Dynasty Trade Value Chart: August

It's news season. After an offseason filled with a slow drip of minor updates, August brings a full-on flood of reports. Some of it is meaningful, and some of it is fluff. One of the biggest challenges in fantasy football is knowing when to update your priors and when to tune out the noise.

This rush of information is precisely why I created the Dynasty Trade Value Chart tool. Unlike this monthly article, the tool can be updated regularly, with player values adjusting automatically. In recent days, I updated the values of approximately 40 players by at least one point. Each of those value changes is documented and commented upon in the Change Log tab of the tool linked above.

We will go more in-depth on some of the biggest movements in this month's article, but to understand the reasoning behind some of the smaller changes, please check there. Even by the time you read this, the numbers in the article may already be outdated. Still, I want the August edition to reflect my best estimates based on the early weeks of training camp. The focus is on players whose values have shifted the most and whether those changes are justified. I'll also highlight some players who could see their stock rise in the near future.

This is the time of year when the lines between redraft, best ball, and dynasty start to blur. Player news moves values across all formats, though injury impacts are larger in redraft leagues. These overreactions to injury news can create buying opportunities for patient dynasty managers. In most cases, the direction of value movement is consistent across all formats, but changes tend to show up later in dynasty. We can take advantage of this dynasty market inefficiency. This article examines trends from other formats to help identify where dynasty values may be headed next.

In this month's article:

• Tracking redraft movement to anticipate future dynasty value changes

• Rookies making big leaps in the dynasty ranks

• Breakout candidates among second- and third-year players

• Camp battles with major dynasty implications

Redraft Movement That Matters for Dynasty

While dynasty is my first love, many of you probably know I play and cover a wide range of formats. One of my recent projects has been diving into data from high-stakes NFFC drafts. That work isn't directly related to dynasty, but access to up-to-the-minute draft results from serious redraft contests is another powerful tool for dynasty managers. I encourage you to check out the ADP tools, because movement in redraft leagues often closely mirrors changes in dynasty value.

Here's a screenshot from the ADP Movers tool I built, showing the top 10 risers over the past week among players being drafted in the first 10 rounds.

Let's go in-depth on the top two names on that list. These are key players to have a stance on as we head into the 2025 season. While the buy-low window on both has mostly closed, each still has room to rise and could appear as massive values in hindsight when we start preparing for 2026 startups.

Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay

Remember the 2020 rookie class? Five running backs were taken between picks 32 and 55: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jonathan Taylor, D'Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, and Cam Akers. All of them went ahead of the first-round wide receivers in rookie drafts. That group included Justin Jefferson, who was selected 22nd overall and often fell to the late first in fantasy drafts. In hindsight, Jefferson may have been underrated because he was overshadowed by a younger, even more talented teammate in Ja'Marr Chase.

I think we're seeing a similar situation with Emeka Egbuka. Much of the muted excitement around him this past year was because he played in the shadow of Jeremiah Smith, one of the best wide receiver prospects in recent memory. There's very little downside to Egbuka right now. First-round rookie wide receivers tend to retain value unless they completely flop or run into off-field issues, and that seems highly unlikely here. He has an elite reputation for work ethic and character and comes out of a long, productive college career under Brian Hartline, one of the best wide receiver coaches in the game. That resume, combined with strong early camp reports, makes me confident this won't be another Jalen Reagor or John Ross situation.

Egbuka feels like a safe investment. Worst case, he's a solid starter in what should be a strong passing offense. Best case, he steps in for Mike Evans and becomes the next 1,000-yard machine in Tampa Bay. With each camp update, that best-case outcome looks more realistic.

Omarion Hampton, LA Chargers

Most of Hampton's recent ADP rise in redraft has been tied to Najee Harris being sidelined indefinitely. That situation doesn't matter much for dynasty, since Harris is on a one-year deal and was never going to be a long-term obstacle. But the buzz around Hampton isn't just about Harris. The early reports out of camp suggest he's doing everything right.

Think back to Rashaad Penny. By this point in his first training camp, questions had already started. He never seriously challenged Chris Carson for the starting job. Hampton is already running with the first team in drills, which is meaningful. Veterans often stay ahead of rookies for weeks into camp, so when a rookie is consistently getting the first rep, it says a lot. That kind of trust this early is a strong sign he'll be a major part of the offense from Day One.

Whether or not Harris returns soon, Hampton is making his case to be the guy. He's not trying to unseat an entrenched starter. He's competing with a veteran on a cheap, short-term deal. Hampton projects for heavy rushing volume and a solid role as a pass catcher in one of the league's more exciting young offenses. If you took him at 1.02 in rookie drafts, the early returns should have you feeling very good.

I hope you find these new redraft tools as fun and useful as I do. Keeping an eye on value movement in redraft can help you stay one step ahead in dynasty.

Now, let's go position-by-position through the DTVC.