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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
Hammond
Marcus Mariota - Mariota has had to deal with injuries this rookie year, and he has struggled some with good defenses (as one would expect from a rookie), but I think he is on track to become one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks in time and that needs to be reflected in dynasty rankings. Consider: Mariota has played just six games in the NFL but already has games of 367 and 371 passing yards (Weeks 3 and 9), games with 4 TD passes (Weeks 1 and 9), and has an overall completion percent on the season of 65.2%. He hasn't really done much with his legs yet but I'm sure that will come. He should be a top-5 dynasty quarterback in my opinion, even as he has some clunkers along the way as part of the growing process.
Russell Wilson - I have been overdue in lowering Wilson, so this has nothing to do with Week 9 (it was Seattle's bye). The combination of offensive line problems which is getting him sacked and hurried far too often and the lack of a go to receiver has kept Wilson from producing like I think he can. I've been reluctant to drop him down, but week after week the results just aren't there - only 9 passing TDs in 8 games. I'm not moving him down dramatically, but I can't keep him at QB3 either. There are way too many other quarterbacks putting up big numbers this year while Wilson is not.
Hindery
Derek Carr - Carr is quickly moving up my rankings at the quarterback position in dynasty. He looks in complete control of the Raiders offense and the duo of Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree has proven extremely dangerous. Over the past three weeks, perhaps no quarterback has been as consistently good as Carr. Having a top-notch young receiver like Cooper to throw to will also be a boon to his value going forward.
Cam Newton - The numbers Newton has been putting up throwing to a group of no-name receivers are extremely impressive. He has firmly re-established himself as a true franchise quarterback in the NFL and a player around whom you can build your dynasty roster. When you couple his running ability with the return of Kelvin Benjamin next season, Newton looks locked in as a high-end QB1 over the long-term.
Running Back
Hindery
Jeremy Langford - It was only one game, but we’ve already seen enough from Langford to think he is probably the running back of the future for the Bears; probably as soon as 2016. Langford has to leap way up the dynasty running back rankings because there are so few younger backs that look likely to see 20+ touches per game going forward. There’s a good case that the rookie is already a top-10 dynasty back.
Latavius Murray - While Murray has been pretty good running the ball, he continues to struggle as a pass catcher. Any illusions of Murray as an elite all-around back are fading. Instead, he looks like a 15-18 carry per game back who will be only minimally involved as a pass catcher. Plus, it is becoming clearer that the Raiders will be a pass-first offense and built around Carr instead of Murray. Not the end of the world for Murray owners, but his early usage indicated he had the potential to be a 50+ catch back. Murray’s current trajectory keeps him firmly in the RB2 mix in PPR leagues, but he has only a fraction of the value of the top young backs like Devonta Freeman.
Hammond
Antonio Andrews - When head coach Ken Whisenhunt was fired, new interim coach Mike Mularkey wasted no time telling us that Andrews was going to be his bell cow ball carrier and would see an increase in carries. This was not a surprise as things had already been trending that way. Andrews' carries have gone from 10 to 16 to 19 the last three weeks, while Bishop Sankey has virtually disappeared. The expected return soon of rookie David Cobb from IR-Designed for Return is muted somewhat by the revelation that he is not in great shape. Meanwhile, Andrews has performed well the last three games with a 4.64 YPC on his 45 carries during that time. With quarterback Marcus Mariota back and opening up the field with the passing game, Andrews should have more room to run. Andrews is not considered an athletic marvel by any means, but hes has the opportunity and is getting the job done, and is moving up my rankings.
Eddie Lacy - Lacy started slowly in 2014 then came on strong to finish among the top RBs. In 2015 though he has had nagging injuries and is reportedly not in the best of condition which is really hurting his numbers. He is losing more and more work to James Starks as the season goes on. I still think Lacy, age 25, is a fine running back long term on a strong offensive team, but he may not help his owners a whole lot the rest of this year, and has certainly disappointed vis-a-vis expectations when the season began. I've had him at dynasty RB4 but I think he needs to be lower.
C.J. Spiller - When the Saints got Spiller in the offseason the plan was to commit more to the running game and also to find lots of ways to use his speed and shiftiness in space. Instead the Saints continue to be pass happy, in part because their defense is so awful they have to pass to compete in games, and it seems they are now involving everyone EXCEPT Spiller. He has not had more than 21 snaps in a game in 2015, and in Week 9 his snaps fell to a season low six. Despite putting up 80 combined points the last two weeks, the Saints have given Spiller a total of just six carries and three receptions. He appears to be, for whatever reason, an afterthought in their offense. Down he goes in my rankings.
Wide Receiver
Hammond
Michael Floyd - Last year I became more and more down on Floyd the second half of the season, and except for Week 17 he produced poorly compared to preseason expectations. He began 2015 with badly injured fingers and started slowly while Larry Fitzgerald was on fire, but as the season has progressed and his fingers have healed, Floyd has now become a bigger and bigger factor. Coach Bruce Arians said before their Week 9 game that Floyd was regaining his starter status over John Brown, and he responded with 109 yards and a TD. That makes three TDs in his last three games, and his third game in five with at least five catches. I've had Floyd relatively low in my rankings (WR48) but it is time he deserves a bump up.
Terrance Williams - The expectation of many when Dez Bryant was lost to injury for several games was that this was Williams' opportunity to pick up a lot of the slack and become a real fantasy factor. That never really happened though and now Bryant is back. Through eight games, Williams only has 23-340-2, and the last two games he only has 5-47-0 combined (while Cole Beasley had 9-112-2 just in Week 9). I haven't had Williams ranked particularly high before this, but WR57 is still too high. He's just a guy and needs to be down with the other just-a-guys.
Hindery
A.J. Green - Green’s talent has never been a question; he is one of the handful of most talented receivers in the league. However, his usage rate has to be concerning for dynasty owners. Green is on pace to see less than 150 passing targets this season and is much less consistent on a week-to-week basis than the other top receivers like Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckham, Jr. and Dez Bryant. Plus, the emergence of Tyler Eifert as a red zone monster (nine red zone touchdowns in eight games) limits Green’s touchdown potential going forward as well. Green is still a top 20 overall dynasty asset, but he is no longer deserving of his status near the top of the trade value charts.
Eric Decker - Decker was kind of a forgotten man this offseason. The Jets quarterback situation was a mess and he suddenly found himself the #2 WR in what looked like it would be a run-first offense. However, Ryan Fitzpatrick has been surprisingly good and Decker is playing at a very high-level. His season is flying under-the-radar slightly due to the lack of any huge performances, but his consistency has been amazing. He has caught a touchdown in all but one game and even in his game without a score; he still topped 15 fantasy points (PPR scoring). He has been a rock solid WR2 every single week. In fact, he has been close to a WR1 this season on a per game basis. Decker is only 28-years old and should have a long and productive career ahead of him.
Tight End
Hammond
Richard Rodgers - When Richard Rodgers was drafted in the third round 2014 many experts scratched their heads as he was projected as about a 5th-6th rounder. His college resume wasn't impressive, but that was due in part to a role change that sacrificed stats for the team. Rodgers had been a receiver at Cal until his senior year when he moved to tight end and was for the most part a blocker. As for 2014, rookie tight ends often don't do much but there were indications both coach McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were happy with his progress. He managed only 20-225-2 but caught 67% of his targets and I remember reading some very positive comments from Aaron Rodgers. This season began with not a lot of actions going in the direction of Richard Rodgers early, but he has come on with five or more catches in three of the last five games, including two TDs in Week 9. Rodgers is catching 65% of his targets this year, now has four TDs in eight games, and seems to really be gaining the confidence of his elite quarterback. I'm bumping him up - again.
Julius Thomas - Thomas was very productive in Denver catching passes from Peyton Manning and that landed him a nice deal with Jacksonville in the offseason. There were injury problems early but Thomas has been on the field for a few weeks now and I'm not really liking what I'm seeing in terms of chemistry with quarterback Blake Bortles. Obviously this will improve, but I think it may be prudent to temper expectations in Jacksonville for Thomas. In his four games since returning from injury Thomas has just 13-116-1 and a sub-50% catch rate which is very poor for the tight end position. Bortles is really clicking with his starting receivers Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. Manning loves his tight ends, I'm not sure with Bortles, and I'm no longer convinced there is enough value to warrant a TE8 ranking for Thomas. He needs to move down from such a high ranking until I see something a lot more positive.