Highlighting a few key risers and fallers,
the Dynasty Dashboard assists in keeping you on top of
player valuation changes as they are developing. Further, a deep
sleeper or largely overlooked player worthy of consideration for
a spot on your roster will also be identified each week. Keep an
eye on the dashboard and drive your team toward dynasty league success.
Accelerating
Risky Business: Bryant's upside is worth
the baggage.
Dez
Bryant - The bulk of us are probably well aware of Dez
Bryant’s character concerns at this point. I could go on for a few
paragraphs and detail all of it, including his recent little on-field
spat with DeAngelo Hall, but it wouldn’t accomplish much. This stuff
is public knowledge and it either will steer you away from the young
WR or it won’t. That is a decision for each of us to make individually.
But assuming you have not written Bryant off all together for some
of the aforementioned character issues, you have to be thoroughly
impressed with the eye-popping numbers he has been producing in
the last five weeks.
From Week 8 through Week 12, Bryant registered 29 catches for 502
yards and 4 TDs. Putting these numbers in fantasy context, he has
scored more fantasy points during this span than all but 1 WR, Calvin
Johnson. It appears as though Bryant is finally realizing his full
potential and putting everything together in Dallas. He has shown
flashes of brilliance in the two seasons prior, but things are now
clicking for him mentally and physically this year and we are seeing
the results consistently displayed in on the field as well as in
the stats sheets.
I believe that he has transitioned into low-end WR1 status in typical
dynasty leagues and he could move even higher. There is some risk
associated with Bryant, yet his upside is so alluring that I tend
to be quite forgiving, as are many fantasy owners in cases such
as these. Admittedly, the thought of Bryant as one of the primary
building blocks for my team’s long-term success is a bit scary,
but as they say, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
You have to take some calculated risk in fantasy football, and when
looking at Bryant, you need to determine if the upside is enough
to warrant all of the baggage that comes along for the ride on your
squad.
Andy
Dalton - Using FFToday’s standard scoring, Andy Dalton
is currently 10th in total points at the QB position. Raise your
hand if you projected this level of production from Cincinnati’s
QB in the preseason. Anyone? Anyone? Well, if your hand is raised,
I congratulate you as one of the select few in that camp. Most people
had him penciled in for a soundly mediocre campaign, at least as
it pertains to fantasy production.
Since entering the league, Dalton has received a lot of credit for
his intelligence and feel for the game, but he repeatedly gets raked
over the coals for what most perceive as a weak arm. Sure, he doesn’t
have a laser-rocket arm, yet he has the majority of the other attributes
that you would look for in a QB and leader of the offense. And while
a big arm can be a valuable tool for a quarterback, it is often
an overrated attribute. Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell each had
a cannon for an arm, but neither amounted to much in the league.
Dalton benefits not only from an underrated skillset, but also from
a relatively favorable situation in Cincinnati, that many, including
me, prematurely discounted. The team lacks a difference maker in
the backfield, but benefits from a truly elite top receiver, a better-than-average
TE and some emerging youth at the other WR spots. Dalton has already
posted 5 games this season with 3 or more passing TDs and it looks
like this trend could continue into the foreseeable future. While
I wouldn’t feel comfortable handing him the reigns as my dynasty
team’s undisputed QB1, he is now a high-end QB2 and would
make a very solid contributor in a QBBC. Don’t let the lack
of a big arm steer you away from Dalton. He is a talented, young
QB that is in a nice situation to put up big numbers.
Downshifting
Brandon
Lloyd - In 2010, at the age of 29, Brandon Lloyd posted
his first, and so far, only, 1,000-yard season. He erupted for 1,448
receiving yards and 11 TDs in his eighth season in the league. He
and Kyle Orton had a great chemistry with one another in Denver
and both put up big numbers in 2010. That season was clearly a career
year for Lloyd and it looked like he finally developed into a consistent
playmaker after showing only brief glimpses of brilliance during
his previous stays in San Francisco and Chicago. Unfortunately,
the last couple of seasons haven’t worked out in an ideal manner
for Lloyd, or his fantasy owners.
After being traded to the Rams mid-season last year and performing
reasonably well in his short time there, Lloyd then made his way
to New England via free agency this year. There was a lot of optimism
among analysts that Lloyd could provide the Patriots with the deep
threat that had sorely lost since the departure of Randy Moss. Plus,
Lloyd and newly hired New England offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniel,
had a proven track record of excellence working with one another,
due to their time together in Denver. And with Tom Brady chucking
him the rock, Lloyd’s second 1,000 yard season seemed not only attainable
this season, it seemed quite likely to many. The situation in New
England may not have been perfect, but it was awfully good for the
veteran WR.
Despite the hoopla and high expectations, Lloyd has been eerily
quiet this year. He hasn’t been a ghost this season, yet aside
from a couple of TDs, he’s been so far off of the fantasy
radar that he has lost much of the relevance he had only a short
time ago. With only 551 yards and 3 TDs in 11 games played, he is
48th among WRs in total fantasy points scored this season (using
FFToday standard scoring). His lackluster production may be a result
of his relatively advanced age, now 31 years old, or perhaps the
team’s wealth of talent in the receiving corps coupled with
its increased utilization of the ground game. Regardless of the
exact reason(s), it’s hard to be excited about Lloyd going
forward. He is currently experiencing a precipitous fall down my
rankings board.
Christian
Ponder - After a rookie season in which he had some good
moments and some very shaky moments, Christian Ponder started off
this year brilliantly. In the first three games of the season he
threw for a total of 713 yards along with 4 TDs and no INTs, completing
an impressive 70% of his passes. He also ran for 41 yards and had
one TD on the ground. Ponder’s strong play was critical in getting
the Vikings off to a quick start this season. The savvy and toughness
he displayed in a huge Week 3 win over San Francisco was very impressive.
It looked as though the game had slowed down for the young QB and
that he had turned the corner on his career. Sadly, in the last
month or two, things have taken a turn for the worse for Ponder
and the Vikings aerial assault.
In the last five weeks, Ponder has averaged 173.5 passing yards
with 1.0 TDs and 0.8 INTs per game. This puts him at 28th in fantasy
points per game at QB during that stretch (using FFToday standard
scoring). The absence of Percy Harvin has had a profoundly negative
impact on the team’s offense, but Ponder still must shoulder a significant
amount of the blame for the ineffectiveness of the passing game.
He simply hasn’t made the plays that his team has needed from him
with his star receiver out. While it looked like he could develop
into more of a fantasy factor during the first month of the season,
I now have significant doubts that he will ever be much more than
a fantasy backup. At this point, I think he is a low-end QB2 at
best.
Spotted in the High Beams
Jarius
Wright - In the past three weeks, Jarius Wright has made
two small blips on the fantasy radar. In Week 10, he put up 65 receiving
yards and a TD on 3 grabs versus the Lions. Then this past week,
Wright registered 49 yards on 7 grabs against the Bears. Clearly,
the rookie out of Arkansas has benefited from the absence of stud
WR, Percy Harvin. However, it is encouraging that he has been productive
when given the opportunity. And when you consider the previously
mentioned struggles of the Vikings passing attack in the last month
or so, Wright’s play stands out even more.
Wright is a small WR, but has good speed and quickness. His hands
are reportedly a bit inconsistent, yet are not problematic. Wright
is probably best suited to play in the slot and across the middle
instead of on the outside, although, with his speed, he can probably
make plays in a variety of ways for the Vikes. Wright’s skill
set may actually have some overlap with that of Harvin, yet it shouldn’t
be difficult for the team to find ways to utilize each of them,
should they decide that Wright is part of their long-term plans.
In my view, we have not yet seen enough out of the rookie wideout
to get truly excited about his prospects in the NFL, yet there is
enough game tape to know that Wright has a legitimate chance to
develop into a playmaker at the pro level.
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