Target young players. Easy. When launching a rebuild, it is easy to say, “Target young players with upside.”
But should we not always target young players in Dynasty?
Far too often, rebuilding dynasty teams will seek to scattershot young wide receivers, hoping a couple will pan out. That process is long and messy, usually leading to rosters filled with receivers you are not quite ready to give up on year over year.
RELATED: See Players to Trade Away here >>>
The dynasty process has shifted dramatically towards valuing young wide receivers as building blocks. Attempting to acquire your leaguemate's elite assets is a chicken or egg equation. Why are you rebuilding if you have high-end assets to acquire high-end players?
Instead, seek cheaper veterans with distressed values and quick paths to recovering relevance. Take Mike Evans, for example. Last summer, Evans’s dynasty value cratered following the retirement of Tom Brady. Evans was not a worse receiver. His situation changed. And “fantasy hive mind” was wrong. Evans reached as high as WR16 in dynasty value in the summer of 2022 before plummeting to WR44 in 2023. He returned one of his best seasons, climbing back to WR27 in February 2024. Regarding raw value gained, buying in the dip and selling in the peak was the equivalent of trading a late 2nd for a late 1st.
Draft picks are the path to rebuilding a roster. Positioning your roster to obtain high picks and hitting on those picks in repeated cycles will allow you to enter a competitive window as the top teams in your league age out. One of the easiest ways to accumulate picks is selling to contending rosters at trade deadlines or during the playoffs.
Here are four receivers with a path to dynasty value bumps, along with some recently completed trades from FantasyCalc.
WR to Target: Tee Higgins, Cincinnati
Higgins entered the 2023 season as WR11 in Keeptradecut.com value. It was a disappointing season where he missed five games, and his overall production dropped in an offense that lost Joe Burrow after their tenth game.
The result has dropped Higgins into the WR24 range for much of the offseason. Interestingly, a small window at the beginning of February jumped him up to WR18 before the team announced they would apply the franchise tag, wiping out the rebound. Higgins again started to gain steam in mid-April until the team selected Jermaine Burton on Day 2. He has remained on the fringe of losing WR2 status through the summer.
But things are breaking in his direction.
Ja’Marr Chase has been absent from camp, holding in for a new contract. Burton has started his career slowly, with a minor ankle injury costing him some time. Burrow and Higgins have been able to rebuild any bit of lost chemistry, and Higgins has stood out in the camp.
The dynasty community has shown they still believe in talent. Higgins is motivated, playing in a contract season, and the Bengals are on a mission after missing the 2023 playoffs. Higgins has been viewed as a dynasty blue-chip asset, and it will not take much to put him back there again.
Completed Trades from FantasyCalc
- Tee Higgins for MarShawn Lloyd, Josh Jacobs, and 2025 3rd
- Tee Higgins and Tyler Higbee for Tony Pollard and Javonte Williams
- Tee Higgins for Isiah Pacheco
- Tee Higgins and 2025 2nd for Davante Adams and Pat Freiermuth
WR to Target: Cooper Kupp, LA Rams
Just over two years ago, in October 2022, Kupp was dynasty WR3 overall. Now? Dynasty WR35. It would be understandable if he were on a new team, with a new quarterback, or suffered an injury that would significantly alter his career trajectory.
He is not.
He has the same quarterback as Matthew Stafford, who helped him to one of the best seasons in NFL history in 2021. He is healthy, something he could not say for most of the last two years. And he is in the same offensive-friendly system.
Sure, Puka Nacua broke out in 2023. And Kupp was injured for a significant portion of the season. He still bounced back, finishing as the WR7 between Weeks 13 and 17 (he sat a Week 18 game that did not impact the standings). He scored touchdowns in four of those five games, and his 17-game pace projects to 150 targets, 109 receptions, and 1,170 yards.
The Rams open the season in primetime against Detroit and have ample opportunity for a quick rebound of Kupp’s value, creating a flip situation HGTV would put in their primetime lineup.
Completed Trades from FantasyCalc
- Cooper Kupp for Troy Franklin and 2025 2nd
- Cooper Kupp for Amari Cooper and 2025 3rd
- Cooper Kupp for Chris Godwin and 2025 3rd
- Cooper Kupp for Derek Carr and Josh Downs
Continue reading this content with a ELITE subscription.
An ELITE subscription is required to access content for Dynasty leagues. If this league is not a Dynasty league, you can edit your leagues here.
WR to Target: Marquise Brown, Kansas City
Few players can match Brown’s rollercoaster value history. In two months, in 2021, he went from WR60 to WR17. When he signed with Kansas City, he jumped from WR48 to WR34. He has since trickled down to WR51, aided by the arrival of Xavier Worthy, and now he has a shoulder injury that will likely cost the first couple of weeks.
Still just 27, Brown can gain significant value throughout this season working with Patrick Mahomes II. For a rebuilding dynasty team, the injury opens the door so that a contender can bypass the concern and look to acquire immediate production.
Rashee Rice looks clear of a suspension in 2024, but there is still one looming. Meanwhile, Worthy has yet to translate into significant fantasy points. Managers need to see proof of concept, and Brown is the receiver most capable of winning at all three levels.
Completed Trades from FantasyCalc
- Marquise Brown for 2025 3rd
- Marquise Brown for Javonte Williams
- Marquise Brown for Dontayvion Wicks
- Marquise Brown and Zach Charbonnet for Terry McLaurin
WR to Target: Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas
Meyers peaked at WR36 at the end of October, turning in a surprising season as a Top 25 finisher playing opposite Davante Adams. In his age-27 season, he posted a career-high in touchdowns (8) while topping 800 yards for the third straight year.
So Dynasty responded by dropping him to WR70.
The Raiders quarterback situation is a nightmare. The team added one of the most hyped tight ends to enter the draft, Brock Bowers. Davante Adams will maintain a stranglehold on a dominant target share. Those are all valid concerns.
The Raiders want to run base 12 personnel (two tight ends) around Bowers and Michael Mayer. That means a lot of Adams and Meyers as the only wide receivers on the field. The snaps shook out this way in 2023, with Adams leading the team at 963 and Meyers behind at 903; the critical difference was a Week 2 game Meyers missed. The now-departed Hunter Renfrow came in third at 363. At a minimum, Meyers is a low-end WR2 candidate valued around a rookie third.
But what if Adams were gone?
There is smoke around league circles that teams are still exploring the trade market on Adams, and the mutual interest in reuniting with his former teammate Aaron Rodgers is only thinly denied. In the chaos following that type of deal, Meyers is going to see a value bump, especially mid-season if a contending roster is dealing with some injuries or looking to bolster itself for a stretch run.
Meyers will not alter the course of a season, but he has a path to significant value gain.
Completed Trades from FantasyCalc
- Jakobi Meyers for 2025 4th
- Jakobi Meyers for Jerome Ford
- Jakobi Meyers and 2025 3rd for Ben Sinnott
- Jakobi Meyers for Greg Dortch and 2025 3rd
Others to consider:
- Darnell Mooney, Atlanta
- Brandin Cooks, Dallas
- Rashod Bateman, Baltimore
