Fantasy Football: Dynasty Recap Week 14 2021 - Injury Replacements

Recapping the NFL games over the weekend for dynasty fantasy football teams. What all happened and how can you push for the fantasy football playoffs?

Author:
Casey Birch
Publish date:
Dec 14, 2021 5:00 AM EST

Fantasy Football: Dynasty Recap Week 14

Recapping the NFL games over the weekend for dynasty fantasy football teams. What all happened and how can you push for the fantasy football playoffs?

Some years of fantasy football are smooth. Players live up to expectations, and injuries are few. This year was not that; it was, in fact, quite the opposite. The season was chocked full of media drama, severe injuries, inconsistent play, COVID reserve situations, and general turmoil. To those who survived and made the playoffs, congratulations! There's more work to be done. To those that fell short, keep grinding and continue optimizing for the offseason. Dynasty managers should look back on this season with pride, knowing that they gave every iota of effort to improve their roster and hopefully conquer their league. If that's not the case, now is the time to start.

Bring In The Reserves

Most fantasy leagues run playoffs from week fifteen to week seventeen for the 2021 NFL season. After this week, managers will know whether they've made it. If not, it's back to the drawing board for next season. Since the focus is Dynasty, all managers still need to stay focused and keep informed on evolving situations in the league. In 2019, Breshad Perriman, Jameis Winston, and Kenyan Drake were staples on multitudes of championship fantasy rosters. These players weren't even considered starting options on most rosters at mid-season. There's still a chance for new, fantasy-viable players to emerge and help managers lock up a championship even in week fifteen.

This week, the often injured Rashaad Penny took over the Seattle backfield and dominated the hopeless Houston Texans. He carried the ball 16 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Alex Collins and D.J. Dallas only accounted for a combined nine carries and 32 yards on the ground. Seattle has always wanted Penny to be a key contributor in the backfield since they selected him in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. Until now, injuries have always held him back. With the Seahawks lacking additional options, Penny may continue to carry the load. If managers happen to have him stashed on their bench, now would be the time to dust Penny off, say a prayer, and roll him out. Penny could be a starting running back throughout playoffs at an otherwise desolate position, if nothing else.

Injuries have controlled the fate of NFL and fantasy teams alike this entire season. Why should week fifteen be any different? The most recent victim of the injury reaper was the former MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson. His importance to fantasy rosters everywhere is exceeded only by his influence on the success of the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson went down with an ankle injury in the close loss to the Cleveland Browns, and early reports are that he suffered an ankle sprain of unknown severity. Were he to miss time, Tyler Huntley would take over at quarterback. In limited time this week, Huntley managed to come in and throw for 270 yards and a touchdown while also picking up 45 yards on the ground. Those numbers aren't elite, but they're serviceable for a second quarterback in a SuperFlex format.

Additionally, Huntley may still be available on some waiver wires. For playoff-bound Dynasty rosters, adding Huntley should become a number one priority. Even if a roster is secure at the quarterback position, playing keep-away from league mates that need Huntley's services could be the difference between winning and losing a week. If Jackson misses multiple weeks, Huntley could be that playoff gem that wins championships for fantasy managers everywhere.

The Rebuild

The managers that fell short of the playoffs still have work to do, possibly even more than those that made it. Step one is to check for a trade deadline. Some leagues have no trade deadline, even into the playoffs. This provides a golden opportunity for rebuilding teams to trade away high-performing, aging veterans to teams desperately needing additional ammunition to take home the championship. Usually, these teams are more than willing to swap young assets, and rookie picks if it grants a better chance at winning the title. The second step for rebuilding teams is roster optimization. Scour waiver wires for young players that might see an expanded role in 2022 based on retirements or contract expirations. The players with expiring contracts should be a consideration as well.

A new situation can generate value for players that seemingly had none before the season. Just look at the industry's view of Cordarrelle Patterson at the end of the 2020 season compared to now. Finally, focus on players with higher draft capital coming into the league. Draft capital doesn't always match up with talent, but it often does correlate with the number of chances NFL organizations are willing to give a player. Players like Tavon Austin, Laquon Treadwell, Josh Rosen, John Ross, and Eric Ebron all had first-round draft capital and hung around the league for stints on several different teams. Those players don't always end up producing, but an opportunity is often the best that a rebuilding team can hope to expect.

What's more, if one of those players does end up having a stretch of solid production, their perceived value will regenerate quickly, providing an opportunity to trade the player away for draft capital. The previous steps are just the building blocks of offseason preparations. Ultimately, the level of success a manager has while navigating the offseason is dependent on effort and luck. Ensure the former, and perhaps the latter, will follow.