Tue Feb 11th 2025

My Early Rookie Rankings

After two weeks of studying the rookie class, I am happy to announce that my 2025 rookie rankings are now live on the Dynasty Freeks website. I've completed my first step in the rookie ranking process, and my early rankings are up for Dynasty Freeks to see.

Rookie Rankings Step One

• The first step in my process is to familiarize myself with the rookie class by doing three things. I looked at their 247 Sports recruiting profile to learn more about where they ranked in their high school recruiting class in their state and the country. This gives me a baseline for the quality of prospects they were headed into college so that I can know what was expected of their play in college. Their profile also lists their height and weight, which is important to know. Next, I go to Sports Reference to see their college production from a statistical point of view. It's important to see how much they produced in college, if they had an early breakout season, and if they improved from year to year. Collegiate production is one of the most critical factors in my eyes, so I pay careful attention to their collegiate stats. Finally, I watch their highlights on YouTube. It's fun to watch five-minute cutups of their best plays in college. Highlights at least reveal what the players can do at their best. You miss out on what they can't do well by watching highlights, but at least you see what they do best. These three steps give me enough information to create my early rookie rankings. I like to have an opinion of each player before comparing my rankings to others or listening to other voices. That's what I do in step two.

Rookie Rankings Step Two

• Now that I've formed my opinion about the rookie class, I listen to others who have the joy of scouting rookies full-time. I wish I had a full-time job scouting and writing, but I don't, so I do not have the time or expertise to do what those who make a living doing this have. So, in step two, I listen to the professionals. I primarily do this in three ways. I listen to countless podcasts about the rookie class by professional scouts, read player profiles on scouts' websites, and study all of the mock drafts that experts put out each week. Those are the three things I will do between now and the NFL Combine to hone in on my final rookie rankings before the Combine, which is the next event that shakes up my rookie rankings. I'm eager to get to it! Before I do, I wanted to share a few overall thoughts from studying this rookie class so far.

Disappointing Class

• I'm sad to say it, but apart from the running backs, I was underwhelmed by this year's class. Overall, this class is strongest on defense, especially defensive linemen. I'm afraid there will be fewer day-one and day-two skilled players drafted than usual, which will make draft capital more important this year while at the same time muddying the picture for dynasty managers. Managers will have to decide who their "my guys" are and hope to hit on them. There won't be consensus rankings past the first 12-15 players unless I am wrong about players' draft capital.

Bad Quarterback Class

• It's a down year for quarterbacks, which is terrible news for those looking to rebuild in superflex leagues. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders will undoubtedly be drafted in the first round, but they will get drafted later than quarterbacks usually do. I really like Jaxon Dart, and I predict he will also be a first-round draft pick, but he and the rest of the class will get drafted to be backups or, at best, compete for a starting role. Ward and Sanders are the only two likely to be day-one starters for their teams.

Deep Running Back Class

• The running back class is the best part of this class. There's one top-tier guy, Ashton Jeanty. There's a deep second tier of running backs whose final rookie rankings will be highly dependent on their draft capital and landing spot. Omarion Hampton, Treveyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, and Kaleb Johnson will be a consensus second tier, but I also would include Cam Skateboo in the second tier. Draft capital and landing spot will determine a lot of these second-tier running backs. The third-tier players are strong, too, and will move up or down the rankings based on their draft capital. Devin Neal, Ollie Gordon, Dylan Sampson, RJ Harvey, Jordan James, and Bhayshul Tuten fit that category to me. It's a deep class with various skill sets, so beauty will be in the eye of the beholder for NFL teams and dynasty managers. I have several rebuilding teams that are weakest at running back, so I am excited about the opportunity to rebuild this year, but picking the right guy will be a challenge this year.

Top-Heavy Wide Receiver Class

• Dynasty managers were spoiled with last year's wide receiver class. I don't see this class as being anywhere near as productive as last year's class. It's a top-heavy class with few no-brainer stars. Tetairoa McMillian and Emeka Egbuka are the only superstars, in my opinion. I have many questions about Luther Burden, even though he's sure to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft. Travis Hunter would be a superstar if he played wide receiver full-time, but I expect him to play full-time as a cornerback and part-time as a receiver. Beyond those four guys, I don't expect any others to get drafted in the first round. The rest of the class is diverse in their size and skills, but I don't see any of them as impact players right away, and I may go as far as to say the rest will just be role players in the NFL. Several of these guys will outperform my pessimism, but I don't have a beat yet on which ones to bet on yet. My second step in the process and the NFL Combine will help me evaluate the receiver class better.

Deep Tight End Class

• The last two years have been amazing for rookie tight ends with Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers breaking out immediately as rookies. Tyler Warren is the tight end in this class that can do it this year. Colston Loveland is also expected to get drafted in the first round, but I am less confident in his ability to have a first-year breakout. He could have a great future, though. The rest of the class is very deep for NFL teams, but they may be less impactful for dynasty rosters. Elijah Arroyo, Harold Fanning, Mason Taylor, Luke Lachey, and Gunnar Helm will get drafted pretty early in the NFL draft and become draftable tight ends in rookie drafts. Their draft capital and landing spot will significantly determine their final rookie rankings. Proven athleticism at the Combine will also significantly affect how I rank them post-Combine.

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