Welcome to the fourth edition of the dynasty rookie draft valuation series. If you’re new, these articles are meant to determine a median value for each first-round rookie draft pick in 2026. If you didn’t read the first three articles, you can find them here:

• How To Value The 1.01 In 2026 Dynasty Rookie Drafts: Sell High With A Shallow Class?
• How To Value The 1.02 In 2026 Dynasty Rookie Drafts: Draft Carnell Tate Or Trade The Pick?
• How To Value The 1.03 In 2026 Dynasty Rookie Drafts: Draft Fernando Mendoza or a WR?

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the challenges of this type of analysis is that no two dynasty leagues are the same and every league will have its own unique trade market. Some leagues have very active trade markets where managers rarely retain their own rookie picks. In other leagues, any trade involving a first-round rookie pick is major news. You know your league best and have to calibrate the value of each pick accordingly.

How to Value Pick 1.04 in Dynasty Rookie Drafts?

This is the end of a tier in single-QB dynasty leagues. The vast majority of rookie drafts will start with Jeremiyah Love at 1.01 and then three WRs off the board after that. In theory, that should help this pick retain solid value. In reality, most dynasty managers will have their preferences between Carnell Tate, Makai Lemon and Jordyn Tyson after the NFL Draft, which means there may be a smaller pool of trade partners depending on which of those three falls to this spot.

In the scenario where all three of those WRs get good landing spots, this pick would benefit the most because the tier break would be perceived as even wider. I'm not betting on that scenario happening, but with the NFL Draft coming up this week it is worth keeping in mind if you are negotiating trades over the weekend.

How does the value of the 1.04 change for 1-QB vs. Superflex Leagues?

Similar to what I've written about in each of the last two articles, the 1.04 gets a meaningful bump in superflex leagues because there will be two good options available with this pick. Mendoza will fall to this spot in a decent number of leagues, and if not, there will be two of the top 3 receivers still on the board. That makes this pick a much safer bet to retain its value in superflex leagues while there are scenarios where it could lose a lot of value in single-QB leagues after the NFL Draft.

If Mendoza is still available, I think this is where we start to see a lot of trades happen in superflex leagues with the top 2 WRs off the board. Teams that need QB help and have a mid-first-round pick won't need to break the bank to move up and get the clear top passer in this class.

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What’s the 1.04 worth when trading for veterans?

This is always the most difficult question to answer in these articles because there are so many factors that go into trading rookie picks for veteran players. Team needs, championship windows and league format all make it difficult to assign universal player values, but there are a few general trade ideas I think are worth exploring.

I have been increasingly focused on the idea of trading the 1.02 - 1.04 picks for proven (but still young) talents at the WR position who have seen their value decline recently. Ladd McConkey, Brian Thomas and Rashee Rice are all names who stand out to me as players who have proven upside, aren't too old and are paired with good QBs. All of those players have seen their value come down recently because of disappointing seasons or off-field actions which makes them solid buy-low candidates.

If you have a roster that is closer to competing and landed the 1.04 in a prior trade, you could take a similar approach for RB or QB depending on what your roster needs.

What’s the 1.04 worth when trading for picks?

Right now fair value for the 1.04 looks something like trading down four or five spots in the first round and adding a mid-second round pick. The value may change a little bit after the NFL Draft, but that should remain the basis of a trade for the 1.04.

I don't mind the idea of trading down from this spot, but I do expect more managers to be interested in trading out of this pick than trading for it. In leagues where I have a late first, I will make some offers that I think are a good value for me (like the 1.10, 3.10 and 2027 third) to see if I get any takers.

The Final Verdict

My expectation is that the 1.04 is going to be a good pick to trade for, particularly in single-QB leagues. In most cases, whichever of Tate, Lemon and Tyson has the worst landing spot will be the player who ends up going at this pick. While we don't love a poor landing spot, it is often a good idea to fade overreactions to landing spots because team situations can change quickly in the NFL. If the rest of your league is down on a talented prospect because they landed with a low passing volume offense like the Miami Dolphins, I am usually happy to take the other side of that bet.

If you have the 1.04 my recommendation is to either make a trade before the NFL Draft or be patient and not panic if you have to take a WR with a bad landing spot. Just because you take a player in the rookie draft doesn't mean you have to keep them, but you do get to control when you make trades and you will likely have a chance to trade that player away (if you still want to) at some point in the future when sentiment has improved.

For more analysis and opinions on the 2026 rookie class be sure to check out the Fantasy Life Draft Guide, the Rookie Super Model and all our other great dynasty content.

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