The 2020 National Football League regular season is still over 100 days away, but it’s never too early to dive into 2020 dynasty rookie rankings. Whether your dynasty league is drafting this month or waiting until August, we’re here to help you dominate your rookie drafts.
With the start of the NFL season up in the air, these rankings will fluctuate closer to the season as training camp stars are born, and unfortunate injuries occur.
With both talent and landing spots taken into consideration, the post-NFL Draft rankings are Pro Football Network’s most comprehensive 2020 dynasty rookie rankings to date. You can also get ahead of the competition in your dynasty leagues by taking a look at my way-too-early 2021 rookie rankings and updated 1QB and SuperFlex devy rankings.
First Round Post-NFL Draft 2020 Dynasty Rookie Rankings
1) Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB1 – Kansas City)
After landing with the Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire leaps up to No. 1 in our post-NFL Draft dynasty rookie rankings. While Edwards-Helaire lacks ideal height for the position, the former LSU running back more than makes up for it with terrific hands and the innate ability to make defenders look silly in the open field.
Armed with a playing style reminiscent of players like Austin Ekeler, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Brian Westbrook, Edwards-Helaire is the perfect fit next to Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City’s high-powered offense. Kansas City investing the No. 32 overall pick in Mahomes’ hand-picked running back shows a team with a plan to get the most out of Edwards-Helaire’s unique talent.
2) Jonathan Taylor (RB2 – Indianapolis)
As the third running back off the board, fantasy twitter’s darling running back didn’t get the first-round draft capital many expected. However, the former Wisconsin standout running back did land in one of the best landing spots to contribute immediately.
Led by super-freak guard Quenton Nelson, the Indianapolis Colts boast one of the best offensive lines in all of football, while 2019 starting running back Marlon Mack is replaceable. With Mack entering free agency after the 2020 NFL season, it’s a matter of when not if Taylor is fully unleashed.
3) CeeDee Lamb (WR1 – Dallas)
Some fantasy analysts will tell you to avoid Lamb due to him landing on a stacked Dallas offense, but you won’t get that from me. I may be on an island with this opinion, but I believe Lamb just got drafted into the perfect situation.
Instead of catching passes from Sam Darnold, Derek Carr, or Drew Lock as was projected in the majority of 2020 NFL Mock Drafts, Lamb will now be attached to quarterback Dak Prescott for the foreseeable future.
The PFNBets crew likes to say “scared money don’t make money,” and I’m taking that same mentality into my Lamb ranking. I’m betting on Lamb’s talent instead of worrying about potential target share in a loaded offense. There’s more than enough targets to go around in Dallas’ offense that ranked No. 1 in yards-per-game (431.5), No. 2 in passing yards-per-game (296.9), and No. 6 in points-per-game (27.1) a season ago.
4) J.K. Dobbins (RB3 – Baltimore)
J.K. Dobbins got drafted into the perfect situation as the former Ohio State running back should see plenty of open lanes working beside 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson. That’s fortunate luck for a running back that excelled next to dual-threat quarterbacks, but whose numbers took a significant dip next to a pro-style quarterback.
Dobbins burst on to the scene in 2017 with 1,403 rushing yards on 7.2 yards-per-carry next to J.T. Barrett and ended his career with 2,003 rushing yards on 6.7 yards-per-carry while sharing a backfield with the dynamic Justin Fields. In between, Dobbins’ numbers (1,053 rushing yards, 4.6 YPC) took a significant dive next to slow-footed Dwayne Haskins.
Even if veteran Mark Ingram acts as a year-one progress-stopper, Dobbins is a talent worth investing in for 2021 and beyond. Ingram is likely entering his final season in Baltimore, and Dobbins will be hard to keep off the field from day one.
5) D’Andre Swift (RB4 – Detroit)
Swift entered the 2020 NFL Draft as one of my favorite running back prospects, but the former Georgia standout landed in a questionable spot for fantasy success. The Detroit Lions did spend the No. 35 overall pick on Swift, but draft capital can only do so much on its own.
Detroit’s offense should improve in 2020 with the addition of Swift and the return of quarterback Matthew Stafford, but it’s hard to get excited about any running back on a Matt Patricia led team. Since taking over as Lions head coach in 2018, Detroit has been below league average in both rushing yards and rush-play percentage.
6) Jerry Jeudy (WR2 – Denver)
Entering the 2020 NFL Draft in desperate need of a starting wide receiver opposite Courtland Sutton, the Denver Broncos couldn’t have been happier to see Jeudy on the board at No. 15 overall. Jeudy’s unique quickness and anticipation show up in both his elite route-running and the wide receiver’s ability to make defenders miss in the open field.
Jerry Jeudy is different 👀 pic.twitter.com/zsJV2C0C6u
— Receiver Life (@ReceiverLife_) November 11, 2018
Denver’s offensive nucleus of Sutton, Jeudy, Melvin Gordon, Phillip Lindsay, and Noah Fant looks formidable on paper, but the verdict is still out on how good second-year quarterback Drew Lock can be. If Lock flops in his first full season as a starter, the Broncos would likely have zero hesitation adding to their quarterback room in the 2021 NFL Draft or free agency.
7) Cam Akers (RB5 – L.A. Rams)
One year after selecting Darrell Henderson No. 70 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams drafted another running back they hope can replace Todd Gurley’s production.
The Henderson draft pick a season ago seemed odd at the time, but that was before we knew the extent of Gurley’s knee condition. Now that Los Angeles has selected Akers at No. 52 overall, the Rams look like a team with a severe case of buyer’s remorse on their 2019 third-rounder.
Akers will have every opportunity to take the reigns of the Rams’ backfield, but Henderson’s presence lowers his ceiling in year-one. Running back-needy teams could easily justify taking Akers in the top five of dynasty rookie drafts.
8) Jalen Reagor (WR3 – Philadelphia)
Jalen Reagor entered the 2020 NFL Draft as my WR3, and the former TCU wide receiver remains there after being selected No. 21 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. Reagor is an excellent route-runner that plays faster than the 4.47 40-yard dash time he posted at the 2020 NFL Combine.
Philadelphia is desperate for pass-catchers, and Reagor should slide into a starting position early in his career. The Eagles are stuck with Alshon Jeffery’s contract for one final season, but Reagor looks destined to be Carson Wentz’s number one wide receiver for the foreseeable future.
9) Justin Jefferson (WR4 – Minnesota)
After trading disgruntled wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills, the Minnesota Vikings found their replacement in LSU’s Justin Jefferson.
Being attached to Kirk Cousins and one of the run-heaviest offenses in football drops Jefferson below the top three wide receivers. Still, Jefferson should see a large percentage of snaps immediately. Even if Minnesota continues to run mostly 12-personnel, Jefferson is very likely to join Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Kyle Rudolph, and Irv Smith on the field.
It also doesn’t hurt that Jefferson has experience both on the outside and in the slot. After running only 19% of his routes from the slot in 2018, Jefferson ran 78% of his routes inside in 2019 en route to an LSU school-record 111 receptions.
10) Brandon Aiyuk (WR5 – San Francisco)
Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk slowly transformed into my favorite PAC-12 player to watch a season ago, and I’m excited to see what he can do in the San Francisco 49ers’ offense. Head coach Kyle Shanahan does a tremendous job of putting his players in the best position to succeed, and I can’t wait to see how he schemes around Aiyuk’s skill set.
Aiyuk is a late-bloomer whose late breakout age has the analytics crowd shaking in their boots, but the former Arizona State wide receiver has good hands and is tremendous after the catch. There will be some growing pains when it comes to learning the intricacies of the wide receiver position, but I’m betting on the talent matched with one of the smartest offensive minds in the National Football League.
11) Tee Higgins (WR6 – Cincinnati Bengals)
After his pre-draft athletic testing didn’t match his on-field production, many in the dynasty community wrote off wide receiver Tee Higgins. That might have been a bit of an overreaction with the former Clemson standout now attached to No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow for the next couple of seasons.
With Tyler Boyd handling the slot, Higgins should join A.J. Green as a starting outside wide receiver in year one. Green has only played in nine regular-season games over the past two seasons, so Higgins’ potential target-share might not be as worrisome as it looks on paper. Higgins gets unfairly pegged as a jump-ball receiver, but he’s better after the catch than most people realize.
🐅 9 catches
🐅 182 rec yards
🐅 3 touchdowns@TeeHiggins5 set the ACC Championship game record for receiving yards and TDs in @ClemsonFB’s 62-17 win over Virginia 😱 pic.twitter.com/aztacVeBMx— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 30, 2020
12) Henry Ruggs (WR7 – Las Vegas)
It’s not every year that the NFL Draft’s highest-drafted wide receiver is a fringe first-round pick in dynasty rookie drafts. But not every draft features a polarizing prospect like former Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs.
Ruggs’ lack of production in college has the film and analytic crowd on the same page, which is rare, but the NFL showed we might be reading the wrong book. With Ruggs going No. 12 in the 2020 NFL Draft, the professionals clearly value the wide receiver’s talent.
I’m entirely on board with Ruggs being a worthy offensive asset, but I’m still not sure how much that translates to fantasy football. Ruggs will absolutely open things up underneath for Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, but the wide receiver will have to make plays downfield for the investment to pay off consistently.
Being attached to check-down king Derek Carr is less than ideal for Ruggs’ year-one production, but Las Vegas should make a quarterback improvement in the next two seasons.