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Fantasy: Dynasty Buys

By Andy Moore (@AJMoore21)

A few days ago you were treated to a fantastic Sells equivalent which you can check out here. Today we take a look at those you should be trying to acquire. Let us know your thoughts, let us know YOUR OPINION. Because that’s what it is all about! Let’s see who can get these guys the cheapest!

The Denver Post, MediaNews Group.

Courtland Sutton – Denver Broncos

There’s a feel-good factor around Denver’s offense at the moment. After finishing the season 4-1 with Drew Lock under centre, John Elway has added Pat Shurmur to his coaching staff and signed Melvin Gordon, Graham Glasgow and Nick Vannett in free agency.

All this looks good for third year receiver Courtland Sutton. Coming off a 1,112 yard, 125 target, 72 reception season, the former SMU man has firmly established himself as the Broncos WR1.

The addition of Shurmur looks set to only help Sutton’s development, with his track record as an Offensive Co-ordinator unquestionably good for young QBs and the passing game. If Shurmur can recreate this in Denver, then look for more fireworks from Lock and Sutton as they look to navigate a difficult AFC West.

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In your Dynasty League, the time to buy Sutton might not be now. There are plenty of rumours linking the Broncos to a high quality deep threat receiver in the draft, with CeeDee Lamb and Henry Ruggs both regularly mocked their way. This shouldn’t harm Sutton’s production, in fact it should help minimise double coverage. Others may disagree, getting caught up with the inevitable post draft-fever, make your offer then!

The Associated Press

Miles Sanders – Philadelphia Eagles

Another young player that finished the season well, Miles Sanders was a game changer during the Eagles’ late drive to secure a play-off spot.

The 3^rd round pick out of Penn State had an up and down start to 2019, with Jordan Howard forcing him out of the starting role for a string of games before going down injured in week 9. Sanders capitalised on this, increasing his playing time and yardage increase until he peaked against the Redskins in week 14.

Howard is now completely out of the picture, having joined the Dolphins, leaving Sanders in competition with Boston Scott as the Eagles’ presumptive week 1 starter. It’s a battle he should win, considering his potential as a dual threat back and the relative draft capital invested in both.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Calvin Ridley – Atlanta Falcons

You’ve all seen the stat doing the rounds at the moment, the Atlanta Falcons have a starting offense built solely from first round picks. Calvin Ridley is amongst those, with the third year receiver currently occupying the WR2 designation behind Julio Jones.

Jones is contracted through 2024 and given the huge salary the Falcons have invested in him, it doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere soon. So why Ridley?

It’s all about consistency. In both his years in the league so far, Ridley has locked up 92 and 93 targets respectively, catching 64 of those in 2018 and 63 in 2019, those catches have gone for 821 and 866 yards, with 10 TDs in his rookie year, compared to 7 last year.

He’s the perfect flex player for your line ups, averaging above 10 points per game and providing the perfect complement to Julio it Atlanta’s offense. With such a stacked WR class this year, chances are he’s available relatively cheap in your league, and with Julio entering a period in which some players decline, Ridley could be set to ease in the other direction.

Joe Camporeale

TJ Hockenson – Detroit Lions

After week one of the 2019 season, Hockenson was cleared off waiver wires everywhere. The first rounder caught six passes from Matthew Stafford, going for 131 yards and a TD. Huge numbers for a rookie Tight End.

From there, things went downhill, with Hockenson only adding another 230 yards across the whole season. When you look at the cards dealt to the Iowa product, it’s not hard to see why his form trailed off, when Stafford went down injured, a combination of Jeff Driskel and David Blough stepped into uninspiringly fill the void and the Lions only managed one win after week three.

So, why trade for him now? Everyone knows that rookie Tight Ends are to be avoided in fantasy, so that shouldn’t put you off when looking at Hockenson’s rookie production. Instead look at the upside, this year’s TE class is poor, he was a top 10 NFL pick for obvious reasons last year, and when fit, his QB is one of the most reliable in the game. Pick him up cheap where you can, and watch him develop into one of the league’s elite TE options.

Marcus Mariota – Las Vegas Raiders

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Mariota – Las Vegas Raiders

This time last year I picked up Ryan Tannehill in 3 leagues, I didn’t get a complete bargain in all cases, but he was cheap for a QB in superflex leagues. The things I liked about Tannehill were, his work ethic, his commitment to his team, his experience as a starter and the precarious nature of the QB he was backing up.

Fast forward 12 months and the irony is there for all to see that we could say the exact same of that QB, Marcus Mariota. The new Raiders QB has always been the model of professionalism, he’s got a ton of starts (including playoff games) under his belt and he’s backing up Derek Carr, who just doesn’t seem to fit the Jon Gruden school of thought.

So, I’m picking up Mariota where I can this year, half the league had him down as QB1 in the 2015 draft class, and in places he has flashed exactly why they believed that. With a bit of encouragement and the freedom to use his legs, Mariota can certainly be a starter in the NFL, if Carr slips you can bet Mariota will be straight in. Buy low, and buy now!

Fantasy: Dynasty Sells

Andy Goddard, blog, Fantasy, Trade Targets

By Andy Goddard (@Godsy1985)

NFL Fantasy – Dynasty Sells

Image credit: Jim Brown – USA Today Sports

Derrick Henry RB – Tennesse Titans

First on my list of dynasty sells is Derrick Henry. Henry drove the Titans to the 2019 playoffs with his powerful running and it appeared that defenders were scared to try and tackle him. In fact, during one run, Henry used Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas as his lead blocker when a devastating stiff arm spun Thomas around! Henry rushed for 1540 yards and 16 touchdowns in the 2019 regular season, eclipsing his best ever season by nearly 500 yards! He then backed this up with another 446 yards and two touchdowns during the 2019 playoffs. So why does he make the ‘sell’ list?

In my opinion, Henry has reached the ceiling and with that, his maximum value. I would certainly be putting the feelers out there to see exactly what you can get for him. Henry has been in the league for 4 seasons and whilst he has been improving year on year, he will not eclipse last seasons performances. Before 2019, Henry had a best season of 1059 yards and 12 touchdowns and in the previous 2 seasons hadn’t reached 1000 yards and only managed 5 touchdowns each year.

There is no doubting that Henry is one of the better running backs in the league at this moment in time but when playing dynasty, you need to capitalise on players at their maximum value. I think Henry’s first three seasons are a better representation of what you can expect if you hold onto him. Don’t expect him to clock up over 1500 yards each year. Get the value now as someone is always desperate for a running back and will no doubt overpay for someone like Henry!

(Image credit: Katharine Lotze – Getty Images)

James Conner RB – Pittsburgh Steelers

At the beginning of last season, James Conner started as the 8th running back taken in the draft (on average) and has now fallen to an average draft position (ADP) of running back 22! The main issue here is health. In 2019 Conner played just 10 games and rushed for a measly 464 yards with a longest run of just 25 yards. There was a lot of hype and expectation on Conner when he took over from Le’Veon Bell and he produced a good year in 2018, rushing for 973 yards and adding 497 receiving yards.

James Conner is still rumoured to be the starting running back for the Steelers franchise (according to Steelers GM Kevin Colbert) which means that he will still have value now. If you are of the belief that he won’t regain the form of 2018, then his value will only drop. If you aren’t sold on him I would consider using him as trade bait. If you want to keep him, he is a third running back at best right now.

(Image credit: Matthew Stockman – Getty Images)

Phillip Lindsay RB – Denver Broncos

Phillip Lindsay is one of the most frustrating players in fantasy football. You can watch the highlights and think he is lighting it up every week but if you delve into the stats he just wasn’t consistent enough. Lindsay will get 20+ points one week and 3 the next! He has value though. If you look at the seasonal stats he has amassed over 1000 yards in each of his first two seasons with 1037 and 1011 yards respectively.

In my opinion, he won’t make it to 1000 yards again in 2020 and his value will drop. Going into 2020, Lindsay will now be splitting time with Melvin Gordon and/or Royce Freeman which will limit his opportunities and he needs to make bigger improvements in the receiving game where he did not have 1 single touchdown in 2019. There just aren’t enough upsides to keep Lindsay right now. Whilst you may have lost the value with the Gordon move, still try and move him on to someone that is a bit more bullish about Lindsay.

(Image credit: Aaron Doster – USA Today Sports)

AJ Green WR – Cincinnati Bengals

AJ Green is a stellar wide receiver, there is no doubting his ability. However, he missed the entirety of the 2019 season due to injury and only played 10 games the year before. He is also 31 years old. Whichever way you look at it, the value that you can potentially get for Green is only going to go down. He may still be of value to a team that is looking for a short-term guy to help win a championship in 2020 or 2021. He certainly won’t be an option for a team that is currently in rebuild mode.

This is where you need to know your league and the teams that make it up. If you know that there is another team that may be one receiver short of having a real chance at winning the championship, you may be able to get some value for Green. AJ Green will likely be staying in Cincinnati and he will probably have rookie QB Joe Burrow throwing him the ball. If he can stay healthy, he is still one of the best receivers in the league. Its a risk to trade him but also a risk to trade for him!

(Image credit: Scott Varley – Staff Photographer)

Keenan Allen WR – LA Chargers

In 2017, Keenan Allen finally proved that he could stay healthy and since then he has amassed three seasons where he has averaged over 100 receptions and over 1200 yards. As good as these numbers appear, he hasn’t been able to score more than six touchdowns each year. He is also losing Philip Rivers at QB. No matter who is under centre for the Chargers next year, it won’t be a big upgrade on Rivers. The uncertainty that Allen now faces leaves a little bit of a problem for dynasty owners. He has been producing good numbers but we have no idea who will be throwing to him in 2020.

You can get good value for Allen and replace him with a young receiver from the draft as his name will still carry a lot of weight. If you can manage to get a mid first round pick for him, you can let the new owner deal with the wide range of possible outcomes for Allen in 2020.

Trade Targets – Week 12/Dynasty

Dave, Fantasy, Trade Targets

By Dave Moore (@davieremixed)

We’re at crunch time in Fantasyland.

Did Kyle Allen torch your playoff hopes? Did that San Francisco defensive TD steal a win for you to keep your dreams alive for another week?

This week we’re leaning towards those of you in Dynasty Leagues as you look to build for next season, particularly any of you unlucky enough to have gone all-in on a Goff/Barkley QB/RB tandem this year.

Bring on Board

Courtland Sutton – WR – Denver Broncos

After watching Sutton manhandle Xavier Rhodes and Denzel Ward in his previous two games I think it’s safe to say that Sutton is rapidly approaching a WR1 berth. The matchup against the Bills might be off-putting but if the ball is going anywhere wide, it’s going to Sutton.

However, if Allen doesn’t stay functional and Drew Lock disappears off to the Land of 2016-2019 Broncos QBs then John Elway will likely dip into the open QB market this off-season. Cam Newton? Phillip Rivers? Heck, even Kaep under center would probably be an improvement and with a good QB I can see Sutton having a big year in 2020. He’s crept up to 13^th overall for WRs in non-PPR leagues, his upside for the home stretch is decent, his upside for the rest of the year is big.

Finally, the Broncos slate next year features the NFC South, which is arguably about as appetising as it gets for wide-outs.

Austin Ekeler – RB – Los Angeles Chargers

With and without Melvin Gordon, Austin Ekeler is proving himself a worthy RB1 for Fantasy, currently in the top five of Fantasy RBs he is proving a dual-threat in the same way Alvin Kamara was so effective for the previous two seasons as a pass-catching back.

His price will be high but if Gordon moves on in the off-season then this gives Ekeler a clear run as the main back in Los Angeles.

If you’re really desperate for the end of this season, Ekeler is due to face just one top-five rushing D in the form of the Vikings in Week 15.

D/ST – Los Angeles Rams

This is a play for next year and I’ll keep this short and sweet as we all know how good the Rams D can be.

Their schedule next year includes: Trips to Washington, Miami and possibly Tampa. Home games against both New York teams and possibly a Brady-less Patriots (but that’s another rumour for another day) as well as a visit from The Mitchell Trubisky/Chase Daniels Experience.

You can probably get them quite cheap as their remaining 2019 schedule isn’t too pretty with the Ravens, Seahawks, Cowboys and San Francisco on the card as well as two games against those pesky Cardinals.

Put on the Block

David Johnson – RB – Arizona Cardinals

Things just haven’t worked out for DJ this year and I think his time in Arizona is up come the offseason.

He was healthy and dressed for Sunday and how many snaps did he take the field for? Nine. How many touches? A big fat zero. That’s five straight weeks where’s he had no impact whatsoever and after the Cardinals traded for Kenyan Drake the writing appears to be on the wall for Johnson.

The question is, where does he go? I’m not sure I see any team where he walks in as the undisputed starter. Maybe, maybe he ends up in Los Angeles backing up Austin Ekeler and gets some plays when Ekeler is out wide?

Get what draft picks you can for him and get him out of there.

Le’Veon Bell – RB – New York Jets

Listen, as long as the Jets have such a porous O-Line I am going to be against having any players from them on my team. Bell has been beaten up all year with the word coming out that Adam Gase will be staying on next season that just leaves me to believe that it’ll be further issues for Bell and his overall health.

He’s hit double figures in the last three weeks, yes. Those teams, however, were the Dolphins, the Giants and the Redskins so all come with huge asterisks.

Of course, this could all change next year if a team makes a trade for him but I’d be surprised if that happened unless Bell really forced the issue.

Julian Edelman – WR – New England Patriots

As I alluded to earlier, I have a feeling that Brady may not take the field next year which throws up a ton of questions. Does Belichick stay? Do the Patriots look to strip it all down and rebuild? It’s a total crapshoot what might happen but one thing is sure shooting, whether Brady stays or not he isn’t offering up enough opportunities to his WRs this season.

Edelman has been the mainstay, as always, but has only broken into double figures on a handful of occasions with the Jets/Giants/Redskins asterisks being in play here too.

He’s ranked 15^th in non-PPR leagues for WRs and I’m not too sure if he can be seen as a WR1 anymore.

The Patriots face the Rams, Seahawks, Broncos, 49ers and almost certainly the Ravens next year as well as two traditionally Buffalo games which doesn’t seem appealing for anyone looking at a Patriots WR so now is probably the time to sell.