By: Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl)
Dynasty Owners, it’s do or die week in the fantasy football community! What I mean by this is there are plenty of fantasy football teams out there staring at an 0-4 or 1-3 record and those managers must decide if they are going to start looking towards 2024 or if they are going to swing a couple of trades and try to get back into the playoff hunt. I know for myself I would be looking to the future at this point unless I had a stud or two returning from injury, such as Cooper Kupp ($26,700,000) or Jonathan Taylor ($1,957,288), who I feel will get me over the hump. At that point, I would start looking to make a trade and better my roster to ensure I don’t suffer many more losses along the way.
Before we get into the free agents, let’s talk about my highlights from Week 4. I must start with my guy from Ohio State C.J. Stroud ($9,069,811) who has led the Texans to a surprise 2-2 record including a win over my Steelers this past Sunday. While Bears quarterback Justin Fields ($4,717,989) has struggled and let me down this season, I believe Stroud is going to be the first true great quarterback in the NFL to come out of Ohio State. Alright, that’s enough Ohio State love for the week. In other news, this week the Bills regained control of the AFC East by dismantling the high-powered Dolphins, while the Jets and Patriots both lost, though the Jets should have beat the Chiefs and Zach Wilson ($8,787,670) played one of, if not his best game as a pro. I am still not worried about the Jets winning the division though. Lastly what has happened to the Bengals and Vikings? Both teams were expected to compete for division titles or potentially a Super Bowl and neither has looked good. Both teams are sitting at 1-3 and the Vikings barely squeaked by the winless Panthers in Week 4. The Bengals can point to Joe Burrow’s ($9,047,534) injury as the main blame, but what is the Vikings’ excuse? No running game? Bad defense? Either way both teams have struggled mightily and desperately need a win in Week 5. Do you think either of these teams can bounce back and make the playoffs? Let me know on X (formerly known as Twitter) if you do!
If you are new to this series of articles, there is a small list of requirements, with the main one being that the player must be 80% rostered or below in Dynasty Owner. The only other requirement I have is that I would like the player to have a salary of $8,000,000 or less, but I will put a higher salary player on the list if I feel they are worth it. Free Agent Auction bids will process on Wednesday at 5 AM (Eastern) for this upcoming week, so there’s still time to get your bids in for Week 4. The Bid listed below is my recommended amount to secure the player for your Dynasty Owner team in the Wednesday Free Agent Auction run in a typical Dynasty Owner league.
- Mitch Trubisky (QB – PIT) 1 year/$7,142,500 – 11.11% Rostered
Like I always say, quarterbacks are gold here on Dynasty Owner. It’s why every time we have a potential starting quarterback available, they are the number 1 player picked up for the week. In Week 4, it happened to be my beloved Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett ($3,516,976) who went down. I know the name Mitch Trubisky won’t get many excited, but I believe he can put up better numbers than Pickett has thus far. One thing I love about Trubisky is the fact he is not scared to take chances, whereas Pickett has seemed to play conservative to start his career which may all be on Steelers’ offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Either way, the Steelers offense has too many weapons to not take a chance on whoever is under center. If Trubisky can come in and limit turnovers and use his mobility, he should be a solid Bench option here on the Dynasty Owner platform.
Bid – $4,000,000
- Jaleel McLaughlin (RB – DEN) – 3 years/$903,333 – 74.33% Rostered
Jaleel McLaughlin is a player who all of you had on your watch list, right? I am kidding of course, as I doubt many of you have ever even heard of him, but come Week 5, the entire fantasy community will know his name, good or bad. In Week 4, McLaughlin’s teammate Javonte Williams ($2,216,438) suffered an injury and while he isn’t expected to miss much time, I am expecting him to sit at least a week. If this is the case, McLaughlin will get his chance to shine in a featured role. In Week 4 when filling in for Williams, McLaughlin played extremely well finishing with a stat line of 7 carries for 72 yards while adding 3 catches, 32 yards and a touchdown through the air (19.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). If Williams continues to struggle when he returns from injury, I expect McLaughlin to see more work throughout the season. The Broncos’ season already appears to be over and I don’t see much of a reason for them to run Williams into the ground just a year after tearing his ACL when they have a quality back behind him. Fun fact about McLaughlin. He is the NCAA’s all-time rushing leader. The talent is there.
Bid – $3,000,000
- Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (WR – TEN) 1 year/$1,260,000 – 63.6% Rostered
Outside of a disastrous Week 3 for every Titans player, Westbrook-Ikhine has quietly been a solid option at WR, scoring over 9.8 points each week (not including Week 3). I know many of you will pause when picking up a player like Westbrook-Ikhine as he has struggled to produce consistent numbers, but it seems as if he surpassed Treylon Burks ($3,592,398) to become the number 2 receiver for the Titans. I know Burks was injured for the Week 4 contest, but injuries have been a common theme for Burks to start his career. Even when both Burks and Westbrook-Ikhine have been on the field, it has been Westbrook-Ikhine who has shown himself to be the better option. If Westbrook-Ikhine can continue to build on the start he has had, he could weasel his way into the top 36 receivers before the year is done. My main worry here is the quarterback play in Tennessee.
Bid – $2,000,000
- Deven Thompkins (WR – TB) – 1 year/$787,500 – 0.38% Rostered
At this time, I can’t find an update on Mike Evans’ ($16,500,000) injury which tells me it probably isn’t the best news, and he will miss some time. If Evans is set to miss time. Thompkins appears ready to step up and fill the void. While filling in for Evans in the second half this past Sunday, Thompkins had a solid day catching all 4 targets that came his way for 45 yards and a touchdown (15.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) against an excellent defense in New Orleans. The biggest negative working against Thompkins right now is the fact he has a bye in Week 5 which will give Evans an extra week to get healthy. The positive working in Thompkins’ favor is the fact that Evans is on the wrong side of 30 and the Buccaneers could and probably should keep him out a couple of weeks with them squarely in the playoff hunt. Regardless of what happens with Mike Evans, Thompkins has shown himself to be a player Dynasty Owners need to stash at the absolute worst.
Bid – $2,000,000
- Ronnie Rivers (RB – LAR) 1 year/$750,000 – 14.56% Rostered
I am not sure how I feel on this one but as I have been saying all year, the running back position is an absolute wasteland right now and Dynasty Owners should be stocking up talent in any way imaginable. Rivers will likely be a bench option at best while teammate Kyren Williams ($992,601) is healthy but if he continues to produce the way he did against the Colts, Sean McVay will find ways to get him involved. On Sunday against the Colts, Rivers failed to find the end zone but finished with a promising 9 carries for 47 yards while adding 2 catches for 10 yards through the air (7.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). Rivers could be a potential league winner should he find himself in a starting role between now and Week 10-12. I highly recommend picking him up now because waiting until he gets a bigger role will cost you quite a bit more Dynasty Dollars than if you grab him this week.
Bid – $2,000,000
Thank you all for reading! Be sure to check out all of the upcoming articles from me and Steve plus the Dynasty Owner Livestream, now every Thursday afternoon at 4:00 PM (Eastern). Stay safe out there, and good luck on your 2023 Chase for the Ring!