The 2024 Perfect Startup Draft: 1QB Productive Struggle

Rob Willette Posted On August 4, 2024

Over the span of the next few weeks, we’re going to be bringing you our 2024 version of the “Perfect Draft.” Anyone who has followed us for any length of time knows you can’t enter a draft without a strategy but which strategy you choose will directly affect who you want to target. With that in mind, these are the strategies we’re going to cover:

Win Now
Value
Balance
Productive Struggle
Fake Punt
Bully QB/TE
Robust RB

We start today with the Productive Struggle. The dream for any dynasty manager is to build a juggernaut for the now and for the future. A dynasty bully gives you the ability to stand on your pedestal as you look down on your league mates, the simple peasants who make up your competition.

Of course, perpetual dominance is not a reasonable goal for any team. The landscape is competitive, and the abundance of information evens the playing field for all. If you choose to play the long game, you can embark on a Productive Struggle Draft, a term coined by our own Ryan McDowell.

This strategy emphasizes youth, opting to fill the roster with players with a path to long-term value. Due to the emphasis on longevity, the strategy goes heavy on receivers, a position with a much longer shelf-life than running back and a bit less risk than quarterback or tight end. There is, of course, a lot of risk associated with this strategy. Some careers are just not meant to be, and prioritizing youth could place age as more of a priority over talent. We are focusing on the potential boom factor, however. If you organize your draft in a smart fashion and hit on your evaluations, you can build a long-term winner which has the high-end talent and depth to run your league.

Using July ADP, let’s have the perfect dynasty productive struggle draft.

First Round

Early (Team One): Justin Jefferson, WR MIN

The emphasis on youth does not mean you are unable to land a veteran. Still just 25 (and only recently having a birthday), Jefferson arguably has the best combination of youth, past production, and situation. Some may prefer CeeDee Lamb after his monster 2023, but Jefferson has been a fantasy stud since day one and went over 1,000 yards last season despite injury woes and a revolving door of quarterbacks. His skillset should age well, making him the perfect candidate to build around for the long term.

Mid (Team Two): Marvin Harrison Jr, WR ARI

Harrison’s redraft ADP may be a bit rich for many to find palatable, but it is no surprise his dynasty ADP has held steady in the middle of round one ever since he hit the player pool. The son of a Hall of Famer checks all the boxes for a premier prospect. He is big (6’3” and 209 pounds), young (21) and produced in a big way at a power program. Harrison may be the poster boy of this exercise as a young player who could provide close to a decade of dominance.