Dynasty Rookie Draft Sleepers

2025 NFL rookie draft sleepers for fantasy football dynasty leagues. Target these NFL rookie draft values at every position in dynasty fantasy football drafts.

Everyone's always looking for sleepers in rookie drafts in Dynasty Fantasy Football. There's a massive payoff waiting for you if you can pick a rookie that far outperforms his expectations. Fantasy managers who selected Brian Thomas Jr. or Bucky Irving in last year's drafts gave their teams massive boosts and players that should produce well beyond their ADPs for years to come.

Had we all known what massive rookie seasons they would have, they'd have been pushed way up draft boards. Thomas likely would have been selected first overall, and Irving would have been an early first-rounder if not the second pick. Instead, they were both fantastic values.

And that's what you should be hunting for. Consensus rankings often completely whiff on rookies drafted in later rounds who bring first-round production and allow your Dynasty team to succeed for years to come. Let's dive into four players at each of the skill positions who could bring massive payoffs for your Dynasty team in the 2025 season.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

Dart is perhaps the best decision-maker and definitely the best quarterback under pressure in this year's draft class. He's been viewed as a not-even-a-first-round pick by many last season, and while he took impressive strides in his game in 2024, he's still not seen as the best QB prospect. But he's my QB1 of the class.

It's easy to fall in love with a quarterback's accuracy and athleticism, and while Dart is very accurate and sneaky athletic, it's what's between the ears that's most impressive about him. How a QB plays under pressure is one of the most important determining factors in their success in the NFL.

One of the biggest “knocks” on Jaxson Dart early on was that he couldn’t play consistent when pressured

What makes him the QB1, imo, in this class is the growth he showed:

Better composure when pressured, and his accuracy increased this season

Also the deep ball accuracy 👏 pic.twitter.com/XOC9bZS418

— Marissa Myers (@Marissa_M27) February 15, 2025

Pass-rushers in the league are relentless, unforgiving, and very sobering for quarterbacks. They are often too disciplined, too athletic, and too fast to allow signal-callers to extend plays for long periods of time as they can often do in college.

We saw Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams struggle because of this in his rookie season -- he was too used to extending plays for long periods of time, and as a result, he took a ton of sacks.

That might be a problem with this year's top-2 QBs. Both have struggled when under pressure. Keep in mind that a blitz isn't the same as a pressure, as sometimes blitzes don't get home. When the offensive line allows rushers to get home, Dart generally takes care of the ball better and gets it out on time. He avoids bad sacks better than Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.

Stop what you’re doing and watch this throw by Jaxson Dart 🎯 pic.twitter.com/X7Pi3hbuN9

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) February 14, 2025

He's my most likely candidate to surprise people and be the best value at QB in Dynasty. He's universally being drafted outside of the first two rounds in rookie drafts. That probably shouldn't be the case. He's the best positioned to have success in year 1. Sanders and Ward have plenty of work to do on their processing and how to deal with pressure.

Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Virginia Tech

Tuten is an elite athlete and is flying way under the radar for reasons that are tough to decipher. Pass-protection issues are not only often overblown, but are one of the more coachable problems. Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown has been our most recent example demonstrating that we should worry less about pass-pro and more about being a ridiculously explosive player.

Still thinking about Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten against BC:

• 266 Rushing yards (VT record)
• 3 Rushing TDs
• 14.8 yards per carry
• 1 Rec 20 yards
• 1 Receiving TD

UNREAL. 🔥pic.twitter.com/dTGk32mS3H

— College Football Alerts  (@CFBAlerts_) October 19, 2024

Tuten's production in his senior season was fantastic. In just 11 games, he rushed 183 times for 1,159 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and scored 15 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 23 passes for 81 yards and two scores. Tuten's elite speed and acceleration are two primary drivers of his production, but there's a lot more that goes into it.

He has fantastic contact balance, great vision, and the strength to absorb big hits and stay upright. He's one of the best accelerators in the entire draft and has track-guy speed. These are very important for fantasy football -- long touchdowns often win weekly matchups.

RB Bhayshul Tuten repeatedly demonstrates good tracking and attack of the ball. #VaTech pic.twitter.com/IDtNvO214Q

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 2, 2024

And in a stacked RB class, he's one of the best pass-catchers of all the group, so it's a curiosity why he isn't ranked higher.

Tez Johnson, WR, Oregon

One player has pre-injury Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell written all over him, and it's Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson. Johnson is undersized as receivers go, standing 5-foot-9 and weighing just 165 pounds. Many NFL and fantasy football analysts thought Dell's size would be a major impediment to his production, as defensive backs outweighed him significantly.

But it wasn't an issue, and Dell was looking like a league-winner in fantasy football before a broken leg prematurely ended his 2023 season. In 2024, his struggles were mainly injury-related and as a result of the much-declined production of his QB, C.J. Stroud.

Babe, wake up. It is time for Tez Johnson burning defenders. 🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/q8ZTOSv8aJ

— Yoki (@YokiPSU) February 14, 2025

And while Johnson's lack of size may be a detriment to his strength, it's the short-area quickness and savviness on his routes and explosiveness out of his breaks that makes him a fantastic sleeper prospect. He's being drafted in the second and third rounds of rookie drafts, though he's worth using a late first-rounder on.

Johnson is a fantastic separator. Being smaller is a benefit to his game in that he can change directions and slam on the brakes or re-accelerate very quickly. The No. 1 job of a wideout in the NFL is to catch the football, and it's a lot harder when you can't get away from the guys across from you.

Okay. I might be in on Tez Johnson. pic.twitter.com/XuznxvbLvr

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) January 29, 2025

And the No. 1 way to make the No. 1 job easier is to get away from the defender as much as possible and as quickly as possible. Johnson does a great job of this. The best separators typically find success early in their careers as well, despite what concerns you may have about them.

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey had some concerns about his size, strength, and durability, but he was a fantastic route-runner and great separator, so he got open often, and his quarterback threw him the ball a lot. So he produced well. Sometimes, it really is that simple.

Gunnar Helm, TE, Texas

I'm not particularly excited about the lower tier of tight ends for fantasy football this season. In particular, TE is usually a barren wasteland production-wise and late-round picks rarely become relevant and worth starting for extended stretches of time.

Still, there is some underrated talent in this class, and Texas Longhorns TE Gunnar Helm is not only a great run-blocker, which helps him get on the field, but he has sure hands and enjoyed a breakout season in 2024. He could find his way to someplace on a team's informal target priority list.

Let me introduce y’all to Texas TE Gunnar Helm!

🔥 Only 2 drops IN HIS CAREER

💪🏼 Best run blocking TE in this class

🤘🏽 Fluid athlete, sneaky athleticism

He’s a 2nd round grade for us, where do you have this Longhorn? pic.twitter.com/cKrW5frhUB

— 2025 NFL Draft (@DraftRT) January 23, 2025

Just like the RB class, the TE class is deep, which typically causes good players to fly under the radar and not be thought of as highly as they would in other classes. Helm's production was solid and surprisingly fluid for his size. He moves better than most 250-pound men.

Texas TE Gunnar Helm (#85) broke out in 2024, hauling in 60 receptions for 786 yards and 7 touchdowns. He’s a very smooth athlete despite carrying a bigger frame (6051v, 250v). Also showed some positive signs in the run game.

I see a lot of Dawson Knox when I watch Helm. pic.twitter.com/uMnHb7x49Q

— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) February 6, 2025

It's tough for defenders to match up with TEs with his size profile who have good quickness and fluidity to their game. The position typically takes time to develop, though. The huge rookie breakouts from recent classes are the exception rather than the norm. Still, Helm has a shot of being a contributor in deeper leagues this season.

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