Twitter Observations: Week 15

Michael Moore Posted On December 17, 2019

Unless you’re one of the lucky two teams left in your league battling for a championship, the season is over. The crapshoot of the playoffs has claimed your roster due to injuries or general flukiness but fret not! College football’s season is over too (for all intents and purposes) and we’re one step closer to next season. Between rookie drafts and identifying trade targets on your roster, dynasty never has an off-season. Below are some of those players who should garner attention in your leagues.

A reminder: This space will be dedicated to an assortment of things we find on Twitter and what it means for our dynasty teams. Most fantasy tweets undoubtedly have a redraft slant to them but we’re here to talk about the dynasty implications.

That Kittle Rascal

I remember people were selling high on George Kittle over the offseason or fading his ADP because “he’ll never repeat his 2018 season”.

In 12 games, Kittle has 73 receptions for 888 yards and 4 TDs.

That’s a 16 games pace of 97/1200/5. That’s what y’all sold/faded.

— Addison Hayes (@amazehayes_) December 16, 2019

The title of dynasty’s top tight end can now, officially, go to George Kittle. The stats outlined above tell the story of how good Kittle has been this season. The per-game averages of six receptions for 74 yards per game in 2019 are nearly identical to dynasty’s previous top tight end, Travis Kelce, who has averaged six receptions and 80 yards per game. However, Kittle has as many touchdowns (four) and more 100-yard games (three) than Kelce despite playing in two fewer games. He’s also four years younger and ensconced in an offensive scheme that isn’t changing anytime soon.

Dynasty Impact: Kittle should absolutely be treated as dynasty’s top tight end this off-season but be careful about paying too much. He’s going 24th overall in our latest ADP data which is pretty high for a tight end. Think about this: if you’re in a 12-team startup and drafting first (yikes!), the second player on your team is a tight end. Kittle is great but he’s still a tight end. I’d feel better filling out more of my roster before drafting any tight end, even one as good as dynasty’s best one.

Upside Brown

AJ Brown is going to be not just a star but a superstar.

— Ray G (@RayGQue) December 15, 2019

The dynasty trajectory of Titans players this season has been fascinating. The season started with Marcus Mariota and Corey Davis leading dynasty rankings but will end up with Ryan Tannehill and AJ Brown blowing right past them. The Tannehill surge is not as surprising as the sudden dominance of Brown. The second-round rookie has caught 47 balls for nearly 900 yards, averaging a spectacular 19 yards-per-reception, and is a top-25 fantasy receiver this year.

Dynasty Impact: Some may have seen Brown eventually take over the role as top Titans receiver but few predicted it would happen this quickly. Brown checked in at 41 in August dynasty ADP while Davis was still being taken 23rd. But now Brown is the one on the WR2/3 line, being taken at 26, while Davis has dropped to 36th and rightfully so. Brown has more touchdowns (seven) and 100-yard games (four) in less than a full season than Corey Davis does (six touchdowns; two 100-yard games) in nearly three seasons. It’s possible Brown’s value goes even higher so if you’re going to target him this off-season, do it early.

Be Like Mike

2019 LAC WR Stats

Keenan Allen: 72.8 yards, 9.2 targets per game
Mike Williams: 70.1 yards, 6.0 targets per game

Are we sure Keenan Allen is better than Mike Williams?

— Matthew Freedman (@MattFtheOracle) December 15, 2019

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a Chargers receiver who struggled with injuries early in their career only to overcome them and produce at a consistently high level. You’re probably thinking of Keenan Allen, who missed 26 games over his first four seasons before putting up three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons including this one. But soon, the same could be said about Mike Williams. He played a full 16-game season in 2018, catching 43 balls for 664 yards and scoring ten (!) times, something Allen has never done. Williams has already caught 44 balls this year and is closing in on his first 1,000-yard season with two games to go.

Dynasty Impact: Williams’ career resurgence is coming just in time for a potential contract extension that could be good or bad for his dynasty value. If he were to remain a Charger, he’d still be among a rotation of Allen and tight end Hunter Henry in the passing game, not to mention whichever running back the team ultimately goes with. That doesn’t even factor if Philip Rivers is on his way out. But if Williams moves on to greener pastures, he could be the unquestioned top target while latching on to a team with more certainty at quarterback. Allen’s currently going 12th in dynasty ADP while Williams is the better value at 30.

Drake Lively

By the way, Drake balling. Tannehill balling. Parker balling. Bell worst season of career.

Psst. There’s a commonality 👀

— Jake Ciely (@allinkid) December 15, 2019

We’ve covered both Ryan Tannehill and DeVante Parker already but now it’s time to talk about Kenyan Drake. Drake started the season as a complete afterthought in Miami but was then traded to Arizona before the trade deadline. Since then, he has looked like a poor man’s David Johnson (the good version) in Arizona, running for over 400 yards in just six games as a Cardinal while adding 22 receptions for 130 more yards. He’s also scored five times although four of those came just this week. It hasn’t been enough to win games for Arizona, they’re just 1-5 since the trade, but it’s significant that the Cardinals have rolled with Drake over Johnson.

Dynasty Impact: With how fluid running backs are when it comes to their dynasty value, Drake could be a good value this off-season, assuming he stays in Arizona. It’s a good bet that the Cardinals move on from Johnson and will need to name a starter. It would take them re-signing Drake but with how cheap free agent running backs are these days, it shouldn’t be hard for both sides to come together. And if Drake stays, he’ll have an entire off-season learning the offense plus Kyler Murray entering his second season which would only boost Drake’s dynasty value. He currently checks in at 33 in dynasty ADP and if you can get him for that price, you should.

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Michael Moore

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Michael has played fantasy football for over 20 years when his mom funded his first team in the fourth grade. He’s contributed to various fantasy football publications and most recently spent five years writing for the Fantasy side of things at Pro Football Focus.