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By: Jay Pounds (@JayPoundsNFL)
Welcome back to another week of the Dynasty Owner Free Agent Auction preview. The chance to grab talent in the Free Agent Auction is drying up quick and you must get the players you want now. Before we get into the available free agents, we have Jay’s weekly recap for the 5th week of the NFL season.
The Steelers and Big Ben bounced back in a big way scoring 27 points on a very good Denver defense. The Seahawks playoff chances took a serious hit with Russell Wilson set to be out until at least Week 10. Can Geno Smith weather the storm? The Jets are still the Jets as things continue to look ugly for the guys in green. Kyle Pitts had his first big game as a rookie for the Atlanta Falcons with Calvin Ridley out for the week. The Bengals and Packers combined to miss five potential go ahead field goals before Mason Crosby nailed the game winner in overtime. My biggest take away from that game is how well the Bengals have played to start the season. Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to a comeback win against the Panthers, but even after winning the Philly franchise cannot feel the best about Hurts as their franchise QB. The Texans are playing extremely hard for new coach David Culley and may have found an answer at quarterback despite all the Deshaun Watson drama. The Jaguars will likely be looking for a new coach after this season with Trevor Lawrence underperforming significantly and an 0-5 start in Jacksonville. The Lions lost another tough heartbreaker but even after an 0-5 start, I love the direction Dan Campbell has the Lions going in moving forward. Tom Brady put it on the Dolphins throwing for 5 touchdowns after getting a new wheel put on his walker the night before the game. The Bears struggled at times against the Raiders but seem to have found their franchise QB in Justin Fields after he led the team to another win. The Cardinals are Super Bowl contenders after finding a way to beat San Francisco despite Kyler Murray not having a great performance. The Giants without Daniel Jones proved to be no match for the Cowboys surging defense. The only thing good that came out of this game after losing Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, and Jones to injury was Kadarius Toney bursting onto the NFL scene. The Chiefs struggles on defense continued as they lost a key AFC matchup to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. Lamar Jackson threw for a career high 442 yards in a magnificent comeback win over the Colts on Monday Night Football. At last, that leaves us with Baker Mayfield and the Browns. The Browns and Mayfield played a great game but, in my opinion, it was more of the same. The one thing I want to see from Mayfield is him learning how to win games he shouldn’t, similar to Lamar Jackson against the Colts last night.
Alright Dynasty Owners, we are back with another week of trying to find a diamond in the rough with the Free Agent Auction targets. The free agent articles/videos will be dropping every Tuesday afternoon in advance of when bids process on Wednesday at 5 AM and will consist of the week’s Top 5 free agent adds. I will do my best to keep the players listed at an ownership percentage of 65% or less and make sure all players have contracts of $8,000,000 or less, with most players coming in at under $4,000,000. One last note, in Dynasty Owner you will be credited each week with 25% of your entire Bench’s score making these weekly free agent pick-ups extremely important to help boost your total weekly score.
On to the top targets for Week 6:
- Geno Smith (QB – SEA) – 1 year/$1,212,500 – 1.8% Rostered
The Seahawks playoff chances took a massive blow on Sunday when Russell Wilson injured a finger on his throwing hand paving the way for Geno Smith to see the field. Smith filled in well for Seattle’s superstar quarterback finishing the game with 10 completions on 17 attempts, 131 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and the game ending interception, though the pick was not his fault. As I always say quarterbacks are Dynasty Owner gold especially when they have a salary in the same range as Geno Smith. If you lost Wilson, over the weekend Smith is the perfect guy for your roster.
- David Njoku (TE – CLE) – 1 year/$6,013,000 – 23.1% Rostered
David Njoku may finally be happy with his place in the Browns organization after Sunday. Njoku exploded against the Chargers, and I believe it would behoove the Browns to play him over the other tight ends on the roster because of his playmaking ability. Njoku’s athleticism was fully on display Sunday evening as he posted a stat line of 7 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown scoring an impressive 27.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. If Sunday happens to be a rare occurrence for Njoku, no worries you will not be on the hook for him after this season with him only having one year left remaining on his current contract.
- Kendrick Bourne (WR – NE) – 3 years/$5,000,000 – 32.5% Rostered
Kendrick Bourne was a player I considered in last week’s article, but I wanted to see a little more from him on the field before recommending him. In Week 5, Bourne did not have the best week finishing with 3 catches for 26 yards plus 12 rushing yards, but aside from Hunter Henry the entire Patriots offense seemed to struggle in the win. In the weeks prior to the Texans game, Bourne had solid performances in back-to-back games with a combined stat line of 11 receptions, 154 receiving yards and 1 receiving TD (32.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). Expect Bourne to have some up and down weeks on your Bench but he is worth a look.
- Rashard Higgins (WR – CLE) – 1 year/$2,377,500 – 42.0% Rostered
A few weeks back I had Rashard Higgins in a Free Agent Auction article and while he has not quite produced like I had hoped, here we are again. Odell Beckham Jr has struggled to say the least since his return from injury and I am not particularly sure he is even close to 100% just yet. While this is not good news for the Browns, it is good news for Hollywood Higgins. Donovan Peoples-Jones led the Browns WRs with 6 targets, while Higgins finished with 5. At some point, the Browns are going to need to depend on their WRs and Higgins has a great shot to be the safety net for Baker Mayfield, especially while Jarvis Landry is out.
- Ricky Seals-Jones (TE – WAS) – 1 year/$990,000 – 35.5% Rostered
While I hate putting two tight ends in these articles, I am not sure anyone else makes more sense, plus I wanted to give you a cheaper option at the position than Njoku. If you are a cap strapped Logan Thomas owner like me, you may end up needing to go this route versus taking a shot on David Njoku. In Week 5, the Football Team struggled on offense, but Seals-Jones still saw 8 targets catching 5 of them for 41 yards for 9.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. If the Washington offense continues to get their tight ends involved often it will give Seals-Jones a shot to be productive in place of Thomas.
Conclusion
Please do not forget about Steve Van Tassell’s weekly Tuesday recap article and Friday preview article and video, as well as Matt “The Jerk” Morrison’s Wednesday article and video plus his Thursday Night Football preview article. Don’t forget to check out Dynasty Owner on YouTube!
Thank you for reading and as always good luck on your 2021 Chase for the Ring!