Superflex Dynasty Rankings Explained: Rich Cooling

Dynasty Rankings Explained is back! In this series, DLF rankers explain their dynasty fantasy football rankings, including 2025 rookie draft pick selections so you can see how we each value those dynasty rookie picks compared to players as if it were a dynasty fantasy football startup draft. As 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 manager. 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. We'll go 120 players and picks deep, so for a deeper list of rankings, please visit our consensus dynasty fantasy football rankings.

SUPERFLEX DYNASTY FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS: RICH COOLING

I approach rankings slightly differently than most people. I base them purely from a value perspective. I assign a value to every single player on a scale of 1-100. This list of values then produces my rankings rather than vice versa. For example, Josh Allen and Lamar Jack are both worth 100, and Brock Purdy is worth 50, so I would theoretically trade two Brock Purdys for one Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.

As a general rule, I have a couple of overarching beliefs when it comes to valuing dynasty players, and by and large, this impacts my rankings considerably. First, I'm much higher than consensus on the 3rd and 4th tier quarterbacks. I view quarterbacks with stable contracts and situations as incredibly valuable and value them much more than most. To counteract this, I am also much lower than the consensus on the elite running backs. This is primarily because I don't want to pay up for a running back given the potentially shorter shelf life of the position; when they hit, they are league winners; however, in a startup draft, I would prefer to build around other positions and pay up for aging veterans in a one or two-year window.

The final comment is that I am considerably lower than the consensus on the elite young tight-end options. Historically, young tight ends see a significant boost in dynasty value but are very fragile, and wild swings in value can be seen. Look at somebody like Dalton Kincaid or Sam LaPorta this last year. Because of that, I'm a little less willing to spend up on an elite tight end when I feel I can find a replacement level at a much more affordable cost.

Rankings: 1 - 24

As you can see from the first two rounds, I am very quarterback-heavy. The production and longevity of quarterbacks make them so valuable in superflex leagues. Whenever a quarterback has a stable starting position with a contract to match, they're likely to be a top 24 player to me. Drake Maye is probably the biggest stand-out in the top 10 picks, and a lot of that is based on projection. I was very excited about him as a prospect, but he was even better than I had imagined in an even worse situation. His ability to push the ball downfield with rushing production has the potential to be genuinely elite for fantasy.

Jalen Hurts settles in at ten for me, which is significantly lower than the consensus. I have serious concerns about him being a pocket passer. He limits the offense's ceiling because he turns down throws and struggles over the middle of the field. His contract is now in a position where the Eagles could opt to move on from him at any point, as it is no longer onerous. I don't think that will happen anytime soon, but the potential that it could happen drops him below the top two tiers of Quarterback for me.

Moving into the second round, there is a group of high-upside young superstar wide receivers and a collection of quarterbacks who all have potential or are already producing. The lower-than-consensus ranking of some wide receivers is due to pushing the quarterback value higher.
The battle between Brian Thomas and Malik Nabers, the two rookie wide receivers, is interesting. Consensus ranking leans towards Nabers, which is understandable considering his incredible rookie year Malik Nabers had. However, I trust the surroundings of Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence over the Giants' situations. I also believe Brian Thomas potentially has a higher ceiling and would rather chase that ceiling.