Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Risers and Fallers for Dynasty Leagues
The offseason is almost over and the season is just about here. Once more before Week 1 begins, let's check in on the market and identify four players whose situations dynasty managers should keep a close eye on.
Dynasty Stock Up
Romeo Doubs, WR - Packers
The Packers have been one of the league's most interesting teams since the midway point of last season. The second-half resurgence from Jordan Love & Co. culminated in a near-appearance in the NFC Championship Game with the youngest roster in football.
Love got his massive contract and the Packers are gearing up for another (hopefully) successful season. One of the biggest question marks from a fantasy perspective has been this: what do we do with their WRs?
Ian Hartitz gave us some great insight during his team preview series this offseason.
The healthiest stretch of last season for the wideouts came during Weeks 5-13. We have a bit of a clearer picture of how Green Bay rotated its pass-catchers when all were available.
Packers WRs in Weeks 5-13
- Doubs: 83% routes, 15% targets, 9.6 PPR points per game
- Watson: 82% routes, 19% targets, 11.4 PPR points per game
- Reed: 63% routes, 15% targets, 11.4 PPR points per game
- Wicks: 34% routes, 10% targets, 6.6 PPR points per game
Overall, this offense is undervalued across the board. Someone (or multiple players) are going to smash their ADP. I've gone back and forth on this during the offseason but I keep coming back to Romeo Doubs.
In a way, he feels like the forgotten one (and he's relatively cheap). Christian Watson profiles as a No. 1 option with raw athleticism but he can't stay healthy. Jayden Reed plays a Deebo Samuel-like role and Dontayvion Wicks is the second coming of Davante Adams.
That leaves Doubs…and Love loves Doubs.
Doubs has been getting tons of praise at camp from his offensive coordinator, from Love, and even from defensive back Jaire Alexander. Follow the steady drumbeat of positive news. The cost isn't prohibitive and it isn't flashy, but Doubs should be climbing up dynasty boards and finding his way onto your roster.
Jordan Whittington, WR - Rams
I'm not saying, but I'm just saying. We might have to start paying much closer attention to late-round WRs that land with the Rams because it looks like they might have another underrated gem on their hands.
Rookie wideout Jordan Whittington has arguably been the MVP of the preseason. I know, I know, offenses are playing against future car salesmen and guys with desk jobs for the most part, but still, production is production.
This preseason, Whittington has racked up:
- 17 targets
- 11 receptions
- 126 yards
Whittington spent five collegiate seasons with Texas and never topped 50 receptions, 655 yards, or 3 TDs in a single season. Still, he stands at 6' 1" / 202 lbs and sports above-average athleticism.
His Round 6 draft capital doesn't give much encouragement but if there was any team I would like him to have landed on, it's with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay.
Yes, the Rams passing attack will funnel through both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua but the WR3 role is wide open. Even looking past this season, Kupp will be 32 years old next year so the Rams are smart to be looking for viable options for the post-Kupp era.
Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell are not it. Whittington has the tools and seemingly the production to warrant consideration in deeper dynasty formats. There was a chance he went undrafted in your rookie draft so I would quickly check the waivers and see if you can stash this potential rising star.
Dynasty Stock Down
Daniel Jones, QB - Giants
I don't enjoy knocking him, but it's getting increasingly harder to support both Daniel Jones and the New York Giants. Some so many people disagreed with the contract he received a few years ago and Jones certainly hasn't done his part to earn it.
His best fantasy season came in 2022 and here were his passing numbers that year:
- 3,205 yards
- 15 TDs / 5 INTs
Yes, he did tack on 700 rushing yards and seven additional TDs but it's been a struggle every other year. He last appeared in Week 9 last year after suffering an ACL injury and this preseason hasn't done much to quell any concerns about his on-field performance.
In his one preseason game, he threw a pair of interceptions, including one really bad decision that ended up being a pick-six for the defense. Yes, the team acquired Malik Nabers, but lost Saquon Barkley and, to a lesser extent, Darren Waller.
Jones' rushing should keep him semi-relevant as long as he stays healthy but I just don't see a world where he offers much value to either the Giants or to your dynasty teams. If you have him, you may as well ride it out and hope he can turn it around. He's still only 27 years old so, from an age perspective, there's hope that maybe a different team environment could help him out.
Zack Moss, RB - Bengals
The post-Joe Mixon era has officially begun in Cincinnati. That leaves veteran Zack Moss and second-year option Chase Brown.
When the offseason began, I was firmly convinced that Moss was going to be the clear-cut starter and handle a large portion of the rushing attack. After all, he had done so already in his career.
Last season, when Jonathan Taylor was working his way back, Moss carried the ball 89 times from Weeks 2-5. That accounted for 76% of the rushing attempts. I assumed that bellcow workload would follow him to the Bengals.
However, Brown has his own fun profile that this team could deploy in several interesting ways. He posted a blazing 4.43 at the combine and his speed score in our Rookie RB Model put him right between Bijan Robinson and De'Von Achane.
Even coming out of college, much was made about Brown's explosive athleticism. In 2022, he was one of the nation's leaders in explosive runs (10+ yards) and, perhaps even more impressive, he posted 9.3 yards per catch at Illinois despite a very low aDOT.
Brown has been getting a ton of first-team reps throughout training camp and has been resting as often as the other starters. It remains to be seen just exactly how this backfield will be split but Moss is unlikely to take the lion's share of the work. Brown isn't going away anytime soon and dynasty managers need to take notice.