RADIO
Dan Fornek's five fantasy football players to sell in dynasty leagues. His NFL offseason winners to trade away, including CJ Stroud, Saquon Barkley, and more.
Buying and selling players in dynasty fantasy football is one of the biggest appeals of the league format. However, failing to move off players to chase last year’s statistics is a common frustration in these formats.
One of the best skills you can acquire in dynasty fantasy football leagues is understanding when players are at their peak value to sell high. Sometimes, this requires managers to be content moving off a player a year or two early to gain picks of players to build a sustainable winner.
Wondering which players are sell-high candidates in dynasty leagues before the 2025 season? Check them out below.
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C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
C.J. Stroud’s rookie season in 2023 was magical for fantasy managers. Stroud finished as the QB10 in fantasy (18.7 points per game) by completing 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns with five interceptions. By all accounts, his arrow was pointing straight up in dynasty.
Unfortunately, Stroud could not keep the momentum going in his second year.
Quarterbacks to post 20+ PPG as a Rookie, but fail to post 16+ PPG in Year Two
[ Daniel Jones ]
[ CJ STROUD ]how worried are you about Stroud ? pic.twitter.com/vZukpMnYO2
— DynastyIM (@dynasty_im) January 8, 2025
Stroud regressed in 2024, completing just 63.2% of his passes for 3,727 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. His fantasy production also plummeted, finishing as the QB31 in points per game (13.7 points).
The loss in production can be tied to injuries to wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell. However, the greater concern was just how poorly Stroud played behind a bad offensive line.
In 2023, Stroud was able to dissect opposing offenses by operating in a clean pocket on 69.1% of his dropbacks (21st in the NFL). Even when he was pressured, Stroud was able to post a respectable 52% completion rate for 871 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions.
Last season, Stroud had a clean pocket on just 59.4% of his dropbacks (second worst, ahead of only Deshaun Watson). He also regressed as a passer while under pressure. His completion percentage dropped to 46.3%. He also threw for just 994 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions.
The Texans decided to move on from Laremy Tunsil (trade) and Shaq Mason (cut) this offseason. Those moves may help the morale in the locker room, but they were also Houston’s two most talented linemen.
Additionally, Stroud will enter 2025 with Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, and two rookie receivers (Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel) at his disposal. Collins has developed into a stud, and Kirk is a solid veteran, but this group is less talented on paper than the receiver corps heading into 2024.
It is always difficult for pocket passers to break into the upper echelon of fantasy quarterbacks. Stroud was able to get close as a rookie, but he enters his third season with a patchwork offensive line and questionable weapons in the passing attack.
Quarterback value is slow to adjust in dynasty leagues. Stroud may be a player worth selling given the uphill battle he faces to become a top 10 quarterback again.
Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Saquon Barkley is entering the 2025 season riding high off a Super Bowl in his first season with the Eagles. Fantasy managers who roster Barkley feel the same way after he finished as the RB1 in fantasy in 2024, averaging 22.2 points per game.
Saquon Barkley is a cheat code. pic.twitter.com/SsGziysQ95
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) May 13, 2025
Barkley will be on the Eagles again in 2025 and running behind the best offensive line in football once again. So, how could he possibly be a sell in dynasty?
The veteran running back is a phenomenal talent coming off a season where he racked up 2,283 all-purpose yards with 15 total touchdowns. He will also be 28 in 2025, an age at which many running backs start to show signs of rust.
Beyond that, Barkley is coming off a season that saw him rack up a whopping 482 touches between the regular season and the playoffs. That is an absurd workload for any running back, much less an older back with a history of missed games in the NFL.
In two prior seasons where Barkley surpassed 300 touches, he went on to miss at least three games the following season. 2025 will be the first time he enters a season with 400 touches on his ledger from the year before. That, combined with a shorter offseason thanks to the Super Bowl run, makes him an injury risk in 2025.
Barkley still has plenty left in the tank, but he is getting to a place in fantasy where he will be stuck on your roster due to his age. That outcome is nearly guaranteed if he misses time with an injury in 2025.
Selling Barkley before the season may be selling on him a year too early, but it is also the safe bet to make for an aging running back who is coming off his most productive professional season.
James Cook, RB, Buffalo Bills
We have always wondered what it would look like in fantasy if James Cook scored touchdowns. In 2024, we got our answer.
Cook was tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns in 2024 (16), which led him to his first top-12 finish as a running back in PPR points per game (16.7). Despite the uptick in touchdown production, the third-year running back failed to crack the top 10 scorers due to a downward trend in his carries (207), targets (38), receptions (32), and total yardage (1,267).
So glad that James Cook will be a Bill next season #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/IqH8awe3zH
— SleeperBills (@SleeperBills) June 14, 2025
Dynasty managers who roster Cook have an opportunity to sell high on a player who has seen his workload diminish but was able to get there in fantasy due to an unrealistic touchdown rate (12.6%). Cook also benefits from being on the Bills, but his contract is due to expire, and Buffalo seems to be in no rush to meet his initial demands ($15 million per year).
Additionally, the Bills showed a willingness to split their backfield three different ways in 2024 with Cook, Ty Johnson, and rookie Ray Davis (not to mention the rushing ability of Josh Allen). Both Johnson and Davis return in 2025 and have earned bigger roles based on their play last season.
Cook benefits greatly from being on the Bills thanks to their ability to find the end zone. While other teams in the league could be more willing to give him more work, that doesn’t necessarily mean he would score more fantasy points (see his 2023 season as proof of concept).
There is a very real chance that 2024 will go down as the best fantasy season in Cook’s career when all is said and done. Now is the time to trade him to a manager who believes his touchdown rate is sustainable.
Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Kyren Williams proved a lot of doubters (myself included) wrong in 2024. The Rams drafted Blake Corum in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite Corum’s higher draft capital (third round vs. fifth round) and better athleticism, Williams dominated the touches again for the Rams.
Williams followed up a strong 2023 (21.3 fantasy PPG, RB2) with another top-10 fantasy season (17.0 PPG, RB10). He once again dominated touches in the backfield, handling 316 carries for 1,299 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns while adding 34 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
KYREN WILLIAMS FRONT FLIP TOUCHDOWN pic.twitter.com/5xSbGdSVj5
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 22, 2024
Not everything was great in his second season. Williams saw his success rate drop in 2024 (50.9%) along with his yards per touch (career-low 4.2 yards). Additionally, Williams’ issues with ball security in 2023 (three fumbles) got worse with a greater workload (five in 2024).
The Rams still have Corum on the roster and drafted Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Hunter may be a greater threat to Williams’ workload going forward, considering his ability to generate explosive runs due to his speed (4.44 40-yard dash).
At this point, Williams has exceeded all expectations for a fifth-round pick. However, he is a player who has fantasy value thanks to his exceptional workload (610 touches in two seasons). If those touches start shifting elsewhere (especially in the red zone), then Williams will see a dramatic decrease in his fantasy scoring.
Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders
2024 was a banner year for Terry McLaurin in fantasy football. McLaurin finished as the WR16 in PPR points per game (15.8) while enjoying a career year with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
From a production standpoint, 2024 looked similar to McLaurin’s other seasons. His 117 targets were his lowest since his rookie season (93). Neither his 82 receptions nor his 1,096 receiving yards were career highs, either. His increased fantasy production can solely be tied to a career-high 13 receiving touchdowns.
TERRY MCLAURIN GAME WINNING TD
TERRY MCLAURIN NOW HAS THE MOST RECEIVING TDS IN FRANCHISE HISTORY WITH 13
COMMANDERS ARE 12-5 AND THE SIXTH SEED pic.twitter.com/dhIuebA8Cy— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) January 5, 2025
For McLaurin to sustain that production, he will either need to see a significant uptick in his volume or continue to sustain a double-digit per-season touchdown rate. Both may be a challenge in 2025 with Deebo Samuel Sr. on the roster. Additionally, Daniels could elect to become more active as a rusher in the red zone, which leaves less opportunity for McLaurin to score.
Beyond that, McLaurin will turn 30 during the 2025 season. He isn’t a player who relies on extreme athleticism, so his game should age well. Still, he is at a perilous place from a dynasty perspective as a 30-year-old receiver. Washington seems to believe that as well, given his frustrations regarding a lack of contract extension this offseason.
McLaurin likely gave us his peak fantasy season in 2024. However, his fantasy value has never been higher thanks to the excitement surrounding Daniels heading into his second season.
Capitalize on the value increase and move him before he can come back down to Earth.
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