Movers and Shakers – Quarterbacks

Eric Hardter Posted On April 3, 2017

When it comes to the “off-season,” in my opinion there are three critical zones of dynasty value influence: free agency, the draft, and training camp. With the former grinding to a halt, and there being months before the 2017 NFL Draft, it seemed as good a time as any to update my positional rankings. However, instead of simply moving players around and modernizing my comments, I decided to focus in on those who experienced a significant shift in my subjective valuation – the “movers and shakers,” if you will.

I’ll provide expanded thoughts on these players particularly, at all four positions. Included below is a listing of the players, along with my rankings of them both before and after my update. As a reminder, our rankings go 50 deep at both quarterback and tight end, and 100 strong at running back and wide receiver.

One final note: I tend to skew towards the conservative end of valuation. I value productivity over youth, and am often loathe to bump up unproven players to the ranks of the dynasty elite when they’ve yet to show anything at the NFL level. Depending on the specific player, this has worked both to my advantage and to my detriment in the past. Regardless, for those who think similarly, or those who adopt a diametrically opposed process, I hope this will serve as some food for thought.

Let’s get started today with the quarterbacks!

Risers

Tom Brady, NE

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QB13 to QB8

For the same reason I have Aaron Rodgers as my dynasty QB1, I’m not going to get overly concerned with age here. Yes, Brady is almost 40 – and while I don’t believe that he’ll play another seven years as he claims, I can absolutely buy that he’ll keep performing at a high level for the next two to three years. Doing so will be even easier now with the additions of Brandin Cooks, Rex Burkhead and Dwayne Allen, and the only loss being Martellus Bennett. The ultimate question owners need to ask themselves is this: in your 2017 redraft league, which quarterback are you taking first? If Brady isn’t your top pick, he’s certainly right there in the discussion. You can get a bridge guy (Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill) and a developmental guy to supplement your roster, and enjoy elite (and relatively cheap!) QB1 output in the interim.

Carson Wentz, PHI

QB19 to QB13

While Wentz had an uneven rookie year, he showed enough high caliber traits to believe he’s a potential franchise guy. All the while he was doing so with a “meh” receiver (Jordan Matthews) as his number one guy, along with a rising star tight end in Zach Ertz. Enter Alshon Jeffery. And Torrey Smith. The Eagles may very well add a ball carrier in the draft, but their free agency activities have dictated that they want to focus on Wentz as the central point of the offense. Jeffery is a legit NFL WR1, and Smith, if nothing else, can still take the top off a defense. Along with the presence of Ertz, and Matthews in his more natural place as a number 2/3 guy, we could now be looking at a top 5-8 passing offense. Wentz’s price undoubtedly went up this off-season, but it could skyrocket if he takes the expected leap forward in 2017.

Mike Glennon, CHI

QB29 to QB23

You might’ve noticed I was already a bit higher on Glennon than most. Truth be told, I’m not sure why he’s portrayed as some sort of running punchline in the Twitter community. He was decidedly serviceable after being thrust into the starting lineup as a rookie, as well as in some spot starts in his second year. It’s also not as if he was ever playing with an overly stacked deck of skill position players. I’m not saying you want him as your QB1, or even QB2 in a superflex league, but the simple fact remains that there aren’t 32 good signal callers in the NFL. With Cameron Meredith, Kevin White, Kendall Wright, Dion Sims and Benny Cunningham to throw to, things could be a lot worse, and there’s a chance for QB2 relevance here.

Josh McCown, NYJ and Brian Hoyer, SF

QB47 to QB35 and QB42 to QB34

Why am I writing about these two geezers? Much like with Glennon above, I recognize that many amongst us participate in superflex and 2QB leagues. Hell, even in my 10-team superflex home leagues, both of these guys are already rostered! Crazy, but true…

So the fact that they’ve landed starting positions, albeit in terrible situations, is notable. For McCown, he was actually half decent (when healthy) in Cleveland last year. Despite his advanced age I don’t envision him having any difficulty holding off the likes of Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, and things could be worse that having Eric Decker and Quincy Enunwa to throw to (along with Matt Forte and Bilal Powell). Yes, he might get killed behind that offensive line, but for a QB3 or streaming option, the fact is he’s now on the radar.

Ditto Hoyer the Destroyer. He’s yet to prove he can hold up and play well for an entire season, but the guy put up some points last year. Some crazy how he surpassed 300 yards in each of the four games he played form start to finish, to go with six passing scores. He has a creative offensive mind in Kyle Shanahan to work with, though his pass catching corps lacks intrigue outside of Pierre Garcon. But at the end of the day he’s a starting quarterback, and deep leaguers should take notice.

Fallers

Colin Kaepernick, FA

QB34 to QB41

Regardless of your take on the social aspect of his current free agent plight, the NFL has effectively dictated that he’s persona non-grata. There’s a great chance he won’t wind up finding a starting job, and he might be too pricy to be a backup. Again, whether or not you agree, NFL front offices simply might not want to deal with what they perceive to be the sideshow that accompanies the young man. Valuate accordingly.

Note: I was already lower on Jay Cutler than most, so his ranking didn’t fall dramatically.

Follow me on Twitter @EDH_27

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Eric Hardter

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Eric is a Boston College chemistry grad school survivor with a minor in dynasty football. He prefers to utilize both statistics and sarcasm whenever possible, believes in process over results and thinks "Hot Takes" are the scourge of the fantasy landscape.