FastDraft Fantasy: Rookie-Only Origins Strategy
By this point in the non-points scoring season, anyone reading this is well acquainted with the 2025 rookie class. Most of you are likely in leagues that wait until after the NFL draft to conduct your rookie drafts so that you have the final pieces of information necessary to solidify your rankings fully. But what if there was a way to leverage your film and analytical knowledge of these prospects before we know their draft capital and landing spots?
The folks at FastDraft have provided that opportunity with their new “Origins” contest. I’ll cover the basics here, but you can get a complete primer in this article posted on DLF last week.
The Basics:
- 10-teams
- rookie-only draft
- Six rounds
- Bestball
- Third Round Reversal
- No positional requirements
- $10 entry
- $25,000 prize pool with first place taking home $5,000
- Max 75 entries per person
My Draft Strategy
I’m using a three-pronged approach:
- Draft running backs early and often.
- Take advantage of ADP values or discrepancies at wide receiver and tight end once the running back well has dried up.
- Fade quarterback except Cam Ward at 1.02 or later and Jalen Milroe at 3.01 or later.
Let’s take those one by one.
Running Backs Early and Often
Unless you’re living in a cave to avoid the current political and economic situation, by now you know that this is one of those running back classes that will completely change the topography of the running back landscape. In our April single-quarterback ADP, two rookies appear in the top ten running backs, and five are in the top 20.
In addition to the talent level of this class, running backs are the most likely position to see a significant number of touches in their first campaign. Whether it’s starting from day one as is expected to be the case with Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton, garnering a 1B kind of role like several other backs, or rising to a prominent role due to injuries in front of them, this is the most surefire way to add both ceiling and floor to your rookie-only squad in this tournament. As we always say, volume drives fantasy production. The depth of this running back class is the easiest path to volume.
Outside of the top prospects, here are my five favorite ADP values on FastDraft among the running backs:
| Player | ADP |
| Cam Skattebo | 18.3 |
| DJ Giddens | 28.1 |
| Damien Martinez | 31.2 |
| Tahj Brooks | 44.2 |
| LeQuint Allen | 50.9 |
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
If there’s been a narrative just as loud as the chatter about the strength of the running back class, it’s the relative weakness of the wide receiver class. There are some gems to be mined at this position, too. We’ll get back to Travis Hunter in a moment, but as of this writing, Tetairoa McMillan is the only wide receiver with a FastDraft ADP inside the top ten. While there has been some negative sentiment out there about McMillan as of late, I’d like to chalk this up to prospecting fatigue. At this point in the process, my fellow analysts and I have combed through film on 70+ prospects, and when we come back to the top of the class, we find more things to nitpick. Make no mistake, though, McMillan is a rock-solid prospect and should be productive in year one. He’s the best bet to see this wide receiver class’s most significant target volume. 6’4 receivers that move like he does don’t come along very often. I wouldn’t hesitate to select him if he falls past his current ADP of 4.7 because of the early run on running backs.
Travis Hunter is a player many fear taking early because of the uncertainty surrounding the number of snaps he’ll receive on offense. I can understand that a bit more in dynasty rookie drafts, but in a best ball tournament like this one, where it will take an incredible amount of luck and huge performances to take home first place, this makes no sense. We are shooting for ceiling outcomes here. Tournaments are not the place to shoot for min-cash outcomes. With that in mind, Hunter’s ADP of 10.7 is perhaps the best value in this contest. In my mind, he is without question the WR1 in this class as long as he sees enough offensive snaps to be productive. Rumors have been swirling that the Browns are zeroing in on him with the second overall pick in the NFL draft next week and will likely deploy him primarily at wide receiver. Thinking about it differently, if you look at the monetary value of the second contracts NFL wide receivers are getting versus the ones defensive backs are getting, I’m guessing Hunter would prefer to be paid like a wide receiver. No one knows how this will shake out except the team that drafts him, but he is going for a massive discount in this contest, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the first-place team’s roster at the end of the season.
The tight end class is excellent, and there are none currently going in the first round of this contest. Tyler Warren is the first one off the board with an ADP of 12.7. Warren is likely a top 10-15 pick in the NFL draft and should be featured immediately. Waiting multiple seasons for fantasy production from our rookie tight ends is a thing of the past, as we have seen in recent seasons. Colston Loveland is my personal TE1 in the class, and his ADP is equally enticing at 18.1. If Skatteboo is off the board, Loveland would be my second-favorite selection in the mid-late second rounds of this contest.
Outside of the top prospects, here are my five favorite ADP values on FastDraft among the wide receivers and tight ends:
| Player | ADP |
| Jalen Noel | 22.1 |
| Jayden Higgins | 23.4 |
| Elijah Arroyo | 34.7 |
| Mason Taylor | 37.0 |
| Kyle Williams | 50.3 |
Quarterbacks
In general, quarterbacks will score the most fantasy points, but this rookie class has only one guaranteed day one starter, and that’s Cam Ward. In 99% of drafts for this tournament, he’ll be the 1.02 after Jeanty. Shedeur Sanders’ ADFP of 5.7 is too rich for me, given the uncertainty of where he could land in the NFL draft. With rampant rumors that he will fall in the draft, it seems unlikely he’ll be a day one starter, and that’s too risky a selection in the middle of the first round when there are a handful of running backs, receivers, and a tight end that should go before him.
Jalen Milroe has fallen to me in the late third/early fourth of these drafts despite his current ADP of 28.5. In case you missed it, Milroe accepted an invitation to be there on day one of the NFL draft. This absolutely does not mean he will be a day-one selection, but if he is, he might be the best value in these contests outside of Travis Hunter playing full-time wide receiver. We all know the value of rushing production from the quarterback position and even though the most likely outcome is Milroe sitting on the bench his first season, the numbers he could put up in a spot start due to injury or getting some run at the end of the 2025 season if his team is out of the playoff hunt should be spectacular. I know I’ll be starting him in season-long leagues should that scenario play out. I’d bet on him being a fantasy QB1 in any game he starts this season, despite the concerns with him as a passer.
Outside of those two, I’m fading QB in these contests. I know Jaxon Dart is getting some first-round buzz now, but unless a QB-needy team trades back up in the first or he goes much earlier than expected, it’s tough to see him getting much play in year one. With a current ADP of 12.2, there’s no way I’m taking a shot on him ahead of the options at another position in that range.
The only other QB consideration for me would be in the sixth round of these drafts, and that’s Tyler Shough with an ADP of 53.1. I could envision a scenario where the Browns draft Hunter second overall and then turn around and snag Shough with their early second-round selection.
Conclusion
FastDraft’s new rookie-only offering is a blast to play, and you can knock out drafts literally in five minutes or less. The contest is already 90% filled and will undoubtedly fill before the NFL draft on April 24th, so head on over and test your rookie knowledge against other dynasty and best ball players.
Don’t forget to use the promo code “DLF” to get a 100% deposit match. Depositing $50 gets you 10 entries for the price of five. Good luck, and let me know who your favorite selections are for this contest in the comment section below.
Creator and Co-host of Dynasty Game night, the fantasy football game show.
Creator and host of the Zookeeper Stories podcast.
- FastDraft Fantasy: Rookie-Only Origins Strategy - April 15, 2025
- Dynasty Rookie Report Card: Marvin Harrison Jr and Braelon Allen - September 22, 2024
- Dynasty Rookie Report Card: Jalen McMillan and Devaughn Vele - September 14, 2024
