Welcome back, DFF Army! After a brief hiatus, I’m excited to bring you some more dynasty content. In today’s article, I’ll be reviewing my highest rookie exposures across my dynasty leagues and why I’m “in” on said players. I’ll also include a couple of players I’d like to add more shares of prior to the start of the 2024 season.
Across all my Sleeper leagues, eight are dynasty leagues where the rookie draft has concluded or is nearly concluded. I’ll review these eight leagues to determine my rookie exposures. (Side note: all eight are Superflex formats.) I may have additional shares of these players in my devy leagues, but these were acquired at many different values and times, so I’ll exclude these leagues for this article.
Without further ado, let’s look at the players I’ve been drafting most frequently in my rookie drafts!
Ben Sinnott
Exposure: 75% (6/8)
Average ADP: 2.10
A 75% exposure may seem like I’m putting all my eggs in one basket here, but if I could have 100% exposure to Sinnott, I would. My latest share of Sinnott came at the 3.04 spot, while my earliest share came at 2.03. (This league was one I’m in with @force_fantasy, who is also a Sinnott truther and had two mid-second-round picks to his name. I couldn’t afford to risk it.)
Sinnott was initially listed as a fullback for Kansas State but converted to tight end after his redshirt freshman season. He quickly became the most reliable pass-catcher in this Wildcat offense. He’s a competent run and pass blocker and is a significant threat after the catch, using his size and strength to fight through contact. Sinnott was selected by the Commanders with the 53rd overall pick, suggesting they plan to use him in this offense immediately. His only real competition is a 33-year-old, injury-prone Zach Ertz. I would almost be surprised if Sinnott wasn’t considered a Top 8 dynasty tight end by this time next year.
Bucky Irving
Exposure: 62.5% (5/8)
Average ADP: 3.07
Irving was a player I was very much in on prior to the NFL Combine. Analytically, he was one of the best in this class across the board. He was arguably the best pass-catching RB in the country and had high success rates in the run game. On top of this, Bucky’s film was an absolute treat to watch. His explosive play-making ability was apparent.
A lackluster NFL Combine had many people souring on Irving, including myself. He came in at just 192 pounds, ran a 4.56 40-yard dash, and had egregious vertical and broad jump results. Couple this with Day 3 draft capital, and Irving saw his dynasty value plummet maybe as much as Troy Franklin did.
However, with a mid-third-round price tag, I’ve found myself grabbing Irving without hesitation. At the very least, he has contingent value if Rachaad White goes down, which is enough for me in the third. But he may end up being better than White altogether, who has struggled from an efficiency standpoint as a rusher in his first two seasons. The only other competition Irving is looking at is Sean Tucker and Chase Edmonds, neither of whom concerns me.
Ladd McConkey
Exposure: 50% (4/8)
Average ADP: 1.12
So far, I’ve managed to grab three shares of Ladd at 1.12 and one share at 2.01. Honestly, I’d be comfortable taking Ladd as high as the 1.09, depending on team structure. McConkey may not have gotten Round 1 draft capital as many hoped, but things arguably couldn’t have turned out better from a fantasy perspective. He was selected with the 34th overall pick by the Los Angeles Chargers, a team that just shipped off their top two receivers this offseason. I won’t be naive enough to make the “vacant targets” argument (see Treylon Burks), but there’s an obvious path to Ladd becoming Justin Herbert’s top target from Day 1.
While Ladd’s raw numbers at Georgia were nothing to write home about, he was efficient from a per-route perspective. And film guys say he’s one of the best pure route runners in this draft class, with above-average athleticism. This one seems like a no-brainer to me; Ladd has a real chance to earn 120+ targets in Year 1 and become a Top 50 startup pick by next offseason.
Players to Increase Exposure on
Kimani Vidal
I’ve acquired two Vidal shares thus far, but if you had asked me a few months ago, I would have told you I expected to have a much larger exposure than that. I’ve been pounding the table for Vidal since February (you can check out my player profile article here), and to my delight, tons have hopped on the bandwagon with me.
After finding himself in a tremendous situation playing for HC Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, Vidal’s rookie ADP climbed significantly. He’s now going off the board early in the third round, which is getting to the point where I’m a bit hesitant to click the button on him. While Vidal has a real chance to earn RB1 honors in an offense with no clear front-runner, he could also just as easily turn into a zero in dynasty. I believe in the talent here and expect he’ll carve himself out a role, and I’m hoping to acquire another share or two before the start of the season. However, if his price continues to climb, I may have to wait it out.
Jaylen Wright
Those who know me and/or follow me on Twitter/X may be shocked to learn I have just one measly share of Jaylen Wright in dynasty thus far. In my opinion, Wright was criminally undervalued earlier this offseason and had arguably the cleanest analytical profile in this RB class. He finds himself in a great situation playing under HC Mike McDaniel in a high-powered offense. Wright will have significant competition in Year 1 (De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert), but by 2025, this may be the Achane and Wright show. Wright is every bit as fast and explosive as Achane and has the size advantage. If he can prove himself to be a worthy receiving back, he may become the 1A in this backfield by Year 2.
I’m hoping to add at least one more share of Wright this offseason. It’d be a shame to be the president of the Jaylen Wright club and only have one share to my name. In my most recent rookie draft, I elected to take Blake Corum over Wright at the 2.10 spot simply because I had no Corum shares. I’m not a Corum fan myself, so I’m kind of regretting that move now. But hopefully, I can make a couple of deals and pump those numbers up!
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
