Welcome back to the “Fantasy Stock Up, Stock Down” series. The preseason is “technically” over with, but we are still in that in-between stage right before the regular season starts. There are still some key positional battles that are taking place, and injuries are affecting many players’ fantasy worth. Us dynasty managers must constantly research ways to bolster our rosters. In this continuation series, we will dive deep into one player whose dynasty stock is increasing and one player whose dynasty stock is decreasing from each team in every division. Today, we will break down the NFC West. 

CARDINALS

STOCK UP – MARQUISE BROWN

Year	Team	Games Played	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2019	BAL	11	71	46	584	12.7	7
2020	BAL	14	100	58	769	13.3	8
2021	BAL	16	146	91	1,008	11.1	6

When you go from hauling in passes from Lamar Jackson to snagging them from Kyler Murray instead, that automatically drives your stock up. Not only is Murray Marquise Brown’s former college teammate, but the two have also expressed how close they’ve been since their time at Oklahoma. That close-knit friendship should also boost Brown’s dynasty outlook a bit. And if we are focused solely on this season, Brown should get another huge boost with Arizona’s WR1, DeAndre Hopkins, out for the first six games of the season due to testing positive for PEDs. By Week 7, the connection between Brown and Murray could spark enough to decrease Hopkin’s role on this team. Although it may not be a drastic reduction, any at all helps Brown. 

Arizona is 100 percent committed to Brown long-term. They traded for him during the NFL Draft and gave up a first-round pick to do so. The trio of Brown, Hopkins, and Rondale Moore should stick around for a while, whereas A.J. Green, Andy Isabella, and Antoine Wesley are slated to hit free agency next offseason. If you’re looking to get off to a fast start this year, trading for Holywood Brown wouldn’t be a bad idea. It may take a decent draft pick to do so, but you could always trade him away again once Hopkins is nearing a return. Who knows? Brown could be doing so good that you get more from him than what you had to give up originally. Or you could find yourself wanting to keep him on your squad because of that dynamic connection between him and Murray. Time will only tell. 

Brown’s 2022 Prediction

Receiving: 87 receptions, 1,140 yards, 6 touchdowns

STOCK DOWN – DARREL WILLIAMS

Year	Team	Games Played	Carries	Yards	Yards/Carry	TDs	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2018	KC	6	13	44	3.4	0	3	27	9.0	1
2019	KC	12	41	141	3.4	3	15	167	11.1	1
2020	KC	16	39	169	4.3	1	18	116	6.4	0
2021	KC	17	144	558	3.9	6	47	452	9.6	2

There were many speculations that Darrel Williams could be a surprise cut after signing with the team on a one-year deal just before training camp. Chase Edmonds left for Miami in the offseason, and a spot needed to be filled. Many expected Williams to come in and fill that after putting together a career season with Kansas City in 2021. Instead, camp reports indicated that Eno Benjamin earned the RB2 spot and clearly outperformed Williams in practice. It’s evident that Williams isn’t in Arizona’s long-term plans, but he had a chance at carving out a decent role for this season. That decent chance is more of a slight chance at this point. With five running backs on the team’s 53-man roster, Williams could be traded or cut before the regular season even starts. 

James Conner is clearly the RB1 on this team, and he’s contracted until 2025. Both Benjamin and Jonathan Ward aren’t under long-term contracts, but the team has kept them around for a couple of years now. On top of that, Arizona used a sixth-round pick on Keaontay Ingram in this year’s draft. There isn’t much room for optimism for Williams down the road. He’s already 27 years old, and if he serves as the RB3 for this team this year, he’s not worth rostering outside of deeper leagues. It would have to take a significant injury to Conner for us dynasty managers to change our minds and use a roster spot on the veteran back. 

Williams’ 2022 Prediction

Rushing: 86 carries, 335 yards, 2 touchdowns

Receiving: 21 receptions, 193 yards, 1 touchdown

49ERS

STOCK UP –  TYRION DAVIS-PRICE

Year	School	Class	Games Played	Carries	Yards	TDs	Receptions	Yards	TDs
2019	LSU	FR	14	64	295	6	10	74	0
2020	LSU	SO	9	104	446	3	8	47	0
2021	LSU	JR	12	211	1,003	6	10	64	0

After selecting Trey Sermon in the third round and Elijah Mitchell in the sixth last offseason, it came as a surprise that San Francisco elected to spend a third-rounder on Tyrion Davis-Price this year. At the beginning of training camp, the rookie found himself behind Mitchell, Sermon, and Jeff Wilson on the depth chart. But it didn’t take long for him to surpass Sermon, who ended up being waived shortly after making the initial 53-man roster. Now that Sermon is out of the picture, Davis-Price has a real chance at becoming fantasy relevant sooner than later. Think about it; Mitchell and Wilson are ahead of him on the depth chart, but the two combined for 14 missed games last season due to injury. If that theme continues this season, Davis-Price might see a couple weeks with heavy workloads. 

It means a lot when Kyle Shanahan is willing to move on from a third-round choice in 2021 and put Davis-Price in an immediate place to succeed. Ja’Mycal Hasty was also waived, as he was someone who battled with the rookie for the RB3 spot (along with Sermon) the entire offseason. There’s faith from the organization and the coaches in this kid. And we all know that 49ers running backs, if healthy, put together solid fantasy outings. If you have Mitchell on your dynasty squad, you may as well target Davis-Price in a trade before his value rises even more. Who knows? If Mitchell can’t stay healthy, he could take over as the lead back at some point. We’ve seen stranger things in recent years. 

Davis-Price’s 2022 Prediction

Rushing: 57 carries, 228 yards, 2 touchdowns

Receiving: 12 receptions, 105 yards, 1 touchdown

STOCK DOWN – JEFF WILSON

Year	Team	Games Played	Carries	Yards	Yards/Carry	TDs	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2018	SF	6	66	266	4.0	0	12	98	8.2	0
2019	SF	10	27	105	3.9	4	3	34	11.3	1
2020	SF	12	126	600	4.8	7	13	133	10.2	3
2021	SF	9	79	294	3.7	2	7	31	4.4	0

As mentioned above, Wilson has missed a plethora of games in recent years. In fact, he’s never managed to play more than 12 games during his four-year career. Why would we expect a fifth-year pro to turn the narrative and stay healthy all season? For now, he’s listed as the team’s RB2, but we all know he’s not in the future plans for San Francisco. He’s going into his final season under contract. And the other three running backs on the roster (Mitchell, Davis-Price, and Jordan Mason) are contracted until at least 2025. On top of that, we’ve mentioned it many times during this series; running backs don’t have large playing windows. Especially someone who has missed 28 games in four seasons. 

The only reason to have any optimism for Wilson on your roster is that you have Mitchell as well. But Davis-Price is a part of the future plans for this team, and he will more than likely take over as the RB2 for the 49ers sooner rather than later. He also brings a lot more receiving upside than Wilson does. Take a look above. Wilson has only hauled in 35 receptions in 37 games played. If you want to see any return in a Wilson trade, find the manager that rosters Mitchell in your league, and persuade him or her that they would benefit from having both. At this point, if you’re not in a really deep league, he’s worth dropping. You don’t need to hold onto an injury-riddled 26-year-old who more than likely won’t be on this team next year. 

Wilson’s 2022 Prediction

Rushing: 48 carries, 187 yards, 1 touchdown

Receiving: 9 receptions, 68 yards, 1 touchdown

RAMS

STOCK UP – BEN SKOWRONEK

Year	Team	Games Played	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2021	LAR	14	20	11	133	12.1	0

In their first official depth chart, Ben Skowronek finds himself as one of the starting receivers next to Allen Robinson and Cooper Kupp. Obviously, both Kupp and Robinson will be the go-to receivers, and the plan was that Van Jefferson would serve as the team’s WR3. That’s not the current case, as he’s recovering from a minor knee surgery that could hold him back for the first week or so. In the meantime, Skowronek has earned the starting nod over TuTu Atwell, Brandon Powell, and preseason star Lance McCutcheon. Considering that Robinson dealt with injuries last season and Jefferson is dealing with one now, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to roster the second-year pro for insurance purposes. 

Towards the end of last season, we saw Skowronek line up a lot more on offense. From Week 11 to the Superbowl, he lined up on offense for 32 percent of the offensive plays. During that span, he topped 45 percent in three of those games, and one was the Superbowl (67%). The fact that he’s more involved and outperforming Atwell is a sign that he’s in the long-term plans for the team. On top of that, his contract expires one season after Jefferson’s does. If he plays well during his absence, he could keep the starting spot over him. Make sure to pay attention to the first couple of games this season, but any move to resign Odell Beckham Jr. could throw a wrench into things. For now, Skowronek doesn’t cost anything. He’s a low-risk/high-reward type of player. 

Skowronek’s 2022 Prediction

Receiving: 22 receptions, 251 yards, 1 touchdown

STOCK DOWN – TUTU ATWELL

Year	Team	Games Played	Targets	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2021	LAR	8	0	0	0	0.0	0

Last offseason, the Rams used a second-round pick on Atwell, in hopes that he could mold into the gadget receiver who lines up both on the outside and in the slot. That plan wasn’t even tested, as he never saw a single target go his way during his rookie campaign. Instead, Kupp manned the slot and put together a career season.

On top of that, Beckham Jr. signed with the team midway through the season (just before Robert Woods went down with a season-ending injury) and served as the WR2 while Jefferson showed great spurts at WR3. As mentioned above, Skowronek became involved more and more involved in the offense as well. Nothing was going right for Atwell, and he ended up serving as a full-time special teams player. 

Going into this season, things don’t get any better for the second-year pro. Beckham Jr. rumors are still swirling, as he may be a late-season addition. Robinson was also brought in to replace OBJ as the team’s WR2. And both Jefferson and Skowronek are slated to receive more action than Atwell. If you still have any shares of the speedy receiver, you may as well release him. It would take more than one significant injury to the L.A. wide receiver room for Atwell to find any meaningful time on the field. He was a fun prospect, but even in deeper leagues, it’d be hard to find a manager that would be willing to trade for him. A release will do the trick, considering there is so much young talent in the league right now you can roster instead. 

Atwell’s 2022 Prediction

Receiving: 9 receptions, 117 yards

SEAHAWKS

STOCK UP – DAREKE YOUNG

Year	School	Class	Games Played	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Catch	TDs
2017	Lenoir- Rhyne	FR	8	2	18	9.0	0
2018	Lenoir- Rhyne	SO	14	7	122	17.4	2
2019	Lenoir- Rhyne	JR	14	25	515	20.6	8
2020	Lenoir- Rhyne	SR	2	14	218	15.6	2
2021	Lenoir- Rhyne	SR	5	25	303	12.1	4

Dareke Young isn’t a player that’s going to come in and contribute right away. But he could be worth a TX spot on your team if you can squeeze it. He went from undrafted out of Lenoir-Rhyne to making the Seahawks’ 53-man roster and impressing coaches and players. In two preseason games, he hauled in seven receptions for 73 yards. He finds himself on the outside looking in, as D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and D’Wayne Eskridge are all above him in Seattle’s official depth chart. But here’s the good news, he finds himself in a position to serve as the team’s WR4 if he can outperform Penny Hart and Marquise Goodwin in practice. With Seattle going through a rebuilding process, it only makes sense that he sees the field more than Hart (26) and Goodwin (31) because of his youth (23). 

After this season, both Hart and Goodwin will become free agents. Lockett and Metcalf are under contract until 2026. That means Young’s ceiling would to become this team’s WR3 over Eskridge, which may not be the biggest ask. Last season, Seattle didn’t prioritize Eskridge in any sort of game plan. He only hauled in 10 receptions for 64 yards and one touchdown. For a 2021 second-round selection, those aren’t the most promising numbers. This isn’t us telling you to go out and place Young on your dynasty roster, but if you want to take a flier on someone who has a clear path to becoming a fantasy-relevant player at no cost, Young may be your guy. We’ll see. 

Young’s 2022 Prediction

Receiving: 2 receptions, 18 yards

STOCK DOWN – KENNETH WALKER III

Year	School	Class	Games Played	Carries	Yards	TDs	Receptions	Yards	TDs
2019	Wake Forest	FR	13	98	579	4	3	17	0
2020	Wake Forest	SO	7	119	579	13	3	30	0
2021	Michigan State	JR	12	263	1,636	18	13	89	1

Just a few weeks ago, Kenneth Walker III had a chance at taking over as Seattle’s RB1 over Rashaad Penny. Penny was dealing with some nagging injuries that sidelined him in practice and in preseason games. Chris Carson had retired, and Walker III put together 19 yards on five carries in his first NFL game. Things were looking great for the rookie. Then we got the news that Walker III had to have hernia surgery that would set him back for a few weeks (at least). Right now, he’s not expected to play in Week 1, but he’s also not expected to miss much more time. Some managers may be banking on him to take over as this team’s RB1 when he comes back healthy, but that’s a long shot. Penny is this team’s RB1 as long as he can stay healthy. Pete Carroll doesn’t care about the fact that Seattle used a second-rounder on Walker III back in April. He has always given the veterans the workload in the past. 

It wasn’t that long ago when Penny himself was the “new sauce,” as the Seahawks used the 27th overall pick on him in 2018. Carson was on the team at the time (an undrafted player from 2017), and what happened? Penny received 85 carries in 14 games played. Carson played in 14 games as well, and he received 247 carries. Mike Davis was also on that team. Who do you think had more carries, Davis or Penny? That’s right; it was Davis with 112. Let’s say Carroll changes his ways and uses Walker III a lot this year. Penny re-signed to a one-year deal this offseason because of his late-season play last year. Between Weeks 13-17, he topped 130 rushing yards in four out of the five games. He accumulated 671 rushing yards in those five games, as he served as the clear RB1 in fantasy during that span. If healthy, he’s seeing more usage than Walker III. Who knows? If Penny keeps dominating like the way we saw during that late-season stretch, it may take Walker III a lot longer to become a starting RB for your dynasty team. 

Walker III’s 2022 Prediction

Rushing: 145 carries, 609 yards, 5 touchdowns

Receiving: 19 receptions, 152 yards

Other Divisional Breakdowns: NFC North, AFC North, NFC South, AFC South

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