Perhaps the most important part of dynasty fantasy football is trading. After all, once your startup draft is complete, trades are the only way to acquire veteran players.
The high-powered Houston Texans offense features players Nico Collins, Devin Singletary, and Dalton Schultz. How should dynasty managers value these players going forward?
Should You Trade Nico Collins in Dynasty?
One of the biggest differences between dynasty and redraft is that in redraft, you can buy the situation for a year. But in dynasty, you’re supposed to buy the talent. In theory, it makes sense. Situations change, but a player who is good at football should eventually find himself in a favorable enough situation to produce.
By no means am I suggesting that Nico Collins is a bad football player. He is clearly one of the game’s best young WRs. But he’s also the same player who failed to reach 500 yards receiving in each of his first two seasons. What he did in 2023 already puts him in the outlier category.
Did Collins suddenly figure out how to become an elite NFL wide receiver? Probably not. I propose he’s a good-not-great player who is now being propped up by an elite situation due to the presence of star QB C.J. Stroud.
Collins had more receptions (80), yards (1,297), and touchdowns (8) than in his first two seasons combined. He averaged 17.4 fantasy points per game over the course of the 2023 NFL season.
Still just 25 years old, Collins has plenty of years of production ahead of him. But in this instance, I really think we’re buying situation here if we’re buying Collins.
Swap Collins with Drake London in the Atlanta Falcons’ offense, for instance, and is he even a top-30 dynasty receiver? It’s an unfalsifiable hypothetical, but if Collins had only put up 800 yards this season, would we really be that excited about him?
With that said, Collins is in Houston. Stroud is going to be there for the long haul, which will cover the remainder of Collins’ career and then some. And Stroud is still nowhere near as good as he will be when he reaches his prime.
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Plus, we can’t deny Collins put up some pretty impressive metrics. His 3.24 yards per route run were second in the league. He also commanded a target on 27.3% of his routes run, 14th in the league. That’s quite impressive, considering all of the elite wide receivers in the NFL.
Even with WR Tank Dell back next year, there should be plenty of production to go around. I am willing to buy that a good situation can turn a good wide receiver into a great fantasy asset.
Final Verdict: Buy
Should You Trade Devin Singletary in Dynasty?
The Buffalo Bills drafted RB Devin Singletary in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. No less than one year later, they were already searching for his replacement. It’s exceedingly rare for a player like that to end up having a productive career, especially for fantasy.
When the Bills let Singletary go at the end of his rookie deal, the Texans signed him to backup Dameon Pierce. To open the season, Singletary barely played. He didn’t top a 40% snap share until Week 6.
After that, though, the Texans quickly realized that Pierce needed time to adjust to the new scheme and that Singletary would be able to step in and operate efficiently as the lead back. An injury to Pierce facilitated things, but eventually, Singletary not only took over as the lead option but relegated Pierce to almost exclusively playing on special teams.
Singletary has played well. From Week 6 onward, he averaged a respectable 12.3 fantasy points per game. That’s pretty good for a guy who was written off.
The question now is, where does he go from here? Singletary’s deal with the Texans was for one year. He’ll be 27 years old this season. He’s clearly not the team’s long-term answer at running back. Will they bring him back, or will he be playing elsewhere in 2024?
My guess is wherever Singletary ends up next season, it won’t be as a lead back. And even if it is, he won’t be seeing the volume he had while in Houston.
Final Verdict: Sell
Should You Trade Dalton Schultz in Dynasty?
Entering the 2023 season, Dalton Schultz wasn’t highly touted in either the redraft or dynasty world. The consensus seemed to be that he was largely a product of QB Dak Prescott and the explosive Dallas Cowboys offense.
With Stroud’s emergence into an elite quarterback during his first NFL season, Schultz had a far better year than most expected. He caught 59 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 10.0 fantasy points per game, good for a TE11 finish in fantasy football.
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Schultz didn’t overly impress in any metrics, but he didn’t disappoint either. He was remarkably unremarkable. I mean that in the nicest way possible. Schultz epitomizes “solid.”
At 28 years old in 2024, Schultz still has plenty of football ahead of him. However, at the time of writing, we do not know where he will play.
Much like Singletary, Schultz is also on a one-year contract. He is set to hit free agency in March. Where he ends up will impact his fantasy value.
I would anticipate Schultz signing with a team that will make him their primary tight end. He may very well return to Houston, which would probably be the best-case scenario.
Nevertheless, given the uncertainty about Schultz’s future, it’s difficult to know whether he is a buy or sell. Regardless, I can’t imagine he is fetching much of a return in a trade.
Final Verdict: Hold
