Superflex Dynasty Best Ball Draft Rookie Recap, 2021 Fantasy Football

I’ve been watching this QAnon docuseries on HBO this week, Q: Into the Storm. I’ll confess, I haven’t been plugged into the Qverse until now. But it turns out there’s a bunch of politicians and movie stars who murder babies and drink their blood. Allegedly. I mean, it kind of makes sense. I won’t get any further into the political weeds here, but if you showed me footage of Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell eating babies together it wouldn’t be the most shocking video I’ve seen this year. Those cats playing the piano blew my mind. Where am I going with all this? Not quite sure. Something convoluted about Pat Fitzmaurice and Rich Hribar scooping up babies like evil Illuminati brethren in our recent superflex dynasty best ball draft. Take a look at how many rookies each of our esteemed analysts selected in the draft:

*View the entire superflex dynasty startup draft board here

**Also view the entire draft board from our previous non-superflex dynasty best ball startup here

Analyst	Website	# of Rookies Drafted
Pat Fitzmaurice	The Football Girl/Football Guys	9
Rich Hribar	Sharp Football Analysis	9
Jake Ciely	The Athletic	7
Michael Salfino	The Athletic	7
B_Don	Razzball	6
Dave Richard	CBS	5
Heath Cummings	CBS	5
Andy Behrens	Yahoo	5
Donkey Teeth	Razzball	3
Dalton Del Don	Yahoo	3
Rudy Gamble	Razzball	2
Scott Pianowski	Yahoo	1

Of the 336 players selected in this 28 round draft, 62 of those players were from this year’s incoming rookie class. Here’s where each of them was selected:

*Note: this is a half PPR best ball superflex dynasty startup draft with starting lineups of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1 SUPERFLEX

Rookie Pick	Player	Position	Team	Overall Pick	Analyst
1	Trevor Lawrence	QB	JAC	11	B_Don
2	Trey Lance	QB	SF	12	Dalton Del Don
3	Justin Fields	QB	CHI	17	Rudy Gamble
4	Ja’Marr Chase	WR	CIN	19	Michael Salfino
5	Zach Wilson	QB	NYJ	30	Michael Salfino
6	Mac Jones	QB	NE	33	B_Don
7	Najee Harris	RB	PIT	34	Andy Behrens
8	Travis Etienne	RB	JAC	42	Pat Fitzmaurice
9	Javonte Williams	RB	DEN	48	Dave Richard
10	Kyle Pitts	TE	ATL	49	Dave Richard
11	DeVonta Smith	WR	PHI	63	Andy Behrens
12	Trey Sermon	RB	SF	64	B_Don
13	Jaylen Waddle	WR	MIA	90	Pat Fitzmaurice
14	Michael Carter	RB	NYJ	91	Michael Salfino
15	Rondale Moore	WR	ARI	103	Pat Fitzmaurice
16	Terrace Marshall	WR	CAR	118	Heath Cummings
17	Elijah Moore	WR	NYJ	119	Rich Hribar
18	Kellen Mond	QB	MIN	130	Andy Behrens
19	Rashod Bateman	WR	BAL	134	Donkey Teeth
20	Kadarius Toney	WR	NYG	146	Rich Hribar
21	Dyami Brown	WR	WAS	151	Pat Fitzmaurice
22	Chuba Hubbard	RB	CAR	168	Dave Richard
23	Amon-Ra St. Brown	WR	DET	173	Jake Ciely
24	Kenneth Gainwell	RB	PHI	175	Pat Fitzmaurice
25	Pat Freiermuth	TE	PIT	185	Rudy Gamble
26	Rhamondre Stevenson	RB	NE	186	Pat Fitzmaurice
27	Anthony Schwartz	WR	CLE	187	Michael Salfino
28	Elijah Mitchell	WR	SF	194	Rich Hribar
29	Nico Collins	WR	HOU	196	Scott Pianowski
30	Chris Evans	RB	CIN	205	Dalton Del Don
31	Amari Rodgers	WR	GB	206	Donkey Teeth
32	Davis Mills	QB	HOU	218	Rich Hribar
33	Tommy Tremble	TE	CAR	221	Jake Ciely
34	Javian Hawkins	RB	ATL	222	Michael Salfino
35	Josh Palmer	WR	LAC	226	Andy Behrens
36	Tylan Wallace	WR	BAL	234	Pat Fitzmaurice
37	D’Wayne Eskridge	WR	SEA	238	Scott Pianowski
38	Kyle Trask	QB	TB	239	Rich Hribar
39	Tutu Atwell	WR	LAR	247	Pat Fitzmaurice
40	Jermar Jefferson	RB	DET	249	B_Don
41	Larry Rountree	RB	LAC	251	Donkey Teeth
42	Khalil Herbert	RB	CHI	253	Dalton Del Don
43	Cornell Powell	WR	KC	259	Michael Salfino
44	Kene Nwangwu	RB	MIN	260	Jake Ciely
45	Kylin Hill	RB	GB	262	Heath Cummings
46	Brevin Jordan	TE	HOU	263	Rich Hribar
47	Gerrid Doaks	RB	MIA	266	Rich Hribar
48	Kylen Granson	TE	IND	267	Heath Cummings
49	Hunter Long	TE	MIA	282	Pat Fitzmaurice
50	Simi Fehoko	WR	DAL	287	Rich Hribar
51	Dez Fitzpatrick	WR	TEN	288	Dave Richard
52	Frank Darby	WR	ATL	290	Rich Hribar
53	Tre’ McKitty	TE	LAC	293	Jake Ciely
54	Noah Gray	TE	KC	294	Michael Salfino
55	Shi Smith	WR	CAR	297	B_Don
56	Seth Williams	WR	DEN	304	B_Don
57	Ihmir Smith-Marsette	WR	MIN	308	Jake Ciely
58	Dazz Newsome	WR	CHI	312	Dave Richard
59	Pooka Williams	RB	CIN	317	Jake Ciely
60	Ian Book	QB	NO	327	Andy Behrens
61	Josh Imatorbhebhe	WR	JAC	332	Jake Ciely
62	Jaelon Darden	WR	TB	334	Heath Cummings

Biggest Rookie Reach

In the the non-superflex draft we saw a large premium on running backs. In this superflex edition the premium shifted, as you’d expect, to quarterbacks. And it was the rookies after Trevor Lawrence who’s price tags surprised me most.

By now Dalton Del Don’s man crush on Trey Lance has been well documented in previous posts, so we won’t spend any further time on that love affair.

Our own Rudy Gamble did get aggressive on Justin Fields at pick 17 overall, which gets my Bears’ fan stamp of approval but my fantasy analyst stamp of skepticism.

But it was B_Don’s selection of Mac Jones at pick 33, as the 6th rookie off the board, which wins the prize of biggest reach. Yes, this is a dynasty superflex league, and yes QBs were flying off the board. I still can’t get on board with the Patriots rookie QB in the 3rd round. Remember, this is an organization which hasn’t hit on a skill position draft pick since 2010 (Gronk). My faith in Belichick has been shaken to the core. I’d much rather take a shot on Najee Harris or Kyle Pitts in this area of the draft, especially considering this team spent their first two picks on Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow.

Best Rookie Bargain

I grabbed Jaylen Waddle with pick 67 in the non-superflex version of this league and if I hadn’t butt fumbled backwards into Chris Godwin and Mike Evans at picks 62 and 77 in this draft then Waddle probably ends up on team Donkey Teeth once again via pick 86. Instead Pat Fitzmaurice snagged what I think will end up as the rookie steal of this draft at pick 90.

Waddle going off the board 27 picks after Devonta Smith is nuts to me. Alfred The Boof went over these two Bama receivers in his pre-draft and post-draft rookie wide receiver rankings and I completely agree with his assessments: Smith is undersized and faces an uphill battle against NFL defenses while Waddle could be a game changing talent who fits the Antonio Brown/Tyreek Hill mold. Swing for the fences on Waddle if you get the chance.

Late Rookie Values

Should Kyle Trask fall 203 picks behind Mac Jones in a startup superflex draft? Don’t get me wrong, I envision Trask developing into a pretty mediocre real life and fantasy QB. But that has plenty of value in a superflex format. And besides one round of draft capital, does Mac Jones really bring all that much more to the table? Of course Tom Brady might be wearing adult diapers by the time he retires, but Trask is still a fantastic value for our newcomer, Rich Hribar, at pick 236.

We didn’t know Julio Jones would be calling Tennessee home at the time of our draft, but there were rumblings that he might not be in Atlanta come week one. Now that Julio will officially be playing down by the schoolyard with Tannehill in 2021, the door is open wide for new blood in ATL. Are Russell Gage and Olamide Zaccheaus the answer? I don’t think so. Cut to sixth round rookie Frank Darby, Brandon Aiyuk’s former teammate at Arizona State. Sixth round NFL draft picks are hit or miss, but something tells me the Falcons valued Darby as more than a 6th rounder and they might be fast tracking him in the Julio role in this offense by the end of 2021. And if not, the price was once again right for Rich Hribar at pick 290, the 52nd rookie off the board.