The 2025 NFL Draft has come and gone. We can finally pair draft capital and landing spots with our evaluations. But how do those rookies fit into the overall rankings? Don’t worry, we here at Dynasty Nerds have you covered. In this dynasty edition, we will give you a post-NFL Draft 12-team startup mock draft. Each team will make 12 selections to build the core of their roster. Discover the top 144 dynasty prospects with the Nerds as they reveal their draft strategies from each position.
Join “Doc” Matthew Mitchell, the one and only Rich Dotson, along with Garret Price, Mike Johrendt, Keith Ensminger, Mychal Warno, Jayson Snyder, Peter Monahan, Bobby Bishop, Jon Glosser, John Hammersmith, and Taylor Christianson for a post-draft breakdown that includes the 2025 NFL Draft class. Check it out and let us know how you think we did. Whose build did you like the best, whose did you hate the most? Please enjoy our most recent Startup Mock Draft.
SuperFlex PPR TE Premium | Startup Mock Draft
Scoring and Format Overview
The scoring and format for this SuperFlex, PPR, TE Premium Startup Mock Draft are as follows:
- 6 points per passing touchdown (PPTD)
- 1 point per reception (PPR)
- .5 point per reception TE bonus (TE Premium)
This is a 12-team, start 9 (QB, RB*2, WR*2, Flex*3, SFlex) startup mock draft.
1st Selection | Rich Dotson | @DynastyRich
In my recent dynasty startup draft, I had the coveted 1.01 pick and faced a tough decision between Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels for my superflex tight end premium (SFTEP) league. I ultimately chose Daniels, banking on his immense upside and youthful edge, setting a strong foundation for my quarterback room. Coming back around, I was thrilled to secure Caleb Williams, pairing him with Marvin Harrison Jr. (MHJ) to lock in a dynamic, young core. I kept the youth movement rolling with my next picks, grabbing Treveyon Henderson, Tetairoa McMillan, and Emeka Egbuka, fully embracing the high-risk, high-reward strategy of loading up on rookies.
While this approach can be boom or bust, I’m incredibly confident in the potential of these players. Snagging Jerry Jeudy—who finished as WR12 last year—in the 7th round felt like a steal (a gold mine find, in my opinion)! Rounding out the draft with Cam Skattebo, Isaiah Likely, Chris Godwin, and Tre Harris solidified a squad that’s built for the long haul. While 2025 might not be my championship year, I’m poised to captain a dominant ship in 2026 with this young, talented roster.
2nd Selection | Mike Johrendt | @MJohrendt23
Drafting from the second spot in a SuperFlex format obviously gave me a shot at one of the best quarterbacks available, and once Josh Allen was added to the roster, it was all about taking the best player available from there. Being able to lock down a contender for the overall QB1 makes building out a roster easier using a cornerstone player, so that automatically framed my roster in a competitive window. By mixing in veterans with youth, my roster build took on a look of building for both now and the future. While I wanted to have a little bit younger of a team, the veterans that I drafted (Kyren Williams, Nico Collins, D.J. Moore) are in, or near to, their primes, so they can absolutely help this roster compete.
For the rest of my roster, pairing a young stud in Bo Nix with Allen helps round out my QB room for the next four seasons—at a minimum. Adding Quinshon Judkins opposite Kyren Williams adds a bridge into the next phase at running back, and it’s fair to say that spot is the position that needs the most help moving forward. The ages of Tony Pollard and Jaylen Warren make my RB room a bit older than I would prefer, but they still offer good value for their double-digit ADP. Stacking Khalil Shakir with Allen near the end of the 10th round is my favorite selection, as Shakir got paid like he is Allen’s top target this past offseason. Betting on Brandon Aiyuk to return to near-form is a safe bet to make in the 8th round, and drafting Jordan Addison in the 7th round is more of an indictment of J.J. McCarthy’s ability to run Minnesota’s offense. Finally, Tucker Kraft with his TE7 finish last season gives me hope he can threaten for a spot in the top 5 this season, even with the muddy receiver room in Green Bay.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the roster looks—improvements would have been to target one more young running back and another tight end—otherwise, the depth feels solid in all the right places.
3rd Selection | Keith Ensminger |@theSmingDynasty
Variety may be the spice of life, but this draft veered outside of my comfort zone. The result? My team looks very different from how I typically approach a dynasty SuperFlex startup draft: built to be an immediate contender with several older players. Not only did I wait far longer to take a second and third quarterback, but I also chose two older running backs within my first four picks. Why did I go this route? I’ve been playing dynasty fantasy football for a long time, and I’ve done my fair share of startup drafts. Stubbornly sticking to one drafting strategy can make you predictable. More importantly, switching things up every now and then is fun! Perhaps counterintuitively, I am more apt to draft an older team in years where we have a deep rookie class. After stocking up on veteran players early, many of your favorite second- and third-tier rookies and young players can be found later. As an example, despite my older roster, I was still able to get Trey Benson in the 11th round and Kyle Williams in the 12th round. Had we continued, my strategy would be to snatch up as many rookie running backs and tight ends as I could.
On a final related note to rookie values in startup drafts: how in the world did Cam Ward fall to the end of the 5th round in this draft? That’s dynasty malpractice!
As for my roster from the 3rd draft slot, Lamar Jackson forms the cornerstone and is a good fit in any build. With my next pick, I considered Marvin Harrison, Jr., but ultimately took Drake London with the idea that I would try drafting a contending roster. After taking Saquon Barkley with my 3rd round pick, my plan was in motion. I took a chance picking Christian McCaffrey next, hoping Dak Prescott would fall to my next pick. Thankfully, he did. I think Dak is greatly undervalued right now and is a fantastic choice for a cheaper second quarterback in SuperFlex startup drafts. Xavier Worthy represents young potential with a ceiling as my WR2, while a healthy Michael Pittman represents a safe floor as my WR3. At tight end, George Kittle makes the most sense for a roster such as this, but in hindsight, I wish I had taken Justin Fields to be my QB3. My hope is to never start my QB3 over Jackson and Prescott, but I at least want that player to be in a stable role. Anthony Richardson does not fit that bill, unfortunately. Finally, I begin to fill out my bench with the tandem of James Conner and Trey Benson, one of my favorite mid-round pairings in startup drafts.
I can’t say I’m elated with how this draft turned out, but it is a good look into what can happen when drafting running backs early. The hopes of this roster’s success rest squarely on Barkley and McCaffrey staying healthy, and in hindsight, I’m not sure that’s a smart play.
4th Selection | Doc Matthew Mitchell |@ReflipeWThenuz
I went into this draft with the intention to build a team that would be a winner right out of the gates. I didn’t want to build an old team but a solid group of prime-age players to start with a solid 2- or 3-year window. With that in mind, I snagged Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield in the 1st and 4th. I also scooped up Geno Smith in the 9th. I took care of the TE spot in the 2nd with Trey McBride. I backed him up with Evan Engram in the 10th. In a TE Premium format, this gave me a dominant starter and high-end backup who I could also use in the flex. At RB, I wanted to grab players who command heavy workloads. So I drafted Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, and Chuba Hubbard in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th. Wide receiver is the weakest part of this squad, but I still managed to grab some players who get dominant target shares on their NFL teams. Zay Flowers, D.K. Metcalf, Calvin Ridley, and Deebo Samuel all offer me top-24 upside at the position.
Overall, I was quite happy with how this draft went. I came out of this with two QBs who finished inside the top last year. Geno is also a really nice backup. Taylor and Jacobs were both RB1 plays last year, with Hubbard just missing as RB14. McBride is an elite game-changing TE. Flowers, Metcalf, Ridley, and Deebo aren’t the most exciting names, but all are quality weekly plays with all but Deebo in line for heavy target shares on their NFL teams.
With this squad, I would have continued to build depth in the later rounds with an eye towards established scorers. It might age out quickly, but with a little luck, my name will be on the trophy before that comes to pass.
5th Selection | Mychal Warno | @dynastydadmike
I am thrilled with the team that I drafted. Unfortunately, this is a startup mock draft, not an actual team. At pick 5, I knew I wanted to come away with 1 of the 4 quarterbacks. I was worried when 3 of the top 4 went off the board in sequential order. Luckily, Doc selected Joe Burrow, which allowed me to secure Jalen Hurts. In the 2nd round, I wanted to ensure I had a second quarterback, but I saw Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, and Drake Maye still available, while I noticed a tier drop at wide receiver. I danced with the devil and selected Puka Nacua. Luckily, Drake Maye was available in the 3rd round, and I was able to secure my QB2.
I followed those selections up with Bucky Irving in the 4th, Rome Odunze in the 5th, and Kaleb Johnson in the 6th. At this point in the draft, I am loving my team’s youth and upside. In the next few rounds, I spent on some veterans that I felt would provide immediate upside, specifically in Mark Andrews and Alvin Kamara. Andrews was a bit of a reach for me in the 7th round, but unfortunately, George Kittle was my target, and he went two picks before me to Keith Ensminger. I finished my draft with Ricky Pearsall, Jack Bech, and Mason Taylor and secured my QB3, Russell Wilson, in the final round of the startup mock draft.
6th Selection | Jayson Snyder | @Spydes78
Can you believe this roster? Not since the nursing home accidentally doled out ED pills in place of blood pressure medications has an aging population created such a stir! Did I go into this exercise planning to draft so many players deep on the back nine of their careers? Certainly not. But, I did approach with my standard philosophy of not chasing a method. Instead, I prefer to let the draft come to me and capitalize on value. In this case, it became abundantly clear that my competitors were hyper-focused on youth. Understandable in the dynasty format. However, I’d argue that unproven players, though infused with longevity, carry an underrated risk of uncertainty. Time may be running out for players like Derrick Henry, Tyreek Hill, and Mike Evans, but they are still high achievers, and I’m willing to gamble that they have a year or two of elite performance remaining. If I’m right, and this team is an immediate contender, a championship in the inaugural season will eclipse any concerns over the pending rebuild.
As a caveat, if you decide to employ a similar tactic in your startup, I would not advise that you ignore emergent talent entirely. You will note a framework of younger players to fall back on when the inevitable drop-off occurs amongst my studs. Players like James Cook, Sam LaPorta, Jalen Milroe, and Javonte Williams all provide upside from the age of 25 or below. Similarly, the undrafted queue is littered with exciting youth like Josh Downs, Tyjae Spears, and the ‘Tanks’ (Dell and Bigsby). With such a short bench, and the low-hanging fruit of young talent just waiting to be plucked from the waiver wire, why not take a chance on a win-now approach? Never forget that the goal of fantasy is to win.
7th Selection | Peter Monahan | @Pistol_Pete026
For this startup mock draft, I wanted to select a position where I don’t typically draft from to try out a new strategy and avoid taking a quarterback with my first few picks. At pick 7, I selected the first non-quarterback in this mock draft, taking my No. 1 wide receiver, Justin Jefferson. For my second pick, I added another elite WR in Brian Thomas Jr. I also wanted to add an elite running back before dipping into the QB pool, so I went with Devon Achane. And finally, my QB1 on this team in the 4th round, I chose J.J. McCarthy. I feel like I’m taking a huge gamble and shooting for the upside of a quarterback who did not even play a snap last season after having his entire rookie season wiped out due to injury. Tee Higgins in the 5th round as my WR3 felt like a nice luxury pick. That was followed by my two favorite selections in the entire draft in rookie RB RJ Harvey and my QB2, who always seems to be available in this range of drafts in the 7th round, QB Tua Tagovailoa.
Overall, I like how this team turned out through the first 12 rounds in this mock. My strength of the team is certainly at wide receiver after also adding some older veterans, which makes sense considering I spent my first two picks there. I do like my QB tandem of McCarthy and Tagovailoa, but there is certainly risk with both players. My running back room consists of a high upside RB1, an upside rookie who I think should fill in at RB2 perfectly, and then an RB who should be part of a high-scoring offense in Brian Robinson, who was selected in the 11th round. My fallback tight end is David Njoku, whom I have rostered in over one-third of my real leagues.
I’m definitely pleased with my “fade” quarterback strategy, and I could see myself implementing this approach in one of my leagues!
8th Selection | Bobby Bishop | @_BobbyBishop
Early in startup drafts, I target QBs and WRs who will be long-term and win-now assets on my team. How the board fell to me, I was able to start with the best 1-2 punch of wide receivers in this league with Ja’Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb. I felt a desperate need for a QB entering round 3, but I was happy to grab Kyler Murray, who didn’t feel like a reach. I feel confident in Rashee Rice’s position to be the No. 1 target for Patrick Mahomes, as long as he can stay on the field. Michael Penix is a conviction guy for me. I love the way he drives the ball downfield and am confident he will be an above-average starter in this league for the next decade. Despite waiting, I was happy to still come away with Kenneth Walker as my RB1. Chris Olave is a talented receiver, even if there are flaws—I love his value this offseason. Due to his rushing, Justin Fields is an elite fantasy QB whenever he starts. I’m happy to take a chance on him having a career resurgence. I felt I could not pass up a rookie receiver with Round 1 draft capital in Matthew Golden. In Round 11, I grabbed my TE1, Pat Freiermuth. Not an ideal starting TE in a TE premium league, but I actually like the value.
I feel good about this team. I have the best wide receiver unit in the league and have a competitive QB unit, which are the two positions that last the longest. I’m weak at TE and lack RB depth, but I feel confident in my ability to buy those veterans at those positions at the deadline if I’m in a playoff spot. My draft strategy is not set in stone. Talent is the most important attribute, but I’m constantly looking for value. Who will be a key piece for my team long-term? Who is available that would have been picked 3 rounds earlier last year? Who has the tools and opportunity to increase their value? Answering these questions, pick by pick, you begin to build a team that you feel good about in the present and in the future.
9th Selection | Jon Glosser | @Glosser13
Entering a dynasty Superflex TE premium startup draft, I have a unique strategy in mind. The No. 1 thing on my mind was to ensure I don’t fall behind early on the premium positions. In a dynasty league where I can start multiple quarterbacks and there’s a premium on tight end scoring, I can’t fall behind early by not selecting one of those two positions over the first 24 picks. I loved getting the dynasty RB1 overall in Bijan Robinson with my first pick and followed it up with C.J. Stroud in the 2nd round to secure a solid young QB asset. Stroud struggled last season after being regarded as a locked-in 1st round dynasty pick after his impressive rookie season. I’m buying the dip in hopes he can improve his value. I favored youth over my first 6 selections, resulting in an average age of 23-years old. I would spend 50% of my selections over the first half of the draft on QB and TE, so I stuck to my strategy. While it wasn’t perfect, I did manage to acquire players who carry significant dynasty value.
The second half of this startup mock started strong with two players I like to improve their dynasty value this season: Jaylen Waddle and Kyle Pitts. They finished as WR48 and TE17 in fantasy points per game (FPPG) last season. I preferred to have a third quarterback over the first 12 picks, but I felt there was better value at skill positions, which has me banking on my two young quarterbacks, C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young. I was the only team to draft three TEs in this mock, but I couldn’t resist Jonnu Smith, who set career highs in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns last season.
I see this as a dynasty team that has a chance to be a real contender if things fall into place. The potential for success with this team is high, and in the event it isn’t, the number of young players can keep the excitement alive for years to come or facilitate an easier rebuild by trading players for future draft capital.
10th Selection | Garret Price | @DynastyPrice
Going into the draft, I chose the 10th spot in a 12-team league with the intention of landing a solid running back, ideally someone I considered a top-tier option that might slip due to early runs on wide receivers or quarterbacks. My overall approach, however, was rooted in drafting for value over positional need, even if that meant passing on a position I was thinner at. I’ve found that rigidly sticking to positional needs can lead to missing out on key contributors who outperform their draft spot. That’s why I avoid locking into a particular team build too early—I typically let the draft come to me and begin to shape a more defined roster structure around round 3, depending on how the value shakes out in those early rounds.
Looking at how my team turned out, I was pleasantly surprised to land Brock Bowers at pick 10. He was not initially who I expected to take (I thought I would get Bijan Robinson), but the value was too good to pass up—he realistically should’ve been taken 3-5 spots earlier. Throughout the draft, I found that quarterbacks kept slipping below their expected ADP, so I ended up taking several of them simply because that’s where the best value was. This left me a bit light at other positions, but I’m confident in the depth and upside I landed overall. As with most drafts, I’ll need to be active leading up to Week 1 to round out the roster and make a few key moves, but that’s always expected.
11th Selection | John Hammersmith | @Luxembourgh
Heading into this mock draft, I stuck to my usual philosophy: target the best value early while avoiding unnecessary risk, then start swinging for the ceiling as the rounds wear on. Bowers, painfully, went one spot ahead of me. So, Malik Nabers at 1.11 was a no-brainer, as much as I like Jahmyr Gibbs and Ashton Jeanty. Then, locking in Justin Herbert in round 2 gave me one of the 7 QBs I aimed to leave the draft with. I doubled down on another QB and WR at the 3rd-and-4th round turn with Trevor Lawrence and Ladd McConkey, two players that fit my blueprint. When T.J. Hockenson and Chase Brown fell to me in the 5th and 6th, it felt like the fantasy gods were on my side. I kept stacking explosive, young receivers like Jameson Williams and Jayden Reed, added Dalton Kincaid as a high-upside TE2, and even landed D’Andre Swift as an RB2 to round things out.
My quarterbacks were earlier than consensus, but securing two young QBs on monster contracts early in the draft helps me sleep at night. That early security let me hammer the WR, RB, and TE rooms with confidence, building a pass-catching group that could anchor a contender. Even the rookie dart throws, Tyler Shough and Bhayshul Tuten, fit the mold of my long-term productive struggle approach. This roster has the flexibility to compete now or develop into something special. I walked away with a core I’d be excited to build around in any league.
12th Selection | Taylor Christianson | @mysleepers
When using a derby-style selection process to choose draft positions, I tend to pick a top 5 slot to lock down an elite QB or Brock Bowers. In this SuperFlex TE Premium startup mock draft, I opted for the 12th position. I wanted to see what a dynasty roster would look like starting with Malik Nabers at 1.12. John Hammersmith—clearly a brilliant mind—screwed that up for me. Instead, I threw caution to the wind and went for an Elite-RB build with Jahmyr Gibbs and Ashton Jeanty to carry dynasty value and contending production for the next past a 3-year window. There was a run on QBs ahead of me, so I doubled-tapped the WR position as well, selecting two players who could finish well ahead of this ADP in startups next season in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Travis Hunter.
There was no intention of taking rookies specifically, but the 2025 Draft class is deep with talent, so I leaned into it by taking Cam Ward as my QB1 to pair with Matthew Stafford (10th) and fellow rookie Tyler Warren as the presumed TE1, though I likely would have drafted Zach Ertz or Dallas Goedert in subsequent rounds to use as a Week 1 starter. I couldn’t pass up the value and production boosts that are in store for Terry McLaurin, George Pickens, and Cooper Kupp. I took David Montgomery (9th) as a potential flex option alongside Gibbs. Kirk Cousins is a dart throw, but he deserves to be mentioned as a potential trade-low before he becomes a starting QB again.
I wouldn’t advise people to take this strategy in a draft without trading involved. If this were a live draft, I would have sold my 7th-and-later round picks when I was on the clock to move back for future draft capital. This is a rebuild start with several players I love, but the whole doesn’t paint a complete picture—perfectly fine in an active league.
Note From the Editor
Thank you for reading our 2025 Post-NFL Draft SuperFlex PPR TE Premium startup mock draft! We want to expand our mock draft offerings and are looking for suggestions. Bestball? Auctions? 16-team double player copies? Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll assemble the Nerds! You can find us on Twitter, Tik Tok, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord, so don’t be shy.
Here’s What You Missed
The month of June marked peak downtime for dynasty fantasy football, but lots of our readers were still making moves–contending or rebuilding. They were able to stay on track with the Dynasty Calendar. Look for each month moving forward as the Nerds continue to keep you one (or two) steps ahead of your leaguemates.
