Each week, Footballguys staff members will share the big movers in their respective Dynasty Rankings. Since the contributors will rotate, please check in weekly. The focus of this article will be on the “why” more than the movement itself. Dynasty Rankings are fluid and we hope that sharing the rationale will help you in your quest to create dynasties with all your teams. The diversity of rankings will result in a variety of opinions weekly.
Quarterbacks
Hicks
Lamar Jackson - No matter how hard they try, Baltimore cannot get Lamar Jackson on track to replicate his fantastic 2019 season. Jackson is a quarterback who can destroy a game, but if his team falls behind the offense seems incapable of mounting a comeback. Is there a lack of a WR1 or do they not trust Jackson to get the ball there? The career of Jackson hangs in the balance and with a long term extension up for discussion soon, his future could trend downward soon
Baker Mayfield - It looks like Kevin Stefanski and Baker Mayfield have found a way to work together for the betterment of the Cleveland Browns. It is hard to move Mayfield's value too high, but he has been good with the ball and much more reliable in recent weeks. With the Browns finally primed to earn a playoff berth, Mayfield deserves a little bump in rankings.
Matt Ryan - It’s hard to be excited to have Matt Ryan as your fantasy quarterback these days. With a few rumors circling that he may be onto San Francisco and have a resurgent career, well the reality is that Atlanta would have to eat a $50 million cap hit in a lower salary cap year. Highly unlikely to happen. So, he is likely to remain in Atlanta as a lame-duck aging quarterback with Julio Jones also showing wear and tear, he can only trend down.
Parsons
Carson Wentz - The low-hanging fruit is to proclaim Wentz done, finished, and a bust going forward for fantasy viability. I have lowered Wentz's projection and valuation and the benching in Week 13 was concerning considering Jalen Hurts has his own limitations. This season has been a career-altering one for Wentz as he has been battered into seeing sacks before they occur and misfiring on a host of available passes as a result. I still have Wentz barely in my top-20 quarterbacks, but his outlook is murkier than earlier in the season.
Kirk Cousins - Cousins, like Matthew Stafford and others over recent seasons, is in the perfect career state to be a dynasty value. Cousins is a sturdy veteran at 32 years old, but not old enough to put him on a one- or two-year window where he could erode due to age or retire completely. Cousins is also established enough where being outright benched would be a surprise as well. Plus, if Minnesota were to draft a top quarterback and move on from Cousins, he would easily find a new starting job. Add to his own profile, Cousins adding Justin Jefferson for the foreseeable future to Adam Thielen, and Cousins has go-to weapons. Cousins is in my top-15 dynasty quarterbacks.
Running Back
Parsons
Cam Akers - Akers is beginning to show his quality profile by the week. Akers is one of the youngest running back prospects to enter the NFL in the past 20 years with an elite two-way production profile and quality athletic profile. Akers has an upside not present with Darrell Henderson and, especially, Malcolm Brown on the Rams depth chart. Plus, Brown is a free agent in the offseason, and the most likely Week 1 depth chart for the Rams in 2021 is Akers-Henderson. Akers is already in my top-15 dynasty running backs with the potential to push for top-10 status with a late-season flourish and claiming the depth chart his own as the feature back.
Todd Gurley - Gurley has faded this year and Week 13 turning into a three-headed committee in Atlanta was concerning. Gurley is also a free agent in the offseason without many overt RB1 openings around the NFL and with a balky knee profile to predict a strong ceiling in a future season. The fall from grace is swift for NFL running backs, and Gurley is on the downside of his grace in my RB Index looking at career arcs and future season upside post-2020. Gurley is outside my top-35 dynasty running backs and could be closer to RB50 after NFL free agency.
Hicks
David Montgomery - Despite the ineptitude of the Chicago offense, running back David Montgomery has been able to hold his head high of late. With the losing run continuing for the Bears you have to wonder what changes will be made in the off-season. Montgomery has stumbled into being a borderline RB1 in this messed-up season and with better coaching and a more useful game plan could still hold considerable fantasy value. He deserves a bump.
Cam Akers - I am reticent to move Cam Akers too much up my rankings, but he does deserve a higher ranking after his first 20-plus-carry game. What happens in the Rams backfield in the offseason will determine his ultimate value, but he is likely to get a good opportunity to showcase his wares for the remainder of 2020. How Akers and Darrell Henderson work out their pecking order will determine the ultimate upside for 2021.
Joe Mixon - Mixon got his fat new contract, but, in reality, has only had one good game, against the Jaguars, to show anything for those who were expecting RB1 output. He is still only 24 and has shown franchise back ability, but he needs help. I’m not sure the situation in Cincinnati is conducive for him to reach his potential and would advise extreme caution and a significant lowering of his value.
Wide Receiver
Parsons
Corey Davis - Davis continues his career year (to-date) with a monster Week 13 performance. Studying Davis closely in the offseason, he was regularly getting open and running quality routes in 2019 without the benefit of strong production following his quality tape. This year, the targets are coming from Ryan Tannehill and Davis has exploded with his best season. Davis enters free agency in the offseason and looks for a quality contract and a WR1/2 role with his (likely) new team. Davis is around WR30 in my dynasty rankings with the potential to venture into the top-20 or top-25 in the coming months.
Justin Jefferson - Jefferson's historic Year 1 is matched by only three wide receivers over the past 25 years to post a top-12 season as a Round 1 NFL Draft pick: Julio Jones, Odell Beckham, and Randy Moss. Jefferson is in my top-five dynasty wide receivers and is not yet 22 years old.
Hicks
Allen Robinson - Allen Robinson has been very vocal about getting a new contract in Chicago, but I think that ship may have sailed. At only 27 years of age, he has another huge contract in him and will want a better situation than he has landed in with the Bears. He is a clear difference-maker stuck on a bad team. What the team and he do will ultimately decide his dynasty future, but he deserves a big uptick for giving his all and producing when all around him is failing.
Jerry Jeudy - Jerry Jeudy was widely seen as the best receiver in the class of 2020. To see his compatriots perform better on other teams has to light a fire under Jeudy for 2021. He isn’t the first and won’t be the last wide receiver to struggle with the jump to the NFL. He has had his moments, but he has battled injury most weeks and lacks consistent quarterback play. No excuses for 2021 though, he needs to start living up to his potential. My early boom has been lowered.
Kenny Golladay - There is no doubt that this is the worst season of Kenny Golladay’s career to date. Injury, bad play, and well.....being in Detroit. It has to be remembered though that before his injury he recorded back-to-back hundred-yard games and will be a free agent at the end of this season. His desire to remain with the Lions is likely to be diminished with a new head coach and a possible new quarterback. He could be a dynasty steal as he will command a high price for another NFL team and the franchise tag could be prohibitive for Detroit to use.
Will Fuller - Will Fuller had finally put years of injury-interrupted seasons behind him and was on pace to finally live up to his first-round NFL draft price. Now he has been suspended for the final six games of the season and will enter 2021 as a free agent. Some team will be foolish enough to throw lots of money at him and be severely disappointed. He has to move down rankings and while others will forgive and move forward, he is far too risky for me to entertain any longer.
Terry McLaurin - Terry McLaurin may lack the touchdown numbers of his rookie season, but everything else is trending up. With the mess at quarterback and no other receiver matching McLaurin’s desire and skill, the second-year receiver deserves so much better. As Ron Rivera builds a more competitive team, expect McLaurin to get help and reach his potential. This franchise, however, has a habit of turning gold into led for far too long.
Tight End
Hicks
Darren Waller - For those who thought Darren Wallers breakout season in 2019 was a fluke or that he was due to regress, welcome to 2020. Waller was a monster against the Jets, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. His touchdown numbers have improved significantly, and he is on pace for 100 catches and 1000 yards receiving. A definite bump in rankings is due.
Zach Ertz - Zach Ertz like all other Philadelphia receivers has had his injury issues this year. His timing could not be worse. Ertz was angling for a new contract, but the more likely outcome with his contract situation and the continued development of Dallas Goedert is that he lands on a new team in 2021. The Eagles can keep Ertz for 2021 but make considerable savings on the salary cap by releasing or trading him. Where he lands will determine his fantasy future, making him a risky dynasty option now. Thirty-year-old tight ends have their value in the NFL, but not so much as elite fantasy options
Parsons
T.J. Hockenson - The former top-10 NFL Draft pick is on a historic track with his mid-TE1 level season in 2020 with only a few weeks to play. With a Year 2 breakout and his prospect profile, Hockenson has an argument to be TE2 in dynasty rankings and, at worst, TE3/4. The connection to Matthew Stafford is stabilizing situationally and Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones are free agents in the offseason. Hockenson and DAndre Swift are the core elements, beyond Stafford, on the Detroit Lions going forward.
Jimmy Graham - Graham has been playing situational snaps in recent weeks, centering on the red zone. Cole Kmet has also become a bigger element of the Chicago offense of late. Graham is outside my top-30 dynasty tight ends as an NFL cut candidate in the offseason and a fringe NFL starter in 2021+ even if finding a vacant depth chart.
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