Of all the frivolous things I have written in a long and mostly frivolous career, today’s feature is definitely top-three in terms of frivolousness.
The mission here is to deliver a two-round rookie dynasty mock, which would of course be a sensible thing to do in the days immediately following the actual NFL draft. But it is perhaps not the most reasonable exercise when the draft is nearly a full month away.
Obviously we cannot make informed value decisions about individual prospects without knowing team context. No one around here is recommending that any dynasty league hold its rookie draft at this exact moment. Our modest purpose today is to simply begin to prepare a shopping list.
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Below, you will find one analyst’s back-of-the-envelope pre-draft evaluation of the fantasy rookie class. We’re only going two rounds here, because, again, this thing is outrageously premature. Assume the usual Yahoo roster and scoring settings.
When festivities have concluded in Green Bay at the end of the month and landing spots are known, we will revisit this project — but, realistically, the top pick isn’t gonna change.
Round 1
1. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
This man has no screaming weaknesses and many obvious strengths. Zero questions about his future as a featured runner with every-down ability. He was a bit fumblier than other top backs, but he also handled an absurd 397 touches in his final season. Jeanty is the rare running back who plainly deserves first-half-of-the-first-round draft status. Expect the Raiders, Bears, Cowboys or a trade-up team to give it to him.
2. Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
Jeanty occupies a tier of his own on my board, yet so does Hampton. The UNC product is a 220-pound hammer of a runner, a yards-after-contact machine who repels tacklers. Stylistically, he is a delight. Let’s get this man to the Broncos and just see what happens.
