Rookie

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2023 Rookie Wide Receiver Analytics Spotlight: Nathaniel “Tank” Dell

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Nathaniel “Tank” Dell is consistent with the new wave of undersized wide receivers recently ushered into the NFL. Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Justin Jefferson, Chris Olave, Rondale Moore, and Elijah Moore are redefining what it means to be a “prototype” wide receiver. Route running and the ability to create separation are being prioritized over physical size.

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Tyjae Spears

2023 Rookie RB Analytics: Tyjae Spears

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Rookie scouting season is here and everyone is starting to research and prep for their rookie drafts. In this series, I will go through my process and scout different players for the incoming 2023 class. My process is mainly through an analytical view. This means I am thinking about hit rates, range of outcomes, and probabilities. I favor these things over whether I think the player is talented because that is not only subjective but also difficult. This consistent, numbers-only process allows me to play the odds and hit more than I miss with these rookies. So follow along as I go through Tulane running back, Tyjae Spears.

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2023 Rookie Wide Receiver Analytics Spotlight: Zay Flowers

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Each year I use an established analytical process (The WR1 Model) to forecast who the future dynasty elite wide receivers will be. You can find a detailed explanation of the process here. While some of the nine metrics utilized in the model (relative athletic score, film grade, and draft capital) are not yet finalized, we can begin to get a picture of who the players you want to target are. 

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Hendon Hooker

Early ’23 Rookie QB Rankings: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Pt. 3

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We’ve officially passed the NFL draft declaration date and we know who exactly our fresh batch of rookie picks will be. That means no more Twitter speculation and narratives about who will declare. (Looking at you Stroud.) Sure it’s a little early to rank without draft capital. Luckily, we have plenty of numerical data from the regular season we can look at using KPIs based from DFF’s very own Chris Miles. Using the points from his model and tales from the tape, I’ll break down this highly touted rookie class by discussing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of each prospect.

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Anthony Richardson

2023 Rookie QB Analytics: Anthony Richardson

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Rookie scouting season is approaching and what better way to prepare than to get a head start on your league mates and get to work before the NFL season ends? In this series, I will go through my process and scout each of the potential incoming rookie QBs for the 2023 class. My process is mainly through an analytical view. This means I am thinking about hit rates, range of outcomes, and probabilities. I favor these things over whether I think the player is talented because that is not only subjective but also difficult. This consistent, numbers-only process allows me to play the odds and hit more than I miss with these rookies. So follow along as I go through Florida quarterback, Anthony Richardson.

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JSN & The Slot Receiver

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The fantasy community has adopted a strange tradition – hyping up a draft class a few years down the road, only to completely discredit them the year they’re to be drafted. Maybe not ‘completely’, but it certainly feels that way. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is one of the most recent victims of our yearly tradition. I want to discuss why that is and see if we can draw any significant conclusions about our views on slot usage and production.

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2023 Rookie QB Analytics: Bryce Young

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Rookie scouting season is approaching and what better way to prepare than to get a head start on your league mates and get to work before the NFL season ends? In this series, I will go through my process and scout each of the potential incoming rookie QBs for the 2023 class. My process is mainly through an analytical view. This means I am thinking about hit rates, range of outcomes, and probabilities. I favor these things over whether I think the player is talented because that is not only subjective but also difficult. This consistent, numbers-only process allows me to play the odds and hit more than I miss with these rookies. So follow along as I go through Alabama quarterback, Bryce Young.

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Stetson Bennett

2023 Rookie QB Analytics: Stetson Bennett

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Rookie scouting season is approaching and what better way to prepare than to get a head start on your league mates and get to work before the NFL season ends? In this series, I will go through my process and scout each of the potential incoming rookie QBs for the 2023 class. My process is mainly through an analytical view. This means I am thinking about hit rates, range of outcomes, and probabilities. I favor these things over whether I think the player is talented because that is not only subjective but also difficult. This consistent, numbers-only process allows me to play the odds and hit more than I miss with these rookies. So follow along as I go through my first rookie, Stetson Bennett.

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Early ’23 Rookie RB Rankings: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Pt. 1

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As the 2022 Fantasy Season comes to a close we get to shift to off-season Twitter topics that leave us arguing with strangers about a likely UDFA QB until our feet go numb on the toilet. Yes, folks, it’s time for rookie talk before we even have draft capital!

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Sam Howell

The Case for Sam Howell

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What if I told you that the QB1 of my rookie QB model for the 2022 class was now one mistake away from becoming a starter? What if I also told you that this QB would have been QB4 of the 2021 class, ahead of Zach Wilson, despite being drafted in the 5th round of the NFL draft and not the first? These statements should cause excitement for the Washington Commanders rookie QB, Sam Howell.

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Kenny Pickett

The Kenny Pickett Era Begins in Pittsburgh

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Pickett showed true confidence throwing the ball downfield, something we hadn’t seen out of Mitchell Trubisky. Pickett’s willingness to let it fly is a great sign of his fantasy value. The Steelers have a great group of offensive weapons, headlined by second-year RB Najee Harris. Inserting Pickett into the lineup will only open up more opportunities for Harris. This move increases the stock for every pass-catcher in the offense as well. Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Pat Freiermuth should at least be getting more big-play chances. The biggest winner, however, is rookie WR George Pickens. The 6’3” field-stretching receiver saw the ball come his way much more frequently in the short time he had playing with Pickett under center. We saw what Pickett was able to do at Pitt last season, supporting a Biletnikoff award-winning WR in Jordan Addison.  “Pickett to Pickens” is going to be a call we could be hearing for years to come.

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Drake London

Rookie Revolution: Drake London and Garrett Wilson Have Arrived

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Historically, rookie wide receivers have taken the beginning of the season to integrate themselves into the passing game plan and develop chemistry with the quarterback. However, two of the five aforementioned rookies, London and Wilson, fast-tracked the proverbial rookie wide receiver waiting period with eye-popping performances through two weeks. Let’s look at them as prospects and dive into their peripherals to see if this start is sustainable.

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Sam Howell

Dumpster Diving: Sam Howell

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“Dumpster Diving” is a series at Dynasty Football Factory that will help you find late-round hidden gems or cheap players to acquire. These players are far from perfect but they could potentially land you a high return on your investment. If something breaks right these players can have a measurable impact on your team(s) and you will be the manager with them stashed on your bench. If not, you cut bait and move on. You want assets on your team that will appreciate and that is the goal here.  All of these players will be below the top 150 players as valued on keeptradecut.com

For this article, we dive into Sam Howell.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Drake London

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A California All-State selection in both football and basketball in high school, Drake London was recruited to USC to play BOTH sports. While he played as a freshman on the basketball team, he really stood out on the football field. In his true freshman season, he posted 39 receptions, 567 yards, and five TDs in 13 games with nine as a starter. He put up similar statistics in the covid-shortened 2020 PAC-12 season before completely dominating this past season. In 2021 he registered 88 catches for 1,084 yards and seven TDs in just eight games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

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The WR1 Rating Dynasty Rookie Countdown: Part 2

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For those new to the WR1 rating, this is a proprietary formula I developed to provide a data-driven forecast of future dynasty value for incoming rookie wide receivers. The WR1 model scores rookies on nine predictive metrics and then combines those individual metric scores into a total WR1 rating score. The goal is to provide a single easy-to-use score for those who don’t want to spend all the time dissecting different metrics. 

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The WR1 Rating: Dynasty Rookie Wide Receiver Rankings Countdown (15-11)

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Over the next few weeks, I will be revealing my annual WR1 prospect model ratings to help prepare DFF readers for their dynasty rookie drafts. This article covers the prospects ranked 15-11 in the model. For those new to the WR1 rating, this is a proprietary formula I developed to provide a data-driven forecast of future dynasty value for incoming rookie wide receivers. The WR1 model scores rookies on nine predictive metrics and then combines those individual metric scores into a total WR1 rating score. The goal is to provide a single easy-to-use score for those who don’t want to spend all the time dissecting different metrics. You may find an in-depth explanation of the model’s process and a glossary of what the metrics mean here. Before we get into the 2022 prospects, here are the top 20 all-time prospects in the model so you can see how effective it is at forecasting future fantasy value.

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Adjusting the Ranks: Psych Ward’s 2022 Rookie Rankings

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We have a mantra at Dynasty Football Factory that has propelled a focus on consistent construction and evaluation of our dynasty rosters: #AlwaysBeBuilding. My rankings are built with the same forward direction. I aspire to be as transparent as possible in my process to provide you with a better understanding of how to value players. These rankings will be continuously updated to reflect an ever-improving player evaluation process. Allow me to walk you through some of the essential anchors I base these rankings around.

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