The Ask DLF Weekly Rundown
We do a weekly Ask DLF show every Tuesday at 9 PM Eastern on DLF’s YouTube Channel. Every week, we answer live dynasty questions and love doing it, especially with how interactive the live chat is. Of course, make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel so you can be a part of this experience in the future.
However, the chat has become so active that we rarely actually answer all the questions in full detail. Still, we don’t want to let the people down, especially those who tuned into the live show. Therefore, we decided to do this article series, where we will provide written answers to some of the lengthier questions or the ones where we had to cut the answer short.
Let’s jump into this week’s first question!
Gavin Grant – Justyn Ross
I think we skipped over this question because it wasn’t truly a question, but I wanted to discuss Ross in some detail here. Given his college production and upside, I couldn’t believe he wasn’t selected in this year’s NFL Draft.
Chart courtesy of Sports Reference CFB.
As an 18-year-old freshman in 2018, he dominated as part of Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson offense. He led the team with 1,000 receiving yards, ahead of future NFL star Tee Higgins and future third-round picks Hunter Renfrow and Amari Rodgers. Additionally, he averaged an impressive 21.7 yards per reception, displaying big-play ability.
Unfortunately, everything went downhill from there. He improved to 66 receptions in 2019, but he only averaged 13.1 yards/catch and had fewer touchdowns and yards. Interestingly, he almost reversed roles with Higgins that year, as Higgins had more yards than Ross, but Ross led the team in receptions.
But then, Ross had fusion surgery, ruling him out for the entire 2020 season. He returned for 2021, but he wasn’t the same player. He still led the team with 46 receptions for 514 yards and three touchdowns, catching passes from DJ Uiagalelei. Even though he could have returned for his senior year in 2022, he decided to declare for the NFL Draft.
I expected Ross to be a third or a fourth-round pick. NFL teams would balance his strong freshman and sophomore seasons with his injury risk and relatively poor 2021 output. However, no NFL team decided to draft him, making him an undrafted free agent. It took a few days for him to sign with the Chiefs, so he wasn’t a priority in the UDFA process.
Now, though, it seems like Ross is excelling in camp. He faces an uphill battle for playing time, as the Chiefs have four significant wide receivers in Skyy Moore, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Mecole Hardman. None of those players is a sure bet, though, as only Smith-Schuster has produced at a high level in the NFL, and he did so in 2018. Nevertheless, if Ross continues to shine, don’t count him out, especially in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense.
Brendan Turlington – Thoughts on Tyler Boyd‘s production this year? would you be comfortable starting him weekly if the rest of the lineup is solid?
Boyd represents a typical dynasty roster-clogger. He’s a player that’s too valuable to cut, difficult to trade, and hard to trust in your starting lineup.
Chart courtesy of DLF Player Scoring History App.
He didn’t do much in his first two seasons in the NFL, as AJ Green and Brandon LaFell were the Bengals’ top two wide receivers. But in 2018, Boyd broke out, as LaFell left in free agency and Green missed seven games due to injuries. He had 76 receptions for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games, averaging 15.79 fantasy PPG and finishing as the WR16.
Unfortunately, he never displayed the same fantasy ceiling throughout the rest of his career. He somewhat duplicated his 2018 output in 2019, as Green missed the entire season with injuries, leaving Boyd the clear top option. Even though Boyd played all 16 games, he still only was the WR17, falling to 14.18 fantasy PPG.
Then in 2020, it became apparent that Boyd’s high volume occurred because of injuries around him. The Bengals drafted Tee Higgins, and Green managed to play the entire season, cutting into Boyd’s target share. As a result, he dropped to 12.84 fantasy PPG and WR31. But since he played all 16 games, he was 40th in fantasy PPG among wide receivers.
Of course, Boyd’s output went down again in 2021 after the Bengals drafted superstar Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick. Quarterback Joe Burrow stayed healthy for the entire season, throwing for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns. But even so, Boyd fell to 11.49 fantasy PPG and WR32. He only had 94 targets in 16 games, although he improved his yards/targets and touchdown rate to record a similar fantasy finish to 2020.
Moving forward to 2022, I only expect Chase and Higgins to further step ahead of Boyd in the pecking order. Unless one of them misses significant time, Boyd won’t have weekly fantasy value. It might seem slightly low, but I rank Boyd as the WR60 for the 2022 season. I don’t see any reason why his four-year decline in scoring would reverse itself now. He’s not a player I want on my fantasy team in any format.
TD Swinford – 14-team 1QB PPR, give: 1.07 and 23 first, get: Saquon Barkley
I always like to pick out a trade to highlight the DLF Trade Analyzer.
In this case, I agree with the analyzer. I have zero interest in investing in Barkley, let alone at the price of the 1.07 and a 2023 first-round pick. He hasn’t been a reliable fantasy football asset throughout an entire season since 2018, and he hasn’t provided any real fantasy value since 2019.
If Barkley has a few more down games to open the 2022 season, he won’t even hold the value of the 1.07 or a 2023 first-rounder, let alone both combined.
Tyler Reeves – Would you sell high on Jacoby Brissett right now or hold? Price range
To address this quickly, I expect Deshaun Watson to receive a suspension for the entire 2022 season. That would leave the Browns with two options: either reconcile with Baker Mayfield or start Brissett. I believe they would prefer to work things out with Mayfield, but that may not be possible after how they treated him during the Watson trade process.
Therefore, there’s a chance that Brissett will start games in 2022. However, if you can get any third-round pick or higher for him, I’d take it. He’s nothing more than a backup in the NFL, and he has no long-term dynasty value.
Hekter – This is my first year in dynasty, I’ve learned soooo much from this show. I love listening to you guys, much appreciated!
I wanted to close out with this question, even though it isn’t particularly related to fantasy football. It brings me back to the original purpose of Ask DLF, which was to help dynasty managers learn about the game. Therefore, I’m always glad to hear comments like this one, and I appreciate every single one of them.
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