Dynasty startup drafts can happen at any time. While most of you won’t be doing any this early, that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look at the 2025 dynasty startup draft landscape. This one will focus on the first two rounds of a Superflex PPR fantasy football dynasty startup.
Note: All ages are as of the start of the 2025 season.
Who Should You Draft in Rounds 1 and 2 of Dynasty Superflex Mock Drafts?
1.01) Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
For the longest time, I resisted moving Patrick Mahomes out of the top spot. If we’re being honest with ourselves, he’s not done posting 5,000-yard 40-touchdown seasons. But for too long, Josh Allen has been the best quarterback in fantasy.
For the past half-decade, Allen has finished no lower than overall QB3 in fantasy points per game. His 22.7 ppg in 2024 represented his worst season this decade. He also finished with an impressive No. 3 ranking (91.7) and A- grade in PFSN’s QB+ metric during the 2024 regular season.
At 29 years old and as a mobile QB, he doesn’t have as much time left as Mahomes (or Joe Burrow for that matter), but another 5-7 elite years is more than enough to justify the top spot.
1.02) Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
The argument for Lamar Jackson is nearly identical to that of Allen. Jackson is half a year younger and his 20-ppg streak is one year longer. He has literally never failed to reach 20 fantasy points per game in a season (his rookie year does not count) and boasted a No. 1 regular-season (99.8, A+) and postseason (99.9, A+) ranking in PFSN’s QB+ metric.
Jackson has finished as the overall QB1 twice and now has two seasons with over 25 fantasy points per game. Just like with Allen, at 28 years old and as a mobile QB, he doesn’t have as much time left as Mahomes (or Burrow for that matter), but another 5-7 elite years is more than enough to justify the second spot.
1.03) Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
The next four QBs could realistically be placed in any order. In fact, if you wanted to put Jayden Daniels at No. 2 or even at No. 1, it’s hard to really argue against it.
Daniels already looks like the next Lamar. He took what was a four-win Commanders team in 2023 to the conference championship last season. He’s the real deal.
In fantasy, Daniels was also the real deal. With relatively weak offensive weapons, Daniels averaged 21.5 fantasy points per game, finishing as the overall QB5. That included two games in which he scored 5.2 and 4.2 fantasy points because he left early due to injury/resting starters.
Why draft Jackson himself when you can get a 24-year-old version of him? It’s something to consider.
1.04) Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Taking pure pocket passers is accepting a lower ceiling. However, the nature of the Eagles wanting to be such a run-heavy offense, at least in the short term, helps push Joe Burrow ahead of Jalen Hurts.
Burrow just had the greatest season of all time by a QB whose team missed the playoffs. In another timeline, Burrow might have won MVP, throwing for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdown in 2024, both league highs.
Burrow’s 22.5 ppg in 2024 likely represents his ceiling. It’s exceedingly difficult for a pocket passer to do more. However, he’s now averaged 20+ ppg every season in which he did not get hurt. He’s also only 28 years old, which is much younger for a non-mobile QB.
Allen, Jackson, and Hurts are unlikely to be effective beyond the age of 35 or so. Burrow can go for another 12+ years.
1.05) Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
For Jalen Hurts to maintain his elite QB1 status, he has to remain supremely efficient. What he’s doing has such razor-thin margins for effectiveness in fantasy.
Hurts averaged 21.3 ppg last season. He did that on 361 pass attempts. That’s an absurdly low number. And it’s not as if he’s running more; his 630 rushing yards in 2024 were a far cry from the 782 and 760 he posted in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Tush Push accounts for such a large percentage of Hurts’ fantasy value.
With that said, Hurts is only 27 years old. He’s younger than everyone above him, except Daniels. And who knows? Maybe there will be a future season where Hurts has to air it out.
1.06) Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
This is the lowest Patrick Mahomes has gone in dynasty startups since before his breakout 2018 season.
After never averaging lower than 20 ppg in a season, Mahomes fell to 18.4 ppg in 2023. Naturally, fantasy managers gave him a pass, as he had the worst group of pass catchers in his entire career. Surely, 2024 would be different. On the contrary, it couldn’t have been more identical. Seriously — he averaged exactly 18.4 ppg again.
Now, this has become a trend. This is who Mahomes is now. That’s not to say he won’t have monster seasons in the future. At 30 years old, Mahomes is likely to play at a high level for another 10 years. But we do need to care about the short term. The fact that Mahomes will outlast Allen and Jackson is not reason enough to take lesser production. This is where he should go until he proves otherwise.
1.07) Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Finally, we get to a non-QB. You really want to come out of the first two rounds of a dynasty startup with at least one QB, because it’s quite difficult to solve a QB problem in Superflex. But there are only so many QBs worth taking over the best WRs in fantasy.
Chase just won the WR triple crown, leading the league in receptions (127), yards (1,708), and touchdowns (17). At 25 years old and tethered to Burrow, Chase has another 5-7 years of dominance ahead of him.
1.08) Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
The only main difference between Justin Jefferson and Chase is the QB situation. Yet, given what Jefferson was able to do with Nick Mullens and Josh Dobbs at the end of 2023, as well as in 2024 with Sam Darnold, I can’t say I’m too worried about it. Jefferson is QB-proof.
J.J. McCarthy is the presumptive QB of the future for the Minnesota Vikings. As long as he isn’t terrible, and I don’t think he is, Jefferson will remain an elite WR1. He’s only one year older than Chase.
1.09) Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants
Some may think this is an overreaction. If anything, I think it’s an underreaction. There’s an argument to be made that Malik Nabers should be the overall No. 1 non-QB in dynasty.
Nabers is 22 years old. In theory, that gives him three more elite years than Chase and four more than Jefferson. Of course, I will be the first to push back against planning more than three years in advance in dynasty. The NFL changes too rapidly. But this is less about Nabers being so young and more about his talent.
In his rookie year, Nabers finished as the overall WR4, averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game. He led the league with a 34.9% target share and was somehow second with a 31.2% target-per-route-run rate. He did this with Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito, and Drew Lock at quarterback.
It’s safe to assume the New York Giants will eventually get a real quarterback (or Nabers will end up on a team with one). You want Nabers as the cornerstone of your dynasty roster.
1.10) Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams
The only knock on Puka Nacua is what will happen when Matthew Stafford retires. I happen to not really care.
Nacua is all kinds of legit. Heading into the 2024 season, there was a legitimate debate about whether Cooper Kupp would resume his role as the team’s WR1. I didn’t think that was a legitimate position, but people did. We now have our answer.
Nacua averaged 17.9 ppg, which includes two games in which he played fewer than 40% of the snaps (one due to injury, the other due to throwing a punch). He led the league with a 37.5% target-per-route-run rate and saw a 30.4% target share. Nacua is only 24 years old.
1.11) CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Now we’re getting to the wide receivers who are elite but not quite on the level of the top guys, because they have at least a wart or two. CeeDee Lamb predictably regressed after his overall WR1 season in 2023, but he still averaged 17.6 ppg last season.
Lamb saw a 27.3% target share and is the clear WR1 on the Cowboys with no target competition. At just 26 years old, there’s nothing wrong with Lamb as the top asset on your dynasty roster. The Cowboys not being a great organization and Dak Prescott’s somewhat murky future cloud things slightly, but Lamb is still a very safe pick with very high upside.
1.12) Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons
The last thing you want to do in a dynasty Superflex startup is build around a running back. However, when you pick at the turn, you can get away with it because you know you have two picks.
Bijan Robinson just averaged 20.1 ppg, finishing as the overall RB3. He finally has a competent coaching staff, and Michael Penix Jr. looks like a top-10 QB already. This offense will be good and will consolidate its touches between its two main weapons: Drake London and Robinson.
Last year, we saw a renaissance among old running backs. How is this relevant to Robinson? The concern with RBs is their shelf lives are shorter than WRs’. That’s true, but it’s often overstated.
Robinson is 23 years old. He’s an elite talent. We’ve seen plenty of elite running backs remain highly effective until the age of 29-30. That means Robinson should have as many years left as an elite fantasy asset as the top wide receivers.
2.01) Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s fair to argue that Baker Mayfield is the single best value in dynasty. Why isn’t he being viewed like a cornerstone fantasy QB? Mayfield was, in fact, supposed to be this good. He went No. 1 overall for a reason. It just took him a little while to figure things out.
Last season, Mayfield averaged 22.5 ppg as a pocket passer. He’s only 30 years old. He’s basically arbitrage Joe Burrow.
This is where Mayfield should go, but the reality is you can probably trade down and get him even later.
2.02) Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
When you pass on a QB in the first round, you absolutely have to take one in the second round. You cannot leave the first two rounds of a dynasty startup without a quarterback.
Justin Herbert has elite QB1 upside. Unfortunately, it’s now been four years since he started his career with back-to-back seasons of roughly 23 fantasy points per game.
Herbert’s weapons have downgraded since then (but things are looking a bit better now with Ladd McConkey) and he has a head coach who wants to run the ball.
Nevertheless, there’s something to be said about a 27-year-old talented quarterback whose floor is around 17.0 ppg.
2.03) C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
Obviously, C.J. Stroud is not as good as his rookie year suggests. He’s also much better than what he showed as a sophomore. The answer, as it often does, lies somewhere in the middle. I’m willing to bank on it not being exactly in the middle and being closer to what we saw in his rookie year.
Stroud had a lot of issues in 2024 that went beyond his own miscues (but by no means am I fully exonerating him of any blame). Tank Dell was never really fully healthy and then he destroyed his knee. Stefon Diggs was lost relatively early in the season. Nico Collins missed five games. The offensive line was a mess. A lot worked against Stroud.
Still, Stroud is 24 years old and has shown QB1 upside. He is the last QB you can draft that is this young and not highly speculative.
2.04) Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions
This is very late for Amon-Ra St. Brown. Perhaps too late. As much as you shouldn’t go the first two rounds of a dynasty startup without a QB, how can you pass on St. Brown in favor of a speculative young QB? You can take a speculative young QB next round and also have a locked-in WR1.
Consistency is overrated in fantasy football. However, Amon-Ra St. Brown epitomizes reliability. The Lions’ WR1 averaged 18.8 ppg last season, finishing as the overall WR2. At one point, he scored a touchdown in eight straight games.
St. Brown still managed to be a top receiver on an offense with a 48% neutral-game-script run rate. The Lions will not have a great defense every year of St. Brown’s career. There will be more seasons where they have to throw 600+ times. At 25 years old, dynasty managers know St. Brown has many elite seasons remaining.
2.05) Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions
If you want to make Jahmyr Gibbs the dynasty RB1, I won’t stop you. If we could somehow know that Gibbs would have multiple full seasons as the Detroit Lions’ lead back with no David Montgomery, Gibbs would be the dynasty RB1. He would probably be the No. 1 overall player in dynasty.
Gibbs is one of the most electric players in NFL history. He’s so fun to watch, and the production, even with Montgomery, is elite.
Gibbs is 23 years old. He just averaged 22.1 ppg, finishing as the overall RB2. You could take him anywhere in the top six and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
2.06) Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
As a rookie, Brian Thomas Jr. posted an 87-1,282-10 line. He averaged 16.7 ppg, finishing inside the top 12 WRs. He did this with Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones as his quarterbacks. After one season, we can already say that BTJ is QB-proof.
Thomas is only going to get better. He’s 22 years old, and there’s still plenty of room for the volume to grow. His 25.5% target share was definitely great, but as his team’s clear WR1, we could see that number push 30%.
Hopefully, the Jacksonville Jaguars can move on from Lawrence sooner rather than later and get a real franchise QB. But even if they don’t, Thomas has already proven he can be an elite WR1 regardless of who is throwing him the ball.
2.07) Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Similar to Thomas, Brock Bowers also excelled despite an awful offensive environment. His quarterbacks were Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder. Minshew is the only one of the three who is even close to being a capable NFL starter.
Even so, Bowers immediately displaced Sam LaPorta as the greatest rookie TE in the history of fantasy football. Bowers broke Nacua’s rookie receptions record, hauling in 112 balls for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 15.5 ppg. He’s 22 years old.
2.08) Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans
Nico Collins proved his unexpected third-year breakout was no fluke. The Houston Texans WR1 was not threatened in any way by Diggs’ arrival or Dell’s presence. He’s Stroud’s top guy, and no one will threaten that standing.
Collins averaged 17.8 ppg last year, a slight improvement over 2023, and he did so in an offense with a QB that clearly took a step back from the previous season. At 26 years old, Collins looks like an elite WR1 for the next half-decade.
2.09) Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Saquon Barkley just averaged 23.2 fantasy points per game in 2024. He finished as the overall RB1, shattered records, ran for over 2,000 yards, and won the Super Bowl. Let’s call it as we see it: This is the highest Barkley’s dynasty value will ever be.
This simultaneously feels late for Barkley and also a bit risky. He’s 28 years old with a checkered injury history. Taking a running back entering his eighth NFL season in the first two rounds of a dynasty startup is not typically how you want to build a team.
It’s definitely unfair to knock Barkley after what he just did, but not a single fantasy manager drafting this year derives any benefit from what Barkley just did — we only care about what he will do. And what he won’t likely do is rush for 2,000 yards again.
Barkley is not going to bust, but if you get three more years of 16-18 ppg before Barkley falls off, will he have been worth this pick?
2.10) Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
So…those speculative young QBs. Here they come. Drake Maye only averaged 14.4 fantasy points per game as a rookie. However, he displayed elite rushing upside even with his head coach telling him to not run and put himself at risk in a lost season.
The Patriots are obviously terrible right now. But Maye is only 23 years old. They will not be bad for his entire career. In fact, if he takes a step forward as a sophomore, they probably will stop being terrible immediately.
Get this man some weapons and we could be looking at a future elite QB1.
2.11) Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos
Taking Maye ahead of Bo Nix is deferring to draft capital a bit. Nix had the far better rookie year, averaging 19.4 fantasy points per game.
The young QB displayed quality mobility, giving him that all-important rushing floor. He also did way better than expected as a passer, especially with Courtland Sutton really being his only reliable pass catcher.
Nix is older, but 25 years old is far from old. He’s got at least 10 years of excellent football ahead of him.
2.12) Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals
Trey McBride could easily have posted an all-time tight-end season. He managed 15.6 fantasy points per game despite scoring a mere two receiving touchdowns. Realistically, he should’ve scored at least eight. If he did, we’re talking about him pushing 18 ppg. Those are elite WR1 numbers from a tight end.
McBride led all tight ends in target share and was second in targets-per-route-run rate. He’s 25 years old.