Dynasty Fantasy Football: 1QB Startup Draft

The dynasty offseason is in full swing with the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine behind us. NFL Free Agency is in full swing and teams’ landscapes are changing. Additionally, one of the most popular things to do during this time is dynasty fantasy football startup drafts. Startup mock drafts are also great because they allow you to prepare for a real future startup draft and help you gauge the value of certain players and picks in dynasty leagues. 

In this mock, we draft in a 1QB format which normally decreases the value of the quarterbacks significantly. We used a basic format with PPR scoring, starting just one quarterback, and 6 points for quarterback touchdowns. In a 1QB league, wide receivers and running backs are pushed up the board compared to that of a Superflex. This mock draft was done with several fantasy football experts and many experienced dynasty players. 

Below I show the draft board of this 1QB mock along with the best values and reaches of the draft.

• 1.01 @RyanMiner_FFB
• 1.02 @Riesser14
• 1.03 @ClassicMikeGRFN
• 1.04 Sleeper Participant (tgarf312)
• 1.05 Sleeper Participant (PasadenaPatriots)
• 1.06 @markus_t1310
• 1.07 @rocsox
• 1.08 @bgiannascoli
• 1.09 @kdonovan246
• 1.10 @BalenciagaPutin
• 1.11 Sleeper Participant (SayWattAgain)
• 1.12 @sbrownholtz1

Rounds 1-2

Whenever you do a dynasty start-up, sometimes it’s fun to see what happens when you have the first overall pick. Most of the time in start-up drafts you have managers trading picks around for multiple spots in the draft or trading up or down for future rookie draft capital.

Here with the first pick, I chose Ja’Marr Chase over Justin Jefferson. Sure, stats wise Jefferson is better than Chase. Here in dynasty, I look at the build of the actual NFL teams and like the path of the Bengals over the Vikings. Additionally, I also have more confidence in Joe Burrow than Kirk Cousins.

Next with it being a 1QB, we see Christian McCaffrey as the RB1 followed by a surprising pick in Bijan Robinson. Robinson isn’t even on an NFL roster and here he is going top-5 overall. For a start-up, it is a good idea to take a running back who is early in their NFL career, but I would have rather taken Jonathan Taylor or Breece Hall who went later in the first. 

Shortly after the first few picks, we have a small quarterback run. Now, in Superflex, I’m all about taking quarterbacks in the first but in 1QB I tend to play the waiting game and hope someone falls later to me. Players like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts are definitely elite and difference-makers at the position, just have to see how these managers manage to build the rest of their team. 

Finally, the second round looks more like what I expected with a run of elite and young wide receivers being drafted. Additionally, seeing only a couple of running backs here should be no surprise as wide receivers last longer in the league than running backs. 

Rounds 3-5

With it being a three-wide receiver league, I like to lock up that value when I see it. Snagging DeVonta Smith as my WR3 is a great value! Furthermore, he did better over the final half of the 2022 season over A.J. Brown who went late in the first round.

Granted selecting wide receivers early can set you up for years to come. Seeing Jaxon Smith-Njigba get taken here as the 15th wide receiver off the board completely shocked me. Although Smith-Njigba is looking to be the top receiver of this class, I would have rather selected any of the second-year wide receivers before pulling the trigger on him. 

Although we don’t know the status of Javonte Williams, he is picked here in the middle of the third round. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take. 

To no surprise, seeing the tight-end run in these rounds is good value. Not being a TE-Premium league tends to push them down. Starting in the third round for a tight end is a good place to start.

I started out three wide receivers before drafting my first running back in D’Andre Swift. Mind you this draft was prior to free agency and the signing of David Montgomery. I saw the running back run start and I didn’t want to miss out. Looking back, I should have gone with Tony Pollard, lesson learned.

Wide receivers were plentiful here, but I’m a believer in Jerry Jeudy and thought getting him here to kick off the fifth round was a steal. Jeudy showed traits last season of being a WR1 and this year I see him taking that next step. 

Zach Charbonnet is a hell of a college running back, but taking him at the end of the fifth seems a little too soon. Especially for a team that already took Jahmyr Gibbs at the end of the third. High risk with a possibility of high reward if he returns the value. 

Wrapping it up here I like the values of Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert. Lawrence took a massive step forward, while Herbert took a step back. You can’t go wrong on these two quarterbacks as here in round four is the earliest I would be willing to pull the trigger on a signal caller.

Rounds 6-9

The fifth-round wide receiver run carried into the sixth round and stopped in the middle of the seventh round.  Marquise Brown has a high upside if DeAndre Hopkins is traded. Last season Diontae Johnson had 147 targets turning that into 86 grabs for 882 yards and ZERO touchdowns. Despite never finding the endzone, that should change in 2023. 

Calvin Ridley could be the steal of the draft at 6.4 especially if he can pop back up into the WR1 territory. Regardless he’s coming off a 1300-plus receiving yards and nine touchdowns from 2020 and is now paired with Trevor Lawrence.

I saw value here in Cam Akers and pulled the trigger. In his final three games of the 2022 season, he carried the ball 63 total times for 345 yards and three touchdowns. Furthermore, Akers should be out of Sean McVay’s dog house and be a high-upside RB2 for fantasy. 

Now that I have two running backs and four wide receivers locked up I was ecstatic to land Justin Fields. Landing a Konami code quarterback is one of my favorite things to do in fantasy football. Fields was going off with his legs as he rushed for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns. 

Immediately after my pick was the first rookie quarterback taken in C.J. Stroud. It blew my mind that he went before Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Deshaun Watson. If I was on this team, I would instantly regret this pick. That pick is the definition of a reach.

Meanwhile, the running backs selected in these rounds, outside of Ezekiel Elliott are great pieces to have as your RB3 and added depth pieces. Running backs tend to age out quickly, but with the new contracts David Montgomery and Miles Sanders received, they still carry at least another year or two of value. 

Beyond the aging running backs, second-year backs like Rachaad White, Isiah Pacheco, Brian Robinson, and Tyler Allgeier are selected. As of this writing, all three backs have no immediate threat to their workloads. We’re only days into free agency and they’re looking “safe” at the moment. All could change here once the NFL Draft has passed.

Surprisingly I couldn’t believe how far Dallas Goedert and Pat Freiermuth fell in the draft. Additionally, we see our first rookie tight end drafted in Michael Mayer before finishing up with David Njoku at the end of the ninth round. Taking a rookie like Mayer in the ninth isn’t bad, especially with mock drafts showing him to be a first-rounder in the NFL Draft. 

Finally, the ninth round sees a push for rookie wide receivers, and Bryce Young gets taken. The majority of teams have their first and only quarterback while team 10 takes their backup to Justin Herbert. There are still many quarterbacks on the board I would rather have here over Young. Generally speaking, we have no clue about these rookie landing spots. Quarterbacks can have a significant learning curve, as we saw with Kenny Pickett last season. Draft with caution. 

Rounds 10-12

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For one thing, I recall how high many had Elijah Moore on their 2022 dynasty start-ups. We were all extremely high on Moore and drafting him as a low-end WR2 with upside. Coupled with the drafting of Garrett Wilson, most thought he would only get better. Well, that didn’t happen. Could the 10th round be a value? It all depends if he’s part of the Aaron Rodgers trade or not. 

 Khalil Herbert is looking to be the running back to have in Chicago. While JuJu Smith-Schuster is looking to rebound as the WR1 in New England. 

Comparatively, I held out on tight end and was ecstatic to land Darren Waller at the end of the 10th round. This pick also happened before he was traded to the New York Giants. I love this pick even more knowing that he is currently the top pass catcher on this team.

Additionally, with selecting Tank Bigsby, I am starting to take “what if” chances with my team as I add a rookie who could get day two draft capital. This is my favorite time to start going after high-risk/high-reward picks. 

Speaking of high risk/high reward, Kadarius Toney and Trey Lance going at the back end of the 11th could pay huge dividends if they can hit their ceilings. Both Toney and Lance were 2021 NFL Draft first-round picks. Neither to this point have lived up to expectations. With an entire offseason in Kansas City, hopefully, Toney pops. Additionally, with Lance, his upside is so high that he could finish as the QB1 in fantasy football as long as he can stay healthy.

Skyy Moore could make a sizable impact in year two with Smith-Schuster gone and Mecole Hardman still a free agent. Moore is a core piece of this offense and if he would have fallen to me in the 12th I would have pulled the trigger on him. 

Evan Engram lit it up during the fantasy playoffs and had the franchise tag placed on him. Finishing as a top-5 tight end could be in the mix once again as he looks to improve upon his  73 receptions for 766 yards resume.

Finally, to wrap up round 12, I went with Senior Bowl standout Roschon Johnson. He’s a solid running back that was the backup to Bijan Robinson at Texas. While he won’t be a bell-cow back, he could make a nice complimentary piece to any NFL team.

 Rounds 13-15

Again, depth is huge in a dynasty, and adding young pieces like Rondale Moore should benefit. Rumors of DeAndre Hopkins being traded could push Moore into the #2 role behind Marquise Brown. Moore showed flashes last season, so a round 13 dart throw is worth the risk.

Nevertheless, the closing rounds here are worth risk-taking. Rookies Dalton Kincaid and Darnell Washington are late-round dart throws here who showed well at the NFL combine. 

Some more rookies are taken and John Metchie even makes it here. If the Texans somehow draft Bryce Young at second overall and take a wide receiver at 12, this team is looking to be in better shape. Especially if they are able to keep Brandin Cooks, who went in round 12 here. 

Again, taking risks here and going with tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo. The 6’3 rookie flashed upside throughout the season, but never saw 70 receiving yards in any games. Looking after my pick, I wish I would have gone with the likes of Rashaad Penny (15.6) or Jordan Love (15.7)

On the flip side though, I had my eyes set on drafting Odell Beckham Jr. if he fell to me which he did. Beckham is a tremendous athlete that we haven’t seen since Super Bowl 56 where he tore his ACL.

To this day, I’m still upset about taking Okonkwo instead of another player.

Finally, team 12 takes a quarterback at the end of the draft who is surprisingly his QB1 in Jared Goff. Now, Goff was a back-end QB1 in fantasy last season and to wrap up the draft with someone of his talent is a steal. How did we all miss him? Bravo there Steven, my hat is off to you.

Draft in Review

As shown above, we only did 15 rounds of picks. Would you like to see more? Hit me up on Twitter @RyanMiner_FFB and I will be happy to go over this. Help me help you! That’s what we are here to do for you at Faceoff Sports Network.

Overall, all teams had a solid draft. My favorite strategy to live by is to not live by a strategy. Let the draft fall to you and don’t just draft a player because you see a run on them. After about 20 years of playing fantasy sports, I forgot to tell myself that from time to time.

Want to try a strategy out? Do it in a mock! But when it comes to your actual dynasty start-up, don’t live by that. Change and adapt on the fly. You could love the final outcome once the draft is over. 

For the most part, dynasty start-ups are 20-plus rounds with deep benches and taxi squads. Taxi squads usually consist of no less than two spots for rookies. those players are kept there for a couple of years to see if they can develop into something. If they do, bring them to the bench of your roster. If not, dump them to the waiver wire. 

Additionally, not seeing players like Aaron Rodgers, Mike Gesicki, or any other player get drafted shouldn’t throw up red flags. It could just be this draft or showing signs that these players can be had in round 16 or later. Calm down folks, it’s all good. I bet if we did another draft, you would see these players possibly drafted. 

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