Dynasty League 2025 Post-Draft Analysis
Reiterating the same thing I do every year, what you’ll see below are my opinions, so don't take them to heart, because I’m far from 100% right, and if you look back at the past iterations of this I’m sure you’d see that. What you will see is which pick from each team intrigues me the most and a brief analysis on that pick, or the team's draft as a whole, or maybe their season outlook because of the draft....who knows what my brain will come up with as I write, I certainly don't.
Ryan
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Ashton Jeanty (Las Vegas) – 1st Round
Analysis: Some years the #1 pick is a toss-up, this year was not one of those. Jeanty was the clear-cut #1 in this draft and Ryan didn’t waiver. The real intrigue comes in the form of how big of an impact can Jeanty play in helping turn things around for the Fantasy Fairies. Ryan has some young pieces and some core stars that could make him a difficult weekly matchup when he’s at full strength. Can Jeanty add to that group immediately?
Trey
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Kendre Miller (New Orleans) – 3rd Round
Analysis: To me, Trey’s RB room was the clear-cut, biggest need to address on his team. But he went WR with his first three picks. Miller was the only move he made to plug the hole. Will that be enough? With AK moving into the dreaded 30s, and the Saints expected to be a run-heavy offense, there’s definite intrigue. But to date, Miller has been little more than an oft-injured hype machine. He’s been healthy all through camp this time around though, and the guy previously thought to be his biggest threat, Devin Neal, has spent some time hurt through camp himself.
Fred
Most Intriguing Pick: WR Jalen Royals (Kansas City) – 3rd Round
Analysis: When you only have one pick it makes the intrigue easy to pinpoint. I’m not surprised Royals got drafted. He went to the Chiefs pass happy offense, there’s been good reports out of the Chiefs camp, and rumor has it he’s the favorite to fill in for Rice whenever he gets suspended. I was surprised to see Fred take him though. One, because when you only have one pick and you have legitimate needs, you’d usually aim for someone that could make a more immediate impact, rather than a bench stash. And two, because he spent draft capital on another small school Receiver the Chiefs drafted, Skyy Moore, a few years ago, and that disaster is still fairly fresh in our minds.
Rob
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Woody Marks (Houston) – 3rd Round
Analysis: The intrigue here has a lot to do with Mixon’s injury, Chubb’s age/injury history, and the reports I've seen out of Houston's camp saying that Chubb is showing that he’s lacking the explosiveness and agility he had pre-injury (now almost two years removed from when it happened). Marks was a 4th round pick by the Texans, and he has plenty of experience as a pass catcher out of the backfield (especially when he was in Mike Leach’s offense at Mississippi State). Should Mixon’s injury keep him out for any length of time, Marks could get the opportunity to leave his mark early on.
Anthony
Most Intriguing Pick: WR Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay) – 1st Round
Analysis: The player that caused the proverbial gasp of shock in the first round. He was not expected to go that high. Godwin’s return is TBD, and McMillan is now expected to miss half the season, so Egbuka’s stock definitely rose. For some, the shock might have been that he went top 5 or that he went before Hunter. For me, the shock was that Anthony took him when his needs were higher elsewhere and I didn’t view Egbuka as the BPA at that point. Heavy playing time will be there, especially during the first month at least. Will he regularly crack the starting lineup for Anthony compared to someone like one of the other rookie RBs?
Matthew
Most Intriguing Pick: TE Elijah Arroyo (Seattle) – 2nd Round
Analysis: Only two picks, no first rounder, and a pretty well built team means you gotta be a little strategic with those selections. I agree with the Tight End pick first. It was the most obvious hole on the team. I might have gone a different direction, but Arroyo offers size/speed mismatch. He will be competing with A.J. Barner for starting duties though, so how quickly will Matthew be able to rely on him?
Alex
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt (Washington) – 2nd Round
Analysis: The pick that seemed to have upset the highest number of coaches in the league, including myself. Washington traded away Brian Robinson Jr., seemingly opening the door up for Bill to take on early down work for the Commanders. It was rumored before the NFL draft that Washington was looking for a RB that could handle every-down duties, and with how high they seem to be on Bill, I wonder if they feel like they’ve found that and we’ll eventually see Ekeler take a back seat to him as well.
Lance
Most Intriguing Pick: WR Jack Bech (Las Vegas) – 3rd Round
Analysis: I was pretty happy with my draft. I didn’t expect Johnson to be there at 8, so I was ecstatic when he was. Tre Harris was one of two players I was then hoping would slide to me at 2.02, I was elated to snag him. Ayomanor was always my “just in case” pick at 2.12, but I couldn’t hope but wish that Croskey-Merritt or Kyle Williams would fall, so that was the only one I was a little disappointed about. And Bech was never supposed to be the pick at 3.08. In none of my projections did I think he would even be there at that point. I know he’s being referred to as the same type of player as Jakobi Meyers and for that reason he’s not supposed to have an impact this season, but Meyers contract is up at the end of this year, and the Raiders spent 2nd round draft capital on Bech. This is a dynasty league after all, so I was more than happy to grab him at 3.08 and I will happily stash him. Brashard Smith still being there at 3.12 was just the cherry on top.
Curt
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Quinshon Judkins (Cleveland) – 1st Round
Analysis: When you have the kind of offseason that Judkins has you are of course going to be one giant ball of intrigue. The charges were dropped, but the NFL doesn't care what the court system decides, they prefer to do their own investigation, so if they decide he still needs to be suspended they’ll do it. Which is why Judkins still doesn’t have a contract. As I understand it, the Browns are waiting to see what the NFL does. If Judkins goes the entire season without signing he will be eligible to go back into the draft pool for the 2026 draft. For Curt, that would mean a wasted pick. But he knows the risks, and he knows what the rewards could look like, especially for a talented Running Back in a Kevin Stefanski offense.
Nathan
Most Intriguing Pick: RB Jordan Mason (Minnesota) – 2nd Round
Analysis: Can Nathan do it again? Last year he used a 2nd round pick on a non-rookie RB, Chase Brown, and Brown dominated. Mason is also a non-rookie RB that Nathan just drafted in the second round. The expectation is that Mason will split starting duties with Aaron Jones. After seeing Jones’ efficiency fall off by the end of last season, the Vikings traded for Mason to give them someone who could help keep Jones fresh. I don’t think that Mason will get Chase Brown level work this season, barring a Jones injury, but he could still offer a nice rotational piece for Nathan's offense. One other thing, taking a 5th round rookie QB who is currently listed as fourth string on his own team’s depth chart, is quite the choice.
Bryar
Most Intriguing Pick: TE Tyler Warren (Indianapolis) – 1st Round
Analysis: Another coach who only had one pick. Getting consistently helpful production from the Tight End position is difficult in fantasy land. I’m sure some people would’ve liked to have a do-over in last year’s draft so they could take Bowers instead of passing on him cause he’s “a Tight End” am I right? Well, y’all had another shot at it, and decided not to do it again. I’m not saying Warren is as big of a prospect as Bowers, but if Bowers was a 10 coming out, then I’d put Warren at a 9. And anyone scared off by Warren’s QB room, look at who Bowers had throwing to him last year. Bryar may have finally found his long-term answer at TE.
Joel
Most Intriguing Pick: WR Jayden Higgins (Houston) – 1st Round
Analysis: Two picks to choose from. Hampton will have the biggest impact for the Storm Surge this season. But Higgins is intriguing. He’s a big, explosive, strong Receiver, who was being compared to Nico Collins before the NFL draft happened. He's also projected to immediately start opposite Collins. After trading away Ladd McConkey, Receiver quietly became a little bit of a need for Joel, and if C.J. Stroud can return to his rookie form, then Higgins should take care of that need.
As you already know I don't give out grades, but I do like to speculate on who I think had the best draft. If I were to give that achievement to anyone this year it would be Rob. Going BPA in the first round is the recommendation by most analysts out there, but it always comes with the inherit risk of not filling a major need. The fact that he was still able to snag Skattebo in the second was a big win, and Woody Marks has the possibility of helping out immediately as well, which would a big win from a 3rd round pick. Thank you all for another amazing draft and I wish you all the best this season!
Here’s a look ahead at week 1:
Fear Itself (0-0) vs Space Rangers (0-0)
Head-to-head Nathan is up 9-4. Last year we split our games though, which helped end a 3 game skid I had going against him. Oh, and this will be the third straight season we’ve opened the year against each other, Nathan won both of the last two. Nathan is 5-1 on opening weekends, I am a sad, sad, sad 2-4.
ay_Bilat (0-0) vs Fantasy Fairies (0-0)
With the switch in divisions, this will be the first time these two have met as divisional foes. So far they’ve met four times and Trey has won every single one of them. Ryan is 0-3 in week 1 matchups too…but be not dismayed Ryan, Trey is just 5-1 in his week 1 matchups, so there is a chance!!
Ferocious Felines (0-0) vs Storm Surge (0-0)
Fred, Yahoo’s favorite to take the league this year, faces off against our reigning champ. In their lone matchup against each other last year, Joel lost a barnburner 144.68 to 130.66. It was the third and final game he would lose in 2024. As Joel has only been in the league one season, he only has one week 1 played and he won that game in pretty convincing fashion (a 28 point blowout). Fred on the other hand has a shaky week 1 history, sitting at 2-4.
Michael Style (0-0) vs Bolt Battalion (0-0)
Welcome to the big show. Playing your brother-in-law for immediate bragging rights in your first ever dynasty league game is a fantastic way to come into the league. I’m glad it worked out this way. Since you don’t have any league history to go on Matthew, here’s little information on your opponent: Alex is 40-53 all time, he has one championship, and after starting out year 1 with the worst record in the league, he’s managed to claw his way out of the pit of misery with 3 playoff appearances in the last 4 seasons. Oh, and he’s 2-4 in week 1 games, but he’s 0-4 against any week 1 opponent not named Bryar.
Kade’s Dawgs (0-0) vs The Empire (0-0)
Another meeting of two new divisional foes. These two aren’t unfamiliar with each other though, as Curt currently holds a 7-0 lead in their series. Bryar is 4-2 in his week 1 matchups, but he’s just 1-2 in the last three seasons. Curt on the other hand is 3-3, and has found recent week 1 success by beating up on Ryan (in both 2023 and 2024).
NUKEM (0-0) vs Shadow Legion (0-0)
Anthony’s in the same boat as Matthew when it comes to a lack of league history, unless you count the fact that he was Storm Surge’s co-coach last year, and that Rob accounted for two of Storm Surge's three losses, including the one that brought undefeated season dreams to an end. If you count that, then I guess there’s a little bit of a history here. If you don’t, then here’s some info on your opponent: Rob is 47-48 overall. He’s been on the drop portion of the rollercoaster for the last two seasons though after making a run to back-to-back championship losses in years 2 and 3. Since then he lost in the opening round of the playoffs once, and missed the playoffs entirely twice. He’s 4-2 in week 1 games though, so watch out.