What a trade. In a shocking move, the Carolina Panthers shipped off D.J. Moore and a treasure trove of picks to the Chicago Bears in order to move up to number one overall. Following the trade, what is D.J. Moore’s dynasty value in fantasy football?
What Chicago Bears Trade Means For D.J. Moore In Fantasy Football
Historical Data
Admittedly, Moore has been a frustrating asset to own in dynasty circles. After the Panthers selected Moore in the 2018 NFL Draft, ESPN had him ranked as the number nine rookie to own in fantasy. He was the number one wide receiver from his draft class, and the sky was the limit. Unfortunately for him, here is a list of the Panthers quarterbacks Moore has caught the ball from:
- Old Cam Newton
- Young Taylor Heinicke
- Kyle Allen
- Will Grier
- Teddy Bridgewater
- XFL Legend P.J. Walker
- Sam Darnold
- Baker Mayfield
Despite this lackluster list of field generals, Moore has finished well each year. In PPR, he has finished in the top 24 every year since 2019 and has scored in bunches.
The frustrating part of owning Moore has been his consistency. In 2022, he had six finishes in the top 20 wide receivers. He paired this with eight finishes wide receiver 50 or lower. Most of this was due to poor quarterback play. According to fantasypros Moore had 118 targets in 2022. Only 69 of his targets were deemed catchable (nice).
D.J. Moore Fantasy Football Value Pre-Trade
According to KeepTradeCut, a website which crowd sources dynasty values from players that use the site, Moore is the WR26. He is currently rated below players like Treylon Burks, Jordan Addison, and Quentin Johnston. This feels like a massive undervalue. Those players have not proven anything on an NFL field. It’s like the Family Guy clip where Peter Griffin can choose between a boat, or a mystery box. That mystery box could be anything! Even a boat!
"A boat's a boat but a box could be anything! It could even be a boat!" #familyguy pic.twitter.com/DNytssVIzl
— Family Guy (@FamilyGuyonFOX) October 18, 2013
Moore has proven his value on an NFL field, is being added to a team with a rockstar quarterback, and has everything going in his favor.
What to Do With D.J. Moore
Unless the rest of your league is hiding under a rock, they all saw the news already too. While savvy dynasty owners will try to cash in on the hype train, this is still an opportunity to buy at the right price. In a perfect world, owners can wait until after the news dies down a little bit and the league gets rookie fever.
Some pieces that owners should value less than Moore and move away in a heart beat:
- Jordan Addison
- Treylon Burks
- 2023 1.09 and later
Some pieces that owners should value similar to Moore but still probably trade for Moore:
- Jameson Williams
- Deebo Samuel
- Cooper Kupp
Moore is in that perfect spot for fantasy football where he is young enough to be useful in a rebuild, but good enough to be useful for competitors. In that same token, some managers go crazy with off-season news and are just itching for a trade.
Some pieces that owners should trade Moore away for in order to sell high:
- 2023 1.05 and earlier
- Chris Olave
- Garrett Wilson
D.J. Moore’s fantasy football value is at a crossroads with this trade. The NFL has seen the blue print for third year quarterbacks. Josh Allen was gifted Stefon Diggs and jumped from good to great. Jalen Hurts got A.J. Brown for his birthday and took the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance. This trade is not just good for D.J. Moore’s dynasty value, it is huge for Justin Fields who was throwing to Cole Kmet and people even top fantasy analysts did not know their names. Could the Chicago Bears be the team to watch in 2023 and beyond?
Main Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck – USA Today Sports
