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 your teams. The diversity of rankings will result in a variety of opinions weekly.
Quarterbacks
Hicks
Aaron Rodgers - The whole Aaron Rodgers absence is concerning on multiple levels. The perception of lying, the perceived sense of entitlement and the blaming of everyone else. Winning fixes all ills in the NFL, but regaining trust will be hard and may impact the career of Rodgers further down the line. This could all blow over in a week or the ramifications could linger. He drops below several younger quarterbacks in the rankings.
Sam Darnold - After starting the season with 10 touchdowns, five rushing and five passing, with an average of three hundred yards a game over the first four weeks, Sam Darnold may be the worst starting quarterback in the entire league over the last five. He is barely getting 150 passing yards a game, has two passing touchdowns to eight interceptions and just looks like Adam Gase wasn’t the problem in New York. His future looks bleak as a starter, but those with deep rosters may keep him just in case.
Hindery
Lamar Jackson - My quarterback rankings are virtually unchanged from two weeks ago but I did move Jackson back up one spot to QB4. More importantly, he has really closed any gap between himself and Patrick Mahomes II, Kyler Murray, and Josh Allen. Those four are all in the same tier now and Jackson is positioned well to jump up to dynasty QB1 if he stays hot and the other three continue to be inconsistent.
Derek Carr - Carr fell just a few spots in my rankings. While his full-season numbers are impressive, he has definitely cooled off since his fast start. Through the first three weeks, he was averaging 401 passing yards and 2.0 touchdowns per game. Since then, he has dropped down to 272 passing yards and 1.4 touchdowns per game. This offense looks less dynamic than it did early in the season.
Running Back
Hicks
Christian McCaffrey - It’s time to move Christian McCaffrey down in the rankings. When he plays he is the clear number one running back in the NFL. That’s the problem though, playing time. He has played in only six games out of the last 25. That is borderline useless for his managers. His injuries of late seem to linger longer than the average as well. If he can prove his durability maybe he returns to the top, but for now other options are preferred.
Jonathan Taylor - Taylor has been given control of the Indianapolis offense. There is no other back in the NFL that you would rather have right now. At only 22 years of age, he is doing things now that other backs didn’t achieve until later in their career. With touchdowns in his last six games and two in three of them, he is a master of all areas of running back play. Amazingly he still has yet to register 20 carries in any game this season, so has the potential for even further growth. Right to the top.
Trey Sermon - What to do with Trey Sermon? After a promising couple of games against the Packers and Seahawks, he has crashed right back to earth. Elijah Mitchell, JaMycal Hasty, and now probably even Jeff Wilson are ahead of him in the complicated 49er pecking order. His value may be rock bottom now, but he could be worth grabbing for the patient owner. Sometimes it takes rookies time to gain the trust of the coaching staff.
Hindery
Derrick Henry - Injuries are brutal for a running back in his mid-to-late 20s. There are just so few prime seasons for most backs so Henry drops all the way to RB13 in my updated rankings.
Michael Carter - Carter moves up to RB23 and has the potential to move up more if he continues to perform well. He is never going to be a workhorse who rarely comes off the field (like Najee Harris), but he has played over 50% of the snaps in five straight games and is averaging right around 60% of the snaps over that stretch. Given his receiving ability, he can be a decent RB2 option if he can maintain that level of usage moving forward.
Melvin Gordon - Gordon moves up to RB26. He has been surprisingly productive this season given that he is in a mediocre offense and has not played more than 60% of the snaps in any game. More than that, Gordon just looks great. He is healthier than he has been in years and is positioning himself to have a great shot at a decent free agent deal to be a starter somewhere else next season.
Wide Receiver
Hindery
Chris Godwin - Godwin moves up to WR10 in my rankings. Early in the season, it looked like Godwin might be the third or fourth option in the Tampa passing offense. However, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown have both been banged up and given us reason to question how reliable they will be moving forward given their age. Their absence has again made Godwin the co-WR1 alongside Mike Evans in the league’s most prolific passing offense. Plus, while Godwin has been around for a while, he was very young when he entered the NFL and is still only 25-years old.
Marquise Brown - Brown continues to rise and is now up to WR15 in my rankings. In his last two games, Brown saw 26 targets. He is getting legitimate WR1 usage in a Ravens offense that is decidedly less run-heavy given the slew of injuries at the running back position. The more pass-heavy approach has worked well and the connection between Brown and Lamar Jackson should be a fruitful one for many years to come.
Michael Pittman - Pittman moves up a handful of spots to WR22. He has scored in three straight games and the Indianapolis offense has been rounding into shape with four-straight games scoring 30-plus points. Pittman is developing into a true, go-to WR1 in his second season. While he is a bit old for a second-year player (24-years old), his numbers are just as good this season as more highly regarded sophomores like Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb. If he stays on his current pace, Pittman will end up being a Top 15 dynasty wide receiver next offseason.
Hicks
Allen Robinson - Robinson has been a disaster this season. He is almost droppable in most leagues ranking lower than 60th to date. As the franchise player, he appears to be phoning it in waiting for free agency or the Bears are clueless at utilizing their supposed main weapon. Some managers may be looking for pennies on the dollar, so he may be worth exploring as a solid 2022 option. For now, though he is a roster issue.
Calvin Ridley - Ridley is missing playing time with personal issues. It is difficult to forecast how long this plays out, how often it may happen in the future, and how his play will be affected if and when he returns. While we all wish Ridley well, fantasy managers have to figure out how to navigate his absence. He has to drop in rankings while this plays out.
Michael Pittman - I was fortunate to have Michael Pittman ranked high before the season started. He has only impressed me further as he develops into a true number one fantasy receiver. Improvement is still expected and he has quickly become the go-to receiver for Carson Wentz. Older, fading receivers should not be ranked ahead of him any longer.
James Washington - Buried on the depth chart in Pittsburgh, James Washington will be a free agent in 2022. His current value is rock bottom. In the right situation and on the right team, Washington can blossom into a usable fantasy receiver. His current manager may be looking at a better use for his roster spot, so if you like to take risks and have a positive outlook for Washington, make a move now.
Tight End
Hicks
Josiah Deguara - With Robert Tonyan Jr lost for the season and Marcedes Lewis older than Adrian Peterson, the opportunity is there for second-year man Josiah Deguara to become the receiving option at tight end the Packers need. Deguara seems the type to need a few seasons to develop so patience may be required.
Blake Jarwin - Jarwin was poised to have a breakout season in 2020 before tearing an ACL. 2021 has only been a little better with multiple injuries, not uncommon following an ACL, derailing his season. Those with deep rosters should consider adding Jarwin on the presumption that he will be with a new team, in a better situation, and two years post ACL. There is a risk here, but the rewards at a talent-starved position require out-of-the-box thinking.
Hindery
George Kittle - I have moved Kittle back up to TE3 from TE6 two weeks ago. After a long absence, he knocked the rust off quickly to put up a 6-101-1 line in Week 9. It is important to contextualize that production because Kittle’s move is just as much about the mediocre production of the players who had been above him as it was his successful return. Travis Kelce has not had 100 yards and a touchdown in a game since Week 2 and is showing some signs of age, which makes sense given he just turned 32-years old. Darren Waller has not had 100 receiving yards since all the way back in Week 1. T.J. Hockenson has not had 100 yards and a touchdown in a game since Week 1 of his rookie season.
Dan Arnold - Since coming over to Jacksonville, Arnold has quietly been one of the more consistently productive tight ends in the league. He has had 60-plus receiving yards in three of his last four outings and looks like a low-end TE1 for the second half of the 2021 season. Arnold is a converted wide receiver from a small school and only 26-years old, so there may be at least a little bit of longer-term upside still.
If you would like to review our most recent Dynasty rankings, here is a link.