Dynasty Trade Targets – David Johnson, Darius Slayton, Rodney Anderson, Jalen Hurd
by Alan Seslowsky

With the NFL draft about a week away, RosterWatch has noticed the dynasty trade market becoming increasingly active. We have received a noticeable increase in social media questions about player values, rookie pick values, and polls asking who won this trade? Below is a list of some sneaky dynasty trade targets.

David Johnson: RB, Houston Texans

In a shocking real-life transaction, The Texans traded away star WR DeAndre Hopkins and received once-elite fantasy producer David Johnson. It is old news to be critical of what the Texans did, so we will focus on where this leaves David Johnson’s fantasy value.  Looking back over the last three seasons, there has been no worse fantasy investment than Johnson. He was a first-round pick each year over that span and did not live up to expectations. The narrative around Johnson is that he is done for fantasy. There was a similar narrative around Houston Texan’s RB Carlos Hyde last year. In Bill O’Brien’s offense, Hyde managed to rush for almost 1100 yards and 6 TDs. Combine that with the reasonable presumption that Bill O’Brien will want to use Johnson enough to justify his highly criticized trade, and Johnson starts to look more like an appealing RB2 for fantasy. He is a short term option; but if you are in win-now mode and need an RB, David Johnson is certainly worth a late 2nd round rookie dynasty pick. 

 

The Young Bengals RBs: Rodney Anderson and Trayveon Williams 

There has been chatter about Joe Mixon staging a holdout. Fantasy owners still have vivid memories of how Melvin Gordon and Le’Veon Bell‘s respective holdouts backfired. Cincinnati is notorious for not paying their key players, and we can see a scenario where Mixon is not long for that team. RosterWatch loved Trayveon Williams coming out and Rodney Anderson is a “Golden Son” of RosterWatch Nation. Both players are worth offering a 3rd round rookie pick on speculation that they are thrust into significant roles in the near future. 

 

Darius Slayton: WR, New York Giants

The Giants found a gem in the 5th round of the real NFL draft last year. Slayton flashed enough significant upside in his rookie year, he must be taken very seriously as a dynasty asset.  Slayton is presumably going to continue to develop with young Giants QB Daniel Jones. There is still room to grow from his impressive rookie season. It will be difficult to pry Slayton away from his current fantasy owners, but RosterWatch believes what looks like an overpay today may not be an overpay “tomorrow.”  Slayton is well worth the gamble of a high-2nd round rookie pick. 

 

Jalen Hurd: WR, San Francisco 49ers

There is a sentiment in the fantasy community that the 49ers will take a WR with the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. San Fran acquired that pick from Indianapolis in exchange for defensive star DeForest Buckner.  RosterWatch is speculating that the 49ers could go defense with pick 13, knowing they have WR Jalen Hurd coming back after a lost rookie season. Hurd looked great in the 2019 pre-season as a redzone threat. Hurd is a diverse player who can be used outside or in the slot. He won’t cost much and is worth a speculative stash.