By: Jeremy Trottier

Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster signed with the Kansas City Chiefs this past week.  The Chiefs signed Juju to a 1-year deal worth $10.75 million, $3.25 million is guaranteed and $7.5 million being incentives.  With this, an already high-tier Chiefs offense continues to get better, and only improves from last season.  Getting an outside receiver who can run the shorter to intermediate routes is a great addition to complement burner Tyreek Hill. 

Now the real question is, how much does Juju improve the Chiefs offense, and what is its ceiling with him on the team?  The Chiefs offense was already one of the best in the NFL, ranking third in yards total and yards per game in 2021-2022.  They also ranked 4^th in points scored, behind Buffalo (3^rd), Tampa Bay (2^nd), and Dallas (1^st).  The Chiefs overall have lost nearly no players on offense other than a few such as Byron Pringle.  However, they have retained their core in:

• QB ”“ Patrick Mahomes
• WR ”“ Tyreek Hill
• TE ”“ Travis Kelce
• OT ”“ Orlando Brown Jr
• RB ”“ Clyde Edwards-Helaire
• C ”“ Creed Humphrey

With this, they should only hypothetically get better in 2022 on offense with Juju.  While Smith-Schuster did miss 12 games last season due to shoulder surgery, prior to that he showed promise.  Even with Ben Roethlisberger progressively becoming less effective at QB, and Dionte Johnson/Chase Claypool taking snaps, Juju was still productive.  Over the course of his first five seasons, Juju accrued the following:

• 63 games played (51 started)
• 323 receptions on 347 targets (68.6% catch rate)
• 3,855 receiving yards (11.9 per reception), 26 touchdowns, 181 first downs

So, what does this leave us with for Kansas City?  They should easily be in the top 3 offensive units in the NFL without a doubt, as they have been.  With the Dallas Cowboys losing Amari Cooper and La’el Collins in the same offseason, the Chiefs could even see a top 2 offense or the top.  There have been teams making moves to improve their offenses however this offseason, could pose a threat to that top spot.  Regardless, Juju is a great addition to the Chiefs and should have their fans excited for 2022-2023. 

The post What is the ceiling for the Chiefs offense with Juju Smith-Schuster? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By Calvin K (Twitter: @Calvin_SGF)

For most leagues, fantasy championship week has arrived, and the heartbreak and jubilation set to occur on the coming weekend will signify the end of the 2021 fantasy season. For purely redraft players, this time of year marks the beginning of a long wait for next season, but for dynasty players, a whole new season of trading and startups begins. Dynasty trades often occur mostly in the first few months following a previous campaign, so there’s never a better time to try to acquire and ship off players. Here are three flex-caliber guys you should look to trade away.

1. Elijah Mitchell (RB, San Francisco 49ers)

I’d recommend holding onto Mitchell through the season if your league doesn’t have a trade deadline, as it’ll likely give potential suitors one more good performance in Week 17 against Houston to consider. Mitchell is a talented player who had a great season this year, but he’s still someone you should look to trade away, as his role isn’t particularly safe in San Francisco.

Mitchell has had a great season statistically, but Kyle Shanahan’s tendency to use multiple RBs and rotate starters often means his role is not necessarily locked in, even for next year. Shanahan’s running-back-by-committee approach has made many average or decent RBs look like superstars, with players such as Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Tevin Coleman, Carlos Hyde, and others putting up solid production in recent years.

The fact that San Francisco drafted not one, but two rookie RBs this year in Mitchell and Trey Sermon signifies their willingness to move on to the next guy, a trait that is concerning when considering Mitchell’s dynasty value. Wilson, Sermon, and others, possibly including Mostert, will be around to challenge Mitchell for next year’s starting role, and while Mitchell’s youth may keep him as the starter, fantasy managers should be wary of possible sudden changes and look to trade him away after this year.

2. JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR, Pittsburgh Steelers)

Smith-Schuster’s dynasty value went down after he got hurt and went out for the rest of the year, but it’s still time to trade him away in dynasty as soon as possible. Smith-Schuster will be a free agent this offseason, but wherever he signs, his situation likely won’t ever be as good as it was with Pittsburgh over the last few seasons.

Smith-Schuster’s breakout year came alongside lots of soft coverage with Antonio Brown taking double-teams, but since Brown left, Smith-Schuster has struggled to produce similar numbers. His average depth of target has tanked tremendously, and his skillset now makes him almost exclusively a player who operates close to the line of scrimmage. With rare exceptions (Deebo Samuel), that role is not good for fantasy, and because Smith-Schuster doesn’t have WR1 talent or running back ability like Samuel does, it should be tough for him to compile major fantasy points in the future.

NFL teams seem to sense Smith-Schuster’s non-alpha skillset, as they allowed him to return to Pittsburgh on a relatively cheap one-year deal, so whatever team signs him probably would do so to make him a WR2 or WR3. That won’t represent much of an upgrade, if any, from his value in Pittsburgh even if he does manage to produce, and it could spell total disaster for his fantasy value if he lands on a WR-needy team that generally struggles to move the ball. Free agency often springs excessive hype for available WRs in dynasty leagues, so the time to capitalize on that potential value is now.

3. Tyler Lockett (WR, Seattle Seahawks)

Lockett should be someone you’re looking to sell high in dynasty for multiple reasons. For anyone who’s followed my content for a while, you know that I often rail against Lockett in general. This is for the reason that his inconsistency often causes him to tank your fantasy week, making him often left on the bench for when his outlier big weeks do come.

On top of that aspect, which is my usual narrative, the struggles of this Seahawks team as a whole leaves potential for QB Russell Wilson to exit Seattle via a trade after this year, potentially tanking Lockett’s value. Without Wilson, who he has played with for his whole career, Lockett’s value could plummet as the Seahawks go into rebuilding mode, which would only exacerbate his inconsistency. Finally, Lockett has been thoroughly outplaying DK Metcalf over these last few weeks, but historically, Metcalf has been this offense’s WR1, so there’s regression potential there as well.

Lockett’s production over the last few games has been very good. However, overall, the harm he does to fantasy teams with inconsistency, along with the other factors mentioned, means he should be someone you’re looking to trade away.

The post Three Flex Players to Trade Away in Dynasty appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By Calvin K (Twitter: @Calvin_SGF)

The wide receiver position is always interesting in dynasty fantasy football. Many players are quite easy to evaluate, but uncertainty around the offseason and free agency can often make it difficult to get a good judgement on others. Those players are the ones I’ll be discussing in this article. Below are five WRs that have the highest risk in dynasty.

1. D.J. Chark (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Chark is a player who comes with just about as much risk as it’s possible to have. He’s got a new coaching staff, a new QB, and a new teammate at WR for 2021. All three of these factors will make it incredibly difficult to figure out his potential target share and involvement in the Jaguars’ offense.

On top of all that, Chark is a free agent after this year. He has shown some flashes of brilliance, but he’s also only had one 1,000 yard season in his career, and his inconsistency could mean he gets buried on another team’s depth chart. If he stays with Jacksonville, it could quite possibly be on a cheap contract to make him their WR3.

Not all of these scenarios will come to fruition, and some may turn out to be a non-issue. However, Chark could potentially exhibit all of the problems that you don’t want in a dynasty receiver. That will end up being a huge issue for his dynasty managers, and if one of the scenarios becomes a major problem, his value could plummet.

2. JuJu Smith-Schuster (Pittsburgh Steelers)

JuJu’s situation is very similar to Chark’s, in that he’s a free agent this offseason and a guy who could be the WR3 on his team. JuJu is slightly more established in NFL circles than Chark, but he could still get stuck in a role that doesn’t provide much fantasy production in 2022.

JuJu’s long-term value is a concern, but he could also have trouble doing much of anything in 2021. Like mentioned, he could be (and probably is) the WR3 on his team, and Pittsburgh just added RB Najee Harris from the draft, who will likely inherit a workhorse role (with lots of receptions) almost immediately. This could leave dynasty owners in a pickle, and a flop this year would cause JuJu’s trade value to drop significantly. If it does, it’ll be hard to get any sort of return at all in a trade, which gives him a lot of risk heading into this year.

3. Tyler Boyd (Cincinnati Bengals)

Unlike the other two receivers on this list, Boyd’s situation should be pretty well established for the next few years of his career. However, that may not be a good thing for his fantasy value. For the forseeable future, Boyd will be playing alongside two young, talented WRs in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and while he might still be able to produce as his team’s #3 WR, it could be a problem if he doesn’t.

Chase has a connection with Bengals QB Joe Burrow that dates back to their college days at LSU, and in his rookie year, Higgins showed a great ability to consistently win matchups on the outside. On top of that, Bengals RB Joe Mixon should continue to handle a workhorse role, which could include many receptions out of the backfield, especially on third downs. These three guys could make it difficult for a slot guy like Boyd to establish a consistent role in the offense.

Boyd’s claim to fame has always been as a reliable slot guy with some upside, but with the addition of Chase with the draft’s 5th overall pick, both of those labels could be threatened. If Boyd has neither reliability nor upside, dynasty owners could end up being very frustrated with his production. If this happens, it’d be a long wait for free agency (three years for Boyd, all with Chase and Higgins), and even then, situation improvement would be far from a guarantee.

4. Will Fuller V (Miami Dolphins)

Fuller’s situation might actually end up being a good one this year, but there are just too many extenuating factors to get a handle on how his production will truly look. One of the main factors is his QB, Tua Tagovailoa, who struggled in his 2020 appearances. The addition of Fuller should help Tua’s play improve, but even if it does, there are still many other potential problems.

The addition of WR Jaylen Waddle with the #6 overall pick in the NFL draft could cut into Fuller’s potential production this year. Fuller’s contract also lasts for just one year, so the team could easily decide he’s not in their future and proceed to get rid of him. Tua’s tendency in his rookie year was also often to throw underneath to TE Mike Gesicki or RB Myles Gaskin, so we have no idea if the duo would even thrive alone in an offense. Fuller also has never played a full season in his five NFL years, and the first healthy season of his career was marred by a PED suspension that caused him to miss five games last year (and will force him out of 2021’s opener).

Overall, there’s just an absolute boatload of uncertainty surrounding Fuller and his fantasy outlook. This gives him lots of risk, and it will make him incredibly difficult to evaluate in 2021 alone. However, free agency could bring a whole new set of issues, which could have Fuller’s fantasy managers (and potential trade partners) completely flummoxed on what to do.

5. Michael Gallup (Dallas Cowboys)

Gallup will already face lots of uncertainty over fantasy points this year, as he could be as low as the fifth target on the Cowboys. Gallup will also become a free agent after this year, and he could face the potential of being at the bottom of a depth chart, either on the Cowboys or elsewhere.

It’s important to remember that Gallup has had over 800 yards in each of the last two seasons, so he has certainly had a valuable impact on the Cowboys as a team. However, the competition of WRs CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper, RB Ezekiel Elliott, and TE Blake Jarwin could cause him to be maddeningly inconsistent and unstartable in 2021. This isn’t the situation you’d want Gallup in for fantasy, and he’ll have an opportunity to leave Dallas after this year, but free agency hardly guarantees a positive change. If the potential change of scenery is negative for Gallup’s value (or if it keeps his value the same), it could be difficult to get a valuable return in dynasty, which could make him difficult to trust for next year and beyond.

The post Five WRs with the Highest Risk in Dynasty appeared first on Pro Football Mania.