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USATSI

There have not been a ton of major changes to the rookie-only rankings you'll see below. Tyler Allgeier moved up higher in Round 2 on speculation that he may give you one productive season as a rookie (we'd take that in Round 2 this year). Jalen Tolbert got a boost in hope that he could play No. 2 to CeeDee Lamb until Michael Gallup returns (maybe after). Velus Jones and Romeo Doubs got a boost into Round 3 as well. Most of the fallers had more to do with getting passed as opposed to something actually being wrong with them. 

But that doesn't mean you aren't getting anything new this month. I've tiered the first three rounds of rookies in PPR drafts, all the way back to Pierre Strong at Pick 43. For most of these tiers, I don't have a strong preference in what order you put the players, so hopefully this will be helpful for in-draft negotiations and post-draft trades as well.

One major change in the tiering process is in Round 1. Immediately after the draft I said I didn't have a strong preference between Picks 2 and 7. I've since cooled a bit on Chris Olave and Jameson Williams, dropping them out of that second tier of picks. I'd still be pleased to trade back from two to five, but not past that.

Another surprise for some may be that I've moved Jahan Dotson up into the same tier as Olave and Williams. Dotson is a player I'm becoming convinced is just flat-out undervalued by the Dynasty community. And it's not just because the Commanders have been raving about his performance at OTAs and connection with Carson Wentz. It's not even the idea that Terry McLaurin may not be long for Washington, though that doesn't hurt anything. 

No, I know why Dotson is being undervalued. It's because he didn't leave college early. Historically, early declares have been better bets than receivers who played four-plus years in college. I don't dispute that. I'm not as certain it will continue to hold true for these players who went through college during COVID. And I really don't want to hold it against Dotson when he earned a 28% target share and averaged 17 yards per catch as a 21-year-old at Penn State. That year he accounted for 38% of the team's receiving yards and 47% of their receiving touchdowns. Both marks are elite.

The truth is, Dotson has a better pedigree than McLaurin did when he came out. He may not need the veteran to leave to take over the No. 1 role in Washington.

Below are my complete top-50 rookie-only rankings. The far left column is their previous rank. Left to right it flows: PPR, non-PPR, Superflex, and Tight End-Premium. The color coding is tiering for PPR drafts, which is also how they're sorted.