Dynasty Stock Watch Grades: Weeks 5-8
Before diving into this week's dynasty stock watch, I want to share my thoughts for the speedy recovery of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.
Last week, I broke down my calls from Weeks 1 to 4. Now, we're moving onto the next batch. I'll admit I did grade myself favorably last week. But there appear to be a couple more big misses upcoming so don't worry, my comeuppance is afoot. If you'd like to recap the articles, you can find them here:
Dynasty Stock Watch: Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Week 5: Kyle Pitts (buy), D.J. Moore (hold), David Njoku (buy)
How the mighty have fallen. He hasn’t played since November after tearing his MCL, but Kyle Pitts collected 28 receptions for 356 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games. In the write-up, I conceded that 2022 was likely a wash. The knee injury cemented that. However wrong this call may have been in the short-term, I’m still bullish in the long-term as Pitts won’t be 23 until October. He’s a young man and I choose to remain an optimist that the Falcons will find a new path at quarterback and for this offense. Grade: C-
While 2022 has been a down season for D.J. Moore, he’s bounced back more or less after a sluggish start to the season. Inconsistency remains an issue and that’s inevitable with the wild swings happening at the quarterback position. Despite having four touchdowns in his last five games, he still had a near goose egg in Week 14 with no catches and six yards rushing. Like Pitts, I still believe in Moore long-term and was willing to concede this year for future gains. Grade: C
In a disappointing season for many tight ends, David Njoku was a bright spot for the position. The yardage was rarely great, but a steady diet of receptions kept him above the fold. I’d prefer him as a backup, but my buy recommendation didn’t really pan out either. He was average and you shouldn’t bother trading for average. Grade: C
Week 6: Najee Harris (buy/hold), Javonte Williams (hold/buy)
Najee Harris’s stock has been in a free fall, along with most every Steelers player. He’s gone from a top-five back with promise to a top-15 back with some concerns. I wouldn’t say I’m worried about Jaylen Warren or any other back overtaking him. Harris will likely finish with around 300 touches, but we also figured he wouldn’t repeat having 381 as he did in 2021. There’s a happy medium in this evaluation even if the Steelers don’t take a big step forward offensively next year. Harris has been durable, young and mostly productive. His price point is only more appealing now even if the buy advice hasn’t fared well so far. Grade: C
We’re still waiting on Javonte Williams as his torn ACL and LCL are still months away from being fully healed. I recommended in the immediate after his injury because it was a cut-and-run strategy. His value is still about two-thirds of what it was, but it has rebounded a tiny bit and I believe it will gradually continue to do so. Another wait-and-see evaluation that I can’t grade just yet. Grade: C
Week 7: Stefon Diggs (sell), Cooper Kupp (sell)
This article was written to highlight players sellable specifically for rebuilt teams only. Meaning if you were already basically out of it for a 2022 title run by this point, it was safe to move on from these players given their middling age within the dynasty context.
Selling Stefon Diggs isn’t appetizing. He’s been having another career year and will likely finish just behind his best season totals from 2020. The fundamentals remain true: 29-year-old receiver still holding max trade value. He commands at least two first round futures and a tack on 2nd or 3rd rounder at a minimum. His value isn’t any higher now, but it isn’t any lower either so the longer a rebuild waits to move a high-end asset, the riskier it gets. Grade: B+
Cooper Kupp hadn’t been injured by this point but we see how the wheels come off trade value wise when that does happen. Ahead of Week 7, the Rams still had a small level of optimism around them. What could’ve been a three future 1sts ask is now a fingers-crossed two future 1sts. If you held him in a rebuild, you effectively gained nothing this year by keeping him and lost trade value. Grade: A+
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Week 8: Brock Purdy (buy), James Cook (buy), Tyquan Thornton (buy)
Yes, your boy delivered a Brock Purdy buy recommendation about a month before it paid off. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut. It was more to one-in-a-million situation handcuff play to hedge your Trey Lance bet next year rather than what should've been the more obvious injury handcuff to Jimmy Garoppolo. And definitely not a buy on him as a player. I couldn't have predicted it would play out this way. I couldn't have predicted he may even usurp Lance if the 49ers make a legit Super Bowl run. Either way, it paid off huge if anyone acted on it. Grade: A+
Devin Singletary remains the guy and he's been better than expected in the second half of 2022. On the flip side, we're looking at a clear split backfield next year assuming Singletary is retained as he's in the final year of his rookie deal. Cook most recently had a game with 99 rushing yards and a score. I believe we've seen enough from him in limited doses to have optimism for him looking forward. It may have been an obvious buy at the time; however, he's added value since then which is enough for me to view it positively. Grade: B+
Tyquan Thornton did diddly until Week 17, when he caught three of seven targets for 60 yards and a score. That’s not enough for me, even my recommendation was to view him as a nice tack-on player to add balance on your next trade. He has 21 catches for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Nothing to write home about and we have to hope the Pats move on from their mix of veterans ahead of Thornton on the depth chart for this one to have any silver lining. Grade: D-
