RADIO
We all know dynasty football is a young man’s game. Veterans have no place on a roster.
That is unless you are looking to actually win this year and possibly next, in which case let us look at some old guys who can help you do just this.
Here are veteran players who come at an outstanding discounted price in dynasty leagues, given their actual versus perceived value.
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Undervalued Vets
Larry Fitzgerald (WR, ARI)
Yes, this is probably the last season of his Hall of Fame career and yes, he is 35 years old. But, he also has the best hands of anyone in the league since Jerry Rice. He also has had over 100 receptions each of the past two seasons. Since moving into the slot receiver position, he has been even more of a go-to target for Arizona quarterbacks and it will be no different this season with either checkdown artist Sam Bradford or rookie Josh Rosen behind center.
The offensive line is awful, meaning a lot of short passes to David Johnson and the great Fitzgerald. He is again going to have over 100 receptions and he could even be in line to break the all-time receptions record of 143 by Marvin Harrison. The best part of Larry Fitzgerald? His draft price in dynasty leagues. Because of his age and the mentality of dynasty owners to forget about veterans he can be taken as the 28th wide receiver in fantasy drafts according to fantasyfootballcalculator.com. With his upside for this season, he is worth the risk as he is rarely hurt and in PPR leagues especially, he is going to be gold for one more year.
Kenny Stills (WR, MIA)
While everyone keeps waiting for the breakout of Devante Parker, this does not seem to be happening any time soon. So why not go with the talented Stills instead? Ryan Tannehill loves to use the slot receiver as seen by his usage of Jarvis Landry over the years. The Dolphins brought in Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson to presumedly fight for this position on the field but don’t be so certain Stills won't be a factor inside as well. While Landry ran 50% of his routes out of the slot last season, Stills ran 39% of his from the slot position - he could be a natural fit making him a possible benefactor of a large target and production increase on an offense that will be trying to move the ball any way it can in 2018. While everyone else is still fixated on Parker, don’t forget about Stills whom you can get as wide receiver 62 at draft pick 13.10 well behind the draft capital needed to draft his more hyped but yet to do anything teammate Parker.
Now that we have looked at a few receivers, it is time for some running backs who could help your team. This position is extremely important as the players here are more volatile as they do not last nearly as long as receivers making them harder to come by on the waiver wire in-season.
Lamar Miller (RB, HOU)
Miller looks to have the backfield to himself for a while as D’onta Foreman is healing from his ACL injury. The Texans are a prime rebound candidate from the 4-12 record suffered last season after a slew of injuries took them down from the get go. With Deshaun Watson back at quarterback and J.J. Watt back to spearhead the defense, positive regression is in store and this means good things for Miller. Although the offensive line could quite possibly be the worst in the entire NFL, this will become less of an issue as the defenses will have to spy Watson as well as provide coverage against DeAndre Hopkins as well as Will Fuller. This means there will rarely be a loaded box for Miller to run against and there will be less of a chance for teams to blitz as they will want to contain Watson, not let him run free. Miller currently has an ADP according to fantasy football calculator of 7.02 making his the 32nd running back taken in drafts. With the weapons in Houston, Miller should easily outperform these numbers giving you a solid running back two in your dynasty league.
C.J. Anderson (RB, CAR)
Looking at veterans, much like Lamar Miller, you need to look at the opportunity to get the value needed to make them worthwhile as a draft target. Another player who fits this mold Is C.J. Anderson in Carolina. While Christian McCaffrey is there, he is not going to get much more work in the running game then he did last season meaning there will be plenty of work for the newly signed Anderson to take over the rushing role in the Panthers offense. His touchdown upside could be limited as Cam Newton will continue to get a lot of the goal line work, but his likelihood to get over 200 rushes and 25 to 30 receptions makes his value great at ADP 12.2 as running back 45 in drafts. Another great thing for the Drafting of Anderson is he is still young enough to flip him after the season for even better value next season if you choose to do so.
The final player to talk about here is a quarterback in the AFC North who should be much better this season than in recent years.
Andy Dalton (QB, CIN)
Currently not even being drafted in most dynasty leagues, Andy Dalton still has a number of years left with the Bengals while quarterbacks like Eli Manning are still being drafted, Dalton is not. With A.J. Green still a top-five receiver in the game and rising star Joe Mixon in the backfield, Dalton should be greatly improved behind an offensive line which has also greatly improved with the acquisition of Cordy Glenn from the Bills. With Tyler Eifert hopefully healthy and able to play along with last year’s rookie bust John Ross ready to hopefully bust out, the weapons are there for Dalton to be a solid quarterback two for your dynasty team. With a draft price of free, taking him with your last pick is no risk to you and all value.
While dynasty is still a young man’s game, I hope these players help you win your leagues this season and bridge a gap for you between the present and the future.
