Free Agency Day 1: Dynasty Winners and Losers

It was a busy day around the NFL as Free Agency kicked off its legal tampering period. Here we break down some of the key signings and how they impact your Dynasty rosters.

Rapid Reaction

Chase Edmonds – Stock Up

Myles Gaskin – Stock Down

This is a move many were expecting the Dolphins to make last year but Myles Gaskin survived the Draft and Free Agency. Edmonds shared time with Conner in Arizona but for now, takes the lead as the top running back option in Miami. The run game is an important cog in the zone scheme Mike McDaniel is bringing over from San Francisco. As we saw with Elijah Mitchell last year, we should expect significant rush volume. Edmonds has never handled a full load so we could still see a role for Gaskin or a rookie running back. For now, Edmonds slots in as a solid RB2 option for the 2022 season.

Rapid Reaction

James Conner – Stock Up

Eno Benjamin – Stock Up

James Conner is coming off a highly productive season in Arizona last year. He ran for 752 yards and 18 touchdowns in 15 games, good for seventh overall in fantasy points per game. We should expect touchdown regression next season given the rate of over one TD per game last year. He turns 27 in May so the finer details of the contract will be interesting.  Three years seems like a significant commitment but there will be contract outs given the contract is for $13.5M guaranteed.

For the time being, Eno Benjamin gets a bump up in value. He potentially could fill the Chase Edmonds role in Arizona if the Cardinals choose to not add another running back. DFF staff writer Isaac Dirrim wrote in his Arizona market watch article here  “If Edmonds were to leave Arizona, Kliff Kingsbury will be searching for a gadget back to replace him. With the speed and versatility already on Arizona’s offense, Benjamin could be overlooked and rewarded with plenty of opportunities next season.”

Rapid Reaction

Mitch Trubisky – Stock Up

With rumors of a potential Deshaun Watson arrival in Pittsburgh, this move is likely to be a downer for Pittsburgh fans. Trubisky aims to have a Tannehill-like resurrection to his career in Pittsburgh. Trubisky is only 27 years old so if he succeeds, he stands to dramatically increase his dynasty value. As it stands now he will still be in the lowest tier of starting QBs for dynasty. As for the Pittsburgh pass-catching options, I don’t have their value changing much from a washed-up Ben Roethlisberger or Mason Rudolph.

Rapid Reaction

Braxton Berrios – Stock Up

Berrios has been one of my favorite deep dynasty stashes in anticipation of this move. Berrios has been efficient in his career when given the opportunity. He led the NFL in yards per route run in 2020 on limited targets. Crowder had a 17% target share last year while Berrios had a 13% both playing in the slot. Expect Berrios to take a portion of Crowder’s share on top of what he had last year. He amassed 29 targets in his last four games of the season and stands to be a six to seven target per game type of guy next season.

Rapid Reaction

Christian Kirk – Stock Up

Rondale Moore – Stock Up

Trevor Lawrence – Stock up

Kirk was one of the headliners of day one signings. Jacksonville lacks pass-catching weapons and Trevor Lawrence gets a solid one here. Kirk isn’t your prototype lead alpha wide receiver so I expect Jacksonville to continue to add here. Nonetheless, he will have a major role in the Jacksonville offense. Coming off 103 targets last year we should expect Kirk to be north of 100 targets once again.

Rondale Moore figures to step into the slot role for Arizona. I am not sold he is the guy yet coming off a year where he was last among NFL wide receivers in average depth of target. This was a continuation of a trend we saw in college. I still think we see Arizona add to the pass-catching group of Ertz, Hopkins, and Moore. This may be a good sell window before the draft for Rondale if you can get a nice return from owners anticipating a big year two jump.

Washington Pro-Bowl guard Brandon Scherff intends to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, per source.

Rapid Reaction

Travis Etienne – Stock Up

Ok, this is a shameless plug for one of my favorite off-season dynasty buys in Travis Etienne. I won’t spam this article with a bunch of offensive line signings. If Etienne was in this year’s dynasty rookie draft he would be battling for a top-3 pick. Adding a Pro-Bowl guard to the Jacksonville line only enhances his value. Etienne currently sits at the RB16 overall on KeepTradeCut. Buy him while there is still time. I would be surprised if he isn’t a top-12 RB1 this time next year.

Rapid Reaction

Mo Alie-Cox – Stock Up

Tight ends have a history of being late bloomers. With Jack Doyle retiring from the Colts they need a tight end to fill the void. Alie-Cox is a former basketball standout who stands 6’4”, 262 lbs. with a 4.80 forty. He has shown flashes but hasn’t been able to sustain production in the past. We will see if the Colts add another tight end in what is a pretty deep draft of seven to eight impact players at the position.

Rapid Reaction

Evan Engram – Stock Up

Engram is dripping with talent. He has rare athleticism at 6’3”, 234 lbs. while running his forty in 4.42 seconds. This gave him an elite composite speed score for his relative athletic score as shown below. I am excited to see how a new team will use him as he is best used in a big slot role. Doug Pedersen has featured his tight ends in the offense in the past with Zach Ertz being a perennial high-end fantasy producer. Engram has produced in the past (#7 in fantasy PPG in 2019) and this may just be the change of scenery he needs to renew his career. Trevor Lawrence is a capable quarterback and this offense has some talent now with Etienne and Kirk also newly added to the mix. They seem to have some redundancy at the slot position so it will be interesting to see how Pederson deploys his new weapons.

Statistical source: Player Profiler

I hope you enjoyed reading my article. My goal is to provide actionable advice you can utilize to improve your dynasty team. You can follow me on Twitter @force_fantasy.