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 of your teams. The diversity of rankings will result in a variety of opinions weekly.
Quarterback
Tefertiller
Tom Brady – Admittedly, Brady was criminally low due to age. At this point, we do not care given Brady's keen passion for the game. New England has the weapons to keep Brady in the Top 5 quarterbacks every year until he retires.
Carson Palmer – Palmer is another quarterback who was too low due to age. At this poing, we would much prefer to roster Brady or Plamer over the Matt Ryan or Matthew Stafford types of quarterbacks.
Parsons
Colin Kaepernick - The 49ers have made a move under center and Kaepernick has steadily moved down my rankings this season. The light is not coming on and the 'boom' weeks are spacing out for the athletic but lacking feel quarterback. I can see dropping Kaepernick in more shallow dynasty leagues with a single quarterback starter. At 27 years old Kaepernick is getting late in the game to see a tremendous turn around in pocket navigation and reading a defense.
Derek Carr - I have been on the upper band of valuation on Carr since being drafted. 2014 lacked legitimate targets for the rookie, but the additions of Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper have been huge for his sophomore uptick. Carr has moved into my top-5 quarterbacks with his quick release, quality reads, and now above-average set of weapons.
Harstad
Blake Bortles - After a borderline-Gabbertian rookie year, Bortles surprisingly finds himself 10th among quarterbacks in points per game, and Footballguys projects him to pick up the pace from there going forward. Where do you rank a 23-year-old top-3 draft pick surrounded by weapons at receiver who ranks in the top 10 at his position in his second year? A heck of a lot higher than I had him before, that's for sure.
Derek Carr - Before the season kicked off, I was the lowest ranker on Derek Carr, perhaps anywhere on the internet. But you have to be able to admit when you were wrong, and I was wrong in a big way; within the last three weeks, I've found myself as perhaps the highest ranker on Carr. When a quarterback looks this good this young, he's going to rocket up the rankings.
Colin Kaepernick - Getting benched for Blaine Gabbert is the fantasy football equivalent of walking around wearing a sandwich board that says “I'm not worth rostering in any but the deepest of leagues”.
Running Back
Parsons
Todd Gurley - Gurley was already my top dynasty running back. However, Gurley continues to separate from the field with LeVeon Bell's injury, and the running back landscape thinning by the week with injuries to the biggest names of recent seasons. Gurley is 21 years old and already a locked in RB1 weekly. He has gone in the top-5 and even 1.01 with some in-season startup drafts and rightfully so.
Eddie Lacy - I have cooled significantly on Lacy this season. His running style has morphed into a Trent Richardson-like wrestling match each carry and James Starks has looked like the better back in Green Bay. While in his prime, I am not willing to keep Lacy in the top-8 of dynasty backs on name value alone.
Tefertiller
Carlos Hyde – We love Hyde's talent and ability. But, the stress fracture in his foot should be enough to either keep the talented youngster off the field or limited when playing. We have moved him down to a level (still in the Top 10 backs) where he should remain all offseason. The expectations are low for Hyde the rest of the season.
Dion Lewis – Lewis moves into our Top 5 running backs. He was definitely back to full speed on Thursday night against the Dolphins. Lewis has great play-making ability and New England is putting him into positions to succeed.
David Cobb – The rookie should be activated this week and could step directly into the starting role. The Titans do not have much talent standing between Cobb and a large workload. Now is the time to buy before a solid game in the near future.
Harstad
Mark Ingram - Over the years, I've often used Mark Ingram as a parable that just because a player hasn't done something doesn't mean he can't do something. The Saints rarely, if ever, threw the ball to Ingram, so many assumed he couldn't serve as a receiver. But Ingram was a fine receiver in college. He had the skills. New Orleans never needed to utilize them because they had Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles. Well, now Sproles and Thomas are gone, and Ingram finds himself on pace for a whopping 66 receptions, which would be 13 more than he had in his first four seasons combined. And in PPR, receptions are the key to fantasy value. In an offense that throws to its backs more than any other offense in NFL history, Ingram is a fantasy cornerstone for the forseeable future.
Doug Martin - It's been a long and winding road to get here, but Martin is 26, top-5 at his position, and looks fantastic. Regardless of what he did last year or the year before, that's a combination that you have to react to and respect.
Wide Receiver
Harstad
Devin Funchess - Look, it's not the end of the world when receivers struggle to transition to the NFL. It's a tough transition. Some guys take several years. Antonio Brown only had 167 yards in his first year. But at the same time, when a highly-drafted receiver has 90 yards halfway through his rookie year on a team that's absolutely dying for any sort of help in the passing game, that's a major red flag.
Paul Richardson Jr - This isn't a huge bump, but the speedy young former 2nd-round receiver is quietly close to getting back on the football field after an injury that could have been career-threatening. If you can get him on the cheap, it's looking like now might be a good chance to add and see what you have.
Parsons
Keenan Allen - I was never low on Allen as a highly productive receiver still yet to hit 24 years old. However, I have adjusted Allen up of late. Allen has WR1 upside and does everything well outside of dominating with overt speed downfield. His ball skills and route running will keep him relevant beyond his athletic limitations compared to the physical freaks at the position.
Chris Givens, Kamar Aiken - Both have ample opportunity to grab the top spots in the Baltimore pecking order with Steve Smith's season-ending (career-ending?) injury. Aiken has the upper hand with recent performance and seeing a bevy of targets to close the Week 8 game, but Givens has thickness for his height, deep speed, and a quality prospect profile and rookie season under his belt from St.Louis a few years ago. Both are perfect players to cash out later this season or early in the offseason.
Tefertiller
Amari Cooper – Cooper is an amazing talent. I moved him to the WR1 spot in the rankings. The rookie is producing at a high level and will only get better.
Stephon Diggs – Diggs took full advantage of the Charles Johnson injury. He grasped hold of the starting job and will not relinquish the position. We fully expect Diggs to be the WR1 for Minnesota – passing Mike Wallace – before the end of the season.
Tight End
Parsons
Clive Walford - Walford's overall stat line has been tempered, but has continued to make flash plays this season in Oakland. Rookie tight ends are fantasy after-thoughts, but Walford should have no trouble surpassing ho-hum retread Mychal Rivera by the end of the season or for Week 1, 2016. Walford's after the catch ability to break tackles is a quality attribute to watch as he ascends to top-15 status.
Mycole Pruitt - Like Clive Walford, Pruitt simmering in the background with a ho-hum veteran in front of him in Kyle Rudolph. Pruitt has made a rugged catch or two this season and Minnesota brass has reiterated his appeal as a future starter. I like Pruitt as a cheap TE2 or upside TE3 on deeper dynasty rosters.
Tefertiller
Clive Walford – We were high on Walford coming out of Miami and he has lived up to expectations. The Raiders are incorporating the rookie tight end into the offense more and more. Walford moves into our Top 10 players at the position.
Harstad
Ladarius Green - It's not his fault that the hype got a little out of control after a sophomore campaign that saw him average a mind-boggling 22 yards per reception, (as a tight end!), but while many have moved on to greener pastures, Green has quietly been playing very well in a prolific San Diego offense. With Gates and Keenan Allen banged up, there's a good chance for that to continue for the rest of the year. After that? Green is only 25, and Gates can't play forever. Probably.
