June is one of the slower months on the dynasty calendar, so it's a great time to step back and highlight some players who have upside that is not being fully factored into their dynasty valuations. These are players I believe are undervalued in both redraft and dynasty formats, either because:
1. They have role-based upside: their potential role is being underestimated. These are players who could end up with a bigger slice of the pie than expected.
2. They have team-based upside: the offense they're in might be more explosive than consensus assumes. These are players on teams where the total pie (fantasy production) could be bigger than most people realize.
Ideally, we want to target players who check both boxes. Players who could grow into bigger roles and are tied to ascending offenses.
Let's look at an example from this time last year. I wrote that if I could buy stock in any single player, it would be Chase Brown, who was going in the 12th to 15th round of dynasty startups. My interest in Brown came from both types of upside. First, I thought the Bengals offense had the potential to be one of the league's best, and the market wasn't fully valuing all the key pieces. That is team-based upside. Second, I believed Brown had a real chance to take the starting job from Zack Moss and become the go-to running back in Cincinnati. That is role-based upside, meaning Brown was more likely to command a larger share of the offensive production than the market expected.
Breaking upside into these two buckets helps me zero in on my favorite targets. Some players, like Brown last season, have both. Others fit more strongly into one category or the other. In this month's Dynasty Trade Value Chart article, we will go position-by-position, highlighting some of my favorite players to target in trades and startups this summer.
Quarterback
Rank | Player | team | Value | Superflex |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Josh Allen | BUF | 26 | 64 |
2 | Lamar Jackson | BAL | 25 | 60 |
3 | Jayden Daniels | WAS | 24 | 60 |
4 | Jalen Hurts | PHI | 19 | 53 |
5 | Joe Burrow | CIN | 18 | 52 |
6 | Patrick Mahomes II | KC | 11 | 39 |
7 | Caleb Williams | CHI | 8 | 35 |
8 | Justin Herbert | LAC | 8 | 35 |
9 | Drake Maye | NE | 8 | 34 |
10 | C.J. Stroud | HOU | 7 | 34 |
11 | Bo Nix | DEN | 7 | 32 |
12 | Brock Purdy | SF | 7 | 31 |
13 | Kyler Murray | ARI | 7 | 30 |
14 | Baker Mayfield | TB | 7 | 29 |
15 | Jordan Love | GB | 6 | 28 |
16 | Trevor Lawrence | JAX | 6 | 27 |
17 | Jared Goff | DET | 6 | 25 |
18 | Bryce Young | CAR | 5 | 24 |
19 | Michael Penix Jr. | ATL | 5 | 24 |
20 | Cam Ward | TEN | 5 | 24 |
21 | Dak Prescott | DAL | 5 | 23 |
22 | Justin Fields | NYJ | 5 | 17 |
23 | Tua Tagovailoa | MIA | 4 | 19 |
24 | J.J. McCarthy | MIN | 4 | 18 |
25 | Geno Smith | LV | 3 | 13 |
26 | Sam Darnold | SEA | 3 | 13 |
27 | Jaxson Dart | NYG | 3 | 12 |
28 | Anthony Richardson | IND | 3 | 12 |
29 | Matthew Stafford | LAR | 2 | 10 |
30 | Tyler Shough | NO | 2 | 8 |
31 | Daniel Jones | IND | 2 | 7 |
32 | Jalen Milroe | SEA | 2 | 6 |
33 | Will Howard | PIT | 1 | 4 |
34 | Russell Wilson | NYG | 1 | 4 |
35 | Kirk Cousins | ATL | 1 | 4 |
36 | Aaron Rodgers | 1 | 4 | |
37 | Shedeur Sanders | CLE | 1 | 4 |
38 | Dillon Gabriel | CLE | 1 | 3 |
This is the one position where evaluating role and team-related factors doesn't fit quite as neatly into the pie analogy I use for other positions. Except for rare exceptions, one quarterback is going to account for all of a team's fantasy points at the position over a given time period. And most of the time, the quarterback is driving how big the team's offensive pie is in the first place.
That said, I still want to highlight my favorite dynasty targets at the position through the lens of role-based and team-based upside.
Role-based upside: Daniel Jones
According to the consensus values on KeepTradeCut.com, Daniel Jones is currently the QB34. He's being valued below multiple Day 3 rookies, such as Shedeur Sanders and Will Howard. This is the same range where guys like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold ended up before finding second lives after falling out of favor with the teams that drafted them.
Why is Jones intriguing to me? I've slowly started to increase the odds in my mind that he ends up winning and holding onto the starting job for the Colts. When he was first signed, I saw him as a clear underdog to beat out Anthony Richardson. At the time, I would have pegged it at something like 3-to-1 against. Now, I view him as the favorite.
This shift comes from reading between the lines of OTA reports. I know it might sound odd, but coaching youth soccer for my kids' elementary school teams has actually given me a new perspective on coach speak. When a kid is struggling, I find myself focusing on progress when talking to parents. I say things like, "They've come a long way" or "You can really see the improvement."
That's what I hear in this recent quote from Colts head coach Shane Steichen about Richardson:
"I think every year the fundamentals and technique continue to get better, and obviously we're working through those. But I've seen strides in that area since this spring and into practice today."
To me, this sounds a lot like what Kyle Shanahan said about Trey Lance back in 2022 and 2023. Don't take comments praising progress at face value. Sometimes, these are the things you say when you want to say something nice but don't have any true positives to highlight. Indianapolis is one of the few wide-open quarterback competitions in the league, and my read is that the market has the wrong guy pegged as the favorite.
If Jones wins the job, this is probably the best setup he's ever had. The Colts have real weapons. If the offensive line can stay healthy, it could be a top 10 unit. Jonathan Taylor demands respect in the run game, and the pass-catching group of Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Michael Pittman Jr, Alec Pierce, and Adonai Mitchell is better than average. We know Steichen isn't afraid to use his quarterback as a red zone runner, and playing indoors doesn't hurt either.
Jones is dirt cheap to acquire. He's a great target as a third quarterback on Superflex teams with only two clear starters. You can add him as a throw-in or send a future late-round pick. If he hits, you might end up with a surprise starter. At worst, he would be a bye-week fill-in who provides real value if he wins the starting job.
Team-Based Upside: Trevor Lawrence
Quarterbacks usually drive the offense, not the other way around. But there are exceptions. A strong supporting cast and a quarterback-friendly system can boost a player's value. Sam Darnold was a good example in 2024. He landed in a perfect environment, with two top wide receivers, a top-tier tight end, a strong offensive line, a dome, and a scheme tailored to his strengths.
That brings us to Trevor Lawrence.
Could he follow a similar path to what we saw with Darnold and Baker Mayfield? While Lawrence hasn't fallen as far as Mayfield once did, his dynasty stock has been slowly trending downward for a few years. That could change in 2025. Mayfield was already showing signs of life before Liam Coen arrived as offensive coordinator in Tampa, but it was under Coen that Mayfield exploded into a top-five fantasy quarterback. Now, Coen is the head coach and offensive architect in Jacksonville. Since arriving, he's made it clear that his goal is to create an explosive offense that scores touchdowns.
If Travis Hunter is who people think he is, and Brian Thomas Jr. builds on an impressive rookie year, the Jaguars could challenge Cincinnati and Philadelphia for the best wide receiver duo in the league. Nothing is guaranteed, but the upside is real. If Thomas becomes one of the league's most dangerous receivers and Hunter lives up to his billing as a top-five NFL Draft pick at wide receiver, Lawrence will have elite weapons at his disposal. Combine that with Coen's system, and we could see Lawrence take a big leap into the top 10 at the position.
Running Back
Role-Based Upside
The real strength of the 2025 rookie running back class is its depth, especially on Day 3. In a thinner class, a lot of these backs would have gone a round or two earlier. Some of the Day 3 names are already gaining steam. Cam Skattebo, Bhayshul Tuten, and Jaydon Blue in particular. But others, like Woody Marks, Trevor Etienne, and Brashard Smith, are still going overlooked. In fact, Smith sometimes doesn't get drafted at all. I've been aggressively stashing these types of backs, even cutting players I'd usually hold onto in order to make room for the late-round rookie running backs in the 2025 class.
Smith is one of my favorite stashes. The Chiefs' backfield is far more open than the market seems to realize. Isiah Pacheco is currently valued as the RB29 on KeepTradeCut. Smith sits all the way down at RB68. Yet both were seventh-round picks. The difference is that Pacheco is the incumbent. However, we must view this battle through a critical lens. This Chiefs offense hasn't been the same over the past two seasons. Something has to change if they're going to return to being one of the most dangerous units in football.
In that context, being the incumbent at a position where it's relatively easy to make a change might not be the plus many assume it is. If I'm Andy Reid, I'm intrigued by an explosive rookie who's healthy, low-mileage, and brings a pass-catching element that can create mismatches. Smith doesn't need to be a perfect runner. If he has real juice and can punish teams focused on stopping Kansas City's speed at wide receiver, that may be enough.
And we're not just speculating here. The organization itself sounds pretty bullish. Chiefs director of player personnel Ryne Nutt said:
"We had him higher on our board than where we took him. That's when you start to consider trading when a guy is there that you have higher on your board and what we would give up is peanuts compared to what we think we'll get. Our coaches are super excited about the kid, and they will find ways to get this kid on the field, whether it's in a third-down role, an all-down role, whatever they decide the kid will play. When he has the ball in his hands, whether it's as a runner or catching the ball, he can do some silly things in terms of what he can set up. Now he has to come in and pick everything up and there has to be a comfort level that he knows what he's doing. But talent-wise, there should be no reason this kid shouldn't help us at some point in the season."
Smith is one of my favorite Round 4 rookie picks, and he's occasionally going undrafted. He is a high-priority waiver target for me whom I would blow a decent chunk of my season-long budget to acquire. In deep dynasty formats, these are the kinds of upside stashes that can swing a season.
James Cook is currently valued as the RB18 in dynasty rankings. That puts him behind six rookie running backs, despite the fact that he is the lead back on a Bills offense projected to have the highest average implied team total in the NFL for 2025. There is no concern about the size of the offensive pie in Buffalo. The only question is how big Cook's slice might become.
There is a narrative that Cook is due for some regression after his RB8 finish last season. That argument is not without merit. He did score 18 touchdowns, which likely included some favorable variance. But that production came in the context of an elite offense, one that is expected to lead the league in touchdowns again. Touchdown luck looks different when you are tied to the best offense in football.
More importantly, Cook posted that RB8 finish while playing just 47.6 percent of the snaps. He was not a workhorse yet still delivered top-end fantasy production. Now he is pushing for a larger role and a long-term contract. Reports suggest he wants to be paid like a Top 5 back and to be used like one as well. If Buffalo decides he has earned that opportunity and signals it with an extension, that would tell us a lot about their plans.
Cook showed up in big moments down the stretch last year. If the team responds by expanding his role, we could easily look back and see his current RB18 valuation and his spot behind six rookies as a clear mistake and a missed buying window.
Team-Based Upside
Last season, we saw Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley beat expectations and push back against the age curve. Barkley did it under offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who parlayed that success into a head coaching job with the Saints. Moore has been effusive in his praise for Alvin Kamara this offseason.
What if this offense isn't the mess people are expecting?
Several of the Saints' young offensive linemen showed promise last year, and the team used the ninth overall pick on Kelvin Banks, a tackle from Texas. This line could surprise people. The speed trio of Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks at wide receiver should help keep defenses honest. And Kamara remains one of the most talented dual-threat backs in the league.
The big question is whether Tyler Shough can at least be competent. If he can, this offense might be just fine. It doesn't have to be a top 10 unit. Even a league-average offense could be enough for Kamara to crush his redraft ADP and make him look like a steal at his current dynasty valuation.
He may lose a few touches to Devin Neal and Kendre Miller, but if Taysom Hill is no longer vulturing goal-line work, Kamara could come out ahead despite a slight reduction in total snaps. He ran cold in the touchdown department last season. There's a world where Kamara gets 220 carries and sees close to 100 targets. From a fantasy perspective, that's the kind of workload you dream of and is rarely available in the dynasty trade market.
Kamara is currently valued around an early second-round rookie pick. For a win-now dynasty team, he's at the top of my list. He has role-based upside if he keeps a larger-than-expected workload and team-based upside if this Saints offense is not a complete disaster.
If you're familiar with a Sean Payton offense, it's easy to get excited about RJ Harvey. Most fantasy managers remember the huge seasons from players like Darren Sproles, Reggie Bush, and Alvin Kamara under Payton. But it's worth quantifying just how massive those running back pies were.
Looking back at the last 20 years, half of the top 12 running back room seasons in PPR fantasy points came from New Orleans during the Payton era. In terms of realistic paths to upside, Sean Payton's running backs have proven to have massive upside on a regular basis.
We haven't seen anything close to that level of production from the running backs yet with the Broncos. Over the last two seasons, Denver's running backs have averaged 361.5 fantasy points per season. Harvey might be the kind of player who bumps that number up significantly. His skill set could reshape the entire offense. He has the potential to emerge as a game-changing pass catcher and carve out a massive target share. Bo Nix recently said about Harvey at OTAs:
"We know he can run the ball, but I think it's the other things he's showing. Just the routes, the suddenness and quickness, and hands."
What if Harvey is a bigger, more physical version of Darren Sproles? Much of the focus in the fantasy community seems to be nitpicking about how big a role to project Harvey for. However, the reason to be excited about him is not that he will gobble up the entire running back pie in Denver, but that he will help grow the size of the pie overall. Believing the Broncos' running back production takes a big leap is not just about the talent in the running back room, however. Being high on Harvey is also grounded in the belief that we will finally see a fully formed Payton offense in Year 2 of the Bo Nix era, and with Payton finally starting to add some mismatch players (like Harvey), similar to the ones who excelled in his scheme in New Orleans.
Wide Receiver
Role-Based Upside
What if Travis Hunter bursts onto the scene as the co-number one target alongside Brian Thomas Jr. in Jacksonville?
As a pure wide receiver prospect, many evaluators view Hunter in the same tier as Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers were viewed at this time last year. Despite that, he is still not being valued like that. Last offseason, Harrison and Nabers were going in the second round of best ball drafts. Hunter, by comparison, is going in the middle of the fourth round. In dynasty, he is currently valued as the WR14 on KeepTradeCut. That places him solidly behind Harrison (WR10), even though both were top-five picks in the NFL Draft.
With Harrison, we've already had a season to adjust expectations after an underwhelming rookie year. Hunter, on the other hand, enters the league with the same elite draft capital and no negative NFL production to drag down his value. So why is he being priced meaningfully lower?
One possibility is that some people expect him to play limited offensive snaps, perhaps splitting time between offense and defense. But early reports suggest the opposite. He is spending roughly three-quarters of his time working with the offense and appears to be on track to become a full-time player. If we knew with certainty that Hunter would be on the field for 90 percent of the Jaguars' passing plays, where would he be going in rookie drafts? Would he still be behind players like Omarion Hampton?
Hunter checks every box we want in a dynasty trade target. He has role-based upside as a potential high-volume receiver right out of the gate, and he brings team-based upside as well. The Jaguars are projected to be the 18th-highest scoring team in 2025, but that number could be too low if Hunter and Thomas are as good as advertised.
Personally, I am buying now in both dynasty and redraft formats. Once the market fully accepts that Hunter will be used in a full-time role, his value will only rise.
Early implied team totals have the Buccaneers projected as the eighth-highest scoring offense heading into 2025. That puts them just ahead of the Bengals and Rams, which helps paint the picture of how much fantasy production could be available in this offense. Baker Mayfield threw for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns last season despite missing multiple key pass catchers for stretches of the year. This is shaping up to be a passing game worth investing in.
Emeka Egbuka, currently valued as the WR21 in dynasty, is viewed by many as a strong long-term hold. That view is reasonable, but the market may be underrating how quickly he could become a weekly contributor. Wide receivers can fall off fast. Mike Evans has been incredibly consistent, but he turns 32 this summer. Chris Godwin is 29 and coming off a serious injury. If one of them declines or misses time, Egbuka could step into a much larger role right away.
The transition from Cooper Kupp to Puka Nacua happened nearly overnight. The same could easily happen in Tampa Bay. Jaxon Smith-Njigba quickly turned DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett into afterthoughts in the Seattle offense. Egbuka already profiles as a strong long-term asset, but there is hidden short-term upside here as well. If he breaks out earlier than expected, his value will spike, and buying him now could look like a savvy move in just a few months.
Team-Based Upside
After finishing as the WR32 last season, Darnell Mooney is being valued as WR58 on KeepTradeCut. On the surface, that makes some sense. He is clearly the second option in the Falcons' passing game, and Atlanta is not a team most people are excited about right now. According to early betting lines and implied totals, the Falcons rank just 22nd in expected points per game.
But this is one of those sneaky high-variance situations where the consensus might be wrong. Michael Penix Jr. is unproven, and his small sample of play included plenty of erratic throws. But he also flashed with some truly impressive passes and showed no hesitation pushing the ball downfield. He is willing to trust his receivers in tight windows. That can go badly, but it also opens the door for explosive plays.
The Falcons play 12 games in domes this season, and there is plenty of supporting talent already in place. People are rightfully excited about Bijan Robinson and Drake London, both of whom are expensive to acquire in dynasty. A more affordable way to gain exposure to this offense is through Mooney. If Penix is the real deal and throws for 4,500 yards and 30-plus touchdowns, it will be very hard to draw up that scenario without Mooney playing a meaningful role.
Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman
Jerry Jeudy (WR37) and Cedric Tillman (WR63) are the top two wide receivers in Cleveland. There is little question about their roles, but their dynasty values remain low because of pessimism around the Browns' offense. That skepticism is understandable, but it may also be overdone.
When we talk about team-based upside, we often focus on young quarterbacks or explosive systems. But sometimes upside can come from a team that is expected to be a disaster, but merely turns out to be functional. Joe Flacco helped Amari Cooper post WR1 numbers not that long ago. He also kept Josh Downs fantasy-relevant during his time with the Colts. There is no reason Jeudy could not be productive with Flacco under center this season.
Longer term, the quarterback issue could be resolved next offseason. The Browns have an extra first-round pick, and their own pick could land high. We have seen what a rookie quarterback can do to revitalize a wide receiver's value. Just look at what Jayden Daniels did for Terry McLaurin. That kind of upside is not priced into Jeudy and Tillman's current valuations.
At WR37 and WR63, these are easy bets to make. You are paying for what they are now, not what they could become if things break right in Cleveland.
Tight End
Rank | Player | Team | Value |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Brock Bowers | LV | 38 |
2 | Trey McBride | ARI | 28 |
3 | Sam LaPorta | DET | 16 |
4 | T.J. Hockenson | MIN | 12 |
5 | Colston Loveland | CHI | 12 |
6 | George Kittle | SF | 11 |
7 | Tyler Warren | IND | 11 |
8 | Tucker Kraft | GB | 8 |
9 | Mark Andrews | BAL | 7 |
10 | David Njoku | CLE | 7 |
11 | Isaiah Likely | BAL | 7 |
12 | Evan Engram | DEN | 7 |
13 | Dalton Kincaid | BUF | 6 |
14 | Kyle Pitts | ATL | 6 |
15 | Dallas Goedert | PHI | 6 |
16 | Jonnu Smith | MIA | 6 |
17 | Mason Taylor | NYJ | 6 |
18 | Elijah Arroyo | SEA | 5 |
19 | Jake Ferguson | DAL | 5 |
20 | Terrance Ferguson | LAR | 5 |
21 | Travis Kelce | KC | 4 |
22 | Pat Freiermuth | PIT | 4 |
23 | Cade Otton | TB | 4 |
24 | Brenton Strange | JAX | 4 |
25 | Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE | 4 |
26 | Hunter Henry | NE | 3 |
27 | Mike Gesicki | CIN | 3 |
28 | Ja'Tavion Sanders | CAR | 3 |
29 | Theo Johnson | NYG | 3 |
30 | Chig Okonkwo | TEN | 3 |
31 | Dalton Schultz | HOU | 2 |
32 | Cole Kmet | CHI | 2 |
33 | Ben Sinnott | WAS | 2 |
34 | Zach Ertz | WAS | 2 |
Role-Based Upside
Tucker Kraft is fairly priced as the dynasty TE9, but among tight ends who offer real high-end upside, he is by far the cheapest to acquire. He has been a priority target for me all offseason, thanks to the potential for a significant role in what should be a productive Packers passing offense.
There are two main reasons I'm optimistic about Kraft's role. First, this roster doesn't feature a dominant WR1. Josh Jacobs made headlines for pointing that out, and he might be right. Jayden Reed could take a leap in Year 3, or rookie Matthew Golden might hit early, but it is also entirely possible that the Packers conclude Kraft is their best pass catcher. If that happens, the offense may run more through him than current expectations suggest.
Second, we can dream about some bonus rushing production. Last year, the Packers used Kraft five times in "Tush Push" situations and converted every time. It drew some ridicule, especially because Green Bay supported efforts to ban the play. But they found a unique workaround by using Kraft as the quarterback. There is no rule saying it has to be the actual quarterback running that play. If you're going to line up in a power formation and everyone knows what's coming, why risk your starter when you can hand the job to your toughest guy?
Kraft scored seven receiving touchdowns last season. If he adds a handful more on the ground in short-yardage spots, he could deliver one of the most unique and valuable tight end stat lines in fantasy football. At TE9 pricing, that kind of upside is hard to find.
Team-Based Upside
Few positions produce more post-hype breakouts than tight end. We just saw it with Jonnu Smith, who came out of nowhere to finish as the TE4 last season. It's smart to keep the bottom of your dynasty bench stocked with physically gifted tight ends in case everything clicks. Chig Okonkwo fits that mold and is available for next to nothing in most leagues. He's currently valued as the TE30 on KeepTradeCut.
Okonkwo is only 25 years old. That's still young by tight end development standards. He ran a 4.52 at the 2022 NFL Combine and showed promise as a rookie, finishing with over 450 receiving yards. He hasn't made the big leap yet. He posted 528 yards in Year 2 and 479 in Year 3. But he did flash down the stretch last season. In his final three full games, he caught 22 passes for 182 yards.
His path to fantasy relevance is simple. He needs Cam Ward to be competent, and he needs to emerge as one of Ward's top two targets. That's well within reach. Even if Calvin Ridley claims the WR1 role, Okonkwo's main competition would be Tyler Lockett, who turns 33 in September, and a handful of Day 3 rookie wideouts.
If Ward proves functional and Okonkwo is featured, he could easily be this year's surprise breakout. For a player with his athleticism and opportunity, TE30 pricing is an easy bet to make.