Editor’s Note: Ryan debuted the Dynasty Blueprint term all the way back in 2014, focusing on his personal dynasty strategy and philosophy. He introduced ideas like punting running backs and the now-common productive struggle. This series expands on the original, providing an in-depth look inside his dynasty mind.
This article and all of the content on DLF is for you, the reader. The goal is to make you a better dynasty player and bring home some titles. Hopefully, this will help you reach that goal.
Dynasty Five
Here are the five dynasty-related stories that have my attention coming off another week of NFL action.
49ers in Shambles
The 49ers got run out of the building on Sunday night, falling to the Bills in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score. To make matters even worse, on top of losing their seventh game of the season, the Niners lost their top two running backs, Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason, to injuries. Both backs were placed on injured reserve, meaning they can’t return until Week Eighteen, at the earliest. It sounds as if the 49ers will have to make a playoff push for either back to return this year.
McCaffrey now has multiple serious leg injuries in the same season, further damaging his dynasty value. CMC has already fallen from an ADP of 8 overall to 41 in our latest 1QB dynasty ADP. Expect the free fall to continue in December given this latest injury. With his season likely over, dynasty managers will now face an off-season decision on how to value McCaffrey. We’ve seen a resurgence for veteran backs this season (more on that later) which could help sustain some dynasty value. The injuries are really the deal-breaker here for the superstar back. McCaffrey had a magical two-year run after being dealt to the Bay, but in 2020 and 2021, he totaled just ten games due to multiple significant injuries. He’ll turn 29 in this off-season and I expect his value to fall far enough to make him a reasonable target in both established and new dynasty leagues. Sign me up for seventh or eighth-round CMC, which is what I expect in the coming months.
The injuries to McCaffrey and Mason should give rookie Isaac Guerendo a massive opportunity to finish out the season as a legitimate fantasy asset. The Niners face the Bears, Rams, and Dolphins in the next three weeks. All three teams are in the bottom third of the league in running back defense, allowing over 23 fantasy points per game to opposing backfields.
