RADIO
Dynasty leagues require a lot of patience. After all, building a consistent, winning team takes time.
It takes a keen eye for talent. It takes luck. And it takes the ability to recognize that sometimes you have to use a roster spot on someone who won't give you much in the short term, but who can still give you something later on.
Today, I've identified four players who've been trending down in dynasty leagues who you might not want to drop just yet, especially if you aren't in a position to contend for a fantasy championship in 2020.
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Josh Rosen (QB, Miami Dolphins)
Alright, let's go ahead and get this one out of the way. If you're in a one-quarterback league, go ahead and kick Rosen to the curb. If you're in a Superflex or two-quarterback league, though, I'd encourage you to keep Rosen around another season, just in case.
As someone who was high on Rosen when he entered the NFL, I'll go ahead and admit that I was wrong about the former UCLA product. He's not a good NFL quarterback. He likely never will be a good NFL quarterback.
But he's young enough that I'm not ready to say he won't get another chance to be a starter somewhere. Miami could deal him away as we get closer to the season if any team has injuries in their quarterback room, and you can make a pretty solid argument that any starting quarterback in the NFL should be rostered in Superflex, and while Rosen's currently a third-stringer, he's probably the third stringer with the best chance of landing in a new home with opportunities to start in the next year or two. No guarantee that happens -- heck, I'd probably not even call it likely to happen -- but with quarterback at such a premium in these kinds of leagues, I can't recommend dropping Rosen yet.
Dante Pettis (WR, San Francisco 49ers)
Of all the players in this article, Pettis is probably the player who is safest from being dropped by most people, but I do know that there's a lot of frustration surrounding his play last year and his overall ownership has dropped below 40 percent now.
The thing about Pettis is that beyond Deebo Samuel -- who, it should be noted, is dealing with a broken foot, although he should be able to play in 2020 -- this receiving group feels incredibly wide open, and if Pettis can finally put things together in his third season, he can still be a solid fantasy player.
I know what y'all are thinking: "Justin, we're not waiting around for Dante Pettis another year." I get that! I have Pettis in way too many dynasty leagues and my finger has hovered over that drop button an untold number of times.
But I still believe in some things with Pettis. His rookie season saw him finish fifth among receivers in yards per reception and ninth in yards per target. He did a great job creating separation then, and he finished seventh in fantasy points per target. Pettis didn't blow anyone away from a physical standpoint, but he flashed a lot of encouraging production.
Obviously, 2019 was disappointing. 11 receptions. 109 yards. He also dealt with a knee injury and played in only nine games. There's no way to slice last year in a way that looks good for Pettis.
However, I'm not giving up on a second-round pick who flashed strong efficiency numbers his rookie year, even if I want to. There's still promise with Pettis. If 2020 goes as poorly as 2019, I'll move on, but for now, I'm holding Pettis.
Byron Pringle (WR, Kansas City Chiefs)
My case for Byron Pringle is really a case against Sammy Watkins, and that case seems pretty simple: Watkins is on a one-year deal, Patrick Mahomes is due a raise soon, and the financials just don't seem to work out in such a way that Watkins gets a long term deal in Kansas City. Either Watkins is too good for the Chiefs to afford to keep him or he's so inconsistent that bringing him back on a bargain deal isn't worth it.
Once Kansas City gives Mahomes the largest deal in NFL history, it will be important to have cheap depth guys around him. Assuming Pringle does enough in 2020 to earn a future deal with K.C., he can be a low-cost guy to put around Mahomes.
But why would I suggest Pringle could have a role with the Chiefs? They have Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, plus tight end Travis Kelce.
Well, it's because Pringle's limited snaps produced some decent results. Sure, he had just 12 catches for 170 yards, but he scored 2.19 fantasy points per target and Mahomes had a 129.7 rating when targeting him. He also has solid speed -- a 4.46 40-yard dash -- and can play out of the slot.
I think there's a role for Pringle here, and I'm not just saying that because his last name is Pringle and I'm currently eating BBQ Pringles as I type this.
Kahale Warring (TE, Houston Texans)
Warring's rookie season never happened, as he spent all year on the Injured Reserve for hamstring and concussion issues.
But before the injuries, there was a ton of excitement in Houston about Warring. The Texans haven't had a consistently good tight end since Owen Daniels, and while Darren Fells did a decent job in 2019 of scoring touchdowns, he also posted lines that usually looked something like this: one reception, three yards, one touchdown.
So while Fells enters 2020 as the starting tight end, he does so without a lock on the position. If Deshaun Watson could find a tight end target who could score in the red zone AND also exist when the ball is outside the red zone, that player would have a great opportunity to earn snaps.
With that said, 2020 is very likely to be more of a learning experience for Warring than anything else. He'll need time to get up to speed at the NFL level, but long term, it's hard to ignore this:
So look, don't give up on Warring yet, and don't give up on him when he only makes a small impact in 2020. Down the line, he has potential to be a productive NFL tight end.
