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Each week, Footballguys staff members will share the big movers in their respective Dynasty Rankings. Since the contributors will rotate, please check in weekly. The focus of this article will be on the “why” more than the movement itself. Dynasty Rankings are fluid and we hope that sharing the rationale will help you in your quest to create dynasties with all of your teams. The diversity of rankings will result in a variety of opinions weekly.
Quarterback
Parsons
EJ Manuel - Hard not to continue Manuel’s move down the rankings with more data (and it is not good). Benching him for a Kyle Orton the age of Brett Favre can be spun about the team being in Win-Now mode, but it is really in ‘win mode and sorry EJ we think that is not with you under center.’ Manuel is outside the top-30 quarterbacks now on my dynasty board.
Jimmy Garoppolo - Garoppolo gets a boost with his glimmer of regular season, albeit in garbage time, functionality. He feels different than the ‘heir apparent’ moniker of Ryan Mallett behind Tom Brady in recent seasons. Garoppolo looks like a potential top-18 fantasy option with a full-time gig and decent surrounding weapons.
Tefertiller
Logan Thomas – Thomas is moving up my rankings the longer Carson Palmer is out of action. Thomas looked awesome in the preseason and could be starting by the end of the season if the Palmer remains out of action.
Mike Glennon – Coach Lovie Smith can tell us over and over that Josh McCown is still the starter, but it is difficult to deny that Glennon is the better fit for the offense. He moves the offense much better than the veteran.
Cummings
Austin Davis - Davis is threatening to become a borderline QB2 in 16 team Dynasty leagues as he proved that against the right match up he can win a game for you. Davis has thrown for 700 yards and 6 touchdowns in his last 2 starts and is the starter for the rest of 2014, and maybe longer.
Eli Manning - I still have a hard time believing that Manning is going to maintain his current level of play, but he’s definitely getting more comfortable in the offense. He has plenty of weapons in the passing game, so as long as his line can protect him and he can be accurate he should be a solid QB2.
Grant
Russell Wilson – If you watched Wilson on Monday Night Football against Washington this week, you’ll know why he’s moving up the charts. Wilson just does whatever it takes to win. He will never be the guy who throws for 350 yards week after week, but his ability to move the pocket and scramble for the extra yards more than makes up for it. He knows how to extend plays, he’s smart and he protects the football. He only had 200 yards passing this week, but he added another 100 yards rushing and the 3 combined TDS that he had make him a top 10 QB in any league.
Blake Bortles – It might be a little early to completely give up on Bortles, but the train wreck that is around him in Jacksonville severely limits his long term potential. Their offensive line is a joke, they have no running game to speak of and they are pulling fans out of their seats hoping to find someone who can stay healthy and catch the ball. Bortles drew the short straw when he was drafted by the Jaguars and it’s going to be several seasons before he will be worth anything from a fantasy prospective.
Running Back
Cummings
LeSean McCoy - I’m dropping McCoy from #1 overall after what has been a miserable start to the season. It’s not just the Eagles line problems, or Darren Sproles that have me worried…McCoy looks different running with the ball. It’s not enough for me to drop him out of the top five…yet.
Ahmad Bradshaw - Bradshaw has always had talent but my two main concerns for him coming into this year were health and opportunity. While he’s been healthy, that’s still a long term concern, but he finally got more touches than Trent Richardson this week. If that continues Bradshaw is a solid PPR RB2 for the remainder of 2014 at least.
Bishop Sankey - Sankey has been extremely unimpressive so far in his rookie year and I’m tired of ranking him higher just because of his potential. When Shonn Greene and Dexter McCluster are still standing in your way, there’s something wrong. I don’t like this offense long term so I’m not going to get very excited about a running back that has trouble getting on the field.
Parsons
Montee Ball - Ball takes a big tumble. He was situationally-valued to begin with as a middling pure talent, and the running game is not working in Denver (maybe it was him?). Ball is dinged up currently and there is a chance that one of the other three backs takes the job, or at least a decent chunk of it, and causes a downturn to Ball’s opportunity when he gets back in the lineup. Ball was a trendy top-5 running back pick for this season, but he has been nothing short of a huge disappointment through five weeks. I would not fault any ranker for having him outside the top-25 dynasty backs.
DeMarco Murray - Murray looks like the odds-on favorite to finish as the top overall running back this season. That is worth a ton of dynasty value. Murray is 26 years old so not dead yet even my ageists like myself. The Cowboys offense now runs through Murray and there is an argument to rank him in the top-3 for dynasty (just outside on my board).
Grant
Branden Oliver – Unless you’re a die-hard Chargers fan, Brandon Oliver was probably not on your fantasy radar before this week. However, he put on a show against a run-tough Jets defense and the guys in front of him on the depth chart all have question marks about their play. A one-week performance doesn’t make Oliver a fantasy stud, but he’s definitely a guy that should be on a dynasty roster. If you can land him off the waiver wire, stash him and see how he performs the rest of the season.
Doug Martin – Ok, it’s time to recognize Martin for what he is – a guy who had big upside for a bit, but is really just an above average fantasy back. At one point, he was a first round quality back. A guy that you could build your franchise around. Yet injuries and ineffective play have really taken their toll on him. He averaged just 3.6 YPC last season in limited action and this season, that’s fallen to 2.5. he’s reached the end zone just twice in his last nine games, and his 142 yards this season are barely a consideration for a flex/RB3 position rather than a starter.
Tefertiller
Maurice Jones-Drew – Jones-Drew had been ranked highly with hope he could regain the promise shown while in Jacksonville a couple of years ago. It was time to move him down a couple of tiers. Whether it is due to injury or situation, Jones-Drew should not be considered an every-week fantasy starter until he proves otherwise.
Chris Johnson – Johnson is the type of player you do not want on your dynasty team. Yes, that is harsh. However, he is not startable unless Chris Ivory gets injured. Add in his age and there is little hope of him turning things around. If you own him, now is the time to sell in dynasty leagues. He will not help you win a championship and will be worth even less this offseason.
Wide Receiver
Grant
Brian Quick – The QB situation in St. Louis is a big question mark, but the one guy who seems to be performing week after week is Brian Quick. He’s had nine targets in three of his first four games this season and has three touchdowns in his last two games. He’s not going to be a WR1 for your fantasy team, but he’s a solid third WR option with the potential to be a WR2.
Eric Decker – The Jets have huge question marks on offense and their QB situation has been a big disappointment for several seasons now. Add in Decker battling a hamstring and he looks like another WR2 that left his successful team to become #1 on a weaker team and take a huge hit to their offensive production. He had 10 targets in week 4 (just four receptions though), but only one target the previous week. It’s hard to put a guy like that in your starting lineup.
Tefertiller
Josh Gordon – The time is inching closer to when Gordon gets back onto the field. Reports show that he comes to the team facility every day. Gordon should be considered among the game's elite on the field and his dynasty value will soon catch up.
Denarius Moore – Moore flashed potential early in his career. However, the still-young receiver has found himself in the doghouse the past couple of season. Sure, Moore could rebound his career path on a different team next season. But, it was time to temper expectations while Moore remains in the silver and black.
Cummings
Jeremy Maclin - Most, if not all, of us underestimated Maclin’s role in this offense. He has been spectacular through 5 weeks, scoring a touchdown in all but 1 game. There’s no reason to think the team won’t lock him up, and as long as he’s in Chip Kelly’s offense he’s going to be a WR2 at worst.
Davante Adams - Adams is a rookie that is moving up the depth chart faster than I expected and looked like he belonged last week. He’s a much better receiver than Jarrett Boykin and the WR3 position in Green Bay has traditionally seen plenty of targets.
Odell Beckham Jr- I was afraid Beckham would be over-matched in the NFL, but he didn’t look that way in his first action. The Giants offensive scheme should work well with his skillset and he does have the profile to succeed if the Giants can get him in space. I still think a lot of people are too high on him, but I needed to give him a bump after this week.
Parsons
Odell Beckham Jr- Even with just a single game of situational snaps, Beckham did enough to quell the concerns some jittery owners were having about a lack of playing time to-date. Beckham’s short-area quickness and outstanding hands were already in his metric profile pre-draft, so that was merely a confirmation this past week.
Aaron Dobson - I still hold out hope for the second-year wide receiver, but the lack of playing time despite his run as a fantasy WR2 when healthy in 2013 and the dearth of wide receiver talent and athleticism in New England have to mean something. Still time to turn things around, at worst with another team, but Dobson’s market value has tanked over the past six weeks.
Tight End
Parsons
Travis Kelce - It is obvious that Kelce deserves more snaps in Kansas City, but his upside is still simmering below the surface with a situational role. He continues to creep up my tight end rankings as I am one of the more skeptical dynasty analysts out there on Kelce. Regardless, he is in my top-12 now and could be in the 8-10 range by the end of the season.
Kyle Rudolph - Does not have the athletic profile to be a true move tight end and was a touchdown-dependent guy prior to his latest injury. The Teddy Bridgewater factor could help Rudolph regain some value down the line, but moved down to TE15 on my latest update after once being in the TE5-8 range.
Grant
Dwayne Allen – Aside from the week two game against Philly, Allen has been stud this season. Three or more receptions in the other four games and a touchdown to pad the points. In the red zone, he’s the guy that Andrew Luck looks to early and often. He’s really starting to come into his own, and he’s posting starting fantasy TE numbers now.
Cummings
Travis Kelce - It seems like a rule that someone needs to upgrade Kelce every week. What impressed me this week was that he faced an extremely difficult match up and the Chiefs still found a way to get him involved in the red zone. We know how high his ceiling his, but the last three weeks make his floor seem pretty high too.
Dwayne Allen - Allen is quickly becoming one of Andrew Luck’s favorite red zone targets and has 14 targets in the last 3 games. He’s a much better tight end than Coby Fleener with an elite quarterback in a high-powered offense. Allen may not be as physically gifted as some of the tight ends above him but he has everything else working in his favor.
Tefertiller
Travis Kelce – Kelce was already a Top 12 player in my rankings and now moves into Top 8 ahead of some talented young players. If looking for the next big thing at the tight end position, Kelce is in the conversation. He has a chance to be the top dynasty tight end in the next two years. While that sounds outrageous, Kelce's age and athleticism gives him a high ceiling.
Clay Harbor – Harbor is making the most of his opportunity while Marcedes Lewis is out of action. Harbor is athletic and could emerge as a long-term factor in the Jacksonville offense.
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