Fantasy Football 2020: Projecting Best Dynasty Rookies Before Combine

There are several ways for fantasy football fanatics to get their fix in 2020. From traditional and keeper leagues to DFS games and best-ball formats, there is no wrong way to play fantasy.

For those looking for that authentic general manager experience, however, there's nothing quite like a dynasty league.

In dynasty leagues, managers build their teams through yearly drafts, free agency and the trade market. Most players are kept on a year-to-year basis with only limited opportunities for significant roster turnover. It's largely the opposite of DFS games, where instead of having a new roster every time managers play, they may have largely the same roster for the next half-decade.

From a fantasy standpoint, dynasty is about as close as one can get to running an NFL franchise. As is the case in the real world, one great pickup or bad draft decision can significantly impact a team for years to come.

With this in mind, we're here to examine some of the top dynasty options for the 2020 NFL draft. These are pre-combine projections so take them with a grain of salt. There's still no telling where each prospect will land, and supporting cast can be just as important as a player's potential in dynasty play.

Quarterback: Joe Burrow, LSU

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LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has almost everything fantasy managers could want in a dynasty quarterback. He has an archetypal 6'4", 216-pound frame. He's coming off a season in which he threw for 60 touchdowns, won the Heisman Trophy and delivered a national championship to LSU.

The lone question mark with Burrow as a prospect is his single season of elite production. He couldn't get on the field at Ohio State and he was merely average in his first year with the Tigers—with 2,894 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions.

It's fair to wonder how much of Burrow's 2019 success was due to the presence of passing-game coordinator Joe Brady and LSU's supporting cast. For fantasy managers, it's fair because Burrow may not be entering the most ideal NFL situation. 

Burrow is perceived to be the top quarterback in this class, and the Cincinnati Bengals own the No. 1 pick.

"Barring some kind of Ricky Williams trade up the board, they're taking [Burrow]," one coach told Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller.

While the prospect of drafting a Bengals quarterback to start for the next decade may scare off some fantasy managers, keep the following in mind: In the nine years since being drafted by Cincinnati, Andy Dalton has been to three Pro Bowls, has topped 3,000 passing yards seven times and has thrown at least 20 touchdown passes six times.

If Burrow really is a special prospect, the Bengals aren't likely to ruin him. Barring a surprising rise from guys like Tua Tagovailoa (medical), Justin Herbert or Jordan Love at the combine, Burrow will be the best dynasty option at quarterback.

Running Back: D'Andre Swift, Georgia

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Miller listed Georgia's D'Andre Swift and Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins as his top two running backs in January. A reasonable case could be made for either player as a top dynasty option.

For Dobbins, it's all about the potential workload. While not a constant breakaway threat or an ankle-breaker, Dobbins is a meat-and-potatoes grinder who will take what the defense gives him—again, and again and again.

In 2019 alone, Dobbins carried the ball 301 times for 2,003 yards. As long as he can remain healthy, Dobbins can carry a heavy workload at the next level.

Swift, on the other hand, is a little more dynamic and with a few more facets to his game.

"Tempo and decisiveness are his calling cards, making him a highly talented inside/outside zone runner," NFL Media's Lance Zierlein wrote. "He's a cerebral runner who understands block timing and uses quick-cut agility and rare spatial awareness to read and react to defenses beyond the second level."

Swift rushed for 1,218 yards and seven touchdowns on 196 carries.

The combine will be important for both of these players, as speed, medical checks and interviews could put one clearly ahead of the other. For now, Swift gets a slight edge because of a more versatile and developed running style.

This isn't to say that Dobbins cannot be a fantastic dynasty back. However, he's a hammer who could slot into more of a complementary role early, while Swift may have the more immediate shot at a workhorse-back role.

Wide Receiver: Jerry Jeudy, Alabama

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Wide receiver is probably the toughest position to evaluate before the combine and the draft itself. There are several top-tier receiver prospects, like Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb, Alabama's Henry Ruggs III and Clemson's Tee Higgins. They possess a variety of elite traits, and each receiver's pro destination could determine his dynasty value.

Ruggs, for example, is a pure speedster who clocked a 4.25-second 40-yard dash at Alabama's junior pro day last year. Higgins possesses a rare combination of downfield quickness and body control. Lamb is a mismatch receiver that one NFL general manager recently compared to perennial Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins.

"You watch CeeDee Lamb and there are some things that come to mind when I watch him that remind me a little bit of DeAndre Hopkins," Cardinals GM Steve Keim said, per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "You talk about a guy that maybe isn't the fastest vertically, but his gritty, tough and runs great routes."

Then, there's Jeudy. He might not be the fastest or the strongest receiver in this draft class, but he's tremendously reliable and perhaps the most NFL-ready route-runner in recent memory.

Jeudy is the top dynasty wideout right now because his floor is so incredibly high. This could change a bit if he significantly over- or underperforms at the combine. Things could also change depending on where each of the top wideouts is drafted.

However, Jeudy should be a reliable starter as a rookie and consistently throughout his career, and he has the potential to be a legitimate WR1 within his first couple of seasons.