Dynasty Analysis
For my money, I think both Mayfield and Darnold are better than people give them credit for. Mayfield is much better, though. He played under incredibly painful and difficult conditions for most of last year with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. People that say “but who cares, it wasn’t his throwing shoulder” are people you shouldn’t listen to. He also showed a lot of improvement the year prior, in my opinion, in a season that included three monsoon-type games. Look at his splits after the weather cleared. He has 92 TDs and 56 INTs in his career so far, compared to 54 and 52, respectively, for Darnold. I think he wins the job easily and I would approach drafts with that assumption.
Welcome back to the “Fantasy Stock Up, Stock Down” series (offseason edition). Us dynasty managers must constantly research ways to bolster our rosters. Do you need advice on who to trade for? Maybe you’re looking for players to trade away. Do you have enough young talent to ensure your roster is set for years to come? Maybe you’re going all in and need a couple of pieces to sharpen your team. During this series, we dive deep into one player whose dynasty stock is increasing and one player whose dynasty stock is decreasing. As always, we will break down each NFL team one by one. Today is all about the Houston Texans.
Jameson Williams was a four-star prospect out of St. Louis, MO who broke Ezekiel Elliott’s 300-meter hurdle state record in high school. He starred both on the football field and the track and after a difficult decision between Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State, eventually committed to the Buckeyes. Williams played sparingly as a reserve and special-teamer during his true freshman season. Williams started six games in 2020 but caught just nine passes for 154 yards and two scores as the fourth option in a loaded wide receiver depth chart that included Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and Garrett Wilson at the time.
Welcome back to the “Fantasy Stock Up, Stock Down” series (offseason edition). Us Dynasty Managers must constantly research ways to bolster our rosters. Do you need advice on who to trade for? Maybe you’re looking for players to trade away. Do you have enough young talent to ensure your roster is set for years to come? Maybe you’re going all in and need a couple of pieces to sharpen your team. During this series, we dive deep into one player whose dynasty stock is increasing and one player whose dynasty stock is decreasing. As always, we will break down each NFL team one by one. Today is all about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Zamir White was the number one RB in his class coming out of high school and a top-ten national recruit before signing with the Georgia Bulldogs. “Zeus,” as he was called, unfortunately, tore his ACL late in his senior season, however, and then tore his other ACL in August 2018, which caused him to redshirt the fall. He worked hard and overcame these injuries, rushing for 408 yards and three TDs on 78 carries in 2019, playing behind D’Andre Swift.
Welcome to the Dynasty Market Sweep, a weekly recurring offseason article focusing on substantial value disparities in the dynasty market consensus. The very nature of the instantaneous fantasy news feed has made the dynasty market more reactionary and volatile than ever before. Once the proverbial petrol is poured and Twitter fingers snap to ignite, player values can burn to the ground overnight. Value changes of this nature cause a ripple effect across the market. For every step up the ladder, someone must move down and vice versa.
Welcome back to the “Fantasy Stock Up, Stock Down” series (offseason edition). Us dynasty managers need to be constantly researching ways we can bolster our rosters. Do you need advice on who to trade for? Maybe you’re looking for players to trade away. Do you have enough young talent to ensure your roster is set for years to come? Maybe you’re going all in and need a couple of pieces to sharpen your team. During this series, we dive deep into one player whose dynasty stock is increasing and one player whose dynasty stock is decreasing. As always, we will break down each NFL team one by one. Today is all about the Seattle Seahawks.
A four-star high school recruit who was born in Taiwan, moved to Ghana, and later emigrated to Canada, John Metchie III played his high school ball in the state of Maryland. He logged some game time as a freshman at Alabama, but behind so many NFL talents at WR he didn’t log enough snaps to impress statistically. In 2020 he filled in for an injured Jaylen Waddle and recorded his breakout season. This past season, he earned second-team All-SEC honors with a team-high 96 receptions before suffering a torn ACL in the conference title game and missing the team’s playoff run.
When we loosely compare players, most people feel they have a good idea of what kind of production to expect. We may think “CD Lamb can be a top-5 receiver while Michael Gallup scores 13-plus ppg, Jalen Tolbert is useful as a rookie and Dalton Schultz is a top-five tight end.” But, these may just be unrealistic goals to set even for the most pass-friendly offense in the NFL. I make projections to ground myself and help to understand what is actually possible, probable, or realistic. So, in this series, I will be going through each NFL team and making median projections for their 2022 seasons with their most fantasy-relevant players. I may be able to discern if certain players are being undervalued immediately but in most cases, I will need to finish more teams to get a good idea.
Welcome to the Dynasty Market Sweep, a weekly recurring offseason article focusing on substantial value disparities in the dynasty market consensus. The very nature of the instantaneous fantasy news feed has made the dynasty market more reactionary and volatile than ever before. Once the proverbial petrol is poured, and Twitter fingers snap to ignite, player values can burn to the ground overnight. Value changes of this nature cause a ripple effect across the market. For every step up the ladder, someone must move down and vice versa.
Welcome to the Dynasty Market Sweep, a weekly recurring offseason article focusing on substantial value disparities in the dynasty market consensus. The very nature of the instantaneous fantasy news feed has made the dynasty market more reactionary and volatile than ever before. Once the proverbial petrol is poured, and Twitter fingers snap to ignite, player values can burn to the ground overnight. Value changes of this nature cause a ripple effect across the market. For every step up the ladder, someone must move down and vice versa.
When we loosely compare players, most people feel they have a good idea of what kind of production to expect. We may think “Justin Fields can be a QB1 with no elite weapons in the passing game due to his rushing upside.” I am here to tell you what is possible and what is not. I make projections to ground myself and help to understand what is actually possible, probable, or realistic. So, in this series, I will be going through each NFL team and making median projections for their 2022 seasons with their most fantasy-relevant players. I may be able to discern if certain players are being undervalued immediately but in most cases, I will need to finish more teams to get a good idea.
Even though the touches will be very split Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon can both be usable backs. I do think that people are underestimating the effect that Melvin’s presence has on Javonte’s touches as his ADP of RB12 seems very high for the stats I am projecting. On the other hand, Melvin Gordon seems undervalued and is a great grab at his ADP of RB36. This discrepancy in ADP does not make sense to me because both are hampered by each other and were in a 50/50 split in 2021. And, if either gets hurt the healthy player will be a top ten back. So, Gordon being drafted so much later is hard to grasp. I think Javonte should be drafted lower and Gordon should be drafted higher.
When we loosely compare players, most people feel they have a good idea of what kind of production to expect. We may think “Deshaun Watson can support two fantasy-relevant WRs along with Chubb being an RB1 and Hunt being an RB2.” But, there may just not be room for that kind of production. I make projections to ground myself and help to understand what is actually possible, probable, or realistic. So, in this series, I will be going through each NFL team and making median projections for their 2022 seasons with their most fantasy-relevant players. I may be able to discern if certain players are being undervalued immediately but in most cases, I will need to finish more teams to get a good idea.
It takes tight ends a while to adjust to the NFL game. Most excel as run-blockers before they see substantial growth in production as pass-catchers. For instance, Dalton Schultz didn’t surpass 600 receiving yards in a season until his third year in the league (2020), and he countered that with a TE3 finish last season (fourth year) in PPR formats. Dawson Knox is another prime example here. During his first two seasons in the league, he never topped 400 receiving yards, 30 receptions, or three receiving touchdowns. His best finish was as the TE32 before last season’s TE11 finish. Those are just a few examples, but the point is that you shouldn’t give up on Trautman just yet. He’s entering his third season as a pro with a better supporting cast surrounding him and a quarterback he’s somewhat familiar with.
Welcome to the second installment of Tournament Drafting, the series in which I break down my entries for Underdog’s Best Ball Mania III and The Puppy. As I did in the first installment, I will be sharing my thoughts on roster construction, stacking, game theory, ADP, and everything in between. Let’s dive into this bizarre and frustrating draft.
When we loosely compare players, most people feel they have a good idea of what kind of production to expect. We may think “Can Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase both really be top 12 wide receivers in fantasy this year?.” But, there may just not be room for that kind of production. I make projections to ground myself and help to understand what is actually possible, probable, or realistic. So, in this series, I will be going through each NFL team and making median projections for their 2022 seasons with their most fantasy-relevant players. I may be able to discern if certain players are being undervalued immediately but in most cases, I will need to finish more teams to get a good idea.
First, I’ll just touch on my process. I start by looking at the team and individual player trends over the last two to three seasons. I get stats like target shares, rush attempt shares, yards per carry, yards per reception, completion percentage, touchdown shares, etc. As well as team-focused metrics like pass-to-rush play ratio (this is team pass attempts divided by team rush attempts), pass-to-rush touchdown ratio, and plays per game. I then use these past trends to predict what will be in store for 2022. Here are my projections for the Buffalo Bills’ fantasy-relevant players.
Welcome back to the “Fantasy Stock Up, Stock Down” series (offseason edition). Us Dynasty Managers need to be constantly researching ways we can bolster our rosters. Do you need advice on who to trade for? Maybe you’re looking for players to trade away. Do you have enough young talent to ensure your roster is set for years to come? Maybe you’re going all in and need a couple of pieces to sharpen your team. During this series, we dive deep into one player whose dynasty stock is increasing and one player whose dynasty stock is decreasing. As always, we will break down each NFL team one by one. Today is all about the Baltimore Ravens.
When we loosely compare players, most people feel they have a good idea of what kind of production to expect. We may think “Oh yeah, Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman can both easily eclipse 1000 yards while J.K. Dobbins is an RB1 and Gus Edwards is a solid flex play.” But, there may just not be room for that kind of production. I make projections to ground myself and help to understand what is actually possible, probable, or realistic. So, in this series, I will be going through each NFL team and making median projections for their 2022 seasons with their most fantasy-relevant players. I may be able to discern if certain players are being undervalued immediately but in most cases, I will need to finish more teams to get a good idea.
Skyy Moore is an intriguing prospect in the 2022 class. The WR coming out of Western Michigan University dominated the MAC since he stepped on the field. There are people with concerns about why he wasn’t at a big school but there is simple reasoning for that. Throughout his high school career, he played QB and CB so schools never saw what he was capable of at receiver.
Allen Robinson at WR32 was just silly value. Robinson is still in his prime and one year removed from back-to-back WR1 seasons with Mitchell Trubisky. Now he’s playing with Matthew Stafford in a high-powered offense. He can easily post high-end WR2 numbers playing alongside Cooper Kupp, and the sky is the limit if an injury occurs.
Wan’Dale Robinson is currently the most disrespected prospect in the 2022 Rookie Class by far as he’s slotted as a late second/early third-round rookie pick. The only reason I continue to see people point to is that his size will be an issue. What those people fail to realize is that the NFL is changing quickly and they are valuing the guys with short-area quickness that allow their quarterbacks to get the ball into playmakers’ hands and let them pick up yardage. I am well aware Daniel Jones is as far as possible from Tom Brady but the notion that small slot players can’t dominate targets on offense is overstated.
Jeremy Ruckert was a New York State Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today first-team High School All-American coming out of high school. He was rated the number one TE prospect in the nation before signing with Ohio State. As a true freshman, Ruckert played in 12 games as a reserve. In 2019, he started three contests for the Big Ten Champs and brought in 14 passes for 142 yards and four TDs. Ruckert was an honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference selection in 2020 (13 – 151, five TDs) when they played the Covid-shortened season. He was an honorable mention selection again this past season, setting career bests with 26 receptions for 309 yards and scoring three times.