The rest of America is hyper-focused on the RB1 race between Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb, and Christian McCaffrey. Dynasty players have to focus on the diamonds in the rough. Before Tyreek Hill was the Cheetah, he was a fifth-round pick in the NFL Draft and undrafted in startups. Hindsight is 20/20, so let’s dive into some dynasty buy lows that could bump a dynasty roster from rebuilding to contending in 2023 and beyond.
READ MORE: Week 7 DraftKings Plays
Buy Low Options for Dynasty Fantasy Football Leading up to the Trade Deadline
Nico Collins
Nico Collins leads the Texans in receiving yards with –
272
18.1 yards a catch
Off 15 total receptions pic.twitter.com/d6PjAejkCj— CJ Anderson SzN 💫 (@AyooTexanNation) October 13, 2022
There’s no way to sugarcoat it; the Texans are bad. Horrible. A dumpster fire.
But, in this dumpster fire of an offense, there is an opportunity not named Dameon Pierce. Collins is a six-foot-five prototypical X receiver with all of the measurables you can ask for. He also has a 27 percent target share in an offense that has nowhere to go but up. With zero touchdowns on the season, Collins is due for some positive regression.
Collins is second on the team in targets behind Brandin Cooks, is on the field for 72 percent of snaps, and is the number 11 player for average depth of target. There are two ways to think about this team. Either Davis Mills is the answer and the team will improve this year and next and now Collins is the number two in a good offense. Or the team moves on from Mills and now Collins has a chance to be Bryce Young’s best friend and favorite target. Either way, Collins is easily worth an early third or doing a swap of a second-round rookie pick for a third and Collins.
Tyquan Thornton
Despite the fact Thornton just put up 21 fantasy points on Sunday on a couple of fluky touchdowns, he needs to be bought now. That doesn’t matter. This guy’s speed is legit. To quote The Longest Yard, “He’s fast. He’s really, really fast. I mean, he’s so fast, he makes fast people look not fast.” To pair with his elite speed he has a quarterback that cannot run so check downs and short pass opportunities will be all over the place. This isn’t a Lamar Jackson offense with a 50 percent run rate and no check downs. This is Mac Jones and an offense in need of weapons.
Two touchdown Tyquan.@Humble_Ty19 | #ForeverNE
📺: #NEvsCLE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/PYiThMbgW4
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 16, 2022
Did I mention he could be the only New England Patriots wide receiver under contract next year? The Patriots can save over six million dollars with no dead cap if they cut the under-performing DeVante Parker next year, and Jakobi Meyers has yet to reach an extension with the club. Mac Jones could be looking at Thornton as his primary option next year, and while he’s not Tyreek Hill yet, his 40-time was faster. A speedster on an ascending offense with a young quarterback, Thornton could be a mid range wide receiver two moving forward. Look to ship off a late second-round pick at most.
Marcus Mariota
Understandably, the price for Mariota changes based on Superflex versus 1QB league settings. Either way, he is a valuable piece for any team.
The Mariota owner didn’t expect a top-12 start to the season and is likely looking to capitalize with any kind of return on investment. While Mariota isn’t going to top anyone’s MVP rankings, he has quietly had a very useful fantasy season. Currently the QB13 on the season, Mariota is 28 with rushing upside and may keep the starting job next season.
The Atlanta Falcons are currently 3-3 and have the second-easiest remaining schedule. Accordingly, if the Falcons make the playoffs, they’ll be looking at adding weapons to Mariota’s arsenal instead of replacing him. Nevertheless, in Superflex he’s easily worth a second-round pick. Otherwise, in 1QB, see if there’s a bench player to swap for the signal caller.
