Should we be reconsidering how we feel about undersized players in the NFL?
We highlight a pair of players to buy for contenders and rebuilders, along with several trade suggestions for each.
We dive into the AFC North to determine some dynasty buys, sells and holds.
How should you approach Russell Wilson in dynasty leagues and what does his future hold?
We focus on each rookie's situation, talent, opportunity, risk, and market to provide post-draft analysis for dynasty managers.
We break down the second round of our 2023 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings
We cover our thoughts from the final day of the 2023 NFL Draft.
We take a look at the options from the 3rd spot in 2023 rookie drafts.
A behind the scene look at ranking methodology and individual rankings vs the consensus.
Which players have gained the most in free agency so far? We explore the biggest movers in this mock draft.
We break down the Saints signing of Derek Carr.
We examine some devy rankings risers and fallers over the last month. How should they now be valued?
We offer up our weekly round-up of the top fantasy performers and who to watch moving forward.
We look at the possible landing spots for the coveted rookies.
How different will the Saints look in the post-Sean Payton era? We examine their dynasty assets.
We break down this year's group of free agents.
We look at some of the suitors for Deshaun Watson.
We run down some questions left unanswered on this week's show.
We take a deeper dive into players who will hit the FA market in 2023.
What did we see on dynasty Twitter this week?
We cover the notable names taken on day three of the NFL Draft.
We examine the teams with holes to fill or looking for upgrades in free agency, and the players available.
Is Taysom Hill next in line for New Orleans? Will Jameis Winston get his shot? We break down the choice and the...
How will the New Orleans Saints look next season? We break down their dynasty talent.
What does the quarterback landscape look like around the NFL? Which QBs are the safest or most risky?
Jeremy Schwob reviews players with impending value shifts, and presents questions you should ask yourselves right now.
We pick up on some of the most talked-about dynasty topics this week.
We review championship week and bring you some sleeper plays for the week.
With the conclusion of NFL weeks 14 and 15, for most leagues, we've come to the end of the fantasy football regular season. At this point of the season, it's always a great time to look back at your rosters and see what you got right and what you got wrong. This is especially true in dynasty leagues when you assess your previous off-season rookie valuations compared to their freshman season campaign performances to discover what you can do differently in the future.
One thing that became clear to many of us non-devy-types in the dynasty community heading into this past draft season was just how small many of the skill position players in the 2023 draft class were. Starting with pick 1.01 at the top of the draft, with quarterback Bryce Young coming in at 5'10" and 204 pounds to undrafted free agent running back Keaton Mitchell at 5'8" and 179 pounds, lots of players in this draft were tiny by NFL standards. As a result, many players in this draft fell down dynasty draft boards. Were we wrong?
I'm going to look at DLF's rookie ADP from May to see where we had initially ranked the incoming rookies amongst themselves early in the process, as well as DLF's Dynasty Start Up ADP from August to see where they were ranked among veterans right before the NFL season kicked off. I'll also use the most recent December Start Up ADP from DLF to see where we think the rookies are now that we've had 15 weeks of game evidence to rank them against their peers.
With the first overall pick in the NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers selected Alabama's Bryce Young. With the average NFL quarterback measuring 6'3" tall and tipping the scales at 225 pounds, Young is well below average in both categories. Although Stetson Bennett, Jaren Hall, and Jake Haener are all below-average size for quarterbacks, none of them had even remotely similar expectations as the first overall pick in real life or fantasy.
In single-QB rookie drafts, Young was pick 18 overall and the QB2. In August’s 1QB startup drafts, he was 123rd overall and QB15, but in December's startup mock drafts, he fell to QB19. On the season, Stroud is currently QB25, so even with a relatively low ADP for the first overall pick, he has managed to underperform thus far.
While Young and the Panthers as a whole have been a bit of a disappointment, one of the prominent concerns about smaller quarterbacks is that they are more prone to injury. That being said, Young has been incredibly resilient despite his small stature and the Panthers giving up the fourth-most sacks in the NFL (51). Dating back to college, Young has only missed two games due to injury, so he has been remarkably healthy, all things considered.
There have always been undersized running backs in the NFL, but historically, they've been lightly used and given the label of "third-down back," "receiving back," or "change of pace back." However, when given a more prominent role, they have, more often than not, failed spectacularly. With the average NFL running back coming in at 5'10" and 213 pounds, Darren Sproles was arguably the most successful undersized back in modern NFL history. This year, three undersized rookie backs have burst onto the scene.
With the 12th pick of the first round, the Detroit Lions selected the 5'9", 199-pound Jahmyr Gibbs. He was the second overall pick in rookie drafts and RB2, behind only Bijan Robinson, and that carried over into startup drafts, where Gibbs was RB3, as the 12th pick overall. Currently, Gibbs is RB13 despite missing a couple of games, and with backfield-mate David Montgomery coming in at RB20. While Gibbs has been relatively healthy in the NFL, he did sustain a couple of significant injuries in college that cost him multiple games at Georgia Tech and Alabama, so he seems likely to miss a few games each season, as are many running backs. A month ago Gibbs was leapfrogged by Breece Hall and Travis Etienne, settling in at RB5, but this month, he is back at RB3 once again.
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