As the 2022 free agency cycle begins and the NFL Draft draws closer, dynasty fantasy football managers continue to tweak and rebuild their rosters, emphasizing the QB position as they search for potential trade targets. With that in mind, who are some of the more intriguing QB dynasty trade targets of the offseason?
Dynasty QB Trade Targets for 2022
While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the more polarizing names at the QB position, which seem to pop with regularity in recent trades. Are these QBs worth pursuing, and can they help turn your dynasty team from a pretender to a contender?
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos
We knew Denver was going to look for a new QB after the failed experiment that was Teddy Bridgewater. Add in the speculation coming out of Seattle and Russell Wilson landing in Denver via trade just made sense. While they might have wanted Aaron Rodgers, no one is too upset to have Mr. Unlimited under center at Mile High.
For dynasty, this is a sensational move not just for Wilson, but for all the players around him who will see a significant jump in value. As far as Wilson is concerned, his dynasty value did go up, but I wouldn’t say it took a massive hike. Wilson has proven time and time again to be an MVP-caliber QB. He has the production to back it up as well.
Despite Pete Carroll wanting to take the ball out of Wilson’s hands at times, he’s finished as a QB1 (top 12) in every season from 2012 to 2020 while averaging 20.5 points per game. I leave out his 2021 season as it was hampered by an injury and Wilson admitting he came back too soon.
Despite a conservative game plan, Wilson was inside the top 10 in passing attempts just twice while finishing inside the top 12 in passing yards in five of six seasons from 2015 to 2020.
Wilson remains a highly coveted dynasty QB
He now gets to work with Nathaniel Hackett, who helped orchestrate Matt LeFleur’s passing attack, and is on a team loaded with weapons from Javonte Williams to Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and the under-the-radar winner, Tim Patrick.
Wilson remains a top-10 QB for dynasty. At 33, he still has several years of high-level play left in his gas tank. He remains one of the higher-valued QB trade targets for dynasty. If anything, the price might have gone up given the optimism.
Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
I’ll be honest. I don’t typically like talking about Deshaun Watson. I have stayed away from these conversations since the first allegations were reported. There is simply so much none of us not directly involved with his current civil cases do not know.
All I can say is when on the field, Watson is a top-five QB. From 2018 through 2020, Watson was the QB5 in dynasty each season while averaging 25.3 points per game. In 2020, Watson had his best season yet, passing for 4,832 yards (301.4 per game), rushing for 444, and combining for 36 touchdowns. Between 2018 and 2020, Watson was a QB1 in 64% of his games. That’s astonishing.
Numerous questions surround Watson, and none that are easily answered
The question is not only if Watson will play, but where and how will he look. He’s missed an entire year of football, including practices, and hasn’t even been suspended yet. We don’t know when Watson will step foot on the field. Also, Houston has been relatively straightforward that it won’t be for them, so the landing spot has to be accounted for as well.
There’s no easy answer here. Anyone who is trading for Watson must know the massive risk involved, as you may very well never see a single snap from him. Or, all of the allegations are proven to be false, and now you have a 26-year-old dynamic QB on your roster and likely at a massive discount. There’s no more polarizing of a QB trade target in dynasty than Watson. There’s also no way of knowing what will happen.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Speaking of polarizing QBs, Tua Tagovailoa is right up there. It seems dynasty managers are either all the way our or all the way in on Tua. While I’m not going to say I am all in on him, I certainly am more bullish on him after the hiring of Mike McDaniel.
It’s not like there’s much room for things to get worse. As a rookie, Tua looked over his shoulder and was benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick multiple times. In 2021, Tua dealt with an inept offense and injuries, finishing as the QB26 (16.4 ppg) in 13 games played.
With that said, Tua showed improvement in Year 2. He ranked top five in red zone, deep ball, pressure, and play-action completion percentages. He also increased his overall accuracy from 63% to 71%, which led the NFL this season amongst qualified QBs.
Additionally, Tua’s yards per attempt went up as he finally started to take a few more risks. His yards/attempt increased from 6.3 to 7.1, while his yards/catch rose from 9.8 to 10.2.
Accuracy and ability to work out of play-action are staples in the offense McDaniel brings from San Francisco. Tua also has two bona fide studs in Mike Gesicki and Jaylen Waddle, who is a top-10 dynasty asset already. I expect Miami to add more pass-catching help as the one-year deal with Will Fuller amounted to literally nothing.
Now is the time to acquire Tua
In my opinion, I feel we see a significant jump from Tua in Year 3. We could see him finishing around the low-end QB1 to high-end QB2 range. If you want in, the time is now. In terms of dynasty QB trade targets, Tua is a player I’m being the most aggressive about trying to acquire.
In a superflex league — or even in 1QB formats — I have zero issues with Tua as my QB in dynasty. Timing is everything. I feel whatever the price is today, it will be significantly higher this time next year.