Most Dynasty managers have an idea of the players that will go in first round of rookie drafts at this point. Even the 2nd round has a few popular names that a lot of managers will have an opinion on. Once it gets to 3rd and 4th round players though, there’s a lot of unknowns.
Here I’ll identify some of the players currently being projected to go after pick 24 in 1QB drafts that you should be drafting. While I’m more of a Superflex player myself, this draft is not a deep class at quarterback. Therefore, the 1QB rankings end up being very close to Superflex rankings. If you’re playing in a Superflex league, all of these players are still priority picks in the 3rd and 4th round of your drafts.
In order to evaluate which players will be available after round 2, I recently put together a Consensus Rookie Ranking article which aggregates various top dynasty community ranking to offer a consensus ranking.
2025 Dynasty Rookie Draft Late Round Targets
Bhayshul Tuten – RB – Virginia Tech
Consensus Rank: 25 (RB9)
My Rank: 13 (RB6)
By the time rookie draft season comes around, I fully anticipate that Bhayshul Tuten will not be making it to the 3rd round of any drafts. Consensus ranks place him as the first pick of the 3rd round currently, and following a combine in which he ran a 4.32 40-yard dash Dynasty managers are certainly going to fall in love with him.
I’m a believer in valuing film over combine testing, so I’m often more reserved on combine risers, but Tuten’s film backs it up. On film you can see the top end speed, the great acceleration, and how hard of a runner that Tuten is. I love running back prospects that find their hole and explode through it, and Tuten is just that.
The top 5 running backs are consistently placed at the top of this class, but Tuten is atop the next group of running backs in a deep class at the position.
Harold Fannin – TE – Bowling Green
Consensus Rank: 26 (TE3)
My Rank: 14 (TE3)
Harold Fannin will likely see the opposite trend that Tuten is seeing due to a somewhat disappointing combine result. The factor that was supposed to separate Fannin from the rest of the tight ends after the top 2 was his athleticism. Fannin ended up finishing 6th among TEs with a 4.71 second 40-yard dash.
That result was far from bad, but with Fannin being undersized at TE, he relied heavily on projections of elite athletic testing to prop up his ranking as TE3 in the class.
Like I’ve said, film should be heavily weighted over testing results from the combine. We have hours of film of these players displaying their athletic abilities on a football field, there’s no need to give weight to the less than 5 seconds of film of them running in shorts. There are a total of zero opportunities in an NFL game for players to set up in a track stance and run 40 yards straight with no need to be prepared to turn.
Fannin’s tape shows an unorthodox yet effective style of play that led to a historic college football season. While football fans couldn’t avoid the magnetism of Ashton Jeanty’s historic season, Fannin seemed to fall under the radar. The story is very similar – a player dominating their offence at a small school while continuing to perform when playing better competition.
Fannin profiles more as a big weapon out of the slot opposed to a traditional in-line tight end. That scares people. What if he gets drafted to a team that uses him simply as an in-line tight end? My counter to that is, why would that team draft him? Teams that want a blocking in-line tight end aren’t going to value Fannin nearly as highly as a team that sees Fannin as an offensive weapon that’s a mismatch in the slot.
Tahj Brooks – RB – Texas Tech
Consensus Rank: 53 (RB21)
My Rank: 23 (RB9)
Tahj Brooks is the player that I most disagree with consensus on, and by a large margin. Brooks is currently projected to be available as an undrafted waiver wire add in Dynasty leagues. If that stays the same, I’ll be taking him in every single third round possible.
Brooks is an older prospect, turning 23 years old shortly after the NFL Draft. That shouldn’t alone be reason for his poor ranking. Older backs such as Jo’Quavious Marks and RJ Harvey are much higher in the consensus ranks and more than a year older than Brooks.
Brooks doesn’t have elite speed. That also shouldn’t be the reason for his poor ranking. Marks, Kaleb Johnson, Devin Neal, and Ollie Gordon all ran slower 40 yard dashes at the combine than Brooks, yet are ranked above him.
Brooks has more than enough speed to be an NFL running back. He has good burst through holes and great strength as a runner. He’s also a capable pass catcher, bringing in 28 catches in his final college season. He has also shown he can withstand an incredible volume, ranking 3rd in all of FBS in carries and 5th in rushing yards this past season.
Brooks is everything that I hear people say Cam Skattebo is. Not the best athlete, but a super hard runner that dominated his team’s offence and can do it all on the field. Except, to me, Brooks has much more burst than Skattebo and a much more varied set of moves to elude defenders.
Brashard Smith – RB – SMU
Consensus Rank: 39 (RB16)
My Rank: 24 (RB10)
I don’t think Brashard Smith is quite the 10th best rusher in this class, but this is fantasy football, and the running backs that have the highest ceiling are the ones that can catch passes. Smith is my highest rated pass catching running back in the class.
Smith doesn’t just catch check downs, he’s able to run routes like a wide receiver – that because he was one. Smith is a converted wide receiver with only one season of experience as a starting running back, and oh boy did he take advantage of that opportunity.
Smith, in his first season as a running back, finished 17th in rushing yards, 16th in rushing TDs, 15th in YPA, and 12th in rushes of 15+ yards. Usually with these converted wide receivers you get a pretty old prospect, but Smith still hasn’t turned 22 years old.
Smith is among the fastest running backs in the class, with acceleration to get into that breakaway speed in a moment when he’s given space on the edge.
I don’t expect Smith to be a workhorse back in the NFL, he’s not built for it at only 194 lbs, but his pass catching ability will give him the opportunity to work with the starters as a third down back early in his career. Given those opportunities I expect he’ll quickly prove that he deserves a significant role in the offence.
Jo’Quavious (Woody) Marks – RB – USC
Consensus Rank: 44 (RB17)
My Rank: 29 (RB13)
Jo’Quavious Marks is an old prospect. He will turn 25 years old during this upcoming NFL season. That could absolutely lead to his draft stock being unimpressive, but once training camp comes around, age doesn’t matter anymore.
Marks is another back that should get an opportunity because of his pass catching ability but will stick around because of his rushing ability. Marks doesn’t have elite breakaway speed, but he has great burst and maintains speed through his space-creating cuts.
Marks receiving game thrives because of his ability to transition flawlessly from pass catcher to explosive runner. Most running backs can catch out in the flat, but they aren’t able to turn those check downs into yards because of the time it takes for them to get moving after they catch the ball. Marks is already ready to get near full speed when the ball touches his hands.
Tez Johnson – WR – Oregon
Consensus Rank: 34 (WR14)
My Rank: 29 (WR11)
Tez Johnson’s consensus rank and my own doesn’t have a disparity as large as the others listed here. That’s because I see a class full of extremely talented running backs that I think will have a role in the NFL.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think Johnson is a great value in the 3rd round of rookie drafts. Johnson is among the quickest receivers in this class. He’s able to create separation and make defenders miss once he has the ball with his impressive agility.
With the recent success of undersized receivers such as Tank Dell and DeVonta Smith, I’m less concerned about Johnson’s weight. He’s not going to box out defenders on jump balls, but when there’s no defender in the vicinity because you’re simply too quick, that doesn’t matter.
I think Johnson could earn a more significant share of targets down the field in the NFL than he did in college. In college he was often used on passes right around the line of scrimmage, which can be very valuable in PPR leagues, but didn’t have a lot of opportunities down the field. He did show flashes there, using his agility to gain separation out of his breaks and then make a defender miss in open space.