values that quality and depth, individual rookie selections will appear earlier or later on the list.

Be sure to catch all of the Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings Explained series.

DLF has always offered our readers multiple sets of dynasty fantasy football rankings from different experts to provide a broad view of player rankings. With many different strategies for building a successful dynasty team, no single set of rankings could possibly meet the needs of every coach. Instead, we've long subscribed to the idea of our experts providing their own individual rankings, ultimately giving our readers the opportunity to gravitate to a particular expert who closely matches their own style of ranking or, perhaps, instead choosing to use an average ranking across all experts.

A note about the tables. The Rank column indicates this ranker's personal rankings. The AVG column indicates the consensus rankings value at the time these rankings were created. The "+/-" column indicates how much higher or lower the ranker is to the consensus average.

Each week we will provide rankings for 120 players and 2024 rookie draft picks, alternating between 1QB and Superflex rankings. For a deeper list of rankings, please visit our consensus dynasty fantasy football rankings.

1QB DYNASTY FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS: Aaron St. Denis

Let’s get two things out of the way right off the bat. First, these are single quarterback rankings, so the quarterbacks are going to be much further down than you would expect. In a 1QB league, the waiver wire simply has too many streaming options and even the top tier of quarterbacks aren’t worth as much as a solid RB2 or WR2.

Secondly, I’m a firm believer in the saying “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. So, my personal rankings are going to see the rookie picks significantly lower than any of the other DLF analysts. I’ve seen enough “can’t miss” or “generational” prospects turn into nothing for me to take them over a proven asset. The first example of this is going to be Marvin Harrison Jr. For as good as most experts project him to be, I will still take a proven WR1 every time. Give me the guaranteed asset over “what’s in the box”. The fear of missing out is the phenomenon that drives these rookie picks up in value. I’ll take Amon-Ra St. Brown instead of the receiver who could be Amon-Ra St. Brown.

You will also note a definitive formula for my rankings. While I do value youth, I try to not overvalue it. You will see runs of young stars followed by runs of veteran stars. At some point, your dynasty squad must have a mix of both youth and proven players. As fun and sexy as it is to just load up on high-upside rookies, it’s nearly impossible to win without a solid mix of veterans on your roster.

Now for my 1 QB + Picks thought process.