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By: Jay Pounds (@JayPoundsNFL)
Dynasty Owners! The third week of the NFL season has come and gone, and it is getting close to the time of year when Dynasty Owners must decide if they are a contender or shift their focus to next season. I know the back half of that statement is not where any of us want to be but sometimes it is a reality. I am in the same situation in Steve Van Tassell and my Podcast Listeners’ League and have already shipped James Robinson ($763,333) away for Rashaad Penny ($5,750,000) and a 2023 first round rookie draft pick. Have any of you faced the harsh reality of being a loser this year? Feel free to let me know on Twitter.
As always before jumping into the article I want to cover a few things that stood out to me in Week 3.
- My biggest takeaway from Week 3 is that I am officially starting to worry about Tom Brady ($15,000,000). Is father time finally starting to catch up to him? Is it the missed time this off-season and training camp? Or is it just as simple as he is still finding his groove after not playing in the pre-season? I am not sure on the answer to any of those questions, but I do know he has looked like a shell of himself through three games this season.
- In my Game of the Week that no one knows about I had the Dolphins vs the Bills and I came away impressed with the Dolphins after a tough win against the team I feel is the best in football. Dynasty Owners with Tua Tagovailoa ($7,568,859) must be jumping for joy.
- Finally, we have the Player of the Week Lamar Jackson ($23,016,000) and his monster 50.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance, marking consecutive weeks Jackson surpassed the 50-point mark. I know Dynasty Owners with Lamar Jackson on their roster are loving his production, but this dominance could become an issue in the off-season when he is sitting at the negotiating table.
The players listed below are in no order and are less than 80% rostered in Dynasty Owner with a salary of $8,000,000 or less
- Noah Brown (WR – DAL) – 1 year/$1,187,500 – 75.32% Rostered
In the top spot that means nothing, we have Noah Brown. Brown has looked very good through three games this season and is to the point where you can trust him on your Dynasty Owner Bench, if not the Starting lineup until Dak Prescott ($40,000,000) and Michael Gallup ($11,500,000) are back to full strength. I don’t worry about Dak and Gallup because Brown lacks talent, I worry because Cooper Rush ($977,500) and Brown have an excellent connection on the field, while Dak is more likely to favor CeeDee Lamb ($3,502,503) and Gallup upon his return. Until then, Noah Brown should be rostered in all leagues after posting three straight games with double digit points. Brown has an impressive stat line of 15 catches, 213 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown, scoring a total of 42.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points which is good enough to be the WR25 on the platform.
Winning Bid – $5
- Brian Hoyer (NE – QB) – 2 years/$2,000,000 – 1.7% Rostered
- Bailey Zappe (NE – QB) – 4 years/$1,076,768 – 8.94% Rostered
You may be asking yourself why there are two quarterbacks listed above, while I am asking why in the world did the Patriots go into the season with Brian Hoyer as their backup QB. Hoyer is the owner, proud or not, of an 0-11 record in his last 11 NFL starts. I am joking of course as it all has not been Hoyer’s fault, but I did throw his teammate, rookie third string quarterback Bailey Zappe on here to be safe. After seeing Belichick make a former special teams coordinator and a defensive coordinator the co-offensive coordinators for the Patriots, nothing will surprise me coming out of Foxborough. All of that said the starter will likely be Hoyer, but Zappe may not be a bad pickup as we could see him if Hoyer comes out and plays terrible. Look for the Patriots to attempt a few repeats of last year’s game against the Bills with less than five pass attempts over the next few weeks. Regardless of who gets the nod they will be a cheap starting quarterback and those are always a hot commodity on Dynasty Owner.
Winning Bid – $2 each
- Zay Jones (WR – JAC) – 3 years/$8,000,000 – 37.45% Rostered
This selection here really hurts my heart because it means I may have to admit Jaguars GM Trent Baalke was right and that he did a good job this off-season. Through three games, Zay Jones is the 24th ranked receiver and has scored double digits in two of his three games including a near 25-point outburst in Week 3. Jones’ quarterback, Trevor Lawrence ($9,198,372), is starting to look like the player we all expected him to be coming out of Clemson. The more Lawrence improves the better I expect Zay Jones to be on Sundays. I don’t know that Jones will be a consistent player this season, but he has already shown he is capable of big weeks on a team that is just starting to figure things out.
Winning bid – $4
- Richie James (WR – NYG) – 1 year/$1,065,000 – 57.45% Rostered
Finally, we have a player who I am not all that thrilled about, but he has shown he is a capable Bench option through three weeks of play. Richie James has put-up double-digit Dynasty Owner fantasy points in two out of three weeks, missing the hat trick by only 2.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points against the Cowboys last night on Monday Night Football. Another major factor in James making this list is the Sterling Shepard ($10,250,000) injury that is almost certainly season ending. Shepard and James have been the top two targets for Big Blue this season and I am expecting James’ workload to increase in the coming weeks. If Daniel Jones ($6,416,014) and the Giants can continue to play well, James will be well worth the couple of Dynasty Dollars you spent to get him. At worst, James will be a great depth player to have on your roster and as I have learned over the few years that I have played this game, depth is extremely important.
Winning bid – $4
Thank you all for reading and good luck with your Week 4 matchups! Don’t forget to check out the other articles from Steve, Matt, and Nate, as well as the Livestream, Champions podcast, and the podcast with Steve and myself. Stay safe out there and good luck on your 2022 Chase for the Ring!