2024 Dynasty rankings are now updated!

The hope is that this newsletter doesn’t mean anything to you because you’ve already put a bow on your fantasy championship. If you’re still playing through your championship - sorry about that. You’re probably only interested in the League Winner Daily.

What’s in store:

• Two Jaguars stars are nearing a Week 18 return. 👀 Big news for those of us thugging it out in a Week 18 championship.

• The Bears backfield continues to be a mess. Khalil Herbert was added to the injury report this week, adding a new layer of meaning behind ‘Bear down’.

• Zach hands out his fantasy awards for 2023. See who he named as his MVP, best waiver wire pickup, and best value pick.

• Faraz’s dynasty rankings for 2024 are fully updated! Head over to our website to check them out now.

• Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, WR Christian Kirk practicing this week, could potentially return for Week 18 vs Titans

  • For those of you fantasy managers who are being forced to play out your fantasy championships in the crapshoot that has become the 18th week of the regular season, this news is relatively encouraging. It’s probably safe to say that Lawrence has the best shot of the two to make his return this week against the Titans, who have been a solid matchup for quarterbacks throughout the season. Christian Kirk was activated from IR earlier this week and has practiced for two straight days including yesterday, giving him a shot to suit up on Sunday, as well. Given that the Jaguars have struggled in the four games Kirk has missed (1-3 since Week 14), there’s a chance he could push the envelope and take the field at less than 100% as the Jaguars’ jockey for positioning in the AFC playoff picture. Both Lawrence and Kirk should be in lineups if they take the field Sunday with many a fantasy star being sentenced to the bench for rest across the league.

• Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert misses Thursday’s practice ahead of pivotal Week 18 matchup vs Bills

  • Mostert’s absence last week resulted in 19 opportunities for Achane against the Ravens, which he was able to turn into 137 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in a game that was well out of hand relatively early into the contest. With Mostert potentially missing Week 18 while the Dolphins gear up for a playoff run, Achane has plenty of intrigue heading into the matchup against the Bills. In the previous matchup this season between Miami and Buffalo in Week 4, Achane handled eight carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns, finishing as the RB5 on the week in Buffalo. This week’s game is in Miami, and Achane’s upside as an RB1 will be contingent on Mostert missing his second game in a row with knee and ankle injuries. Fantasy managers should pay close attention to practice reports later today to get the best idea of what to expect heading into the first Sunday of 2024.

• Bears RB Khalil Herbert pops up on injury report ahead of Week 18 matchup vs Packers

  • The Bears aren’t in contention for a playoff spot, but Herbert’s fantasy managers may be in contention for their championship in Week 18. With Chicago looking to play spoiler to the division rival Packers, it’ll be all hands on deck for the Bears in a game that means little if anything at the end of the day for the Windy City faithful. The Bears RB room has been a titanic mess all season, with Herbert, Foreman, and even rookie Roschon Johnson all mixing in as the top weekly scorer at times throughout the year. With Foreman being a healthy scratch last week, though, and Herbert potentially being banged up, Johnson suddenly enters consideration as a starter in the final game of the regular season. Fantasy managers will want to exhaust all other viable options available before turning to Johnson as a starter – let alone in the championship round – but he does present a solid floor if he’s the one ultimately leading the Bears’ backfield against the Pack.

Fantasy MVP - Ceedee Lamb

Yes, Christian McCaffrey is the fantasy MVP - we all knew that he would be as long as he stayed healthy, he beat the injury prone allegations last year (which made no sense when he was with the Panthers anyway), and he leads the league in touchdowns scored this year. Is anyone surprised? Not at all. So in the interest of making this award actually interesting and not just defaulting to CMC, I’m going to choose another player - and I think that has to be Ceedee Lamb, right?

I get that there’s an argument for Tyreek Hill here and that on a per game basis, Hill outscored Lamb by seven tenths of a point per game, but Lamb was available for ALL of his games this year and fell into the single digits just once all season (nine points against San Francisco). He was dragging his feet to open the year, yeah, but so was the entire Cowboys offense – and he finally showed some signs of life in Week 6 against the Chargers before the bye. Now, if you had Ceedee Lamb, nothing could have prepared you for what came after the bye week – but I think it’s the consistency and the elite level of production you got from Lamb, plus the timing of his breakout that makes him the MVP.

If you had him early in the year, there’s a good chance you were muddling through the fantasy season up until Week 8, but after that he never let you down – not once. He scored at least 16 PPR points in every game from Week 8 on (10 games), led the NFL in receiving yards by 300, in target share at 32.7%, in receptions by 25, in scrimmage touchdowns with 11, in fantasy points per game by a whole touchdown per game and in total fantasy points by 100. There’s a good chance if you had him that you straight up didn’t lose down the stretch - or at least not by any fault of his. I had him in my dynasty league – from Week 8 on, I went undefeated. Then you look at his playoff matchups - did he come through when it really mattered? Yep - he again led all players in fantasy points per game from Weeks 15-17. Three straight top-10 performances, never less than 18, and 40 points in your championship. That’s the definition of most valuable fantasy player. And it’s not just because I’m a Cowboys fan.

They say better late than never - but for Lamb becoming the league’s best fantasy WR in 2023, it was hardly late at all, and it changed the trajectory of the teams that had him on a dime.

Best Value - Raheem Mostert

You could make an argument that Jordan Love or Brock Purdy could fit this title considering they were drafted at the WAY back of drafts, but we see late round quarterbacks pop up as top-10 guys a lot more often than we see backend running backs pop up as top-10 guys. Raheem Mostert wasn’t even a thought as a potential RB1 coming into the season - remember, the Dolphins had Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and it was a three man backfield and this, that, the other – nobody saw his huge season coming, and that’s what makes him the best value of the season.

There was a path for Purdy to be a top fantasy quarterback – just look at his weapons. Rachaad White was obviously a value, but Raheem Mostert still outscored him and White was going a few rounds earlier in drafts in the dead zone. That’s what I’m saying - Mostert wasn’t even a dead zone running back! You drafted him as depth probably as your RB3, and then to have that running back ascend to RB1 status changes the whole complexion of your roster.

And the fact that he’s a running back makes him all the more valuable - high-end RB1s don’t grow on trees, but quarterbacks? Very replaceable. Wide receivers, too, outside of the top guys. But running backs? You could have drafted CMC and then grabbed Mostert with a flier later on - and suddenly you end up with two of the top three running backs in total points. You’re not getting that kind of game-changing value from any other player.

Best Waiver Wire Pickup - Puka Nacua

We kind of foreshadowed this one a little bit on the episode earlier in the week, but I’m going with Puka Nacua here. Kyren Williams is a close second, and like I just talked about with Raheem Mostert, running backs are inherently more valuable than receivers because there are a lot fewer of them than receivers. But in this case, the grace that I would usually afford a running back like Kyren Williams is wiped out because he missed those four games in the middle of the year. And yeah, that’s out of his control – but Puka was not only available for every game this year, but he averaged 18 points per game on his own in them, too. Puka is fourth in the NFL in receiving yards, had nine top-12 weekly finishes and scored in the double digits in all but four of his games.

When you talk about the best waiver wire pickups, I look at it a lot like adding points to your team that you weren’t necessarily supposed to have. That’s what it felt like starting Puka in the first five weeks of the season – it was like getting a head start on your opponent. He had ten or more targets in four of those five games; ironically, his two games with ten or more receptions; and he had 20 or more PPR points in four of those five games. Kyren Williams is ridiculous, I’ll acknowledge that - but there was a big chunk out of the middle of the season with him, and it ended up being five games missed technically because he was out anyway for the Rams’ bye in Week 10.

Puka was in your lineup every week this year even though you didn’t know who he was a week before the season started. He wasn’t on anyone’s radar, and now he’s going to be a surefire top pick next year.

I know, it’s hard to believe that the 2023 fantasy season is already over - it feels like just yesterday we were all settling in for the first octo box on NFL RedZone with tons of hope for the championship conquest ahead. Whether or not your season ended in a championship, a trip to the playoffs, a first-round exit, or none of the above, your redraft season is over until next summer. That’s where dynasty fantasy football comes in – if you’re in a dynasty league, you’re ready to start wheeling and dealing to fill holes on your roster and reassessing the value of the players on your team. If that’s you, look no further than Faraz’s dynasty rankings!

Faraz’s dynasty rankings are already fully updated as we turn the page to the 2024 season, complete with full positional, flex, and superflex rankings! They’re available now over on our website – just click the link in the photo caption above to get started.

To give you an idea of what you’re getting from the dynasty rankings, we’re including Faraz’s Top-3 players at each position from his dynasty rankings heading into 2024. Get the Upper Hand in your league by taking advantage of Faraz’s dynasty rankings and much more!

QBs

1. Jalen Hurts, PHI

2. Josh Allen, BUF

3. Patrick Mahomes, KC

RBs

1. Breece Hall, NYJ

2. Jahmyr Gibbs, DET

3. Bijan Robinson, ATL

WRs

1. Justin Jefferson, MIN

2. Ja’Marr Chase, CIN

3. CeeDee Lamb, DAL

TEs

1. Sam LaPorta, DET

2. Trey McBride, ARI

3. Mark Andrews, BAL