Forgotten Dynasty Veterans: Bottom Tier

Whether it’s the yin to its yang, the heads to its tails, or perhaps just the other side of the pillow, I’m authoring this miniseries as a supplement to the Forgotten Dynasty Youth miniseries which just concluded. You might think this represents the short straw of the two, given that veterans are often persona non grata in a largely ageist dynasty culture. However, to me, veterans represent a very important subset of football players, as often times you can find bargains relative to the shiny new toys.

So how am I defining veterans? It’s a bit of a gray area. You can use years in the league, age, or wear and tear, with the latter particularly important at the running back position. However, we already know that players like Davante Adams and Mike Evans have relatively lower ADPs as compared to younger players who produce similarly solely due to their age, but that doesn’t mean they’re “forgotten.” So using age or any other single metric doesn’t seem appropriate to me. But one way or another, these will be guys who have been around the block at least a few times, and who I think may have fallen a bit off the radar.

Where there will be structure is in the tiers, which will be threefold and as follows:

• Top Tier: ADP < 84.0 (first seven rounds of a 12-team startup draft)
• Middle Tier: ADP > 84.1 and < 168.0 (rounds eight through 14 in a startup draft)
• Bottom Tier: ADP > 168.1 (the rest)

I’ll be looking at four players per tier. Let’s conclude with the Bottom Tier!

Josh Palmer, WR BUF

ADP: 194.7

Age: 25 years

Years in League: Four

Advanced statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

Depending on how hard you squint, you probably see one of two things in the numbers above. On the negative side of the ledger, Palmer was well behind both Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston in the pecking order, concluding the year with only seven games started and 65 targets. On the potentially positive side, Palmer clearly filled a niche role on the team, with an average depth of target (ADOT) significantly higher than any other relevant pass catcher at 15.2 yards.