Dynasty Rankings Movement, Week 9

Photo: Geoff Burke, USA Today Sports

Week 8 gave breakouts for Will Levis, Trey McBride, and Jahan Dotson among others. Footballguys has you covered on movement within dynasty rankings heading into Week 9.

Question: Jahan Dotson, Quentin Johnston, Trey McBride, and Zach Charbonnet all showed reasons dynasty players should at least hold, if not buy. Which player would you target in a trade? Why?

Jahan Dotson

Dan Hindery

As someone very high on Jahan Dotson all off-season, his lack of production through the first seven weeks (WR71 on 6.6 PPR points per game) was incredibly disappointing. Dotson's impressive Week 8 effort (24.8 fantasy points) was closer to my expectations. While there will likely be many disappointing fantasy weeks throughout the rest of the season, we continue to see enough flashes to remain bullish on his long-term prospects. The situation is reminiscent of a young Tyler Lockett. Lockett was an offseason dynasty darling for sharp film analysts after a solid rookie season, but the production was not there in his second and third NFL seasons (under 600 yards both years). Things finally clicked in Year 4. Lockett emerged as one of the most consistently productive fantasy wide receivers for six seasons. Like Lockett, Dotson may require some patience, but we could get a similarly significant payoff in the future.

Quentin Johnston

Ryan Weisse

I love McBride (more on that later), but with viable fantasy tight ends being so hard to come by, I'm not sure buying after his career-best week is a good idea. Instead, I'll go after Quentin Johnston. He played well, but not well enough that his current manager feels validated. The long and short of it is that we envisioned him in Mike Williams' role, but he's better equipped to play a complementary role and get the ball in space. With Josh Palmer dealing with injuries, Johnston should see a steady increase in volume and will hold far more value at the end of the year than he does currently. Considering his age and the age of his quarterback, there could be a bright future ahead for this young receiver after a quiet start to his career.

Will Grant

Unlike Ryan - I'm not sold on McBride enough to trade for him yet. The entire offense dynamic will change now that Joshua Dobbs is a Viking and Kyler Murray is set to return in a week or two. I will jump on the Quentin Johnston bandwagon, though. Johnston saw much more action against Chicago on Monday night, and his five receptions on six targets for 50 yards was his best performance to date. Mike Williams is done for the year, and Kennan Allen is in his 11th season with the Chargers. Johnston is in an excellent spot to impact the back half of his rookie season and push his way into an every-week starter for 2024 and beyond.

Chad Parsons

Quentin Johnston is my target, especially for non-contending teams. Quentin Johnston and Rashee Rice are the two wide receivers with the best combination of pedigree, quarterback quality, and contract allegiance. Johnston was largely ignored until this past week, with Josh Palmer limited (albeit active). Johnston is a deep threat but also one of the best after-the-catch prospects of his size in recent classes.

Trey McBride

Matt Montgomery

I would target Trey McBride in a trade. McBride finally got an opportunity as the main player at his position this past week, resulting in the second-best results for a Tight End this week, as well as 14 total targets. The name of the game is opportunities, and he showed what he can do when given them. Ertz is set to miss minimally the next three games and is 32 years old. Eventually, the team will move forward post-Ertz, and the Quarterback position in Arizona will improve, whether through the return of Kyler Murray as the franchise Quarterback or through the draft with a player like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.

Andy Hicks

The player with the most significant upside at their position. That is Trey McBride. Charbonnet will always struggle for starting upside unless Kenneth Walker gets injured. In a year or two, he might get a decent shot, but in dynasty, that is a lifetime away. Dotson will always be the number two behind Terry McLaurin. With Jamison Crowder and Curtis Samuel as reliable targets, Washington isn't going to feed all the mouths consistently in their current offense. As for Johnston, he has progressed slowly in his rookie season. Maybe we can revisit his upside after another good game or two, but he isn't ready yet to be a starting fantasy receiver and may not be one until 2024. For now, Keenan Allen and Joshua Palmer seem better short-term bets. McBride is ready to be a starter in his position now. The highly-rated second-round pick from the 2022 NFL draft needed time and an opportunity. Zach Ertz's going down coincided with a rise in targets for McBride. With the lack of fantasy talent at the position, McBride could be the next big thing at tight end—one step at a time. Let us see how he and Kyler Murray get on, but if I had to choose from this list, the Arizona Cardinal player is the one I target heavily.

Craig Lakins

The Cardinals could have expedited McBride's rise in production if they had off-loaded 32-year-old Zach Ertz before an injury forced their hand. Nonetheless, McBride now stands alone atop the tight end depth chart in Arizona. In Week 8, he was on the field for a season-high 81% of the offensive snaps and ran a route on 92% of the quarterback dropbacks. With that upgraded usage, he earned fourteen targets on his way to 25.5 PPR points. The Cardinals are welcoming in a new starter at quarterback this week as rookie Clayton Tune will take the reigns until Kyler Murray is ready for his impending return. I'd look for the rookie to use McBride as a security blanket in his first NFL start. When Murray returns, we can expect more of the same. In nine games with Murray in 2022, Ertz averaged 7.5 targets for 5.1 receptions and 43.8 receiving yards per game.

Quarterback Movement

Will Levis

Ryan Weisse

I had no idea what to do with Will Levis coming into the season. While he had the draft capital, he was a work-in-progress, and most reports had him behind Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis. Fast forward to his first career start, and maybe Tennessee knew what they were doing when they made him a high second-round pick. I'm not ready to bump him too far, but I had him in my 30s and moved him up to 22, ahead of many older guys I had previously ranked higher. This move feels fitting, considering we may have seen the starting roles of Tannehill, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Desmond Ridder permanently end this week.

Will Grant

One good game doesn't turn Levis into a guaranteed superstar, but the fact that he posted 238 yards passing with four touchdowns in his NFL debut shows he has upside potential. Ryan Tannehill isn't practicing due to his ankle injury, giving Levis another opportunity to start. The fact that the Titans are bringing him along slowly is good, but now that he's seeing action, that will boost his development as an NFL QB. Levis is still a 'hold' right now, but he's trending upward right now and is worth keeping an eye on to see if his progression continues.

Andy Hicks

He started his NFL career with a bang, but the touchdowns hide the low numbers. Levis first needs to convince the coaching staff to play him. Ryan Tannehill will be fit soon. Winning games fixes that. Levis should make for a good fantasy backup if career progression follows naturally. If there is a change of coaching style, his upside will look better.

Kirk Cousins

Will Grant

Unfortunately, Cousins suffered a torn Achilles this week, landing him on IR. This setback is disheartening for the Vikings, especially after his stellar performance against San Francisco. From a fantasy perspective, this injury is concerning due to the lengthy recovery time and Cousins being in his 12th season. Moreover, he's set to become an unrestricted free agent, possibly indicating the Vikings' readiness to move on. Despite his recent high level of play, Cousins' long-term potential has taken a significant hit.

Andy Hicks

NFL teams need a good quarterback. Cousins will have a starting job in 2024. Whether Minnesota commits to him again for multiple years is a big off-season question. The team has serious talent at receiver and needs to utilize it. The season-ending Achilles tear knocks his fantasy value down into the questionable quarterback territory until his future destination is known.

Bryce Young

Dan Hindery

It was just one game, but Young winning a head-to-head matchup against C.J. Stroud should be huge for his confidence. Stroud's instant emergence as a top passer, contrasted with Young's early struggles, has heaped added pressure on the top overall pick. Some of that pressure will fade now that Young has his first win. We are seeing gradual improvement from Young, who has averaged 233 passing yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game over his last three. The arrow is pointing up.

Joshua Dobbs

Chad Parsons

Joshua Dobbs is on a Ryan Fitzpatrick post-Buffalo-type trajectory. Dobbs arrived in Arizona right before the season and was highly functional. Now, Minnesota acquired Dobbs, and he will be under center soon for the still-pushing-for-the-playoffs Vikings. Justin Jefferson's return will make Dobbs a viable streamer and Superflex option. Dobbs is QB11 in expected fantasy points per game this season, ahead of Joe Burrow, Geno Smith, and C.J. Stroud.

Matt Montgomery

With the news of the trade to Minnesota, Dobbs now becomes a mid-tier QB2 for me. He will have the best weapons of his career and will likely be the starting quarterback until we see a healthy Kirk Cousins. Dobbs is close to must-start status in fantasy football.

Jordan Love

Craig Lakins

After an encouraging start to 2023, Love seems to have come back down to Earth. In his first two games, he had a fantastic 6:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In the five games since then, he's thrown five touchdowns and eight interceptions. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst wouldn't commit to Love as the organization's quarterback of the future when asked on Wednesday. The last half of this season will go a long way in determining how much opportunity he gets beyond 2023, but for now, it's safe to move him down in dynasty rankings.