Fernando Mendoza falls to No. 3 in Dynasty Fantasy football Superflex tight end premium rookie-only mock draft

Three-round rookie mock draft for Superflex Dynasty leagues with tight end premium scoring

There is one thing on every Dynasty manager's mind in the month of April: The 2026 rookie class. For that reason, most of my time will be spent on evaluating these rookies. I already released my top 30 rookies earlier this month and have scheduled position previews over on Fantasy Football Today Dynasty that will run throughout the month. Today seemed like a good day to do our first rookie-only mock draft, and you can expect plenty more of these in the next couple of months. 

For this mock draft, we went three rounds and focused on leagues that allow you to start two quarterbacks and give a bonus for tight end receptions. This is the deepest format because it elevates both quarterbacks and tight ends, though I am not sure how much the tight end premium showed up in this mock draft. In fact, there is great debate within this class just how much it should matter. The one thing I will say for sure is that if you are in a one-quarterback draft, the quarterbacks should go much later, and Fernando Mendoza may be the only quarterback worth drafting in the first three rounds.

Round 1

1. Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame 2. Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State 3. Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana 4. Makai Lemon, WR, USC 5. Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State 6. KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M 7. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon 8. Omar Cooper, WR, Indiana 9. Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame 10. Denzel Boston, WR, Washington 11. Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt 12. Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama

If you have been paying attention, this top five should be no surprise. In the vast majority of rankings and mock drafts I have seen so far, the top five players have been the same. But this draft did a good job of showing that the order isn't guaranteed. I have seen Mendoza go anywhere from one through three, and Tate go as low as five. The one person who has some disagreement with this order is Jacob Gibbs, who told me during our Rookie Tight End Preview that he would take Sadiq as early as fifth overall in tight end premium leagues. You can check that full preview out here, with thoughts on Sadiq, Stowers, and more:

Round 2

1. Chris Bell, WR, Louisville 2. Mike Washington, RB, Arkansas 3. Jonah Coleman, RB, Washington 4. Zachariah Branch, WR, Georgia 5. Chris Brazzell, WR, Tennessee 6. Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana 7. Emmett Johnon, RB, Nebraska 8. Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State 9. Antonio Williams, WR, Clemson 10. Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame 11. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU 12. Ja'Kobi Lane, WR, USC

I had the fifth pick in this draft and really struggled with Brazzell versus Johnson. Since Johnson went two picks later, I will give the manager who took him credit for making the best pick in the draft. When I watch Johnson, he looks like a professional running back in almost all facets of the game. I am not sure he has the upside we would generally like in our RB2 for a class, but I would not be surprised at all if he ends up being the second-best back in the class. If he is a Day 2 pick in the NFL Draft, he may just end up as a borderline Round 1 pick in rookie drafts. 

I was really surprised that QB3 Garrett Nussmeier went before the TE3 in this draft. I would be surprised if that is the case in May. There are a handful of tight ends who could sneak into Round 2 of tight end premium rookie drafts even if none of them did here.

Round 3

1. Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama 2. Skyler Bell, WR, UConn 3. Carson Beck, QB, Miami 4. Seth McGowan, RB, Kentucky 5. Demond Claiborne, RB, Wake Forest 6. Max Klare, TE, Ohio State 7. Michael Trigg, TE, Baylor 8. Kaytron Allen, RB, Penn State 9. Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson 10. Le'Veon Moss, RB, Texas A&M 11. Kevin Coleman, WR, Missouri 12. Justin Joly, TE, NC State

My favorite players in this round were Claiborne, Bernard, and the tight ends. Claiborne, in particular, has the types of skills and speed that could deliver monster efficiency, though I am not sure he has the consistency to maintain a full-time role. Still, in this class, I will take all the upside I can get in Round 3.