Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Strategy - Players to Target in Drafts For A Win-Now Team (2025)

What if I told you that you could draft a win-now team in dynasty fantasy football and still be set up very well for future success? Well, you can by following my guide below. I've put in hundreds of hours of film study to develop my scouting eye.

It helped me suggest that you should urgently buy Bucky Irving and Brian Thomas Jr. back in Week 3 of 2024, so it's served me well. Nailing this year's rookie class is a key part of winning now as well -- there are rookie league-winning players almost every year.

That sets you up for success in the future, though. It may seem a bit ironic that for some players there simply aren't trade-offs, and you're winning on both fronts, but that's the fortunate reality of fantasy football. So, let's dive into how to draft a win-now team and a team set up for consistent success.

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Focus On Upside And Don't Be Afraid Of "Injury-Prone" Players

"The players who score a lot, win a lot, in fantasy football." -Sun Tzu, "The Art Of War." Or something like that.

Players who can score a ton of points are far more likely to win your matchups than those who can't. Even if consistency is an issue, for players with high ceilings, sometimes things fall into place for them to have league-winning stretches in the playoffs.

One example is Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. He developed quite a bit as a route runner in his rookie season, and players making as much progress as he did were no guarantee. But he's an elite speedster (4.33-second 40-yard dash) and has great height and length. So, the upside was there in case he did develop.

Playoff football is cool and all but I really miss Brian Thomas Jr. pic.twitter.com/ZMIu1PDyzw

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) January 17, 2025

Then, fellow WRs Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis and tight Evan Engram all got injured. Despite quarterback Trevor Lawrence going down for the season, backup QB Mac Jones had no one else to throw it to. So, he targeted Thomas 12 times a game over his last six games. That's a ridiculous target pace, and when good WRs get that much volume, they tend to be league-winners.

Sure, your high-upside guys might not always be the beneficiaries of such prime situations, but if they do, they can help you take your leagues down. To this end, you shouldn't worry too much about injury-prone players. You can get an opportunity to get a league-winner in a later round because of it.

THERES YOUR WEEKLY Christian McCaffrey TOUCHDOWN

15 STRAIGHT GAMES pic.twitter.com/wGavjfRmXR

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 15, 2023

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey barely played in 2024. Yet, when he returns, if he's even 80 percent as good as he was in 2023, he'll have the volume to be an easy RB1. The 49ers offensive line isn't what it used to be, but head coach Kyle Shanahan will gleefully run CMC into the ground and grind his bones to dust if it means he gets to execute his precious offensive system.

It's never fun to have an early round pick go down due to injury, but if you can get a deal on him, he could smash for you.

Exploit The Age Cliff

McCaffrey's situation applies to this one, too. Many may think that the soon-to-be 29-year-old CMC is a bit over the hill, but elite players' athleticism tends to make them last longer (ignoring injuries, of course). This is because as their explosiveness fades, they have more room to fall before it's not enough to consistently beat defenders.

Christian McCaffrey touchdown run.

Brandon Aiyuk is a DAWG 😤 pic.twitter.com/Yvc3oPQUru

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) September 10, 2023

The injuries sucked, and his health will be a key factor in how he does in 2025. But 2023 showed us that the upside is still there, so the athleticism hasn't started to fade much yet, if at all.

You can take a chance on him and have it pay off massively in his first season. He doesn't exactly have five years left in the tank, but if you're only trying to win one championship, he's worth taking a chance on.

Lean Into Stacked Position Groups For Rookies

This year's running back class is incredibly deep. Spend a bunch of your late-round picks on some of my top RBs for this class. There is a ridiculous amount of talent, much of it belonging to severely underrated players, in the 2025 NFL Draft class. Do not let that slip through your fingers.

Bhayshul Tuten. Better wrap up and better not let him hit you first. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/WV7QgizlWw

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 2, 2024

A lot of the backs in this class can just be let loose from Week 1 and have success, but they develop well as the season goes along and as their coaches realize just how talented they are. Since I've analyzed this RB class extremely deeply, I'll just list the players you should draft below.

Of course, ADP will matter, but they're all underrated, so you can just reach a round or two in the middle to late rounds and profit heavily. Remember -- there isn't much cost of spending a seventh-round pick (or similar) to get a player with any lower ADP because the seventh round is already barren if you don't know what you're doing.

So, be prepared to reach one or more rounds for Bhayshul Tuten, RJ Harvey, Dylan Sampson, and Brashard Smith.

Draft My Underrated Players, Don't Blindly Follow Consensus Rankings

You should try to draft my underrated players as well because you can get massive steals on them in your startup drafts. NFL teams consistently whiff on great offensive players, and you can take advantage of that. So, make sure you draft wide receivers Tre Harris and Jayden Higgins because they are massively underrated.

WRs in college football against Man coverage this season (min. 50 targets).

Tre Harris...lol pic.twitter.com/ZIukHsSLVT

— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) February 5, 2025

Harris is the true WR1 of this class. Not Tetairoa McMillan, who is an inferior route runner, much less consistent, and not even as good at making contested catches, despite that being listed as a big strength of his game. His strength is average for his height, if not below average.

Jayden Higgins ➡️ New England ❔❓ pic.twitter.com/v1AVCyslUX

— Boston Cream 🍩 (@itsbostoncream) February 2, 2025

Higgins and Harris are the best route runners in this class and the easiest players to slot into the "X" WR position, which is great for fantasy. They can both be utilized in the slot as well, and a good NFL team will move them around the formation often to get them good matchups.

Emeka Egbuka is a power slot guy, Luther Burden III is not a good route runner at all, and the rest of the WRs are role players or very inconsistent. Higgins and Harris are great picks you can get in the later rounds who will have the most long-term success out of this class, but can also immediately help you win.

My Mid-February 2024 Rookie Wide Receiver (WR) Rankings (With tiers below):

1. Marvin Harrison
2. Malik Nabers
3. Rome Odunze
4. Xavier Worthy
5. Brian Thomas
6. Troy Franklin
7. Keon Coleman
8. Ladd McConkey
9. Malik Washington
10. AD Mitchell
11. Malachi Corley
12. Jermaine… pic.twitter.com/BssfZeyPtB

— Matt FF Dynasty 🏈 (@MattFFDynasty) February 14, 2024

To do this, you have to accept that consensus rankings are usually wrong and the correct rankings should have some players who look very out of place compared to consensus because consensus is not very good overall and that's what happens every year. There is far too much confirmation bias and pressure on analysts to list players in specific orders, especially at the top.

Thomas was No. 5 but he was the best receiver in the class. To have him at No. 1 would have been laughed at by most of the community and called absurd. Most of those laughers would not have gone back and apologized, and will do the same thing to rankings that don't look close to consensus this season.

Yet, reality dictates that we should expect them to be wrong, and I have plenty of articles breaking down why I'm so high on Higgins and Harris that are grounded in sound analysis. Feel free to check out my mock draft and mega guide for rookies this season. Everything is explained there!

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