Hey there, it's Heath Cummings here with your Dynasty Download. Every Friday for at least the next month, I'll fill in for Chris Towers on the newsletter and fill you in on our latest Dynasty content and what the latest news means for Dynasty managers. This first week comes with a special announcement, so let's start there.
This Tuesday we launched Dynasty Fantasy Football Today on YouTube. It's a new show focusing on everything Dynasty Fantasy Football. In our first episode Dave Richard, Dan Schneier, and I talked risers and fallers in the month of March. Most weeks we'll bring on a guest from the industry, starting with Scott Fish next week and Matt Waldman the following week. You can tune in every Tuesday at 11 AM ET live on the Fantasy Football Today YouTube page.
Dynasty Rankings Update
This week I updated rankings for all four positions.
Quarterback
The Owner's Meetings brought news that Lamar Jackson has requested a trade and Brock Purdy has the edge over Trey Lance once Purdy is healthy. There's increasing risk that neither of these quarterbacks is playing Week 1, Jackson because of his unhappiness with his contract and Lance because he's simply the backup. In fact, Kyle Shanahan said Lance would share first-team reps with Sam Darnold this offseason, so Lance may not even be the backup once Purdy is healthy.
I'm holding Jackson because I'm not selling low on a former MVP with his upside. But if someone wants to take Lance off my hands, I'm more than willing to talk. It's nothing against the player other than he came into the league as a project, has played very little football the last four years, and is a running quarterback coming off a lower leg injury.
Running Back
Miles Sanders and David Montgomery were the two big winners of free agency, with both receiving contracts that make them likely starters for the next two seasons. Sanders' deal was the rare win-win in Dynasty because he didn't take anyone's job and he left a good job for the taking in Philadelphia. Montgomery's deal was the train that the flashing red lights had been warning D'Andre Swift Fantasy managers about.
Swift is still a top-20 back for the time being in Dynasty but he may need a change of scenery if he's ever going to reach the upside we all thought he had just a year ago.
Wide Receiver
Speaking of upside from the past, DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham are still searching for their new teams. Hopkins is technically still on the Arizona Cardinals, but the team has given him permission to find a trade partner. Unless it's the Kansas City Chiefs, I'm not sure I'm going to be too excited about it. But I'll be more excited about him than I am Beckham, no matter where either lands.
Beckham may be waiting for Aaron Rodgers to officially join the New York Jets or he may be the No. 1 wide receiver that keeps Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Either way (or any other way), I remain very skeptical that he'll ever be "Odell Beckham" (or a must-start Fantasy wide receiver) again.
Tight End
In the update, I wrote about the bounce back in Irv Smith's value after he signed with the Bengals. Smith was my No. 15 tight end a year ago, had fallen to TE26 last month, and now finds himself at TE15 again. That says something about being tied to Joe Burrow for a year, but more about how little hope it takes to be a top-15 tight end in Dynasty right now.
Smith is one of a handful of top-25 tight ends hoping they don't get replaced during the NFL Draft. Jake Ferguson is another. He's seen a big boost in value with Dalton Schultz leaving for Houston. Like Smith, if the Cowboys don't draft a tight end in the first two days, Ferguson will be a popular sleeper. For now, he's a must-add in Dynasty leagues, especially tight end-premium.
Coming soon
That's a lot of updates for one week, but we're not quite done yet. On Friday afternoon, check out the Dynasty Landing Page and I'll have a brand new Dynasty Trade Chart for you. Expect the 1.01 to move into the top five overall values. I've become sold that it's more likely than not that Bijan Robinson is going to be RB1 after the NFL Draft, which means he'll likely slot in behind Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase at No. 3 overall.
Then, on Tuesday we'll not only have a new episode of FFT Dynasty with Scott Fish, but we'll also have a two-round Superflex rookie-only mock. There are a lot of downsides to doing a real rookie draft before the NFL Draft, but a mock has a lot of benefits. For one thing, it's healthy to see what we think of the players before we get their landing spot. Maybe it will help us avoid another disaster like drafting Clyde Edwards-Helaire over Jonathan Taylor.
And next Friday I'll be back here with some thoughts on that mock draft and a Dynasty mailbag. So be sure to get your questions in via Twitter or send us an email.
In other news
- Anthony Richardson had his pro day on Wednesday and showed off some of that seemingly limitless upside. This is shaping up to be either a dream or a nightmare for Fantasy managers. Richardson's physical traits are those of a potential QB1 overall, but I'm not sure his floor is any higher than that of Malik Willis. If a team takes him in the top five and indicates it plans on starting Richardson Week 1, he'll be in my top 12 at the position. But I won't feel any security about it.
- Aaron Rodgers still isn't a New York Jet, but we continue to hear things that indicate the deal should be soon. I am getting more and more concerned that this isn't a good thing for the Jets or Fantasy managers with Jets on their roster. Sure, it's definitely better than Zach Wilson, but if Rodgers brings Allen Lazard and Odell Beckham with him to New York, I'm not sure it's going to be a lot better for Garrett Wilson.
- Marvin Jones is back in Detroit. Let's just hope he doesn't take any target away from Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
- Michael Thomas is still not 100%. I don't know the last time Thomas was 100%, but like Beckham it's growing more difficult to believe Thomas will ever approach the heights he reached in the past. The one thing Thomas has over Beckham is that he was actually good last year. He averaged 17 FPPG in the three games he played in 2023. If I was a contender, I'd give a Round 2 rookie pick for him, but nothing more.