Top Dynasty Rookie Values of 2020

Finding value in your rookie drafts or in startups is always a key to success, so here are my Top 2020 Dynasty Rookie Values.

Tua Tagovailoa

Tua comes into the league this year after suffering a dislocated hip during his final season at Alabama that had some questioning if he could ever play football again. After being selected fifth in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, and from his medical records being cleared by all accounts, I’m treating him as a fully recovered future superstar.

Tua’s 2018 season was spectacular, throwing for just under 4,000 yards while dropping 43 touchdowns to just six interceptions. His 2019 season was looking even stronger with 33 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions with rate stats up across the board as well before suffering the hip injury. The man was simply crushing college football at the highest levels in the SEC before being derailed.

It’s unknown if he will be the day one starter for the Dolphins right now. In fact, I would probably lean that Ryan Fitzpatrick gets the nod, but nonetheless, I expect Tua to be a very solid, if not great, NFL quarterback once he is handed the reigns sometime during the season.

Fantasy Value

In SuperFlex leagues, I have seen some absurd value emerging for Tua. Running back hoarders are taking J.K. Dobbins and even D’Andre Swift, ahead of him sometimes. This is borderline ridiculous to me. Tua is no worse than the Rookie 1.04 in SuperFlex leagues to me, and you can make a case for him at 1.02 or 1.03 behind Joe Burrow and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

If Tua is sitting there at 1.04, and the player on the clock does not value the future stud like he should, make sure to swoop in and grab him. Anything after 1.04 is thievery in your SuperFlex rookie drafts.

Henry Ruggs

One of the big knocks on Ruggs coming out of college is that he never really stood out as the lead dog in Alabama, having poor dominator ratings and posting a career-high of just 821 yards receiving in his final season at Alabama. When you share the field with Jerry Jeudy and future stars in Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith, and also dealt with Irv Smith Jr. at the TE position in 2018, even the best WR prospects are going to come up short in the box score.

Another ding on him by the uninformed is that he is a bad fit for the Las Vegas Raiders since he will not catch any deep passes from Derek Carr or Marcus Mariota. I agree with this take for the most part since Ruggs is much closer to a perfect fit for the offense than most realize as he was not really used much in the deep game at Alabama.

I expect to see Ruggs run plenty of slants and crosses to highlight his elite speed and quickness, as evidenced here in his RAS score. Ruggs also has some enormous hands for a receiver as he was blessed with offensive lineman sized mitts which helps him secure those tight-window throws.

Fantasy Value

I have seen Ruggs fall into the early second round of SuperFlex startup drafts over and over this draft season. Dynasty owners are clicking on Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Michael Pittman, and Tee Higgins instead of Ruggs consistently, which is an exploitable error in my eyes.

Ruggs was the highest-drafted WR this season in the NFL draft as he went 12th overall to the Raiders and will no doubt be given every opportunity from day one to flash his skills. There is nothing standing in his way from being the highest producing WR this season from the 2020 draft class. If you see him slipping into the 1.10 or later in your SuperFlex drafts or going off the board after the names above in startups, make sure to bombard those on the clock with offers to get him on your team before he rockets up in value next year.

Ruggs is someone I am really striving to leave every rookie draft with and one of my top 2020 dynasty rookie values.

Zack Moss

Moss looks primed to take over the Frank Gore role for the Buffalo Bills, who last season notched the league’s seventh-highest run percentage. Moss was an elite tackle breaker in college with his 5-foot-9 and 223-pound frame, and while he isn’t as explosive as you would like with a low RAS, he is undoubtedly going to get work from day one for the Bills seeing as Gore tallied 166 carries and 16 targets last season. The Bills were able to get a good season out of another poor RAS athlete in Devin Singletary last season, so maybe they can strike gold yet again in Moss.

Fantasy Value

When you think of how high Dobbins is going in rookie drafts and startups, it makes little sense to me that Moss is going deep into the second round in rookie drafts when it’s relatively easy to predict more work for Moss in 2020. I would be willing to pull the trigger on Moss much sooner than others and would consider him as soon as the top of the second-tier of WRs (Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman) are off the board.

Adam Trautman

Trautman was drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft by the New Orleans Saints. Not only does he carry decent draft capital, but the Saints also traded their last four 2019 draft picks to trade up for him!

Trautman is a solid athlete, as evidenced by his RAS score and posted an elite three-cone drill time, which explains his domination of lesser athletes at Dayton over the past two years as he was basically uncoverable. He scored 23 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Dayton and looks primed to usher in the new era at TE in New Orleans as Jared Cook will be 34 years old next year and is an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Fantasy Value

I’d be lying if I told you I expected much of anything from Trautman this season unless Cook suffers an injury, but even so, he is presenting good value in my eyes with current ADP hovering near the end of the third round and early fourth. Even with Drew Brees likely retiring soon, it’s hard to imagine the Saints not going to Trautman next year in a sizeable role after the investment they made into him on draft day.

Joshua Kelley

Kelley was drafted in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Chargers this year after transferring into UCLA for his final two seasons of college. Kelley is a reasonable athlete per his RAS and is a little bit bigger of a back at 212 pounds than the current backs on the roster as both Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson both hover around 200 pounds.

Speaking of Jackson, he is a restricted free agent after 2020 and is no lock to be on the roster after this season. Kelley makes a ton of sense for the Chargers long-term as a change of pace back from Ekeler and is dropping too far in rookie drafts and startups for me to not take notice.

Fantasy Value

I see people taking Anthony McFarland and Darrynton Evans ahead of Kelley in drafts in just about every rookie draft and startup I look at, which makes little sense to me as I find it very hard for either of those players to see more of a Year One role than Kelley unless the players in front of them suffer injuries.

I have no problem taking Kelley at the top of Round 3 and would certainly take him over the groupthink running backs currently going higher than him, I just mentioned. It’s hard to see Kelley grabbing the starting role over Ekeler anytime soon, but I can see him fitting into a solid role much quicker than some of the other longshot running backs we look at this deep in drafts.

Hopefully, you are now armed to find some Top 2020 Dynasty Rookie Values in your upcoming drafts.

Brit Devine is a fantasy contributor at ProFootballNetwork. Follow him on Twitter @brit_devine as well as @PFN365 and @PFNDynasty for all the latest fantasy news.