Welcome back to the Dynasty Vet Values series, where I cover veteran players that are excellent targets for your contending teams, based on current Dynasty market value. We all know in Dynasty, youth and longevity is essential to remain competitive. But, at the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to win fantasy championships, and sometimes that means acquiring that “win-now” asset who may be past his prime. I publish a new article biweekly for this series, so be sure to stay tuned as we get further into the season!
I’ll be using KeepTradeCut to determine each player’s current market value, as this is a crowdsourced Dynasty ranking site, so it gives us a great idea of where the community stands.
Diontae Johnson (WR – CAR)
KTC Rank: WR51
Week 3 for the Carolina Panthers headlined a change at the quarterback position, with former #1 overall pick Bryce Young being benched for Andy Dalton, aka “The Red Rocket”. It was equal parts shocking, hilarious, and sad how drastically different this Panthers’ offense looked with Dalton at the helm instead of Bryce. Dalton led Carolina to their first win of the 2024 season, putting up 36 points in the process, and becoming the first QB this season to post 300 pass yards and three passing touchdowns in a single game. Andy Dalton’s incredible performance has simultaneously tanked Bryce’s real-life and fantasy value, while also making Diontae Johnson a must-start in fantasy.
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Diontae finished Week 3 with 14 targets, 8 receptions, 122 receiving yards and one touchdown: good for 26.2 fantasy PPR points. That put Diontae as the WR6 overall for Week 3. Currently, Johnson is ranked as the WR51 on KeepTradeCut, rising from WR57 over the past 48 hours. Even if Johnson’s Dynasty value increases, let’s say, another 10 WR spots in Dynasty, I would still say Diontae Johnson is a value at WR41 overall. This is a guy who had 140+ targets for three straight seasons (2020-22). He’ll be a free agent after this season, so we don’t know exactly what the future holds, but at 28 years of age, I’d say Diontae is still young enough to put together a few more productive fantasy seasons in the right environment. Trade aggressively for Diontae on your contending teams and increase your 2024 championship odds!
Keenan Allen (WR – CHI)
KTC Rank: WR65
The Keenan Allen injuries continued into Week 3, with the veteran WR still nursing a heel injury. This is a bit worrisome, as this is the same injury that caused Allen to miss the final four games of last season. However, at the price of Dynasty WR65, Keenan is a clear buy-low target for contending teams. He’s coming off a career-best 21.5 FPPG in 2023 and has posted seven straight seasons of 16+ FPPG. We don’t even need Keenan to hit 16 FPPG in order to pay off at this price. If he just returns in the next week or so, stays relatively healthy, and averages 12+ FPPG, he’s a smash at this WR60 price tag for a contending team. He’s currently being valued around a late 2027 2nd in KTC. I’m more than willing to roll the dice if that’s the price of admission here. Caleb Williams has not looked great thus far but I believe he’s made some improvements week over week. And Keenan saw 11 targets in Week 1 with Caleb under center, so I think we can expect sufficient volume when he returns, even with Moore and Odunze out there. If you can grab Keenan Allen for a 2026 or 2027 2nd, or possibly a pair of 2025 3rds, I would strongly consider this on your contending teams. As they say, scared money don’t make money.
Aaron Jones (RB – MIN)
KTC Rank: RB30
Aaron Jones had quite the afternoon in Week 3 as the Vikings handled the Texans in convincing fashion. He finished with 102 rush yards on 19 attempts, adding five receptions for 46 yards and a receiving touchdown. The Vikings are now 3-0 and looking like they may be the team to beat in the NFC, as Sam Darnold has been lighting it up. Minnesota is averaging over 28 PPG this season which means plenty of scoring opportunities for their RB1. Jones was used heavily in Week 3, seeing 25 total touches, and has seen 14+ touches in all three games. I don’t think this is as clear a value as the two aforementioned players, but still a quality veteran target for your contending rosters. Aaron Jones is currently valued as the RB30 overall, in line with a 2025 mid-2nd. Jones is only guaranteed to be a Viking this season, but if you’re looking for some cheap RB points to help increase your championship odds in 2024, Jones is someone I’d take a look at. Assuming health, he should be a must-start every week, giving the workload he’s been seeing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
