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The final weeks of a dynasty regular season are a distinct shift from September. Early in the season each team is hopeful for playoff glory. As the weeks pass, injuries and underperformers quickly derail teams along the way. The closing weeks of the season are a bit anti-climatic from an owner perspective. The waiver wire is typically drained after weeks of vultures picking the production and talent bone clean. The trade deadline has passed, restricting moves like a wrapped snake. Most of the decisions center around the few lineup decisions left. There are, however, things to do:
Continue Down the Rabbit Hole
Contending teams seeking production late in the season need to look no further than running backs. Spencer Ware and Javorius Allen are the latest examples of backs thrust into the lead role by a late-season injury ahead of them. Depending on the league depth, here are some backs an injury away from expanded work potentially available:
Robert Turbin: Rod Smith did not sniff the field in Week 11 and Turbin was the clear primary backup to Darren McFadden. Turbin is a potential auto-start if McFadden were to go down.
Terrance West has bounced around the NFL of late, but the Ravens lost Justin Forsett and now only Javorius Allen stands in West's early down way from prominent work.
Jordan Todman: DeAngelo Williams is an RB1 auto-start weekly and Todman has one of the strongest metric profiles of any running back still floaing around the NFL yet to declare if they will emerge or not.
Akeem Hunt: The Texans backfield is a jumbled mess from the uninspiring Alfred Blue as the de facto starter to metric favorite Jonathan Grimes to shifty and passing-inclined Hunt. An injury to any of the three would be signficant to the remaining pair, especially if Blue were the affected back.
Stevan Ridley: Ridley has not done much in his limited time on the field this season. Chris Ivory, however, has one of the more checkered injury histories of current NFL starters. Ridley has shown talent dating back to his New England days and could be floating out there in shallow-to-medium depth leagues.
Kendall Gaskins: To say the 49ers have been hit hard by the running back injury bug would be an understatement. Shaun Draughn is now a sturdy RB2/3 play on volume alone. Gaskins is the last early-down option left if Draugh were to go down.
Bryce Brown: With Marshawn Lynch out of the picture for the coming weeks, Thomas Rawls is thrust into the unquestioned lead role. Fred Jackson is a veteran stopgap, but Bryce Brown is the upside play who recently joined the team. While Brown has limitations as a player, his raw talent and athleticism is enough to be an RB1 in Seattle's offense without Rawls in the picture.
Project Rookie Draft Cuts
We can sit with a vice grip on our favorite upside stashes inhabiting the final roster spots of our dynasty teams. These can be mid-to-late round rookie picks from the past year or two, or choice waiver wire additions along the way. However, it is an annual cycle. What happens next rookie draft? We must cut or try to package up a few to make room for the new crop of late-round additions. Instead of waiting until well into the offseason to survey the back-end roster landscape, know what players are firmly on the cut line and how many will be chopping block candidates come the spring and summer months. If the trade deadline is still in front of you, shop those players proactively for marginal rookie pick upgrades. Come draft season, those shifts up the board will be more difficult as the other owners do their own projected rookie draft cuts.
Refine the Watch List
An owner's watch list can go dormant amidst the weekly grind of the regular season. It is easy to get sucked into chasing obvious waiver wire additions and swapping out defenses and kickers. What players are still out there from the draft process you wanted? These can be players who have mired through injuries, a clogged depth chart, or both. In addition to acquiring one or two of them (especially once you can drop your kicker and defense if out of the playoffs), boosting a watch list is a preparatory exercise for 2016.
Research Contracts
Early in the offseason, player value can shift merely with the speculation of expanded opportunity in the coming season. Instead of reacting midstream, look ahead for contract situations involving players ahead of current free agents in your dynasty league. Even the rumor of a player leaving can be enough to boost the value of your asset enough to trade away for more stable value.