Dynasty Trade Value Chart: September

The last two weeks before the season are always the most chaotic stretch of the dynasty calendar. Cutdowns to 53, surprise releases, trades, injury fallout (and in the case of Ashton Jeanty, an injury bomb that was avoided), and one suspension situation with enormous fantasy implications all landed in the span of about ten days. This is the final chart update before real games, and it covers the largest batch of value changes I have made all offseason, roughly 90 player values adjusted over cutdown weekend alone on top of two earlier rounds of updates as the August camp reports rolled in. You can find the specifics of each of those decisions and the logic behind them in the change log tab of the Dynasty Trade Value Chart Plus tool. 

While you can see all of those movements in the tool, I want to use this month's article to summarize the value movement from the preseason that matters the most at each position, with each player's value at the start of the month compared to where he sits today and a more expanded explanation of the reasoning behind the changes.

Quarterbacks

Cam Ward, TEN (Superflex): 21 -> 17 (-4.0). The reports and preseason film in Tennessee have not been encouraging, and I am starting to get concerned. You will see the ripple effects on his pass catchers below.

J.J. McCarthy, MIN (Superflex): 5.7 -> 2.5 (-3.2). He survived cutdowns, but the reasons for optimism keep fading. He couldn’t even win the QB2 job. Still roster-worthy in Superflex leagues, but barely. 

Tua Tagovailoa, ATL (Superflex): 5.6 -> 3.6 (-2.0). The reviews of his training camp performance were brutal, and at this point it is hard to believe he is a long-term NFL starter. It feels like only a matter of time (maybe as early as Week 1) before Michael Penix Jr. is back as the starter for the Falcons, at which point Tagovailoa’s value may drop slightly more.

Jalen Milroe, SEA (Superflex): 1.5 -> 3.5 (+2.0). Milroe still doesn’t have a clear path to playing time in the near future, but his preseason performance was a good reminder of his long-term upside. He is definitely worth continuing to stash in Superflex if you have the roster space.

Running Backs

Josh Jacobs, GB: 12 -> 5.5 (-6.5). This is a tough one. I considered dropping Jacobs even further, but his fantasy upside is high enough that if he returns this year (or in 2027), you will want to have him on your team. However, there is a real chance that Jacobs is just finished. We saw it happen with Ray Rice, who had an awful video come out near the end of his prime years that made him toxic for NFL teams to employ. 

MarShawn Lloyd, GB: 4.1 -> 7.1 (+3.0). Lloyd is the other side of the Jacobs situation, going from relative afterthought (though DTVC was relatively high on him and highlighted him multiple times this offseason) to projected lead back in a top-10 offense in about a week. It is a risky bet given his injury history, but the upside of that role has to be factored in. I suspect we see Lloyd drafted in the 6th to 7th rounds of redraft leagues over the final two weeks of drafts. If so, he could see his value rise more than this.

Kaleb Johnson, GB: 2.8 -> 2.5 (-0.3). This is actually the result of two moves. Johnson started the month valued at 2.8, and I cut his value to 1.5 when the preseason usage and reports out of Pittsburgh said he was on the roster bubble. While those were true (and something we shouldn’t ignore in his valuation), the trade to Green Bay brought his value back to pretty close to where he started. I remain skeptical of the player given that Pittsburgh found him unusable, but he is now one injury away from real work in an elite offense.

Bhayshul Tuten, JAX: 16.1 -> 11 (-5.1). Last month I moved Tuten up on the strength of the early Jacksonville buzz, and the past few weeks walked it back in two steps: first the growing risk of an ugly committee, then a cutdown week where Liam Coen sounded openly frustrated with him. The talent case is intact, but the path to the workload is murkier than it looked in early August. Baseline expectation is an ugly committee, but that was also the expectation last offseason for Travis Etienne Jr., and then when the games started, he was an elite fantasy producer and committee fears evaporated.

Ashton Jeanty, LV: 39.5 -> 37.5 (-2.0). He dodged a major injury bullet, so this is a workload adjustment rather than an injury discount. Mike Washington Jr. has impressed enough to eat into the touches. Part of the selling point for Jeanty as a first-round redraft pick was Jeanty potentially leading the NFL in terms of his share of backfield opportunity. That feels less likely now.

Mike Washington Jr., LV: 4.1 -> 6 (+1.9). The Jeanty scare was a good reminder that Washington is one of the league's most valuable handcuffs, and he is earning standalone work besides. You don’t want to overrate small sample sizes in the preseason, but to my eyes, Washington looked like a dude.

Breece Hall, NYJ: 20 -> 22.2 (+2.2). There is less and less committee talk in New York and a seemingly clearer path to 300-plus touches. If this offense was better, it would be easy to project an RB1 season. Hall’s one of the guys I was out on at cost for most of the offseason, but he's been slowly but steadily moving up my board and is a player I think is now a bit undervalued.

Saquon Barkley, PHI: 18.8 -> 21 (+2.2). The signs on the offensive line and the running game are pointing back in the right direction, which matters more for Barkley's floor than for most backs his age.

D'Andre Swift, CHI: 10 -> 12 (+2.0). Swift quietly had a fantastic camp, and there is building buzz that a big season is coming. The uncertainty regarding Monangai’s knee also adds to the upside case.

Rhamondre Stevenson, NE: 6.6 -> 9 (+2.4). He has a stranglehold on the lead job, and the market still seems behind on this backfield. I prefer Stevenson by a significant margin in redraft this year. 

TreVeyon Henderson, NE: 16 -> 14 (-2.0). The flip side in New England: Henderson is still not posing a serious threat to Stevenson's role, and his value will continue to dwindle until that changes. It is growing increasingly hard to “sell high,” but Henderson still seems overvalued by the market.

Jordan Mason, MIN: 4 -> 6.5 (+2.5). I am buying into the Vikings' running game taking a leap, and the real possibility that Mason ends up leading the backfield.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., NYG: 4.9 -> 2.9 (-2.0). The Najee Harris signing seems to say the new staff is not sold on him, and this front office keeps shopping in the veteran running back market. I’m a little bit worried about Cam Skattebo too, but have held his value steady for now. 

Jonathon Brooks, CAR: 9.5 -> 11 (+1.5). Healthy, clearly the most talented back on the roster, and his redraft ADP is approaching the sixth round. The question now is whether you should try to sell high or just hold on and hope that he makes good on the upside that made him a first-round dynasty rookie pick in a loaded 2024 class.

Isiah Pacheco, DET: 3.9 -> 1.8 (-2.1). Banged up again, and it is not even clear he will be the RB2 when he returns.

Kaytron Allen, WAS: 4.2 -> 2.1 (-2.1). The concerns about whether his athleticism translates to the NFL are bearing out so far. He made the team as the RB3, but does not seem to be a real threat to Jacory Croskey-Merritt like some thought he might be coming out of the draft.

Nicholas Singleton, TEN: 5.2 -> 3.5 (-1.7). He does not look like a serious threat to beat out either Tony Pollard or Tyjae Spears as a rookie. I like Spears at cost, but the upside case is harder to make. 

Bucky Irving, TB: 15.4 -> 14.2 (-1.2). He will get his touches. But Tucker (who avoided getting cut with a restructured contract) is handling the goal-line work, and Gainwell will take a big chunk of the receiving downs, and those are the touches we actually want for fantasy. Irving looks overrated in both redraft and dynasty. 

Kyle Monangai, CHI: 9.1 -> 7.8 (-1.3). We don’t have a lot of information about the knee injury, and between that and Swift’s strong camp, Monangai’s redraft stock has tumbled. He was going in the 8th round early in the offseason and is now mostly going in the 11th. 

Jaydon Blue, DAL: 4 -> 1 (-3.0). He had genuine buzz a month ago and then did not make the team. In any league with a roster crunch, he is safe to drop.

Wide Receivers