The Deep Stash

Dan Meylor

cmichael_fotorA week ago, I highlighted eight players who could provide value to dynasty owners in 2014 and can be found on the waiver wire in many leagues.  The focus of the article was primarily on veteran players that needed to get healthy or a change of scenery to become contributors for dynasty teams next year. This week, I’m covering some young players who may be available in leagues, most of which are at least a year away from contributing to fantasy teams.  By getting them rostered now, dynasty owners can get a head start on 2014. As I said last week, there are many types of dynasty leagues, so not all of these players will be available and many of them should be considered deep league stashes, so they aren’t all dead-on for every type of league.

Kirk Cousins, QB WAS

Coming out of Michigan State in 2012, Washington drafted Cousins in the fourth round as a developmental backup to fellow rookie Robert Griffin III.  During the draft process, many saw Cousins as a competitive, gritty field general that lacked accuracy, but had above average arm strength.  He’s been exactly that to this point.  In the only start of his career, he completed 26 of 37 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns against the Browns in week 15 last year, and he did it while the Redskins were fighting for a post-season berth.  While his NFL experience is extremely limited, he certainly has potential to develop into a quality starting quarterback. Even in the most optimistic scenarios, Cousins won’t get the chance to start, barring injury to RG3, until at least 2015.  He should only be considered by those in extremely deep dynasty leagues who are looking for a very long term developmental quarterback.

Chase Daniel, QB KC

Daniel is another quarterback to keep in mind for dynasty owners in extremely deep leagues.  He was Drew Brees’ understudy for three years in New Orleans before signing with the Chiefs this past off-season.  Undrafted out of Missouri, he’s only attempted nine passes in his career, but consistently looked good in pre-season action and has received glowing remarks from those around him in both New Orleans and Kansas City.  He’s undersized at 6’0” and played in the spread offense in college, but he’s incredibly accurate and was highly sought after by the Chiefs this past off-season.  Andy Reid has a history of developing signal callers in his quarterback-friendly system.  It shouldn’t be surprising if Daniel is the next one to benefit from his tutelage. While Daniel may not be a candidate to be on many fantasy rosters at this point, he’s certainly worth keeping tabs on.  If an opportunity arises for him to play, such as Alex Smith missing time, dynasty owners shouldn’t be shocked to see him take full advantage.

Ryan Mallett, QB NE

Like the first two quarterbacks on this list, Mallett needs an opportunity to become fantasy relevant.  The difference between he, Daniel and Cousins however, is that he has a golden arm. Coming out of Arkansas in 2011, very few questioned his talent, but many were concerned with Mallett’s character.  Those concerns caused him to slip into the third round where the Patriots scooped him up.  Since then, he’s kept his nose clean and garnered rave reviews from everybody in the Patriots’ organization for his incredibly strong arm and decision making in practice. Many have questioned if Mallett was being groomed as the eventual successor to Tom Brady.  Over the off-season, rumors were swirling that the Patriots would consider trading him if the right deal came around.  Whether he ever starts in New England or is dealt somewhere else, he will get an opportunity at some point.  When he does, dynasty owners will be watching closely.  He should already be owned in most dynasty leagues that have room to carry a third or fourth quarterback.  If he’s not, now is the time to pick him up.  Just in case he’s dealt to a team in need of a starting signal caller over the off-season.

Brock Osweiler, QB DEN

Let me paint a picture for you.

The Broncos continue their winning ways and lock up the number one seed in the AFC.  They win a couple home games in the playoffs and make their way to New York for the Super Bowl and win that as well.  Along the way, Peyton Manning wins the NFL MVP as well as the Super Bowl MVP.  Then Manning decides it’s the perfect way to end a hall of fame career and retires before his 38th birthday. I understand that is complete fiction at this point and that even if that all those things happen, there’s no guarantee Manning would call it a career.  But what if he does?

Enter Osweiler.

He’s a complete unknown, only attempting seven NFL passes in his two-year career, but there is a scenario where he inherits one of the NFL’s best offenses with three top-notch receivers, an up-and-coming tight end that’s only getting better and a solid group of runners. In the event that Manning hangs em’ up, I’d like to know I have his successor on my roster rather than overpaying for him next Summer.

LaMichael James and Marcus Lattimore, RBs SF

The San Francisco backfield is one to keep a close eye on over the next few months.  Frank Gore will enter the final year of his contract in 2014 and is due a rather large bonus before the season starts.  Meanwhile, the 49ers are one of the deepest teams at the tailback position in the league. James, a second round pick in 2012, has only 37 career carries and hasn’t had more than four touches in a game this season.  He’s small (5’8”, 195 pounds) but very quick and elusive.  He’s been the 49ers’ primary kick and punt returner of late, but he hasn’t been able to unseat Gore’s principal backup, Kendall Hunter, and carve out a role on offense. Lattimore suffered a gruesome knee injury in his final season at South Carolina, but was still drafted by the 49ers in the fourth round in April.  He hasn’t seen the field as a rookie and is unlikely to see any action down the stretch of the season, but he’s practicing with the team and the 49ers expect him to be completely healthy and ready for action by the time 2014 rolls around.

Gore could still be in San Francisco next season, but he’s on the wrong side of 30 and although his season started off very promising, he’s regressed over the last month.  It’s not outside the realm of possibility that head coach Jim Harbaugh would decide to showcase one of his young tailbacks as soon as week one of 2014.  Of the two of them, Lattimore has more potential to carry the load and James profiles as a scat-back that would be most useful in a change-of-pace role so Lattimore should be a higher priority for dynasty owners.  Hunter is most likely owned in most leagues as a handcuff to Gore.  If he’s not, you can add his name to this list as well.

Mike James, RB TB

It’s truly a shame that James went down with a broken left ankle against Miami in week ten.  He carried the ball 60 times for 295 yards (averaging 4.9 yards per carry) in his rookie season before the injury.  He was handed the job after starter Doug Martin, who averaged only 3.6 yards per carry, went down with an injury of his own. It’s difficult to gauge where James’ value is going into the off-season.  Head coach Greg Schiano has proved over his first two seasons in Tampa Bay that he likes to feature only one tailback, but many consider him to be on the hot seat after a disappointing second season.  Whether Schiano returns or not, it’s unlikely James will have any more value than being Martin’s primary backup and handcuff in 2014, but he still has upside as a potential featured back in the long term.

Christine Michael, RB SEA

Michael is my absolute favorite dynasty stash and should be owned in all dynasty leagues.  Unfortunately for his owners, he’s been inactive often and very seldom used as a rookie.  There is a silver lining to that however.  Due to his inactivity, his price is slowly dropping to the point that he is becoming very attainable in many leagues. Although he’s only carried the ball 18 times for 79 yards and is listed third on the Seahawks’ depth chart behind Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin, he has shown the explosion, elusiveness and power to be a multi-down tailback in the NFL.  He stole the show in the preseason and has been just as impressive in his limited regular season work.

Lynch is only 27 years old and has two years left on his contract, but the guaranteed portion of his deal is done after this season and he’s going to have to deal with his off-the-field issues at some point.  Even with that said, Michael’s role is unlikely to get any larger in the next year without an injury or another slipup by Lynch off the field.  If Marshawn were to go down with an injury, Michael would most likely see a bulk of the work for the Seahawks, with Turbin continuing to handle third down duties. Going into the off-season, Michael should be considered one of, if not the best trade target for dynasty owners looking to add a running back prospect.  His owners should continue to stay patient.  It will be rewarded in a big way at some point.

Markus Wheaton, WR PIT

The Steelers have a history of bringing along rookie wide outs slowly and he’s no different.  Antonio Brown was only active for nine games as a rookie, catching 16 passes for 167 yards and no scores.  Emmanuel Sanders only played 13 games in his first season, catching 28 balls for 376 yards and two touchdowns.  Even Mike Wallace was limited to 36 receptions as a rookie, although he did catch six touchdowns.  Wheaton fits right in with all of them.  He’s been active for eight of 13 games to this point, catching only six passes for 64 yards. Wheaton’s most likely owned in most dynasty leagues, but he’s listed as a “stash” because he’s an excellent trade target.  He’ll enter 2014 as a second-year breakout candidate, much like Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd did this season.

Justin Hunter, WR TEN

Hunter will also enter 2014 as a potential breakout star in his sophomore campaign.  Fellow DLF writer Karl Safchick has been singing his praises for months and I’m on board.  He has the size (6’4” and 200 pounds) and the speed (4.44 second 40-yard-dash) to be the ultimate compliment to Kendall Wright in an improving Titans offense.  He’s only tallied 14 receptions for 240 yards in the 11 games he’s been active, but he’s proven to be a quality red zone target.  He’s caught three touchdowns.

Hunter has split time with Kenny Britt and Nate Washington throughout the year, but Britt’s contract expires after the season and Washington is only signed through next year.  He should be given every opportunity to play a fulltime role in 2014 so dynasty owners should get their hands on him while they can.

Marvin Jones, WR CIN

When a receiver catches eight passes for 122 yards and four touchdowns in a game, he immediately catches the attention of dynasty owners. Since Jones’ three week stretch where he had 16 receptions for 250 yards and six touchdowns which culminated in his breakout performance against the Jets, he’s caught only four passes for 23 yards and hasn’t found the end zone in three weeks.  He’s quickly fallen off the radar of many dynasty owners in the process which has created the perfect opportunity for savvy owners to pounce. Jones is playing less than 50% of the Bengals’s snaps.  He’s proven that he can’t be relied upon to be a regular fantasy contributor just yet but with another season worth of experience as well as being consistently single covered due to the presence of A.J. Green.  He has the potential to be a solid WR3 in 2014 and has the upside to someday become a WR2.

Damaris Johnson, WR PHI

Johnson doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the receivers on this list.  He doesn’t have the pedigree as any of the others, is extremely small (5’8”, 170 pounds) and profiles as “just” a kick returner.  There’s something about Johnson that makes me think he can take the same path that fellow Eagle DeSean Jackson, who is of the same build (5’8/175), did in Philadelphia. While Johnson has been used extremely sparingly on offense this year, catching only two passes for 14 yards, he seems to fit the mold of the quick, shifty receivers that Chip Kelly likes in his offense.  He certainly fits the description of a deep stash and may not develop for a year or two, but he could be a diamond in the rough.

Travis Kelce, TE KC

I really like Kelce, who was drafted in the third round this April by the Chiefs.  He has character concerns as well as durability issues, but is fast for a tight end (he ran a 4.6 second 40-yard-dash) and has very good hands.  He projects as a seam stretching, in-line tight end in Andy Reid’s system that has churned out some quality fantasy tight ends in the past. Kelce didn’t play as a rookie due to a knee injury, but fellow tight ends Anthony Fasano and Sean McGrath have failed to run away with the starting job in Kansas City.  So he’ll have every opportunity to contribute regularly in 2014 and should be on dynasty owners’ radar as a TE2 with starter upside.

Vance McDonald, TE SF

McDonald hasn’t had more than one reception in a single game this season, but that shouldn’t scare off dynasty owners.  Like Kelce, he’s a good athlete.  He ran a 4.69 second 40-yard-dash before the draft, played out of the slot often in college and although he wasn’t known for his blocking coming into the league, he’s been impressive in that department with the 49ers. With Vernon Davis ahead of him on the depth chart and playing a primary role in the 49ers offense, McDonald hasn’t seen many targets (16).  He’s caught only 8 passes for 119 yards, but he’s only playing 54% of the offense’s snaps.  Dynasty owners should expect those numbers to rise as soon as next season as Jim Harbaugh gets the number two tight end involved in the offense.  He has TE1 potential, but it may take some time to realize.

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dan meylor