5 Players to Target in Dynasty Fantasy Football Following the NFL Draft

The NFL is a never-ending, chugging steam locomotive. The 2025 NFL Draft is behind us, and now it's onto the next thing. With summer quickly approaching, attention now shifts to fantasy football drafts. This includes dynasty fantasy football as notable incoming rookies have now found their homes, giving us a decent idea of their outlooks for the 2025 campaign.

Rookies aren't the only players in the spotlight following the draft, though. The stocks of various veterans were impacted by the draft, as well. With that said, there are plenty of difference-makers you could snag in dynasty fantasy football for this upcoming season.

Here are five players whose stock was positively impacted by the recent NFL Draft.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

Ashton Jeanty is going to be the hot commodity everyone is after in rookie drafts; there's no other way to slice it.

Drafted sixth overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, Jeanty became the highest drafted running back since Saquon Barkley in the 2018 class. In an era of teams looking to avoid using first-round picks on tailbacks, this was a rare occasion.

His draft position alone is enough to warrant fantasy hype by the boatload. Of course, his college stats were absurd, too, with 2,601 rushing yards in 2024 -- the most rushing yards in a single season since Barry Sanders' 2,628 rushing yards in 1988.

From elite production as a workhorse in college to holding the fourth-best athleticism score among running backs in the 2025 class, Jeanty has star written all over him. Plus, Las Vegas should offer barely any competition for touches, if any at all.

Jeanty carrying the shortest odds to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (+270) says enough about his potential usage for 2025.

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns

Across 2025's star-studded running back class, Jeanty isn't the only rookie worth note. Quinshon Judkins seemed to end up in the perfect destination on the Cleveland Browns.

Totaling more than 270 rushing attempts in his first two seasons with Ole Miss, Judkins showcased his ability to be a workhorse. He was regarded as one of the best pure rushers of the 2025 class while earning NFL.com's second-best score among tailbacks.

Frankly, plenty of rookie backs are going to get hype for 2025, but Judkins feels like the best value. For example, FantasyPros has Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers ranked as RB6 in dynasty fantasy football rankings, compared to Judkins at 14th.

Hampton has the fifth-shortest odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year (+1400), compared to Judkins with the sixth-shortest odds (+1600). The Browns have a history of feeding Nick Chubb plenty of touches when Chubb was healthy. Chubb remains a free agent, suggesting Judkins should take over a large role for Cleveland from the start of the 2025 campaign.

Bryce Young, QB, Carolina Panthers

Bryce Young had a rough start to his career, but he turned it around with a strong finish to the 2024 season.

Pro Football Focus awarded Young a 74.4 player grade and 75.1 passing grade, compared to 56.4 and 53.0 numbers, respectively, for his rookie season. Plus, he had player grades above 80.0 over the final three games of 2024. This led to fantasy success as he had a pair of top-two weekly finishes in two of the final three games.

Young took a major step forward a year ago, flashing his potential of becoming a franchise quarterback. There's a reason he was a No. 1 overall pick.

Paired with Young's improvement and the Carolina Panthers' roster moves, now could be the time to get in on Young's stock. The Panthers once again invested in the offense, selecting wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick. Young now has two first-round wideouts in McMillan and Xavier Legette paired with Adam Thielen, Hunter Renfrow, and Jalen Coker.

Caleb Williams is another young QB gaining attention, but Young simply feels more obtainable due to the hype surrounding Williams and the Chicago Bears.

Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans

Finishing as WR27 in half PPR, Calvin Ridley's 2024 season was nothing to write home about. However, he didn't have a whole lot of help considering his quarterback situation.

The Tennessee Titans responded by drafting Cam Ward No. 1 overall. Trailing only Jeanty, Ward has the second-shortest line to win Offensive Rookie of the Year (+380).

Getting any kind of improved QB play would be a major win for Ridley's fantasy value. In fact, he had the most unrealized air yards in the NFL a season ago, via PlayerProfiler.

After leading the league in air yards and ranking fourth in air yards share, Ridley's workload next season should once again be pretty stout. Tennessee didn't do much to address wide receiver, either, adding an aging Tyler Lockett while taking only Elic Ayomanor in the fourth round of the draft.

Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

This one's pretty self-explanatory. As the 2024 season progressed, Chase Brown kept getting better, better, and better.

Brown ended up posting five top-10 weekly finishes in half-PPR over his final eight games of the season. This included averaging 23.6 touches per game during the span. Brown showcased his ability to be an all-around back with game-breaking burst.

However, rumors swirled that the Cincinnati Bengals would invest in another running back in the offseason. Cincinnati did that, using its sixth-round pick on Tahj Brooks, but he doesn't feel like a major threat.

At this point, it seems like Brown has secured the top running back role for the Bengals. That's reflected in FantasyPros' dynasty rankings placing Brown as RB10. He's in line for another strong season and was a big winner from draft weekend.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.