Fantasy football is in full swing. Through four weeks, there is a ton to talk about regarding the rise and fall of the value of each and every player. One way to take a look at a player’s value for any given week could be to check out the players’ odds on a sportsbook. Sports betting is starting to become widely available in the United States. For example, Connecticut sports betting is launching soon and and FanDuel Connecticut should be live in early October. You can utilize these sportsbooks to either wager on your favorite players or see how vegas views their value for any given week.
One of my favorite aspects is the stock market nature of buying low and selling high on different players. This is especially true for dynasty where teams have different priorities as far as competing and rebuilding goes. At any given point in time, there are many players who can be acquired for cheaper than they should be and provide excellent upside to your team. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite buy-low targets for dynasty fantasy football leagues.
Justin Fields
I was very excited to see Fields make his NFL debut, but things did not go swimmingly for the rookie quarterback. He completed just 30% of his passes in his first start against the Browns, and he was sacked nine times. The Bears only managed to generate 1.1 yards per play, the second-lowest number of the century. However, one positive takeaway from all of this is that Matt Nagy’s days are numbered in Chicago. Bears fans are calling for their head coach’s head after he set their prized rookie passer up for failure, which bodes well for Fields’s dynasty future. He’s a long-term QB1 thanks to his rushing upside, and if you can get him at a discount after that putrid performance, you should do it.
Darnell Mooney
Right in line with my advice on Fields is my confidence in one of his top receivers. Mooney was a Next Gen Stats darling in his rookie season with 3.2 yards of separation per route – that’s the same as Cooper Kupp and Davante Adams. He also saw 7.6 yards of cushion per route run, the highest in the NFL. Last season, he suffered from the poor play of Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, and he still had decent production and flashed high-end upside. I am excited to see what he could do with Fields this year. I still have high hopes for Mooney as I expect Matt Nagy to not be long for Chicago, and a new offensive-minded coach could help unlock Mooney’s intriguing play.
Michael Gallup
Public perception has always been lower than warranted for Michael Gallup, and it’s easy to forget that he had 1,107 receiving yards in just 14 games in 2019. His production last season suffered in the wake of the addition of CeeDee Lamb and a ton of injuries on offense, and now Gallup is on Injured Reserve. The Cowboys’ receiver is still only 25 years old, though, and he will be an unrestricted free agent next season. There will be plenty of teams excited at the prospect of adding a player of his caliber, and a fresh start in a new situation could be enough to turn Gallup into a top-30 wide receiver as early as next season.
Jerry Jeudy
Aside from the obvious disappointment for the 3-0 Broncos of losing one of their best players, the Jerry Jeudy injury was disappointing for neutral observers and fantasy fanatics. The second-year receiver was one the precipice of a quarterback perfectly matches his skillset in Teddy Bridgewater. While it will be difficult for Jeudy to make a significant impact in fantasy football this season, he should be fully recovered from the high ankle injury by next year. Courtland Sutton will be a free agent next summer, and while it’s likely the team will resign him, his departure would mean an even greater target share for Jeudy.
Pat Freiermuth
I have loved what I have seen from the Steelers’ rookie tight end so far this season. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but PFF rates him as the 13th-best tight end so far this season, and he’s been equally adept at pass-catching and blocking so far. Eric Ebron is already 28 years old and is a free agent after this season. With the Steelers spending a second-round pick on Freiermuth despite their other needs, it seems unlikely they would retain Ebron. My biggest concern with Freiermuth is the murky quarterback situation for the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger looks ready for retirement, and it’s unclear whether it will be Dwayne Haskins or Mason Rudolph under center for Pittsburgh next season. Still, Freiermuth has the upside to enter the top tier of tight ends in the next few seasons.
Brandon Aiyuk
The buy low window for Brandon Aiyuk might be closed after he scored a touchdown on Sunday night against the Packers, but you may also still be able to acquire him for cheaper than you should. Weird start to the year aside, Aiyuk is only 23 years old and was insanely productive towards the end of his rookie season to finish the year with 60 catches for 748 yards and five touchdowns in just 12 games. Kyle Shanahan spent a first-round pick on Aiyuk for a reason, and I’m not nervous about Trent Sherfield or Mohamed Sanu getting in the way of Aiyuk’s talent. Deebo Samuel and George Kittle remain in place as target competition. Still, the eventual introduction of Trey Lance at quarterback could be a boon for Aiyuk as the downfield field-stretcher in the offense.
Chase Claypool
Ben Roethlisberger’s awful play this season has hurt all of his pass-catchers, but perhaps none more so than Claypool, who has a catch rate of just 51.7% this season. Roethlisberger doesn’t have the velocity in his arm to make accurate downfield throws, and that makes me sad as someone who heavily invested in Claypool in redraft leagues this season. However, Claypool is the most physically gifted athlete in the Steelers’ receiving corps, and Pittsburgh will be facing JuJu Smith-Schuster’s free agency in 2022 and Diontae Johnson’s in 2023. Regardless of the quarterback situation, Claypool could end up with a much higher volume in the next couple of years and has the upside to become a top-ten WR depending on the team situation.
A.J. Brown
Before the start of the season, I wondered if A.J. Brown was the WR1 overall in dynasty. This year has gone awful for Brown, though. He has a comically low catch rate of just 36.8% after being above 60% in each of his first two seasons and is now dealing with a hamstring injury that could keep him out for a couple of weeks. Brown’s lack of production this season could have fantasy managers a bit discouraged so far. However, he surpassed 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns and was a top-15 half-PPR wide receiver in each of the last two seasons. Still just 24 years old, we have not seen Brown’s ceiling come to fruition, and if you can buy one of the best dynasty pieces on the cheap right now, you should be racing to do it.
