Overall dynasty rankings for 2020 fantasy football post-NFL Draft

The 2020 NFL Draft has wrapped up for the season and it’s time to take a look at how the rookies fit into the dynasty rankings and how their presence impacts veterans. Deciding how much fantasy value a proven older player has versus an unproven but highly touted young player is always difficult. The good news is that you can bend your personal rankings around your roster. Much like real NFL teams, if you are constantly in the lower half of the rankings, you should look to rebuild, selling off older commodities for draft picks or younger players who you believe can become consistent fantasy plays week in and week out.

NFL Draft Fallout

Rookie running backs are the quickest skill position players to make an impact in fantasy football and it’s not a debate. If a back, even one drafted later than the first or second round, lands somewhere with snaps up for grabs, he can give you useful fantasy points from Day 1. Two of the most prominent rookies for this season will be Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the Chiefs and Jonathan Taylor with the Colts. Both will likely see work from Day 1 and hurt two backs that could have easily put up good fantasy numbers if their teams drafting a running back early.

Another player who was impacted by the draft, but in a good way, was James Conner. After rumors swirled that the Steelers would grab a running back early to compete with Conner, they ended up drafting a scat back in the fourth round, who, at best, should be a receiving back early on with Pittsburgh.

Of course, wide receivers have similar troubles with new players coming in to compete, but receivers usually have a longer learning curve and there are often two to three receivers who can have fantasy value on a team. But, for dynasty, they have longer careers, which helps offset they slow rookie years. A player like CeeDee Lamb landed in a tough spot as far as competition goes. In Dallas, he has Amari Cooper as an entrenched No. 1, Michael Gallup a strong No. 2 and Ezekiel Elliott getting paid way too much to not give him featured touches. But, Lamb’s career upside is too high not to rank him high in dynasty.

Then there are the established quarterbacks who get help in the passing game and those who do not. The “do not” list is led by Aaron Rodgers this season, as they drafted a backup quarterback in the first round and yet another running back in the second round instead of a receiver to add to Davante Adams. The opposite happened to Drew Lock, who was given Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler along with his old tight end from college to target. We always must remember, opportunity and surrounding talent have more to do with fantasy results than a single player’s talent. Of course, that changes from year to year, but good GMs and organizations are able to keep that talent level high, helping your fantasy players more than a team that can’t get their act together.