Dynasty Analysis
In most dynasty leagues, once the season starts there isn’t always much to be done on the waiver wire. There’s always going to be players that breakout, but if your league has deep benches, they may already be rostered. Churning your bench is a relatively simple strategy that has benefits beyond just keeping you busy on waivers during the season.
Last week, the Arizona Cardinals signed James Conner to a one-year deal worth $1.75M fully guaranteed. After playing his first four seasons in the league with Pittsburgh, he will now join a backfield that includes: Chase Edmonds, Jonathan Ward, and Eno Benjamin. Below, I will be digging deeper into Conner’s and Edmonds’ fantasy outlooks for the 2021 season. I will also explain why the Cardinals should look into drafting a running back in this year’s draft.
During his three seasons at Florida State, Cam Akers rushed for 2,875 yards and 27 TDs, adding 69 receptions for 486 yards and seven TDs through the air. Akers was the focal point of his college offense. As a junior, he accounted for 39.8% (90th percentile) of his team’s yards and TDs while commanding a 10.4% target share (78th percentile). Akers did average a pedestrian 5.0 YPC across his college career, but most attribute this to abysmal offensive line play.
In this series, we are going to do a deep dive into the top 2021 NFL Draft Class running backs, and see who they compare to historically. We are going to build them out from the standpoint of their physical acumen, their athletic abilities, and then bring it full circle by looking into their college production. Combining these three components we will settle on a final comparison that I believe most accurately outlines each player’s potential range of outcomes in the NFL. In this article, we will make comparisons for the top five running back prospects in the draft.
Zaven Collins was a three-star quarterback and all-state defender coming out of Hominy High School in Oklahoma. The athlete played tight end as a redshirt freshman before switching to linebacker for Tulsa. Defending, in his first season as a starter, came naturally to Collins who garnered Freshman All-American honors in 2018. After that, in his sophomore campaign, Collins accrued plenty of accolades, including the Brokno Nagurski Award and Chuck Bednarick Award. Let’s just say, the star linebacker used his talent to make a name for himself as a high-end NFL talent.
In March the NFL set the salary cap at $182.5 million. Which was a significant drop from 2020’s $198.2 million and even below 2019’s $188.2 million. It was the first time in seven years the cap didn’t increase by at least $10 million. With everything typically trending up, NFL teams faced cap issues heading into the 2021 offseason. We’ve already seen teams cutting veteran players and restructuring contracts. With a few notable free agents still out there and draft day approaching, what other moves could we see as teams maneuver around the cap?
Brandon Aiyuk began his collegiate football career at Sierra College, a community college in California. After a strong sophomore season, Aiyuk transferred to Arizona State. As a junior, Aiyuk underwhelmed alongside future first-round pick N’Keal Harry. But he blew up as a senior, recording a 40.6% dominator rating (81st percentile) with 65 receptions for 1,192 yards and eight TDs. Aiyuk was also incredibly dynamic at Arizona State, contributing on special teams as both a kick and punt returner.
As many who have played can allude to, fantasy football can be a very addictive hobby or passion. Whether it’s redraft or dynasty, once a draft or auction has concluded there is often an immediate desire for more. Many programs and websites offer mock drafts, both against real-life people online and against computerized software. Unfortunately, often people do not take mock drafts seriously. Similarly, a computer can only adjust its algorithms so many times. Simply put, mock drafting is just not the same.
The dynasty community is a passionate bunch who tend to be extremely ambitious. Whether it’s the latest hot take or innovative new league format the collective minds of the dynasty universe are always pushing the boundaries and the number of leagues one joins isn’t exempt from being pushed to its limits. Joining multiple dynasty leagues isn’t something I’m against but I do advocate for restraint and moderation as overextending yourself leads to negative outcomes for all your leagues and league-mates. While joining many dynasty leagues has its benefits there are also tons of potential consequences if you don’t have the time, commitment, organization, and endurance to power through the yearly responsibilities of an excessive number of leagues.
In this two-part article, we are going to do a deep dive into the top 2021 NFL Draft Class quarterbacks, and see who they compare to historically. We are going to build them out from the standpoint of their physical acumen, their athletic abilities, and then bring it full circle by looking into their play […]
In this two-part article, we are going to do a deep dive into the top 2021 NFL Draft Class quarterbacks, and see who they compare to historically. We are going to build them out from the standpoint of their physical acumen, their athletic abilities, and then bring it full circle by looking into their play style. Combining these three components we will settle on a final comparison that I believe most accurately outlines each player’s potential range of outcomes in the NFL. Part one features Day 1 prospects.
Last week, the Indianapolis Colts decided to bring back wide receiver T.Y. Hilton on a one-year deal worth up to $10M. The 31-year-old veteran receiver is taking less money to stay in Indianapolis (Ravens offered a multi-year deal). He should serve as one of the top receiving options for his new quarterback, Carson Wentz. Hilton will rejoin a wide receiver room that also includes: Michael Pittman Jr., Parris Campbell, and Zach Pascal. Below, I will be digging deeper into each receiver’s fantasy outlook for the 2021 season.
The 2021 offseason has been an eventful one, especially for the quarterback position. Carson Wentz, Matthew Stafford, and Jared Goff have changed teams. Dak Prescott has received a massive contract extension. Deshaun Watson has threatened a holdout. San Francisco has traded up in the NFL Draft to secure their franchise quarterback. Now the Carolina Panthers have stolen the spotlight, trading a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, and a 2022 fourth-round pick for New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.
With most of the Pro Days behind us and the NFL Draft quickly approaching it seems to be a good time to reveal some rookie WRs that might be flying a bit under the radar at the moment. Should it be because of the hype surrounding WRs at the top of the board or their teammates, there are three WRs in this 2021 class that I believe are being truly slept on. According to my new model/data set, these WRs have a very high likelihood of fantasy football success. I will take a look at “The Measurables”, “The Production”, “The Film”, and “The Draft” to show you why these WRs deserve to be at the front of your mind.
The Rookie 1.01 Draft pick always holds a premium in dynasty fantasy football. Rookie draft picks also vary in value based on the current time of the year that we are in. In the second part of this article, we are going to explore how to dominate the 2021 Rookie Drafts and revisit the value of how rookie pick values change at different parts of the season.
There is no time when a draft pick is more valuable than when it is on the clock in your rookie draft. You have the power to select your favorite rookie prospect, but you also have the opportunity to trade the rights to the pick for what you view as more value to a league mate. By the time rookie drafts roll around, the ADP is more or less settled and we are targeting our favorite prospects within their given tier. Being right on one player versus another player is very important, but being in the situation to control your draft is even more crucial to success in your fantasy leagues.
Joe Mixon played college football at the University of Oklahoma from 2014-2016. As a redshirt sophomore, Mixon racked up over 1,800 yards from scrimmage and scored 15 TDs. After his strong 2016 season, Mixon declared for the 2017 NFL Draft. During the pre-draft process, he measured in at 6’ 1”, 226 lbs. and registered an impressive 92nd-percentile speed score with his 4.50 40-yard dash. Under different circumstances, Mixon could’ve easily been a first-round pick. Due to character concerns and an incredible RB class that included Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, and Christian McCaffrey, Mixon slipped into the second round where he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Recently the NFL announced plans to expand the season, adding one additional regular-season game. This has led to a lot of speculation on how record books will change, and some players, most notably Alvin Kamara, expressed disappointment. With this change, managers and league commissioners will have some adapting to do in the upcoming season, so let’s look at what’s in store.
Leonard Fournette re-signed with the Buccaneers on a one-year deal worth $3.25M. The contract also includes incentives that would push it up to $4M. Fournette will now re-join Ronald Jones Jr. in one of the best backfields in the league. Last offseason, Fournette was released from the Jacksonville Jaguars. He then quickly signed with Tampa Bay on a one-year deal worth $2M. The Buccaneers planned for Fournette to serve as Jones Jr.’s back-up, something Fournette had never done in his three seasons in the league. Jones Jr. battled injuries throughout the season, and Fournette had plenty of opportunities to succeed.
On March 20th, Kenny Golladay signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the New York Giants. Put another way, the biggest receiver in free agency signed the biggest contract to play in the Big Apple. When an elite wide receiver changes teams, as we saw with Stefon Diggs and DeAndre Hopkins in 2020, it’s kind of a big deal. There will be significant fantasy ramifications for each member of the Giants’ offense, from Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley to Darius Slayton. Let’s zoom in for a closer look!
With the recent draft trades, things are spicing up a month before the NFL draft is set to open and teams are doing their best to fill fans with hope for upcoming seasons. I’ll be analyzing the incoming rookie quarterbacks in this one because teams don’t trade up to take any other position than the face of the franchise. It will be more than likely a run of quarterbacks very early in this year’s draft, and for Superflex leagues, it’ll be hard to decide between more than a few of these players.
Kenneth Gainwell was the “onion” in Memphis’s offense; he served as their leading rusher and lined up in many different alignments. At his 2021 Pro Day, Gainwell measured in at 5’8” and 201 lbs. He ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, benched 225 lbs. 21 times, executed a 35” vertical jump, and ran a 4.46-second short shuttle. After his performance, Gainwell had some kind words to say about himself: “My skill set is very, very different. I can play between the tackles, I can play outside the tackles, I can line up at the slot. So my position is very, very different than these other running backs in the draft.”
Earlier this week, the Chicago Bears signed Damien Williams to a one-year contract, bolstering their running back room. Williams was cut from the Kansas City Chiefs after opting out of last season. This addition should affect both David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen’s fantasy outlook for the upcoming NFL season. Let’s take a look at each player’s fantasy value in 2021.
Mike Davis was nothing short of exceptional in 2021 completing the year with 642 yards on 165 rushing attempts along with securing 59 of 70 targets for 373 yards and eight total touchdowns. He showed great contact balance and elusiveness all year and proved his worth and upside as a borderline elite pass-catcher. The 28-year-old career backup finished last season as the fantasy RB11 in PPR formats with the third-highest catch rate among running backs (84%) and the second-most games with five or more receptions among running backs (7).
As the first week in NFL Free Agency has come and gone, dynasty owners can now sit back and take in all that transpired. In general, the highly anticipated free agency period did not quite live up to the hype. There were not as many big splash landings as the dynasty community had hoped for. The reduced salary cap played a significant role in the lack of major long-term contracts we have come to expect when big names hit the open market. With that said, some moves do spark some excitement in terms of fantasy football.