Round 4 jumped off the rails as seven of the 12 picks selected came via trade. By far the most active part of the startup, the movement here set the tone for the rest of the draft. At this point, the feeling out portion had concluded and it was officially game on – Round 4 of 5 was fireworks personified.
Settings
- 12-team SuperFlex with Full PPR.
- Half-point Tight End Premium.
- Start 11 with 2 RBs, 3 WRs, and 3 Flex.
- Third-Round Reversal.
- Rookies are included in the draft pool.
- We ran the 100 Yard Rush to establish our initial order, then derbied for final draft spots.
4.01 – Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets – @alex_greco2
TRADE UPDATE: I traded a 2026 2nd to move up four spots in the fourth (4.05 to 4.01) and four spots in the eighth (8.05 to 8.01). I think rounds 6-9 are where this league is won, so giving myself better positioning in the 8th while taking the best RB on the board seemed like a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario. Breece is just 23 years old, entering his fourth season in the NFL. Just last year he finished as the RB2 in PPR formats and was considered a clear-cut top-3 Dynasty RB. He had a down year with the clown show on wheels that caravanned into MetLife last offseason. Hackett favored his old pal Rodgers and turned the offense into a pass-first program. Rodgers was second in pass attempts among all QBs last season, throwing the ball a whopping 584 times. I imagine Aaron Glenn will bring in some of his Lions buddies to run their offense next year, turning it back to the classic, run-it-down-your-throat scheme they perfected in Detroit. Breece has all the talent, can he get the play calling to match?
4.02 – Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks – @BWinkNFL
There are a lot of good Ohio State University WRs in the NFL right now. But it may come as a slight shock to you when you find out who my OSU WR1 in Dynasty is right now. Or, maybe it won’t. It’s totally JSN. A massive second-year breakout propelled JSN to a WR7 finish in PPR this year. With Shane Waldron gone, the full dominance of JSN’s dynamic and unique route tree was put on display as Ryan Grubb and Geno Smith put together one of the more fascinatingly schemed downfield passing attacks of recent memory. JSN had moments of completely insane brilliance this season and has flashed a real overall fantasy WR1 type of production ceiling. His Cooper Kupp-y ability to find space and make unreal snags, and then wiggle for any extra yardage available is incredibly aesthetically pleasing and satisfying to watch. When you combine this very fantasy–friendly skillset with JSN’s youthful age of 22 (almost twinsies!), suddenly it becomes glaringly obvious that hey- this guy is probably a top-10 Dynasty WR.
JSN in the fourth now adds a fourth player from my top 24 in my rankings to my roster. With my WR2 (or maybe even WR1) of the future locked in, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite rosters in my whole portfolio.
4.03 Brock Purdy, QB, San Francisco 49ers – @force_fantasy
Brock Purdy has had a better fantasy points per game than Patrick Mahomes the past two seasons and is four years younger. Mahomes went in round one of this draft. Selecting Purdy at 4.03 was a tremendous value. Purdy gets a healthy Brandon Aiyuk back and Christian Mccaffrey back next year. He is also due a contract extension and all signs point to him staying in San Francisco.
4.04 Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals – @force_fantasy
TRADE UPDATE: Another trade for me. With Higgins on the board as what I felt was the last top-end young wide receiver I made the move to go up and get him. Higgins finished as the wide receiver 3 overall in fantasy points per game in 2024. He enters free agency as the top wide receiver on the market. He will either go somewhere to be the 1 or stay in Cincinnati as the best number 2 in football. He just turned 26 in January so he has many productive years ahead.
4.05 Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars – BingoGringo
Drafting Trevor Lawrence is like waking up hungover, saying you will never drink again, and then proceeding to get drunk again the next night. Why do I constantly do this to myself? This pick isn’t so much about Lawrence though, but the newly appointed head coach of “DUUUVALL.” Certified weirdo, but he just schemed Baker Mayfield to a QB1 finish and a career year. Over his career, Lawrence has been subjected to sky-high expectations to pair up with his prospect status and generational talent label as the #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft but simply didn’t take the strides under Doug Pederson and Press Taylor. I am willing to bet on Lawrence again though after seeing how Liam Coen puts his QBs in position to make winning plays. It’s now or never for Trevor, whose NFL success will be tied directly to his rookie head coach.
TRADE UPDATE: This pick was also a trade back, netting me a 2026 2nd in the process.
4.06 Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears – @fantasybuff
Before the pick of my 4.06 came upon me, I did put the pick on the block fishing for what possible value I could extract. After a few conversations negotiating, I or any of the potential partners couldn’t agree, I couldn’t find anything I’d rather have as far as offers go than just selecting the player, which was the upside and the youth of Chicago-wide receiver Rome Odunze. Rome does fit the criteria I want as my first wide receiver taken. He offers the upside of the value that I’m gaining with the 4.06. I like that fellow staff member Chalmers said something later in the fifth round after selecting his guy. Get a discount on the guy before he is a future star. I truly believe in and trust the talent that Rome has. A future star, an upper-tier WR in waiting. What a prospect! I did not want to miss out on the possibility of a second-year breakout. That is a thing with the wide receivers. In the case of Rome, I’m ahead of the breakout—best the emergence. Even if Caleb doesn’t truly break out, Rome could. And if Caleb does, then Rome does. I called my shot here pushing my chips making Rome my Alpha WR 1.
4.07 Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions – @FFDelly
The search for my QB1 finally comes to an end at 4.07 and although I’m the first team to take a QB over 30 I’m more than happy to bring Goff in. He’s primed to be in high-scoring games for as long as he’s in Detroit facing one of the toughest offensive divisions in football. Since joining Detroit Goff has yet to finish outside of the Top 10 QBs in fully healthy seasons and I look for him to continue that run in this high-powered offense.
4.08 Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Bucs – @jim_DFF
I have to say, I did not expect to see my man Bucky still available at the 4.08 spot. My plan was to secure up my QB2 with this pick, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab another share of Irving. Irving is BY FAR my most-owned player in Dynasty, with 62.5% ownership across all my leagues. Most of my shares were acquired during last year’s rookie draft at a wildly cheaper price, so needless to say I’m loving the increase in roster value on those teams. Irving took over the RB1 role mid-season, proving to be a significantly better rusher than Rachaad White. And his receiving upside is slightly underrated, in my opinion. This is an explosive young RB who has the chance to establish himself as a top-5 Dynasty RB this season.
4.09 Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis – @Evan_Kerr_
It wasn’t my intention to move up the board at all from my picks on the turn, but as things got closer it was clear that Jonathan Taylor stuck out like a sore thumb. He was the clear top running back on my board and made an awesome addition to my first three draft choices. Having an anchor RB would allow me to have flexibility with my upcoming draft choices and truly select the best players available in the rounds to come. As for the trade, I never love to move first-round picks without knowing that my team is going to compete, but I felt at this point that my start was as good as any which would push my first pick in 2026 to be a late one. Candidly, I am also not a huge fan of the 2026 class based on initial evaluations, so this made moving the pick more palatable. I never like to lose out on total assets in a deal though, so I was sure to acquire a 2nd in return, which very well may end up as the 2.01 anyway. We won’t know until later, but I may have drafted JT at the price of only one draft slot next year.
TRADE UPDATE: As this pick approached, I was receiving more interest in it on the trade block than my previous 4.06 pick. I had a few negotiations I wanted to wrap up promptly, and that did happen. I reached a deal with FFBuckeye. We countered a few times in negotiations, and this was the agreement we decided on. My 4.09, my 2026 2nd, and the 8.09 for his 5.01, 2026 1st, and 9.01. Acquiring another future 2026 first-round pick (my third one) for minimal movement down the board is what I consider another Fantasybuff can’t-beat-winning transaction. This is my example of building better. A key move to a positive regressive progressive build out the gate. The idea is to compete in this build, sooner rather than later. Padding as many future firsts as possible, meantime building on top of a solid foundation. These three future firsts, along with 2 cornerstone QBs, represent the ultimate flexibility moving forward. Accumulated draft capital equals power. Especially if I can hit on the start-up players I pick when I do select some. Because, as of now, after trading my 4.09 pick, I only have 3 rostered players. But the ammo behind the moves I’ve made represents many opportunities and positive value to come. – @fantasybuff
4.10 James Cook, RB, Buffalo Bills – @dirrim23
I decided to wait it out in hopes of selecting Bucky Irving. This plan didn’t work out, but I did have another enticing running back available here in James Cook. I strongly considered selecting Baker Mayfield here but I felt comfortable with the quarterbacks that should be available at 5.03 for my next selection.
Cook slides into my lineup as the presumed RB1 for my squad. He’s still only 25 years old, and he’s playing in one of the best offenses in football these days. Although Buffalo utilizes other backs in their offense, Cook is still their workhorse. He finished as the RB8 this season, which is his second straight season finishing as an RB1 (RB12 last season). I’m happy with the addition of Cook but I need to make sure I snag either a second quarterback or wide receiver with my next selection. I’m leaning toward quarterback since we have a lot coming off the board at this point in the draft.
4.11 Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – @DFF_MR
I was between two QBs here knowing I had traded away my 5.02 in the deal for Tet. Crazy to think Baker would be back in the top 15 Dynasty QBs after the start of his career but with weapons like Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan with Cade Otton, Bucky Irving, and what’s left of Rachaad White, getting my QB2 in SuperFlex felt like the move. Should Tampa Bay somehow re-sign Chris Godwin, I’d like to pencil in Bake for 20+ FPPG minimum going forward.
4.12 Cam Ward, QB, TBD – @Evan_Kerr_
Middle-tier quarterbacks were going at a rapid rate in this round, and after grabbing a strong RB1 via trading up, I was free to pull the trigger on a QB2 to pair with Stroud. I had hopes that Brock Purdy would slide to this spot, but he was taken earlier in the round. I was torn between Baker Mayfield and Cam Ward for this choice, but @DFF_MR chose for me. Ward is my clear QB1 in the 2025 class and gives me a young, long-term option as a second QB. I have to hope that he ends up in a good landing spot, but his dual-threat capabilities are intriguing to me for fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t already been taken.
Stay tuned as the Startup Draft progresses and fire over any questions or comments you might have about the league specifics. You can reach me on Twitter/X via @DFF_MR. And for those interested in an annual membership, visit us here for the next steps! #DFFArmy #DynastyFantasyFootball #AlwaysBeBuilding #NFL
