Meet the Managers | 1st Round Reveal | Nerds App League

With nearly 150 years of combined dynasty fantasy football experience, the 12 managers in our new Dynasty Nerds App League are ready for the big league. You listen to us each week. You read our articles. You use our app. Now, you will get inside access to one of the most competitive dynasty leagues in the fantasy universe.

This league isn’t just about setting lineups. It will be a battleground for some of the sharpest minds at Dynasty Nerds and in the dynasty community. Each manager brings their own unique strategy, trade philosophy, and championship aspiration. Every year, two managers will be kicked out of the league, making the Nerds App League one of the most cutthroat around.

Nerds App League 1st Round Reveal

Let’s introduce you to the masterminds behind the teams and dive into their backgrounds, playstyles, and what makes them formidable opponents in this ultimate quest for dynasty dominance:

Rich Dotson (@DynastyRich)

Dynasty Nerds Founder | Podcast Host

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand welcome!”

You know him, you love him, you listen to him every week—it’s Rich Dotson. Rich got his start in fantasy football when he was asked to join a league in his teens, and with his love of the NFL, things grew from there. With so many great dynasty minds and friendly rivalries in the Dynasty Nerds App League, you just know Rich will want to win this league more than any other.

Rich’s 1st Round Pick: Trade!

Rich traded back from 1.10 to pick up 2.10 and 3.10 where he drafted Marvin Harrison Jr. and Saquon Barkley, respectively. After this trade back, his first pick was Justin Herbert at pick 2.03. Will this strategy pay off for the fearless leader?

Garret Price (@DynastyPrice)

Dynasty Nerds Co-Owner | Head of Content

Garret is a key contributor at Dynasty Nerds and has his hands in many things. From the podcast to Tik Tok shorts to Roster Rescue shows on our YouTube channel, Garret is perhaps best known for creating the Nerd Score, our unique prospect evaluation tool. It may surprise you to learn that Garret’s passion for fantasy football started in college, where he and his friends built their love for the game through trash talking.

Garret’s 1st Round Pick: Jahmyr Gibbs at 1.11

If you’ve listened to the Dynasty Nerds podcast over the last few months, you may have heard that Garret likes to draft later in the 1st round, and he is a fan of drafting young, talented running backs. Taking Jahmyr Gibbs with the 11th pick exemplified that strategy. He swung around and took the 1st rookie pick at 2.02 where he later drafted Ashton Jeanty. This strategy sets Garret’s team apart from many others in the league, so it will be interesting to see how his decisions pay off.

Jared Wackerly (@JaredWackerly)

Dynasty Nerds Co-Owner | Prospect Evaluations | Business Development

The only member of the Nerds App League with a page on Sports Reference and ESPN, Jared Wackerly masterfully transitioned from playing real football to fantasy football. Along with Garret, Jared works on our Nerd Scores, and as podcast producer. He also does his best to keep Rich on task. An elite-tier trash talker in his own right, Jared will be putting his all into this league given the bragging rights at stake.

Jared’s 1st Round Pick: Ja’Marr Chase at 1.08

After Justin Jefferson was taken with the 7th pick, Jared followed by taking Ja’Marr Chase with the 8th overall selection. Chase had an incredible 2024 season, finishing as the highest-scoring positional player in fantasy football. At just 25-years old, Chase will be a popular pivot in the 1st round of dynasty drafts this offseason.

Nick Piovano (@DynastyStump)

Head of Product | Dynasty Nerds App Creator

My Dynasty Nerds brother in New York Jets fandom and woe, Nick Piovano is the tech whiz behind our fantastic Dynasty Nerds App. Nick discovered his love of fantasy football by watching Red Zone as a kid. He started the Nerds App after creating a customizable spreadsheet to import dynasty rosters. Now look how it’s grown!

Don’t let the “nerd behind the scenes” archetype fool you. Nick knows what he’s doing.

Nick’s 1st Round Pick: Justin Jefferson at 1.07

Quarterback turmoil in Minnesota? Injuries? None of it mattered for Justin Jefferson. After finishing just short of 20-points per game in 2024, Jefferson is one of the most elite players in fantasy football. Nick will eagerly start him every week, and he will be a building block on his roster for years to come. Jefferson is a no-brainer pick in the middle of the 1st round if you aren’t in the market for a quarterback early.

Taylor Christianson (@MySleepers)

Editor-in-Chief of DynastyNerds.com

Taylor Christianson is our website’s commissioner of content, drafting top-tier analysis and benching bad takes and poor grammar. He may be one of our newer staff members, but he has a decade-and-a-half of experience playing in dynasty leagues. With a keen eye for detail, he earns high marks for vision, but will the Nerds App League be his blindspot? By reading all of our articles before they’re published, Taylor could have a sneaky inside edge on winning the league.

Taylor’s 1st Round Pick: Lamar Jackson at 1.01

Lamar Jackson fell a few votes short of winning the NFL MVP to Josh Allen for the 2024 season, but Taylor bestowed an even greater honor upon him by making him the No. 1 overall selection in the Nerds League App startup draft. Jackson had a phenomenal season for the Ravens last season, and Taylor hopes he can duplicate those numbers and buoy him to a fantasy football title in 2025.

Matt Cooper (@CouchScoutsFF)

Film Room Coordinator | Rookie Scouting

If you are a NerdHerd member, you know all about our amazing Film Room. (If you aren’t yet, become a member and scout like a Nerd today!) The Dynasty Nerds Film Room is used by some of the biggest names in the fantasy industry, and we all have Matt Cooper and the film junkies to thank for its success. Matt juggles many moving parts to bring the Film Room to the masses, and who better to have success in the Nerds App League than the man who has unfettered access to film on dynasty’s best up-and-coming prospects? If you want a name to watch out for, it’s Matt Cooper.

Matt’s 1st Round Pick: Brock Bowers at 1.09

The “when will Brock Bowers be drafted?” question was answered emphatically by Matt when he selected the rookie phenom with the 9th pick. Las Vegas is the home of the greatest gambles, so will the recent roll-the-dice trade for Geno Smith slingshot Brock to even greater success? Matt hopes so!

Tristan Cook (@THETristanCook)

Director of College Content

Next up, hailing from the Rocky Mountains, our Director of College Content, Tristan Cook. Tristan is Dynasty Nerds’ expert on all things college football. He got his start in fantasy football at the age of 11 playing in random free ESPN leagues. Suffice to say, this league will likely be a bit more difficult to navigate than those.

Tristan’s 1st Round Pick: Amon-Ra St. Brown at 1.12

When picking at the end of the 1st round, Tristan looked at the available players and doubled up on wide receiver. With pick 1.12, he selected Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. With his next pick, he took Malik Nabers of the New York Giants. These dynamic players should comprise his team’s core for years to come. Of course, that’s only if he doesn’t get eliminated from the league first!

Keith Ensminger (@TheSmingDynasty)

Nerds App League Commissioner | Senior NFL Prospect Analyst

I am honored, not only to be a member of the illustrious Nerds App League, but to be its commissioner. As a child of the 1980s, I grew up around video games and I discovered my love of fantasy football as a kid playing Tecmo Super Bowl. I started my first fantasy football league when I was 14-years old using my Commodore 64 and a dial-up modem. Things have come a long way since then!

Keith’s 1st Round Pick: Jayden Daniels at 1.03

Speaking with as little bias as I’m able, I was tickled pink to land Jayden Daniels—my 1.01-ranked player in dynasty Superflex startup drafts. Daniels showed the upside of fantasy megastars Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson while being four years younger. In my eyes, the draft begins after the three elite quarterbacks.

Jon Glosser (@Glosser13)

Director of IDP Content

“The best offense is a good defense.” It is one of the oldest adages in football. In short, it is the belief that the most effective way to gain an advantage over your opponent is to attack first. That’s what our Director of IDP (Individual Defensive Players) Jon Glosser hopes to do in the Nerds App League. IDP is a fantasy format where managers draft players on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. With such a depth of NFL roster knowledge like that, Jon is going to have a leg up on his opponents in the Nerds App League.

Jon’s 1st Round Pick: Patrick Mahomes at 1.04

Who better to take Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback who has been frustrating defenses for years, than our director of defensive content, Jon Glosser? This could be another ho-hum fantasy season from the dynamic Mahomes, but on the other hand, it could be the start of his revenge tour.

Dr. Matthew Mitchell (@ReflipeWTheNuz)

Senior Writer | Mock Draft Lead

With 20 years of dynasty fantasy football experience, second only to Rich, “Doc” is one of the most formidable managers in the Dynasty Nerds App League. A jack-of-all-trades, he has covered many things in his time with Dynasty Nerds. The next thing he hopes to cover is his wall with a championship banner from winning this league.

Doc’s 1st Round Pick: Joe Burrow at 1.05

After finishing with a 9-8 record and missing the playoffs, 2024 did not work out the way the Cincinnati Bengals hoped. Despite the disappointment, Joe Burrow finished the season with 22.5 points per game, putting him behind only Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Doc hopes Joe Burrow will continue to do Joe Burrow things again in 2025.

Mychal Warno (@DynastyDadMike)

Senior Writer | Trading and Free Agents

While sitting in the middle of the draft, Mychal Warno rode the twists and turns of the Dynasty Nerds App League startup and came out on the other end with a strong roster. After getting his start in fantasy football from college friends, Mychal hopes his 1st round pick of Jalen Hurts many years later brings more than just NFL championships.

Mychal’s First Round Pick: Jalen Hurts at 1.06

Mychal’s favorite all-time fantasy football player is Michael Vick, so there is a bit of personal consistency in taking another mobile Philadelphia Eagles quarterback in Jalen Hurts. Hurts proved all the doubters wrong last year in both the fantasy and NFL space, and the only question now is will he do enough with his encore to save Mychal from elimination in 2025?

Peter Monahan (@Pistol_Pete026)

Discord Manager | Trading

If you’ve spent even but a few minutes in the Dynasty Nerds Discord, you know Peter Monahan. A self-described dynasty degenerate, Peter has been playing fantasy football since the 8th grade. Now, with Dynasty Nerds, “Pistol Pete” is a man of the people. He hopes all the time amongst the NerdHerd will benefit him when it comes to the Nerds App League. Winning the Nerds App League will take more than a popularity contest, though. It’s going to take a lot of skill and a little bit of luck to come out on top of this elite crew.

Peter’s 1st Round Pick(s): Josh Allen at 1.02 & Bijan Robinson (Trade) at 1.10

It is hard to argue against drafting the reigning NFL MVP with the 2nd pick of the Nerds App League startup. Like all of Bills Mafia, Peter hopes Josh Allen can take that next step in 2025 and get his fantasy team over the hump and into the Nerds App League championship game.

Peter traded back into the 1st round with Rich to draft Bijan Robinson. In the process, Pete gave up his 2nd and 3rd round draft selections. Spoiler: Pete made several more win-now trades during the startup draft, including another spicy deal for Nico Collins.

Want to Participate in the Nerds App League?

If you want to know more about any of the Nerds App GMs, ask in Discord or @DynastyNerds on X or Tik Tok. We will bring your questions to the managers and find out what you want to know. If the question is applicable, we may have all of our managers answer it in their upcoming one-on-one interviews.

Don’t forget: At the end of the season, you will get to choose 1 manager to save out of the bottom 3 dynasty teams. Every vote will count, so follow along during the season and help make the Nerds App League the best it can be!

Nerds App League Rules & Scoring

In case you missed the first break down of the Nerds App League, you can check it out here: