The PlayerProfiler Dynasty Rookie Rankings are updated, and the 2023 NFL Draft is in the books. The 2023 rookie class now has landing spots and draft capital. How do fantasy gamers sort through all the chaos of the NFL Draft? This article attempts to sort out some of the questions in fantasy gamers minds. This is a 2023 Dynasty Rookie Rankings Update with a focus in the Post-NFL Draft Rookie Risers!
Rookie Risers – Now with Draft Capital!
We now know how NFL teams value these prospects, which offenses they will join and where they stack up on depth charts. The picture will become even clearer as the summer comes and we hear the buzz from OTAs and training camp, but we can already see which players were drafted aggressively and the offenses they are joining.
Below are the rookies who are the steepest risers in the rookie ranks and why they should be targeted in rookie and startup drafts.
Anthony Richardson | QB – Colts
Anthony Richardson garnered mixed reviews pre-draft, seen by many as a less convincing prospect than the class’s top two QBs, Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. Now that the draft has taken place, we can see the value placed on Richardson by the Colts, who picked him at three overall. Jim Irsay made it known Indianapolis would have taken Richardson first overall if they had opportunity. Fantasy gamers confirm he has the most upside of any QB in this class.
2023 NFL Draft: Colts owner Jim Irsay says team would've taken Anthony Richardson first overall https://t.co/d4UTVW1w4g
— NFL on Scoreboard Page (@NFLonSP) April 30, 2023
Richardson has exceptional tools – size, athleticism, arm strength and the most coveted asset in a fantasy QB: high-yield rushing ability. Richardson also has supreme pocket awareness and maneuverability. It sounds like he is going to be starting a significant portion of the games in his rookie season, after many expected he would sit most or all of the 2023 season. Richardson is now slotted in as the first quarterback off the board in superflex rookie and startup drafts this offseason. He is the biggest winner of the Draft at the QB position.
Devon Achane | RB – Dolphins
Pre-draft, Miami was projected as the perfect landing spot for an explosive rookie running back. Fantasy gamers dreamed about a back like Jahmyr Gibbs sliding into Mike McDaniels’ scheme, which capitalizes on getting players into space and using their speed. Gibbs went off the board at pick 12 overall. The Dolphins, whose first pick was in the second round, took Devon Achane 84th overall, in the third round.
Achane is one of the fastest players in the draft at any position. He ran a 4.32 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. His competition on the Dolphins’ depth chart includes Raheem Mostert, who is also fast, but aging. Mostert will be 31.4 years old when the 2023 season starts. The Dolphins’ other incumbent back, Jeff Wilson, will be 27.8 years old at the start of the season and runs a 4.62 40. Achane was ranked low in a large group of rookie backs in this class pre-draft, probably due to his size (5-9, 188-pounds). Due to his landing spot, he now lands near the top of the tier behind frontrunners Bijan Robinson and Gibbs.
Jonathan Mingo | WR – Panthers
Jonathan Mingo was the first wide receiver selected in the second round of the NFL Draft, at pick 39 overall. He will link up with number one overall draft pick, Bryce Young, in Carolina. He also joins a receiving corps which no longer contains alpha WR D.J. Moore. The Panthers made half-hearted attempts to shore up their receiver room in free agency, signing aging veteran Adam Thielen and journeyman D.J. Chark. Terrace Marshall and Laviska Shenault showed some flashes last season, but Mingo is the highest drafted of all of them. He was the Panthers’ second pick in the draft after selecting Young first overall. At 6-1 and 226-pounds and with a 96th-percentile Speed Score (4.46 40-time) and 91st-percentile Burst Score, he is a prototypical alpha in the pattern of D.J. Moore. It won’t take much for Mingo to become the alpha in the Panthers’ offense.
Jayden Reed | WR – Packers
Jayden Reed is another rookie entering a receiver corps where he has the potential to rise to the top of the depth chart. He was the second wide receiver selected in the second round (50th overall) by the Green Bay Packers. Reed did not post eye-popping numbers at Michigan State, but did break out at a young age (18.4, 98-percentile) and earned a 35.7-percent (73rd-percentile) College Dominator rating.
Jayden Reed Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile
He joins a receiver corps with an unknown commodity at quarterback in Jordan Love. We don’t yet know which pass-catchers will dominate snaps and targets with Love under center. What we do know is Reed has the draft capital, size, speed and athleticism to outdo 4th-round pick Romeo Doubs in the Pack’s offense. Reed is the likely option to join Christian Watson as a top target for Love.
Luke Schoonmaker | TE – Cowboys
The tight end position in Dallas has been a productive one in fantasy in the past. Dalton Schultz was in the top ten of tight ends in PPG the last two seasons, posting a TE5 season in 2021. Enter Luke Schoonmaker, who the Cowboys drafted much higher (58th overall) than Schultz and the Cowboys’ incumbent tight ends, Jake Ferguson (4.24 in 2022) and Peyton Hendershot (undrafted in 2022). Schoonmaker is far more athletic across the board than any of those players. His Speed Score, Burst Score, Agility Score and Catch Radius are all 88th-percentile or better. As the fifth tight end selected in the NFL Draft, Schoonmaker is an acquirable way to buy in to the greatest class of tight ends we have seen in recent memory.
Acquire Rookie Risers Before Their Stock Goes Soaring
Rookie and startup drafts are in full swing. These rookie risers are the players who are going to be rising up the rookie and dynasty ranks post-draft.
View Playerprofiler’s Dynasty Rookie Rankings to get ahead of your league-mates and dominate your fantasy leagues in 2023.
