Four Dynasty Trade Targets on Teams with New Head Coaches
Changes in situations can lead to huge opportunities for players already on the team. If you just look at last season, Jaxon Smith-Njigba broke out when offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was moved out. The new situation can lead to a change in scheme, usage, or even just different personnel as new coaches take a liking to different players.
With all but one head coaching vacancy now filled, it’s a great time to look across the landscape to see which players are likely to benefit from their new situations.
Rome Odunze, WR CHI
I feel like I’ve spoken about Odunze in every video and article in the past two months. He was an incredible prospect coming out of the NFL draft last year, leading to him being spoken about in the same tier as Marvin Harrison Jr and Malik Nabers, and ultimately being drafted ninth overall. Odunze’s rookie season was fine – he finished with 54 receptions for 734 yards and three touchdowns – but nowhere near the heights of other rookie receivers like Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, and Ladd McConkey. Because of this, he’s being overlooked despite the talent he showed throughout college.
The addition of Ben Johnson should do wonders for the Chicago Bears as a whole. The old Lions offensive coordinator was the hot head coaching candidate of this off-season and it was a significant coup to be able to bring him to Chicago. This will provide a huge boost for Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, and Odunze, as will the exit of Keenan Allen as a free agent. Odunze has a chance to develop with a superstar young QB and an incredible offensive mind. His target share should go up significantly in 2025 and beyond, with Allen vacating 121 targets.
If he was in this rookie class, Odunze would be the WR2 at the lowest, probably challenging Tetairoa McMillan for WR1 status. Because of that, I’d be willing to send any first after the 1.03 for him – although looking at consensus trades for him, I don’t think you even need to pay that much.
Jakobi Meyers, WR LV
Meyers was quietly fantastic in the 2024 season. From week seven onwards, when the Raiders traded away Davante Adams, Meyers’ 17-game pace would have seen him finish as the PPR WR8 overall. As it was, he finished at WR19, but went under the radar due to breakout TE Brock Bowers.
Pete Carroll steps into the job in Las Vegas as one of the oldest head coaches in the league. He will not have taken this job with a rebuild in mind and will want to make moves to try and win right now. The Raiders need an upgrade at quarterback and there have already been rumours about reuniting with Russell Wilson. Whether that happens or not, the Raiders will need to make a move to upgrade on Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew, giving Meyers a better passer to work with. They have the second most cap space in the NFL, but unless they sign Tee Higgins or draft Tet McMillan, Meyers will likely still be functioning as the WR1 in Vegas next season. That might still make him second in targets on the team to Bowers, but he is all but guaranteed to outperform what he’ll cost you in 2025.
Travis Etienne, RB JAC
I’ll start with a caveat – I don’t like Etienne that much. I never trusted the talent and there’s a chance he’s cut or traded this off-season. However, Liam Coen joining the Jags as their new HC (even with the embarrassing way he chanted ‘Duval’ in his press conference), there’s excitement for this backfield going into 2025. Coen featured Bucky Irving in Tampa Bay when he realized he was his best running back. In the wild card round, Irving saw 17 of 18 total RB carries. In week 18, it was 19 of 21, and Irving still saw over 50% of the carries in week 17 when the Bucs ran all over the Carolina Panthers.
With a clear tendency to feature one back, Etienne has a chance to step into that role. Tank Bigsby is a better short-yardage back, but Etienne has better hands and explosivity. With a current consensus trade value of a mid-second-round pick, he could be worth the risk as a short-term option if Coen decides Etienne is the back he wants to give the majority workload to.
Malachi Corley, WR NYJ
Corley had an incredibly disappointing rookie campaign. After being drafted at the top of the third round, and with tape showing how excited the Jets staff were that he fell to them, it was assumed that Corley would function as either the WR2 or WR3 on the team, behind Garrett Wilson and potentially Mike Williams. However, this changed for two reasons – first of all, he lost the trust of Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback who is known to only be willing to pass to players he has chemistry with. And secondly, the Jets traded for Davante Adams, pushing Corley even further down the depth chart, even with Williams ultimately being traded. The combination of these factors led to him finishing his rookie season with only three receptions.
The hiring of Aaron Glenn as the new head coach is relevant to Corley mostly because of what he’s said about building a culture on the team. Glenn has already spoken about accountability and teamwork – and it’s all but confirmed that the Jets will move on from both Rodgers and Adams this off-season. In doing so, the depth chart will open up for Corley. It’s a relatively low-risk move to go and trade for Corley, who shouldn’t cost less than a third-round pick, but with an open depth chart, there’s a chance he could contribute much more in his sophomore season. It would be hard to contribute less.
Thanks for reading! If you want to talk about any of the players discussed above, you can find me on X here.
You can hear more from Lewis on his YouTube channel 'Fantasy Pancake' https://youtube.com/@fantasypancake?si=U7BLlUCqY38dTsEv
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