Throughout the season, Jonathan Fuller and Sam Wallace will be breaking down the latest trends across the dynasty landscape to help you stay a step ahead of your leaguemates — both rebuilders and those in win-now mode.

Buy or Sell?: Drake London, WR, Falcons

Jonathan Fuller: If he hadn't caught the game winning TD on Monday Night Football, it would be full panic mode for Drake London managers. After an offseason full of hope and promise thanks to a new coaching staff and new QB, London has really stumbled out of the gate. He has just 69 receiving yards on the season and has generated a lackluster 1.19 yards per route run. His 5.7 utilization score ranks just 36th among all WRs.

The positives are that he is an every-down player and the Falcons' offense should improve over the course of the season as Kirk Cousins regains confidence, but with more than two seasons of data to evaluate I'm skeptical about London's ability to ever be a true difference-maker for fantasy football. He has never been particularly efficient (his rookie year's 2.07 YPRR was good but not great) and he doesn't stand out as an elite NFL talent when I watch him play. I think he will end up in the Tee Higgins tier of great WR2s but underwhelming WR1s in the NFL.

You don't have to sell right at this moment — London should still be a productive fantasy asset. But I will be watching for a sell-high opportunity if/when he has a big game this year. If you can get anything close to top-15 WR value for him in dynasty I am making that deal and not thinking twice about it.

Sam Wallace: Coming into the league, London had everything you could want in an analytical profile. The draft capital, college metrics/production, and even his age and landing spot were enough to get dynasty managers all hot and bothered. Heck, our Rookie WR Model liked him in what has become a pretty solid WR class.

But for one reason after another, it just hasn't quite panned out for London.

He wasn't necessarily bad through his first two years, he just wasn't what you wanted a top 10 NFL Draft pick to be. In his first two seasons, he was a boring WR3. He averaged:

  • 113 targets
  • 70 receptions
  • 885 yards
  • 3 TDs

Again, fine, but he wasn't drafted to be fine.

Now, with Cousins coming over and a new head coach in Raheem Morris, this was finally supposed to be The Year.

Thankfully, after a quiet Week 1, London turned it around on MNF. He finished with 6/54/1 on seven targets (24% target share). It finally looks like Cousins is settling in, which should mean good things for London moving forward. He's still a "buy" candidate for me if others are worried about him or his offensive environment.

Buy or Sell?: Rashid Shaheed, WR, Saints

Jonathan: I've seen enough to say I want to buy into this Saints offense in 2024, so you better believe I'm in on their leading receiver through two games. No, I don't expect him to be better than Chris Olave every week, but Rashid Shaheed is quickly establishing himself as one of the best downfield threats in the league. 

For those thinking that Shaheed's production is completely unsustainable, I would like to point out that through 81 career receptions, he is averaging 17 yards per catch. He's also a full time player in this offense and seeing enough volume to sustain fantasy WR2 production, even when the TD regression inevitably hits. His usage is excellent and this Saints' offense is legit — fade him at your own risk!

I do have some concerns about what the Saints will look like in future years, assuming Klint Kubiak moves on to accept a head coaching job somewhere after this season… but we'll worry about that when we get there.

Sam:

via GIPHY

Shaheed did it again. Two games. Two long TDs.

Through Week 2, he's averaged over 24 yards per reception on just seven receptions. A closer look will reveal that he is in fact earning a decent portion of the target share pie.

  • Week 1 - 21% target share
  • Week 2 - 25% target share

It's worth noting that Derek Carr is averaging fewer than 20 passing attempts per game through Week 2. While the target share numbers for Shaheed indicate that he's not only a deep threat, the lack of high-end passing volume signals that we're walking a fine line here.

The Saints, for their part, are looking pretty legit and are beating teams at all levels of the field. Alvin Kamara has turned back the clock by way of his five total TDs this season and Olave and the TE room continue to contribute in various capacities.

If I'm being pragmatic, Shaheed still feels like a boom/bust option for fantasy managers and, if you can find a resident Saints fan to buy high in your dynasty league, I would consider moving off of him while the hype train is still going strong.

Just don't tell a certain Fantasy Life staffer that I'm suggesting selling Shaheed in dynasty.

Buy or Sell?: Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, TEs, Ravens

Jonathan: It appears the death of Mark Andrews' fantasy value was slightly exaggerated after Week 1. He was back to out-producing Isaiah Likely in Week 2 as his usage jumped and he saw more downfield targets.

The emergence of Likely is bad for Andrews, but this strikes me as a situation where dynasty managers will overreact and value the young player too highly while writing the veteran off for dead when he has multiple productive seasons left. Andrews looks less likely to be the TE1 for fantasy in this offensive setup, but he can easily be a top 6 TE for a few more years. 

Andrews' dynasty managers are more likely to be looking to sell as his perceived value declines, but at just 29 years old this is the kind of veteran production I want to buy for a contending dynasty roster. 

Sam: One week after fantasy managers everywhere were ready to collectively jump ship on their rosters, Andrews reminded everyone that he (not Likely) is the preferred TE in Baltimore…for now.

Dwain McFarland dropped this nugget on us after the Ravens' Week 2 matchup.

Ravens tight end utilization Week 2 based on early data:

Mark Andrews 

  • 9.1 fantasy points
  • 78% routes
  • 16% targets

Isaiah Likely

  • 3.6 fantasy points
  • 50% routes
  • 10% targets

Not ideal for Likely, who appears game-script / matchup dependent for now.

For now, it appears as though Andrews has reclaimed his role as TE1 for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' offense. Likely could still post some big games if he vultures some TDs or Andrews misses time but Week 1 could very well be Likely's best statistical performance.

However, let's galaxy brain here for a moment. We've already seen flashes of what life after Andrews could look like in this offensive environment. Yes, Andrews is only 29 years old but he's five years older than Likely and the latter certainly looks more explosive on the field.

I'd wait a few weeks for Likely to have a string of poor performances, coupled with some big Andrews games. Then, trade for Likely in dynasty formats. His price will come down again and you can buy the dip the second time when the opportunity presents itself.