Dynasty Top 250 Fantasy Football Rankings: Movers and Shakers
Welcome to Movers and Shakers, an in-season series from DLF. Each week we choose a different ranking category; top 250 (one quarterback and superflex), devy, and IDP. We then review players from that group who may have risen or fallen substantially from the past month’s ranks and alert you to any relevant changes. Let’s get right to it.
QUARTERBACK
Anthony Richardson has been one of the dynasty headliners at the quarterback to start out the 2023 season. He’s shown a nose for the end zone and a fearless, or perhaps reckless, running style. A concussion kept him out of week three, but he’s been a massive riser in the dynasty rankings. Andrew Francesconi wrote about him in the Superflex Movers and Shakers report a few weeks ago. With Richardson’s success, we’ll take a look at another young quarterback who is still ranked ahead of Richardson, but absolutely shouldn’t be.
Justin Fields, QB CHI (Current QB8)
The vibes in Chicago could not be any worse three weeks into the season, and the problems start up top with their third-year signal-caller Fields. All of the improvements Fields made last year have seemingly regressed to below the starting point. He’s been sloppy with the football, ineffective, boring and, to use his own words, “robotic.”
Justin Fields didn’t hold back.
Must watch. I love it. pic.twitter.com/bLMrdGXpKP
— Dave (@dave_bfr) September 20, 2023
Through three losses, Fields is outside of the top 15 quarterbacks, scoring only 42.94 fantasy points. He’s failed to go over 20 points in any of the games. He’s thrown for two touchdowns, ran for one, and thrown three picks.
This is not the same Fields who won fantasy leagues at the end of 2022, and his rushing production is the first place to look. He’s only run the ball 13 times for 62 yards, 4.77 yards per carry. Compare that to 160 totes last year for 1,143 yards and 7.14 YPC last year. On a per-game basis, he’s running the ball 6.33 times fewer each game than he did last year. Fields can not be a top-five, or even a top-ten quarterback if he’s only running the ball four times a game. He hasn’t had a single explosive run this season. Last year he had explosive runs (runs over 15 yards) on 10.6% of his carries.
The bigger problem for Fields’ dynasty value is what happens next season. The Bears are 0-3 and haven’t won a game since October 24 of last year, over 11 months ago. This year, Chicago had the number one overall pick, and they decided to trade it away. If they have the number one pick again next year, they will not be trading it away. They will take Caleb Williams and say goodbye to Fields. They also have the Panthers’ number one pick next year, a team that is also 0-3. Even if they don’t have the number one, It’s a good-looking quarterback class with Drake Maye, Shedur Sanders, Bo Nix and Quinn Ewers as potential first-round picks. With two picks potentially very early in the first round, if Fields doesn’t turn his season around, he will be replaced.
Fields’ value has fallen ten spots since the start of the month, from 57.5 to 67.43. Rob Willette has him ranked the lowest at 88 overall and says: “a slow start with familiar issues have raised questions about whether Fields is the future in Chicago.”
Should Move Behind:
As I mentioned above, Richardson should absolutely be ranked ahead of Fields. Tua Tagovailoa, a mover and shaker on the way up in the dynasty rankings, should also be moved ahead of Fields. I’d even take Deshaun Watson and CJ Stroud over Watson. I cannot consider him a top-12 dynasty quarterback right now with the major question marks about his future.
RUNNING BACK
Bijan Robinson has been everything that everyone has hoped he would be early in the 2023 season. Tyler Allgeier’s usage in Atlanta has been a surprise, but Robinson has been incredibly impressive in the rushing game and the passing game, and dynasty managers are celebrating the first overall rookie pick. Robinson was already at the top of the 1QB dynasty rankings, but there is another B-Rob who is shooting up the top 250!
Brian Robinson, RB WAS (Current RB28)
Robinson has quietly had an outstanding start to the season. Just about everything has gone his way through the first three weeks. Antonio Gibson has been essentially benched for his fumbling issues, and the Commanders’ offense has been more effective than anyone could have predicted, until their dud against the Bills in week three. Robinson is a high-volume back who has seen his dynasty value on the rise in the month of September.
Entering the season, Robinson’s ranking was at 118.5. It has now risen 20 spots to 98.7. He’s ranked as high as 61 by one of the rankers, low of 128. At RB28, he’s beginning to enter the conversation for running back two on dynasty rosters. You can feel good about Robinson being there in dynasty, especially in half-point or fewer PPR leagues.
That is certainly going to be an issue going forward for Robinson. Through three games this season, he only has five targets in the passing game and three receptions. That is the spot that is keeping Antonio Gibson in the conversation for Washington running backs. While Robinson has the major advantage in rushes (47-7) Gibson has nine targets on the season to Robinson’s five. In week three especially, Gibson received five targets while Robinson wasn’t targeted. If Robinson is going to continue to be a valuable dynasty piece, the Commanders offense will have to remain competitive, and Robinson will need to become a bigger piece of the Commander passing game.
Should Move Ahead Of:
Robinson is knocking on the door of RB2 status for dynasty fantasy football leagues. He’s sitting right behind AJ Dillon right now, who I would absolutely move Robinson ahead of. I’d also move him ahead of Zach Charbonnet and Isiah Pacheco in that same tier.
WIDE RECEIVER
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Quentin Johnston were the first wide receivers selected in the NFL Draft, but it’s Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison who have fantasy football managers celebrating their rookie picks! For Smith-Njigba and Johnston, the path to success in their rookie season is looking like a long one. With established veterans playing ahead of them, they may need an injury to come through. It’s too early to panic about either of these players, and their rankings have not moved much to kick off the 2023 season. Looking at the veteran receivers, one player has had a surprising start to the 2023 season and climbed the top 250 as a result!
Brandon Aiyuk, WR SF (Current WR20)
Aiyuk was ranked in the 50s to start the 2023 fantasy football season, but he currently finds himself ranked at 38.57 by the expert rankers at DLF. You can look to his week one performance for the spike in value. Aiyuk dominated the Steelers secondary, catching all eight targets for 129 yards and two touchdowns. He also made some crucial blocks on a long Christian McCaffrey touchdown.
CMC, spin move, 65 yards to the house!
Fantastic downfield blocking by Ray-Ray and Aiyuk, who absolutely trucks the #Steelers safety, and escorted McCaffrey in for the #49ers touchdown!pic.twitter.com/4cpB94abmW
— Chris Wilson (@cgawilson) September 10, 2023
Aiyuk injured his shoulder in week two and he had to miss week three, but when he’s been on the field he’s been a target hog for Brock Purdy and the star-studded 49ers offense. Aiyuk, who led the team with 114 targets last season, has 14 in basically a game and a half. Among NFL players who have had 10 targets or more, he leads the league in EPA (expected points added) per target at 1.45 through the first two weeks of the season.
The 49ers are loaded on offense, but Aiyuk is such a crucial piece to this offense. Without him in week three, the Niners offense was unable to push the ball down the field. They still dominated the game against the hapless Giants, but the offense struggled, especially to start the game. Aiyuk is this team’s deep threat and the player they use to spread out the defense. He leads the team with an aDOT of 13.6 yards.
With such a star-studded group of weapons, Aiyuk’s preseason value was deflated a bit. Dynasty managers coveted Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey over him, worrying Aiyuk would get lost in the shuffle. It’s clear from the games he has played that he’s just as talented as Samuel, maybe even more talented as a wide receiver, and should be valued as such.
Should Move Ahead Of:
Aiyuk is ranked as a low-end WR2 for dynasty currently. I believe he should move ahead of Michael Pittman and Cooper Kupp who are ranked right ahead of him. The next receiver after that is Samuel, who I think has a higher floor, but lower ceiling than Aiyuk. Currently, two of DLF’s six rankers have Aiyuk ahead of Samuel: I believe that is the correct call.
TIGHT END
It’s been another banner year for the tight end position! The big men have struggled to stay on the field and struggled to produce for fantasy football. Meanwhile, managers who invested big time in the position have struggled to keep faith in their “high-end” tight ends. One player in particular has found his value in the pits this fantasy football season.
Kyle Pitts, TE ATL (Current TE4)
It’s been another demoralizing season for Pitts managers so far. Through three games, he has just 18.6 PPR points. Sam LaPorta, who entered the league with a fraction of the hype Pitts had, scored 22.4 points in week three alone. Pitts has just 17 targets, nine receptions, 100 yards and zero touchdowns. It’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel, where he will finally reach his fantasy potential. While he is on the Falcons in Arthur Smith’s system, Pitts simply cannot be trusted as a high-end fantasy producer at tight end.
His ranking was already going in the wrong direction, but it’s gotten even worse since the start of the month. He’s now ranked as 43.14 overall, TE4. It’s hard to imagine Pitts falling lower than tight end four, as there is a large gap between him and Dallas Goedert (43.14 to 70.29), so this is likely the basement of his value.
The problem here is Arthur Smith and his offensive system. Back to his time in Nashville, Smith leans heavily on the run game. Add in Desmond Ridder under center, and this team will never be a volume passing team. According to Fantasy Points Data through two games, Pitts has run a route on 81.7% of the team’s dropbacks, which is the third-highest rate amongst all tight ends. He’s even run 39% of his routes outside, only lower than Evan Engram and Sam LaPorta amongst players who have run 20 or more routes. Despite all of the running Pitts is doing, he only gets 0.16 targets per route run, 25th amongst tight ends. He’s also only run 49 routes, 22nd amongst all tight ends. Smith isn’t calling enough passing plays to support his TE. He isn’t calling enough plays to Pitts, and Ridder hasn’t done enough to get him the ball. As long as Pitts is stuck in this situation, his dynasty value will continue to plummet.
Should Move Behind:
As stated above, Pitts is down to TE4 in dynasty and it’s tough to see him going any lower. That is, unless one of these rookie tight ends has an outstanding season and surpasses him. Right now, Dalton Kincaid is TE7 and Sam LaPorta is TE10. LaPorta especially has had a great year, and should start climbing the rankings, but it is tough to see him being valued ahead of Pitts.
WRAPPING IT UP
We aim to tip you off as to who the movers and shakers are weekly across our different ranking platforms. During the season, they will fluctuate on the regular. The best way to stay abreast of how a particular player you are tracking is performing is to head directly to our rankings pages. Thank you for following along — best of luck in your fantasy endeavors.
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