With Week 4 of the 2024 season in the books- time for a dynasty reaction!
Nico Collins – Dynasty Riser
Collins is one of the biggest risers in dynasty football, up to my WR6. Collins had himself another huge game against the Jaguars finishing WR1 on the week, 6 points clear of his nearest rival. His points per game average of 22.7 is nothing short of awesome but it should come as no real surprise following his breakout season in 2023 where he reeled off huge performances on his way to a WR12 finish (17.4 PPG). Nico’s status in dynasty can be categorised as elite, he’s consistently putting up big numbers in a high powered offense led by superstar young QB CJ Stroud. This is a partnership that will last for several years to come and his value increase is now justified, welcome to WR Tier 2 Nico.
RB Veterans Lead the Way
Alvin Kamara (29.2), Saquon Barkley (27.6), Derrick Henry (30.7) are 1,2,3 in fantasy production in the NFL through 4 weeks, so far breaking the myth that you must sell on running backs past their ‘peak’ of around 26 years old. Add to this mix, Aaron Jones, David Montgomery and Joe Mixon are all averaging over 17 points per game and RB1s in PPG. Value is the key and can be had when buying veteran RBs carefully either in the offseason or during it as dynasty managers try and get younger and younger rosters. With players being able to look after their bodies better now, will the elite players continue to play at a high level longer? I think next offseason represents a great chance at real value with so many rookie RBs due to enter the league.
RB Controversery in Jacksonville?
Don’t look now but Tank Bigsby is out-playing starter Travis Etienne and it’s becoming glaringly obvious that his role should expand. Travis Etienne entered the season as a firm Top 8 Dynasty RB coming off a RB3 finish in 2023. What we saw though in 2023 was coach Doug Pederson reduce Etienne’s workload by around 40% in the second half of the season to keep him healthy. It worked. Moving to 2024 this trend has continued and his health remains, but the efficiency has alluded him. Only averaging 14 opportunities per game now for Etienne, Bigsby has taken his limited chances and ran with it (excuse the pun). Averaging over 8 yards per carry, it’s only time before it’s more like a 50/50 split.
Braelon Allen Growing in Backfield
Let’s circle back to the 2024 NFL Draft, at the time I was high on Braelon Allen who produced impressive numbers as a jacked up 18 year old in college. His landing spot couldn’t have been much worse on paper given that Breece Hall, a top 3 dynasty running back, was already established as the workhorse. Through 4 weeks Breece Hall is struggling on the ground (3.11 YPC) and is getting by on his receiving work and TDs. Braelon Allen rushed the ball 8 times to Breece Hall’s 10 this week. As each week has gone on, Allen has been given a slightly larger early down role and it’s no wonder given the continuing results. Per PFF, Allen has gained a first down on 29.6% of runs and Breece has only achieved 16.1%. Watch this space.
Jaylen Daniels- Top Dynasty QB Option
Keep Trade Cut the ‘community crowdsourced platform’ already has him dynasty QB2. I’ve been super high on Daniels through the pre-draft to post-draft process but I’m not ready to put him that high yet. He is the QB1 through 4 weeks though. After a shaky week 1 passing the ball, Daniels has registered an insane 82% pass completion percentage. The fact that he’s playing with a bottom 10 wide receiver core and the offensive line came into the season with question marks, this is truly astonishing and I don’t think we’ve seen anywhere near the ceiling yet either. Preseason he was my QB12, he’s now my QB5 above CJ Stroud and knocking on the door of Jalen Hurts.
Jordan Mason– League Winner?
Mason can be a league winner with Christian McCaffrey out indefinitely. It was made clear over the weekend that McCaffrey is suffering Achilles tendonitis in BOTH LEGS and his return remains unknown. It’s a massive blow for McCaffrey owners but while one door closes, another opens. It’s flying open for Jordan Mason who continued to look impressive this week with a 160 total yards from scrimmage performance, RB5 on the week and RB5 also on the season. Averaging 24.5 opportunities a game, in this offense, Mason is on a league winner trajectory.
Polk- A New Hope?
Ja’Lynn Polk finally emerges onto the scene, gives life to receiving room. It’s not been pretty for the New England Patriots offensively this season. Quite literally they’ve been offensive to watch, averaging just 13 points per game and struggling for any sparks. Ja’Lynn Polk finally saw some meaningful snaps this week, leading the team in snaps, targets and routes run. It’s clear to everyone that Jacoby Brissett is the acting bridge QB for the early, difficult stretch of games and that we will see rookie Drake Maye sooner rather than later. I’m actively excited to see the new QB when he gets his chance and interested to see which of the WRs he has a good chemistry with. If I was to draw up a list of buy low candidates at WR, Ja’Lynn Polk would be close to the top.
Swift- Return to form? Or a mirage?
Is Swift back? Or just a mirage? What a performance by Swift this week. 23 touches, 165 total yards including 72 through the air on 7 catches. Where has this performance been all season? RB3 on the week, the week a lot of managers benched him after putting up consistently poor performances so far this season. Much has been made about the poor Bears offensive line play which was able to figure things out against the poor Rams defense. I’m certainly not ready to feel more confident about Swift in fantasy right now or long term, it’s a wait and see over the next few weeks for me. If you’ve been adamant about selling him, you have a nice couple of week window with a soft matchup with the Panthers coming up.
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