Twitter Observations: Kyler Murray’s Study Habits and Chris Carson’s Retirement
There’s no proof that Twitter gets spicier the closer we get to the season but it sure feels like it. Between contract extensions and injury news, it can be a lot to stay on top of when it comes to tweaking our dynasty roster. Below are the tweets that stuck out this week.
Murray Up, We’re Dreaming
Here is Kyler Murray’s fantasy points for each game of his career. The line in orange is when the annual Call of Duty game released. Coincidence? @Danny_Heifetz @DannyBKelly @noahmoreparties @pahowdy pic.twitter.com/kGhxe0CEje
— rosecitypeach (@rosecitypeach) July 25, 2022
The fact that Kyler Murray and the Cardinals ended up moving forward together should have been the story. After a small stand-off earlier in the off-season the Cardinals extended Murray for a top value of $230.5 million and $46.1 million annually, the latter of which is the second-biggest number in NFL history. But it wasn’t that simple. For some reason, news leaked that the Cardinals had added a stipulation in the contract that Murray needed to commit to studying film on his own – one they later removed. The tweet above is a joke but the fact that Twitter is now debating Murray’s studying habits is an un-needed distraction now and will surely be used to justify any failed expectations down the road.
Dynasty Impact: If you were a Murray dynasty manager before, you should still be after this blows over. It’s silly and unfortunate that his studying and/or video game habits have to be publicly aired but the Cardinals wouldn’t have extended him if it was an actual problem. He has been an elite player ever since he entered the league and is only getting better. He was a top-three fantasy quarterback his sophomore season and was on his way to an even better one in 2021, throwing for 17 touchdowns through just eight games, before an injury slowed him down. He still ended up throwing for 3,700-plus yards and 24 touchdowns despite missing three games. Not to mention the 423 rushing yards and five more touchdowns on the ground. In all, he was still a top-ten fantasy quarterback and, according to our DLF rankers, a top-six option going forward.
Should his dynasty value dip at all, you should take advantage and try to acquire him. According to our DLF Trade Analyzer, you can acquire Murray for a mid-to-late first-round rookie pick this year.
And with the class entering this year, I would do that in a heartbeat. You can secure a top-five dynasty quarterback for years to come.
Think Outside the Ross
The Chiefs have placed rookie WR Justyn Ross on IR. He’s out for the year.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 25, 2022
Even though this is technically Justyn Ross’ rookie season, it seems like he’s already had a roller coaster of a career. He exploded on the college football scene his freshman year at Clemson, totaling 1,000 yards while averaging more than 20-yards-per-reception while helping the Tigers win a National Championship. If you were a devy dynasty player, Ross was on your radar even though he was years away from being eligible to be drafted.
A small decline his sophomore season to 865 yards didn’t stop Ross from being mocked very high in drafts, both real and fantasy. But it was the 2020 season when his whole career was thrown in a loop as he underwent surgery for a neck and spine injury that forced him to miss the entire season. He came back for one more season but had his worst statistical season as a Tiger with just 524 yards and three touchdowns. Nonetheless, Ross skipped his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. And for a while, it seemed like that was a good decision despite going undrafted. He ended up on the Chiefs with arguably the best quarterback on the planet. But now this news is just another gut punch in a career that has seen its fair share of them.
Dynasty Impact: For an undrafted free agent, Ross was being valued closer to his pre-injury self than his post-injury one. Using our DLF Trade Finder, he was consistently being traded for fourth-round or even third-round rookie picks. Of course, that was before this latest news and subsequent tweet. Should he still be valued that way in the hopes he can bounce back, at least partially? No. But would he be worth a later-round rookie pick either this year or next? I think so. No one can doubt the talent and production, pre-injury. We just have to ride out his health and should he recover, could produce for an NFL team down the road.
Carson Sense
#Seahawks star RB Chris Carson is retiring from the NFL due to a neck injury, sources say.
SEA will officially release him with a failed physical designation. Under the CBA, that allows Carson to receive several million in injury protection benefits. Seattle does right by him.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2022
The news of the injury-related retirement of Chris Carson has multiple levels. First, good for Carson for not pushing the envelope when it comes to his health. With his career seemingly concluded, he ends as one of the more productive seventh-round picks in NFL history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
The second is what the Seattle backfield looks like now that its erstwhile veteran has retired. Rashaad Penny was supposed to take this job years ago when he was drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft but the previously mentioned Carson held him off. Penny has totaled just 280 carries in his four years as a Seahawk and has been an afterthought for most of his Seattle career. That was until his last five games of the 2021 season when he notched four 100-yard games and six touchdowns. That flurry propelled him to the top of the depth chart in 2022. Until the draft…
Dynasty Impact: Carson’s retirement would have made the backfield in Seattle so much simpler to decipher. Penny, at long last, wouldn’t have to worry about Carson siphoning off carries. Instead, he’ll have to worry about second-round pick Kenneth Walker doing that. And even though Penny has the (albeit brief) track record, Walker is already being drafted higher in his first professional off-season.
But make no mistake, this is Penny’s job now and that ADP should start rising. Carson retirement or not, Penny is the better value right now.
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