Dynasty Analysis

Joe Burrow. Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Countdown to Kickoff: Day 1

By Brad Hartnett | September 8, 2021 | Comments Off on Countdown to Kickoff: Day 1

This will be the final article of twelve, counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch this sport that we love (and dominate our fantasy leagues in the process). Each article will have a numeric theme, which will also count down as each day ticks the calendar. In this piece, I’ll be discussing the top-10 players who will increase their dynasty value in the 2021 NFL season. So, without further ado, I am thrilled to bring you DFF’s 2021 “Kickoff Countdown”!

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The Resurgence of Ezekiel Elliott

By Andrew Rywolt | September 7, 2021 | Comments Off on The Resurgence of Ezekiel Elliott

Yes I know, Zeke was disappointing for fantasy owners in 2020 and didn’t look like himself, but c’mon, 2020 was an odd year for everyone. Zeke has been one of the most consistent, durable, and skillful starting running backs over the last five seasons. Over his career, Zeke has only missed seven games, and only ONE of those being due to injury (calf strain Week 13 vs 49ers). Before Dak’s injury, Zeke looked like a top-tier RB ranking third in standard scoring. Also, Zeke was at a disadvantage with his offensive line facing injuries all season long. Travis Frederick retired before the season, La’el Collins had hip surgery, Tyron Smith with a neck injury after only two games, and Zack Martin only played 50% of snaps because of a lingering calf issue. That’s their top four options on the offensive line. Not to mention the backup OL was also getting banged up all season long and was constantly changing offering little consistency. 

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Kickoff Countdown: 2 Dynasty Buys, Sells, and Holds

By Billy Beaman | September 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown: 2 Dynasty Buys, Sells, and Holds

We’re just two days from NFL kickoff and that means one of the last opportunities to acquire or trade a player before reality sets in. Once the ball gets rolling there are no more “what ifs” and unknowns. If a player you love hits, you may have already missed the chance to trade for him at a reasonable price. If they bust, good luck finding a suitor with a decent offer. The DFFArmy is doing what we do best, staying ahead of the competition and keeping you overly prepared for year-round dynasty fantasy football.  

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Kickoff Countdown: 3 Days Until Kickoff!

By Joe Memmolo Jr. | September 6, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown: 3 Days Until Kickoff!

Hello everybody and welcome to DFF’s Kickoff Countdown series! For each of the 12 days leading up to the first NFL game of the season, our staff at DFF has been releasing an article based on how many days are left. Today we are only three days away and that means I, @DFF_JoeMem, am here to bring you three wide receivers that I’d rather have at ADP over their higher ADP teammate in Superflex Dynasty leagues. Let’s dive in!

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Kickoff Countdown: 4 Tight Ends Who Should Exceed Expectations

By Zach Glicksman | September 5, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown: 4 Tight Ends Who Should Exceed Expectations

With just four days to go until kickoff, I’ll be discussing the top four under-the-radar tight end breakout candidates. This list is comprised of the tight ends who you can get almost for free in your draft who should exceed expectations. I’ve also included one additional name for the dynasty future!

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Kickoff Countdown: 5 “Dead-Zone” RBs to Target

By Paul Patterson | September 4, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown: 5 “Dead-Zone” RBs to Target

With NFL Kickoff just five days away, we are truly entering the homestretch of this Kickoff Countdown series. In this entry, I’ll be breaking down five “dead zone” RBs that I believe you should be targeting in your fantasy drafts. The RB “dead zone,” if you aren’t familiar, is generally recognized as the back half of Round 3 through the end of Round 6. There is some evidence to suggest that RBs in this zone of the draft are less likely to return value on their ADP. In this article, I’ll be making the case for five exceptions to that rule. 

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2021 Dynasty Profile: Tyler Kroft

By Billy Beaman | September 4, 2021 | Comments Off on 2021 Dynasty Profile: Tyler Kroft

I might have actually found a sleeper for you DFF Army! Tyler Kroft has bounced around the league in his six-year career, most recently with Buffalo, where he had very little opportunity and success. Not only was he in a less than ideal situation with the Bills, who haven’t typically featured a tight end in their offense, but he also missed a ton of time due to injuries over the last three years. He suffered a foot injury in both 2018 and 2019, then contracted COVID-19 in 2020 completely derailing his season. He finished the year with 12 receptions 119 yards and three touchdowns. Not all that bad for just 16 targets.

The 2021 DFF Fantasy Guide

By Brad Hartnett | September 3, 2021 | Comments Off on The 2021 DFF Fantasy Guide

As we quickly approach our final fantasy drafts, the team at DFF wanted to provide everyone with a free one-stop-shop to head into Week 1. In the 2021 DFF Fantasy Guide, we will walk you through the different league formats and offer advice on how to best attack those leagues from a strategic perspective. We will then shift into looking at how positional values are changing over time. Our own Chris Miles compiled player projections for all fantasy-viable players that you can print out and bring to dominate your final fantasy drafts. Shifting back to a dynasty lens, several of our writers provide you with their favorite early-round, mid-round, and late-round targets in the ‘My Guys’ section. We will also take you behind the scenes of our ranking summit and compare where our rankers have players valued versus consensus ranks. Finally, we will look towards the future with an in-depth positional analysis of the upcoming rookie drafts. Our own Willie Beaman will close out the guide with his crystal ball rankings where he predicts the top-12 positional rankings that we could see heading into the 2023 fantasy season.

Kickoff Countdown: 6 Days ‘Til Football

By Matt Gruber | September 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown: 6 Days ‘Til Football

Welcome to the seventh installment in our 12-part series counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch this sport that we love (and dominate our fantasy leagues in the process). The idea behind this countdown is simple. Each article will have a numeric theme, counting down as each day is marked off the calendar, inching closer to kickoff. With just six days left until we have real football, this article will highlight six offenses to target for the fantasy football season.

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The Mac Jones Era Begins in New England

By Andrew Rywolt | September 3, 2021 | Comments Off on The Mac Jones Era Begins in New England

Mac Jones was named the starter in New England this week after the surprising release of previously presumed QB1 Cam Newton. This was shocking to many as Belicheck has not let out a peep of who he was going with for the season. So what’s Mac Jones dynasty value? 

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2021 Dynasty Profile: Harrison Bryant

By Billy Beaman | September 2, 2021 | Comments Off on 2021 Dynasty Profile: Harrison Bryant

Harrison Bryant was a diamond in the rough among one of the most underwhelming tight end draft classes in some time. Although Bryant was ranked outside the top five prospects in the class for many, he was by far the most productive receiving tight end in his final season of college football compared to the likes of Cole Kmet and Adam Trautman. He finishes his senior year at FAU with 65 receptions for 1,004 yards and seven touchdowns, good for a 19.9% team target share. He was a focal point of FAU’s offense considering his 26.2 (81st percentile) college dominator rating but we can look to the yards per team pass attempt (YTMPA) metric to further highlight his importance to the team. He finished 2019 at the top of the class with 2.0 YTMPA, a historically difficult threshold to reach.

Kickoff Countdown Day 7: Seven Players to Fade at ADP

By Carl Churchill | September 2, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown Day 7: Seven Players to Fade at ADP

Here at Dynasty Football Factory, we’re ecstatic for NFL Week 1. We’ve been working hard all offseason to break down all 32 teams and provide the best analysis to help you navigate your drafts and manage your teams. However, we aren’t done yet. With our “Kickoff Countdown” series we’re bringing you great content 12 days in a row! I’ve got you covered today, 7 days till kickoff. Every season there are players that “bust” or fail to meet expectations set by their ADP. In celebration of our “Kickoff Countdown” I will be giving you seven players to fade at their Redraft ADP, as we are seven days away from kickoff. Let’s get into it!

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The Actual Ultimate Redraft Strategy: Part 2

By Chris Miles | September 1, 2021 | Comments Off on The Actual Ultimate Redraft Strategy: Part 2

In this piece, I will be directly responding to a recent post by @Heady_Football in which he describes his ideal redraft draft strategy. In his article, he states that you should start your draft with three straight running backs while waiting on the other positions like wide receiver, tight end, and quarterback. I am here to tell you why I think there are better strategies to employ. So, after reading both you will truly be able to decide what you think is best.

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IDP Rookie Sleepers

By Scott Osterloh | September 1, 2021 | Comments Off on IDP Rookie Sleepers

There is no better feeling in fantasy football than calling your shot on a sleeper! Plucking a diamond out of the rough before anyone else realizes the value, is one of the reasons we dynasty managers dig so deep into weeds each offseason. Now that the 2021 season is nearly upon us, here are some rookie IDP sleepers that could become contributors to your IDP title run.

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Fireside Chat With Heady

By Heady Football | September 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Fireside Chat With Heady

Welcome mafiosos to a little Q and A session with the only @Heady_Football. I took some time to gather some questions you on Twitter, our DFF Army, have asked over the off-season along with some questions I have been asked off-line, by my friends and family. Yes, don’t be shocked, I do have a life outside of fantasy football. Granted, it’s not much but it is one nevertheless. So, without further adieu, here are some of the best questions I received.

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NFL Kickoff Countdown: 8 Divisional Sleepers

By Jagger May | September 1, 2021 | Comments Off on NFL Kickoff Countdown: 8 Divisional Sleepers

Football is in the air folks! Training camp highlight tweets are crackling on our timelines and the preseason overreactions are flying through the air. Most importantly, the DFF Kickoff Countdown marches on! So, with eight days left until kickoff, I’ll be bringing you one sleeper from all eight divisions.

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Cam Newton Released: Rapid Reaction

By Billy Beaman | August 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Cam Newton Released: Rapid Reaction

Former NFL MVP Cam Newton has been released by the New England Patriots. If you’ve followed me at all over the last few months you know this comes as no surprise. By all accounts, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft Mac Jones outperformed Newton all offseason during camp and joint practices. We all witnessed Jones stand out above the pack in the preseason games, which clearly gave the Patriots the confidence to move forward with the 15th overall pick as their starting quarterback.

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IDP Preseason Trades Impact

By Scott Osterloh | August 31, 2021 | Comments Off on IDP Preseason Trades Impact

As the NFL finishes their final week of preseason games, it’s important for us dynasty IDP managers to keep abreast of under-the-radar activity happening throughout the league. Tuesday, August 31st is the official NFL cut day, but some savvy NFL franchises are making trades to adjust their rosters prior to cut day.  Let’s analyze the latest defender trades to find where IDP value can be had!

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Kickoff Countdown Day 9: 9 Hardest Players to Project

By Chris Miles | August 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown Day 9: 9 Hardest Players to Project

Welcome to the fourth entry in our Kickoff Countdown series, counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch some real football! As you already know, each article has a numeric theme, which also counts down as each day is ticked off the calendar. In this piece, I’ll be discussing the nine (see the theme?) players that I had the toughest time projecting and what I ultimately expect out of them this season. Not only is it a lot of fun to look at some realistic outcomes for these players, but looking at these projections can also help you to confidently select one player over another when you are on the clock, even if those two players appear almost indistinguishable at first glance. So, without further ado, I give you my nine hardest players to project for the 2021 season.

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Countdown to Kickoff: Day 10

By Brad Hartnett | August 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Countdown to Kickoff: Day 10

This article will be the third of twelve, counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch this sport that we love (and dominate our fantasy leagues in the process). Each article will have a numeric theme, which will also count down as each day ticks the calendar. In this piece, I’ll be discussing the top-10 players who will increase their dynasty value in the 2021 NFL season. So, without further ado, I am thrilled to bring you DFF’s 2021 “Kickoff Countdown”!

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2021 Dynasty Profile: Darnell Mooney

By Ike Dirrim | August 30, 2021 | Comments Off on 2021 Dynasty Profile: Darnell Mooney

After being selected 173rd overall in the fifth round of last year’s NFL Draft, Mooney emerged as one of the most productive wide receivers for the Chicago Bears QUICKLY. In the Bears’ Week 1 matchup against the Lions, he hauled in three receptions for 38 yards, but you could see the potential in him right away. From then on, he produced at least two receptions per game throughout his rookie season.

J.K. Dobbins Injury Rapid Reaction

By Joe Memmolo Jr. | August 29, 2021 | Comments Off on J.K. Dobbins Injury Rapid Reaction

We were so close to the regular season. So close. Most starters sat on the bench during week three of the preseason as it was treated much like preseason week four in past years, but for one team that chose to play their starters, the consequence was dire. Baltimore Ravens second-year running back J.K. Dobbins has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2021 season according to Adam Schefter.

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Kickoff Countdown! 11 Days ‘til Football!

By Lewis Glover | August 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Kickoff Countdown! 11 Days ‘til Football!

Welcome to the second entry in our twelve-part series counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch this sport that we love (and dominate our fantasy leagues in the process). If you missed the first article, you can find it here. The premise is simple: each article will have a numeric theme, counting down as each day is ticked off the calendar. There are just eleven days left until we are blessed with meaningful football and the sweat of Week 1 fantasy football matchups. Eleven days, eleven players on offense. See the pattern here? In this article, I’ll attempt to construct the best starting offense in football. The catch? I can only use one player per NFL franchise. Let’s see who made the cut.

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Kickoff Countdown Day 12: Projecting the Top 12 RBs

By Chris Miles | August 28, 2021 | 0 Comments

This article will be the first of 12, counting down the days until we can once again sit and watch this sport that we love (and dominate our fantasy leagues in the process). Each article will have a numeric theme, which will also count down as each day is ticked off the calendar. In this piece, I’ll be discussing the top-12 (see the theme?) running backs from our site’s very own redraft rankings and their projected stat lines for the upcoming season. Not only is it a lot of fun to look at some realistic outcomes for these star players–a bit of a preseason appetizer–but looking at these projections can also help you to confidently select one player over another when you are on the clock, even if those two players appear almost indistinguishable at first glance. So, without further ado, I am thrilled to kick off DFF’s first-ever “Kickoff Countdown”! 

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Auction Redraft Anatomy and Tiered Player Values

By Jared Hines | August 27, 2021 | Comments Off on Auction Redraft Anatomy and Tiered Player Values

The first fantasy football (FF) league that I ever played in was an auction league. It has now been running for 12 years and we have our draft scheduled for Labor Day Weekend, like usual. Auction redrafts are so much fun and I highly recommend them! I am very thankful that I cut my teeth for a few years in such a league before eventually started playing dynasty.

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