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By Steven Van Tassell
It’s time to talk about the Dynasty Owner Free Agent Auction. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s basically Dynasty Owner’s version of waivers, but it’s not a traditional waivers system. All players not on a Dynasty Owner roster are available after the startup draft and throughout the season. Dynasty Owners bid on available players using Dynasty Dollars (new Dynasty Owners get $10 million Dynasty Dollars for signing up and joining a league and you can purchase and win them as well). See the Dynasty Owner Constitution for more details – go to https://app.dynastyowner.com/how-to-play and hit the red DO Constitution button.
After your Dynasty Owner league draft is over, every team has a 25-player roster. However, Dynasty Owner rosters can be up to 30 players (plus 3 Injured Reserve spots). If they have space under the $127.75 million salary cap, Dynasty Owners can add more players after their draft via the Free Agent Auction. In the Free Agent Auction, you’ll find players ranging from high-salary starting QBs like Jared Goff (2.3% ownership) and Kirk Cousins (0.8% ownership) to 20 current free agents who have listed salaries of less than $500,000 (there are 19 with a $495,000 annual salary for 2021, including former Miami Hurricanes RB Mark Walton and WR Herb Waters who are rostered in 6.1% and 3.0% of Dynasty Owner leagues respectively, and QB Tanner Lee who is listed with a $480,000 salary for this season and rostered right now in 8.3% of Dynasty Owner leagues).
With over 1,000 players available in the Free Agent Auction, it can be a little daunting to figure out who to pick up and who to leave sitting there for someone else. Since Dynasty Owner is all about value and finding those low-salary, high point players, players with salaries around or under $1 million who have the opportunity to be productive in 2021 are hard to find since they tend to be selected in a startup draft, or already on a roster in established leagues.
In the past, it was easier. After the inaugural 2019 season, I did an article (https://dynastyowner.com/2020/02/available-players-2020/) highlighting four players who were widely available at the time in Dynasty Owner and had annual salaries of far less than $1 million. Two of those players (Myles Gaskin and Russell Gage) turned out to have pretty good 2020 seasons and are now 100% rostered. The other two (Steven Sims and Foster Moreau) didn’t do so well last year, but still have ownership levels in the 40%-50% range due to their youth, potential and affordable contracts.
Later in the 2020 off-season, Dynasty Owners were given an extra $2 million in salary cap room and I suggested a host of players to pick up with that extra space (https://dynastyowner.com/2020/08/players-to-pick-up-with-the-extra-2-million-in-salary-cap-in-2020/). Those picks were less than stellar, but Wayne Gallman was among them and after the injury to Saquon Barkley, Gallman stepped in and finished the 2020 season with seven games of 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and a total of 137.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. That was good enough to be RB34 for the season. At the time of the article in mid-August, he was only rostered in one-quarter (24%) of Dynasty Owner leagues.
As Dynasty Owners get more familiar with the game, learn more about contracts and salaries, it gets more and more difficult to find these players. However, it’s time again to see if we can find the next Myles Gaskin, Russell Gage or even the 2020 version of Wayne Gallman. To qualify for consideration, players have to make around $1 million or less for the 2021 season and be rostered in less than 50% of Dynasty Owner leagues. The salary limit is flexible since it’s harder to find these guys now, but we won’t stray much above the $1 million mark. Despite the difficulty, here are 9 players (3 QBs, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, and 1 TE) who fit that criteria and should be more widely owned than they are right now.
All 2021 projections come from Rotowire and are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth 1 point for every 40 yards.
All 2021 Dynasty Owner ADP and fantasy points projections were accurate as of the morning of August 18th.
Backup Quarterbacks to Stash
There are plenty of teams with veteran backup QBs who will cost Dynasty Owners a lot more than around $1 million. Clear backups for 2021 like Case Keenum (QB – CLE), Jacoby Brissett (QB – MIA), Joe Flacco (QB – PHI) and Jordan Love (QB – GB) all have salaries north of $3 million. Even guys like Mitchell Trubisky (QB – BUF), C.J. Beathard (QB – JAX) and Tim Boyle (QB – DET) make $2.5 million. However, other teams have more affordable backup QBs who are available in more than half of Dynasty Owner leagues now.
Dynasty Owner teams need to consider having a backup QB on their roster for the simple fact that QBs get injured in the NFL. For the 2021 season, only 13 out of 32 NFL teams started the same QB in all 16 regular season games. An additional 13 teams used two starting QBs, while five teams (Cincinnati, Denver, Jacksonville, San Francisco and Washington) used three and the Dallas Cowboys used four starting QBs last season (Dak Prescott, Andy Dalton, Ben DiNucci and Garrett Gilbert). Unless you’re convinced that one of the QBs with an expensive backup is going to get injured (or benched), then your best bet for an inexpensive backup QB are these guys.
- Phillip Walker (QB – CAR) – 1 year, $782,500 – 10.6% ownership
There are only three QBs on the Carolina Panthers roster right now – Sam Darnold, Will Grier and Phillip Walker. Obviously Darnold is the starter since Carolina traded three draft picks (2021 sixth round pick which the Jets subsequently traded to Kansas City, a 2022 second round pick, and a 2022 fourth round pick). Carolina also exercised the fifth year option in Darnold’s rookie contract and will pay him $18.858 million in 2022. Make no mistake, he’s their guy.
However, Darnold has been in the NFL for three seasons and has missed a total of ten games to injury in that time (three games in 2018 due to a foot injury, three games in 2019 due to mono, and four games in 2020 due to a shoulder injury). It’s very likely either Walker or Grier makes a few appearances in 2021 and probably starts at least a game or two. Walker started the one game in 2020 that Teddy Bridgewater missed due to injury and played in four games overall. Grier did not appear in any games in 2020, so the edge to be the backup in Carolina goes to Walker. Walker also has a lower salary than Grier ($963,249) and one less year on his contract.
- Nick Mullens (QB – PHI) – 1 year, $970,000 – 9.1% ownership
Similar to Carolina, Philadelphia only has three QBs on its current roster with Joe Flacco and Nick Mullens both trying to be the backup to Jalen Hurts. Both are owned in less than 10% of Dynasty Owner leagues, but Mullens is the better choice to stash since he is over $2.5 million cheaper at $970,000 (versus $3.5 million for Flacco). Both performed about the same in relief of their starting QBs in 2020. In four starts for the Jets, Flacco scored 70.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, or an average of 17.6 points per game. While Mullens started eight games for the 49ers and scored 126.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, or an average of 15.75 points per game.
- Mason Rudolph (QB – PIT) – 1 year, $980,472 – 30.3% ownership
Ben Roethlisberger is 39 years old and probably in his last season in Pittsburgh. Mason Rudolph is only 26 years old and likely the next starting QB for the Steelers. In 2021, he’ll cost Dynasty Owners under $1 million, but that jumps up to $5 million in 2022. In 2019, Rudolph played in 10 games and scored 139.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, or 13.9 points per game. He also started in Week 17 versus Cleveland last season and scored 25.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Those numbers aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible either for less than $1 million in salary. Of course, Dwayne Haskins could play instead of Rudolph for the Steelers, but Haskins is rostered in two-thirds (66.7%) of Dynasty Owner leagues right now. Haskins’ salary for 2021 is slightly lower than Rudolph at $850,000, but he’s not eligible for this list due to his high ownership.
All of the other backup QBs in the correct price range, such as Gardner Minshew ($677,721) and both Colts QBs who might end up playing in place of Carson Wentz if he misses any games, Jacob Eason ($1,006,816) and Sam Ehlinger ($902,677), are owned in over 50% of Dynasty Owner leagues.
Slim Pickings at Running Back
Not surprisingly, there are few RBs available in more than half of Dynasty Owner leagues who make around $1 million and should be on more rosters. The top guys in that price range and most of the backups are rostered in 100% of Dynasty Owner leagues. Most of the rookies at that salary level, like Elijah Mitchell, Chris Evans, Khalil Herbert, Kylin Hill and Jermar Jefferson are rostered in over 90% of Dynasty Owner leagues. The top undrafted rookie free agents Javian Hawkins (RB – ATL) and Jaret Patterson (RB – WAS) are owned in 97.7% and 68.9% of leagues respectively. However, there are two guys who Dynasty Owners should consider stashing away.
- Caleb Huntley (RB – ATL) – 1 year, $810,000 – 25.8% ownership
Both Javian Hawkins and Caleb Huntley are undrafted rookie free agents with identical 3-year, $810,000 annual salary contracts. However, if you didn’t draft Javian Hawkins in your regular or rookie draft, you missed out as he’s rostered in nearly every Dynasty Owner league. If you aren’t buying Mike Davis as the Falcons RB1 all season and didn’t draft Hawkins for your roster, then Caleb Huntley should be on your Practice Squad. Huntley had a great college career with 2,902 rushing yards at Ball State. He also rushed for more than 100 yards in 10 out of his final 11 games in college. There are plenty of low-salary, undrafted rookie free agents out there on the Free Agent Auction, but Huntley is one of the few who could play a role for his NFL team in 2021.
- Brian Hill (RB – TEN) – 1 year, $990,000 – 26.5% ownership
Last year when Christian McCaffrey went down, most people thought it would be Reggie Bonnafon who would step in and play. Turns out, it was Mike Davis who went on to save many fantasy teams’ season by finishing the 2020 season with 205.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to finish as RB12. Flash forward to 2021 and everyone feels like Darrynton Evans will be Derrick Henry’s replacement if Henry gets hurt this year. At a little over $1.14 million in salary, Evans is 100% rostered in Dynasty Owner. Meanwhile, Brian Hill is only rostered in about one-quarter of leagues for $150,000 less in salary. Evans only had 21.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in five games (4.2 points per game) in 2020. In contrast, Hill played in all 16 games for Atlanta and averaged 5.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game (93.4 points in total). Evans might end up being better and playing more, but unless you want to trade for him, you can’t have him. If you are concerns about Henry’s workload, but don’t want to spend what the Evans’ owner is asking, pick up Hill as a handcuff.
Neither Hill or Huntley is likely to be the next James Robinson or Phillip Lindsay, but both are worth a roster spot due to their salary and the lack of affordable and available RBs on the typical Dynasty Owner league Free Agent Auction.
Three Wide Receiver Formation
In contrast, there are more WRs available who fit this criteria than any other position. Two out of the three WRs below are actually quite close to being rostered in 50% of Dynasty Owner leagues, while the third one isn’t at all.
- Greg Ward (WR – PHI) – 1 year, $850,000 – 46.2% ownership
Greg Ward is very close to being rostered in half of Dynasty Owner leagues and for good reason. He led Philadelphia with 53 receptions and 79 targets in 2020 and has four or more receptions in over half of the NFL games that he has played in (12 out of 23 total). He is also listed as the starter at WR3 on the team’s unofficial depth chart. It’s true that the Eagles have drafted a WR with their first draft pick in each of the past two NFL drafts. However, Ward should be on the field a lot as new Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni used a three WR formation over 60% of the time in every year that he was the Offensive Coordinator in Indianapolis according to Sharp Football Stats (https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/personnel-grouping-frequency.html).
- Isaiah McKenzie (WR – BUF) – 1 year, $1,127,500 – 3.8% ownership
Another WR who scored more than 100.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2020 is Isaiah McKenzie, but he is rostered in less than 5% of Dynasty Owner leagues. Despite being the WR5 in Buffalo, Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll likes to get McKenzie the ball as he’s averaged 2.7 touches per game and 5.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game on offense while a member of the Bills. He might have an expanded role in 2021 as kickoff and punt returner Andre Roberts left Buffalo for Houston. Roberts had 1,248 return yards in 2020 and 885 return yards in 2019, which equates to 31.2 and 22.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points since Dynasty Owner gives players 1 point for every 40 return yards. He’s only projected for 51.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2021 but that seems really low, especially if he does return kicks. I have him on one of my rosters and encourage more of you to do the same thing.
- Demarcus Robinson (WR – KC) – 1 year, $1,127,500 – 46.2% ownership
This is surprising. Robinson has scored more than 100.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in each of the past two seasons (105.8 in 2020 and 100.9 in 2019). Those were good for WR71 in 2019 and WR68 in 2020, so basically the sixth best WR on your roster. Last season, he played more snaps than any Kansas City WR not named Tyreek Hill. Robinson was on the field for 64.5% of Kansas City’s offensive snaps versus 45.3% for Mecole Hardman with both playing in all 16 games. His stats for the past two years compare pretty favorably against his teammate as shown below. The most surprising column is the second one that shows Hardman is rostered in 100% of Dynasty Owner leagues compared to just 46.2% for Robinson.
| Player | % Rostered | 2021 Salary | 2019 Points | 2020 Points |
| Mecole Hardman | 100% | $1,248,763 | 135.3 | 139.4 |
| Demarcus Robinson | 46.2% | $1,127,500 | 105.8 | 100.9 |
With Sammy Watkins not in Kansas City anymore, Hardman is projected to step into his role as the Chiefs’ WR2 (but really the third best receiver on the team behind Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce). If you’re not sure about Hardman and feel like your Dynasty Owner roster needs another Chiefs WR, go see if Robinson is available in your league.
Originally, this section was going to also feature Quez Watkins (WR – PHI) who has a salary of $866,166, but his ownership jumped to 59.9% over the past few days.
The Free Agent Auction is Tight on Tight Ends
There are quite a few quality TEs making around $1 million or less who could contribute to your Dynasty Owner team this season. However, like the RBs, most of them are rostered in far more than 50% of Dynasty Owner leagues. Mark Andrews (TE – BAL) was TE6 in 2020 and only costs $863,290 in salary this year. However, his 2021 startup draft ADP is 53.8 so he’s not on the Free Agent Auction in any league. The single TE on our list here is rostered in a mere 98.5% fewer Dynasty Owner leagues than Andrews, but should be on more rosters.
- Richard Rodgers (TE – PHI) – 1 year, $1,027,500 – 1.5% ownership
Understandably, most Dynasty Owners aren’t excited by the prospect of picking up the third TE on the Eagles. However, if the Eagles trade Zach Ertz, Rodgers should move up and be the backup to Dallas Goedert. Last season, Goedert and Ertz missed the Eagles’ Week 7 matchup against the New York Giants. Rodgers stepped in and was the team’s leading receiver in that game with 6 receptions for 85 yards (14.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points).
For those of you looking for Donald Parham (TE – LAC), he just missed being included on the list as 56.1% of Dynasty Owner leagues have an owner with the former XFL star on their roster at a salary of $695,000 for the 2021 season.
Conclusion
Once your startup draft is over, Dynasty Owners can use any excessive salary cap room to pick up additional players off the Free Agent Auction. Since most Dynasty Owners tend to spend close to all of their cap room, they don’t have room to add the most expensive players out there. That’s why they need to find affordable veteran players to stash on their Practice Squad now, instead of waiting until they have a good game and you and the rest of your league are bidding on them.
Hopefully all Dynasty Owners found this article helpful in getting ready for the 2021 Dynasty Owner season. Dynasty Owner has plenty of other great content to help you draft your dynasty. We can also provide guidance as you get prepared for your startup draft, as well as help tweak your roster after your draft is over so you can win your league. My articles and videos to get you ready for your 2021 Dynasty Owner start-up league team are being released on Wednesdays. Keep an eye out for new articles from the rest of our team of Dynasty Owner writers as well. Matt Morrison – The Jerk (@Dynastyjerk) is doing a deep dive on individual teams that you can check out on Mondays, while Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl) looks at how to rebuild your Dynasty Owner roster on Fridays. All of the articles will be released at 1 PM (Eastern) with videos and podcast released at 3 PM (Eastern).
Please read all of their articles and follow all three of us plus Dynasty Owner (@Dynasty_Owner) on Twitter. Hopefully this article is helpful, or at least interesting, for everyone who just drafted their first Dynasty Owner team or has played Dynasty Owner in the past. Thanks, and have a great day!
Steven Van Tassell is the Head of Content for Dynasty Owner
Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner