Dynasty Stashes Introduction
While the 2020 fantasy season has come to a close, we all know dynasty football never stops, which means we cannot stop. We must be on our toes at all times, and looking for ways to improve our roster day-in and day-out. One of the best ways to do that is to find players that make for good dynasty stashes.
One essential way to keep our dynasty roster’s upside growing during this upcoming football draught is to dig vigorously through our waivers and free-agency pool. Trades are also an option. One of our many offseason goals should be finding a diamond in the rough. We should be searching for players to stash for the following season, or in anticipation of potential value boosts which could happen as soon as free agency begins.
Not only are we looking to increase the overall value of our roster, but we’re also putting little whispers into our opponents’ ears. We’re potentially creating a buzz around the player we’re acquiring when nobody else wanted them. It’s a strategy that can pay off, even if we don’t truly believe in the player.
The Importance of Dynasty Stashes
Let’s take undrafted San Francisco 49ers’ running back Jamycal Hasty. If there was going to be another James Robinson this season, one might have thought it would have been him. He had a 72nd percentile SPARQ-x score, and was playing behind Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, Jerrick McKinnon, and Jeff Wilson. Even being fifth on the depth chart, the other running back’s inability to stay healthy suggested a real possibility Hasty would have a shot to play. Unfortunately, when it came he did nothing with it.
The point being isn’t what Hasty did or didn’t do with the job. It’s what we should have done before he was given the chance play. Hasty should have been rostered the second he signed with the 49ers. Of course Hasty was buried in the depth chart and was a long shot to start, but if we struck preemptively due to the lack of a featured back, then we were already ahead of the game. We created some buzz by picking Hasty up, and then the training camp stories began, and even more buzz was created.
A Dynasty Stash Scenario
Suddenly, we may have somebody knocking at our doorstep.
“Hey, I’ll give you a fifth round pick for Hasty?”
Decline
Hasty has a real path to the starting job. That’s why we picked him up.
Now that we’ve declined the opening offer, we’ve let at least one person in our league know we’re serious about our stash. People want to look smart, and they want hidden gems. We must take advantage! Hasty is important to us, even if we have no clue whether or not he’ll even see a down, we’re going to at least pretend we have something truly special. It creates intrigue around a player, like Hasty, who may not even deserve that interest in the first place.
Let’s fast forward to Week 6. Hark! We are all given a glimpse of Hasty. Nearly the entire 49ers backfield falls to injury, and he rushes for 37 yards and 4.11 yards per carry on nine attempts against the Los Angeles Rams. He shows solid burst and looks serviceable. We get offers from running back needy teams, but they’re still low offers. We hold. Hasty looked fine, but let’s gamble and see what he does the following week.
Week 7 Hasty improves upon his previous performance. This time Hasty rushed for 57 yards on 6.33 yards per carry against the New England Patriots. He also contributed one reception for 16 yards. Now we have interest. Teams are calling with the assumption Hasty will take the reins.
We get a call from a running back-needy contending team. Their best offer? Buffalo Bills receiver Cole Beasley. They’re not confident Beasley will stay consistent. We don’t hesitate because Beasley was averaging 14 fantasy points per game, and we seemingly make out like bandits.
Beasley goes on to finish the season as the WR21, while Hasty fails to take advantage of his opportunities, and then suffers a broken collarbone in Week 10.
There is quite little risk with a dynasty stash, and potentially, great reward.
Which Dynasty Stashes to Target
Alright, we’ve covered the importance of a dynasty stash, but now let’s dive into three players who could fit the bill. There’s quite an array of options currently, but the three stashes we are after play wide receiver. Fear not, however, as there will be honorable mentions at the end of the article.
Tyler Johnson
We’ve seen flashes of potential from Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson on several occasions this year, but he’s been given little opportunity while buried in a depth chart featuring Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, and Scotty Miller. It’s important to note, however, that Johnson was one of the best receivers in college football last year according to multiple sources including Pro Football Focus.
In his senior year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Johnson produced 86 receptions on 106 targets, 1,318 receiving yards on 15.3 yards per reception, and 13 receiving touchdowns. There are also quite a few eye-catching metrics on playerprofiler:
- 57.2% College Dominator Rating (98th percentile)
- 19.0 Breakout Age (90th percentile)
- 17.3 College YPR (82nd percentile)
- 36.1% Target Share (96th percentile)
Breakout Age can go a long way in telling us what potential and upside a receiver has at the NFL level. Essentially, the younger a player is when they break out, the more likely it is the player will become a master of the position. Look for no further evidence than Stefon Diggs, who had a 97th percentile Breakout Age despite being a fifth round pick. Remind you of somebody?
College Dominator Rating can also be important. It tells us the total percentage of a team’s receiving yards and receiving touchdowns the receiver accounted for. According to playerprofiler, anything over 45% is considered extraordinary. As well, a score over 35% indicates a receiver has the potential to become a team’s number one receiver.
If Johnson was so great, why did he fall to the fifth round of the NFL Draft? Well, it started with Johnson being snubbed from the Senior Bowl. He then skipped the NFL Combine due to an injury, and there were tales of character issues. Those factors, combined with the draft class being so deep at receiver, led to Johnson’s fall. Still, it didn’t stop several media outlets from calling him a steal.
Why target Johnson now? Let’s start with the fact Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin are both free agents. If they both walk, Johnson is looking at 146 vacated targets entering the 2021 season. As we discussed earlier, just picking up Johnson creates buzz, and we are preemptively striking before a probable scenario unfolds.
He’s possibly sitting in your waivers, depending how shallow your league is. If not, he may not cost that much. We would be willing to pay a mid to late third round pick, but it’s likely we can get him cheaper; perhaps a lot cheaper if the manager doesn’t know what he has in Johnson.
Johnson’s ambiguous situation has suppressed his value thus far. Read 12 Steps to Turn your Cellar Dweller to an Emerging Dynasty for why buying into ambiguity can help your team.
Quintez Cephus
While the Detroit Lions’ receiver doesn’t boast the same collegiate excellence of Johnson. Quintez Cephus is in a possible scenario where he ends up Detroit’s number one option entering the 2021 season. It may even be by default with receivers Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, and Danny Amendola potentially hitting free agency. This presents another opportunity to strike preemptively, and to build buzz on our roster.
Cephus was an above average player in college. In his junior year, he totaled 59 receptions for 901 yards on 15.3 yards per reception, and seven receiving touchdowns.
Collegiate numbers aside, there are a few stats that stand out in Cephus’ first NFL season:
- 17.4 yards per reception (ranked fifth)
- 14.5 average target distance (ranked 10th)
- 2.11 yards in target separation (ranked 11th)
This means not only was Cephus a deep ball threat, despite only running a 4.73 forty-time (4th percentile), but he was skilled at creating separation and getting open. It does need to be mentioned he ranked first in average cushion, which could have inflated his target separation.
Perhaps we’re feeling less confident in Cephus than we are in Johnson, but regardless, there is a golden opportunity in front of us if Cephus is just laying around in waivers waiting to be claimed. If not, Cephus is a guy we can consider paying as a high as a third round pick for. Even if he doesn’t emerge into the number one role in Detroit, it’s very likely he’ll have a substantial role regardless. He’s one of the few Detroit receivers under contract heading into 2021. If Jones, Amendola, and Golladay walk– we’re looking at 216 vacated targets.
If you’d like to learn more about Cephus, check out our very own Troy King‘s detailed profile on him.
Bryan Edwards
Chances are, the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2020 third round pick is much less likely to be sitting in waivers, but he did have a rookie season that we’d all love to forget. In shallow leagues, it’s quite possible he’s laying around. Perhaps a manager decided to give up too quickly. After all, Edwards only suited up for nine games, and produced a measly 11 receptions for 193 yards on 17.5 yards per reception.
Yuck.
So why pursue Edwards? Simply put, he is OOZING potential. Edwards has the frame of your prototypical X-receiver, standing 6’3″ and weighing in at 212 pounds. Although we never got to see Edwards shred at the combine due to a foot injury, his athleticism is believed to be elite. If you’ve ever watched some of his college footage— you already know the guy is nothing short of a freak.
Edwards also has some very notable collegiate metrics via playerprofiler:
- 48.4% Dominator Rating (94th percentile)
- 17.8 Breakout Age (100th percentile)
Most importantly, the Raiders invested third round draft capital in Edwards, which sometimes gives players a longer leash. He fills a need for them and will have a clear role in the future. His value is depressed right now thanks to his disappointing and injury plagued rookie season. Let others believe the Raiders’ first round pick Henry Ruggs is the future, and treat this situation as an opportunity to stash Edwards at a low cost. Again, we probably can’t find him in waivers, but we should be willing to pursue him via trade because he may never be cheaper. There is endless upside with Edwards, and he’d be well worth the stash.
Honorable Dynasty Stash Mentions:
- Chicago Bears’ wide receiver, Darnell Mooney.
- Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, Andy Isabella.
- Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver, John Hightower.
- Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver, Quez Watkins.
- Baltimore Ravens’ wide receiver, Devin Duvernay.
- Miami Dolphins’ running back, Lynn Bowden Jr.
- Cleveland Browns’ wide receiver, Donovan Peoples-Jones.
- Los Angeles Rams’ wide receiver, Van Jefferson.
- Washington Football Teams’ wide receiver, Antonio Gandy-Golden.
- Arizona Cardinals’ running back, Eno Benjamin.
- Jacksonville Jaguars’ wide receiver, Collin Johnson.
- New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver, Marquez Callaway.
Thank you for reading my article about dynasty stashes. Your time is appreciated, and be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DrDynastE. While you’re at it, check out our YouTube page and meet the entire Support Group for Fantasy Intervention.
