THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON

Now that players are back on the field in the NFL, we’re starting to get the typical off-season storylines creeping out. This player wants a new contract. Another player is dealing with a minor injury. This undrafted free agent is a lock to be a fantasy sleeper. This player was allegedly caught on video on a boat handing out a suspicious pink substance to a group of women calling him “daddy” while he tells them not to “take all of it.” Wait, what? 

That’s right, the big story in the NFL week has nothing to do with anything that happened on the practice fields. Instead, we’re discussing Stefon Diggs and his actions during a Memorial Day Weekend yacht party that he attended with his girlfriend, rapper Cardi B. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has acknowledged the existence of the video, and rumors are swirling about the actions the club could take on their new wide receiver one. Apparently, a release is on the table according to people close to the team, and the contract numbers make a release a possibility.

My personal take is that this situation won’t have an impact on Diggs’ ability to play this season. I admit I am a Patriots fan, but setting my bias aside, I still believe that. While it’s easy to speculate that Diggs was doing something he shouldn’t have been on that yacht, that’s all it is, speculation. We don’t know what the pink substance was, and it’s impossible to prove that it was something illicit. It is an interesting and entertaining story, perfect for off-season media fodder. Diggs has a history of causing drama at some of his previous career stops, and he’s dating one of the most famous female rappers in the world. It’s just the kind of story that local sports journalists and radio shows can run with in a dead zone of sports activity, especially in a media market like Boston. We have already seen Diggs return to the practice field after this news went viral, running routes and looking sharp despite his ACL injury. 

In my dynasty divisional preview of the AFC South, I spoke about Travis Etienne and named him the Least Valuable Player of the division for dynasty fantasy football. He still has the highest ADP of the Jaguars running back group, despite being outplayed by Tank Bigsby last season and the team drafting Bhayshul Tuten. I even mentioned that he could be a trade candidate this upcoming Fall. Their new head coach addressed rumors that Etienne is on the trade block, calling them “absolutely inaccurate.” He went on to praise Etienne for his “consistency” and work ethic. This will be a battle to monitor in training camp, with three very viable options to lead this backfield. Liam Coen facilitated Bucky Irving’s breakout season last year, so there will be someone of value to come out of this backfield. 

The Lions were shocked this week with the retirement of Frank Ragnow. He was only 29 years old and coming off back-to-back All-Pro seasons. He’s anchored the Lions’ offensive line for seven years, and PFF gave him an elite run-blocking grade last season of 90.9. The Lions also lost guard Kevin Zeitler this off-season and, of course, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. This immediately creates some concern for Jahmyr Gibbs, who is the RB2 in the DLF Expert Rankings. The Lions have a history of winning games in the trenches, creating plenty of space for their playmakers to make plays. It hurts to consider selling Gibbs, but he’ll demand a king’s ransom in a trade and could take a step back this season due to all the turnover.

Any veteran dynasty manager will tell you how important this time of year is for winning championships. Your leaguemates are desperate for information and overreacting to any headlines coming out of OTAs. Luckily, DLF subscribers have Ken Kelly on their side, digging through all of the headlines on the Dynasty Fantasy Football Player News page and ignoring the minutiae, bringing you the info that actually pertains to your dynasty leagues!

Of course, the DLF Rookie Rankings and DLF Expert Rankings are constantly being updated with all of the latest information so you can best parse through the noise and win the dynasty off-season!

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As most rookie drafts are wrapping up, a new period of roster management begins. Now that those draft picks have turned into actual players, it’s a great time to take a step back and analyze your roster. Is this a rebuilding team, or a team that can compete this season? What’s missing and who could possibly be a player that could push you over the edge? I like to use this time to target veterans in trade. While it may be fun to look at your lineup with RJ Harvey, Mason Taylor or Matthew Golden in a starting spot, you need to hit on some boring, aging veterans to win your leagues. Courtland Sutton could be just the player to push your team over the top. 

Sutton finished last season as the WR15 in PPR, by far the best season of his seven year career. Despite that, he is still barely a top 100 player. His ADP is 80.17, WR40 and 75th overall off the board. He’s even lower in the DLF Expert Rankings, going off the board 89th overall as the 46th ranked wide receiver. 

This is a perfect win-now, buy low play. Re-draft rankings have Sutton ranked considerably higher, usually in the low-to-mid twenties at the position. Clearly, his value for 2025 is much higher than his value is for dynasty. If you’re trying to win a championship in 2025, that makes Sutton a valuable asset. But, he isn’t just a 2025 player. He’s only 29 years-old and won’t turn 30 until October. He had career-highs in targets (135) and receptions (81) last year, to go along with 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns.

This is an ascending offense under Sean Payton, and Bo Nix should be expected to take another step forward in his second season and beyond. Taking a look at the Broncos, there is a clear void in weapons behind Sutton on the wide receiver depth chart. Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims have been busts so far. Pat Bryant is an exciting pick in the third-round, but he could be a contingency if Sutton walks away when his contract expires at the end of this season. If he’s a fantasy WR2 or 3 this season, he’s worth the investment. Anything beyond that will be a bonus.

DYNASTY ARCHETYPES: WIDE RECEIVER

As a dynasty manager, imagine having the ability to accurately predict the future performance of a dynasty asset, based on the past…

In this four-part series I’ll be exploring Dynasty Archetypes: a method of predicting future player fantasy production, based upon grouping players with similar traits, usage and output. By understanding a player projection or expected journey based upon the results of similar player types, it is easier to calculate the range of outcomes of the asset and facilitate the optimal team build.

In the previous article, I outlined the different archetypes at running back, with the focus now shifting to wide receiver – a position to build lasting foundations of a dynasty juggernaut. The wide receiver archetypes used in this article are simple, with the key driver focusing on the percentage of offensive snaps taken from the slot wide receiver position within the offense (slot rate). The parameters for the wide receiver archetypes are: 0-20% for ‘outside’, 20-40% for ‘balanced’ and 40%+ for ‘slot’ wide receiver archetype.

Wide Receiver Archetypes

The outside wide receiver archetype consists of players who run the majority of their routes on the perimeter of the formation – a higher risk due to requiring an optimal offensive situation to fulfil their potential. With the targets tending to come outside the numbers and on deeper patterns, strong quarterback play is essential, in addition to better pass blocking, to allow for these routes to develop. The balanced archetype consists of players who are flexible, versatile in their alignment and receive a good mix of opportunities all over the formation and at different levels of the field – with an ability to be utilised in the most favourable matchups on every single play. The slot receiver archetype consists of players who are traditionally used around the line of scrimmage and either against a weaker nickel cornerback or in zone coverage against a linebacker or safety – a high-volume role which is useful for compiling receptions in points per reception (PPR) leagues. The detailed breakdown of each wide receiver archetype can be found in the original article created last year.

2024 Veteran Review

Like the running back position, 2024 provided a shift in results at wide receiver, with the majority of the top performers coming from the balanced archetype, where previously the slot archetype was most common. Last year three of the four top-scoring wide receivers in fantasy points per game (FPPG) came from the slot archetype, with this switching to balanced this past season. 2024 also saw a decline in the number of outside archetype wide receivers to make the top 15 in FPPG, previously with four in 2023 and only two in 2024 – both towards the lower end of the scale (AJ Brown at WR13 and Terry McLaurin at WR15). The majority of players who finished as a top 15 wide receiver in both seasons remained within the same archetype.