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The short answer is no.
It’s not because you should never draft a rookie, but because the level of talent and return on investment isn’t there. There have been plenty of rookies who have made an impact in fantasy leagues. However, entering the 2014 season, there isn’t a rookie that should be drafted within the first 10 rounds or at all.
The rookie with the best chance to become a starter and have some impact is running back Bishop Sankey. As a member of the Tennessee Titans, a team that had a hole at the running back position, Sankey will be competing with Shonn Greene for the starting job.
Rookie wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans were selected by teams that needed a young, explosive receiver. Yet, the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively, have question marks at the quarterback position, making both receivers big risks in 2014.
Obviously, the biggest story was who would select Johnny Manziel. He fell far and was selected No. 22 by the Cleveland Browns. He will compete with Brian Hoyer for the starting job. Manziel is a playmaker and exciting to watch, but could be an injury risk. These running quarterbacks tend to get hurt a lot more than the traditional signal caller, i.e. Robert Griffin III and Michael Vick.
If you look back to last season, there weren’t many rookies worth holding onto. While many were drafted, they didn’t last long on fantasy teams. No rookie quarterback was worth owning. Despite the NFL turning into a passing league, running backs are still valuable. Eddie Lacy, Le’Veon Bell and Giovani Bernard finished in the top-20 among running backs in ESPN.com standard leagues. As far as the receivers are concerned, Tavon Austin was a bust, DeAndre Hopkins was hit-or-miss throughout the season and Cordarrelle Patterson was top-tier during the final weeks of the season.
Unless you play in a deep, 16-team league, I would stay away from most, if not all, of the 2014 rookies. With fantasy teams only needing one QB, it would be hard to select a rookie there. The running back and wide receiver positions are crazy deep. Another rookie that stands out in my mind is Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron. He could easily supplant veteran Brandon Pettigrew as the starter.
If you are in a standard league, there are plenty of other players to select before the rookies. While there were great play makers selected during the 2014 NFL Draft, none of them seem to be fantasy options for this season.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy sports writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @BPiv_Sports.
