Dynasty Fantasy Football Targets: Chase Brown, Ladd McConkey, And More
Jake Trowbridge, Jonathan Fuller, and Sam Wallace uncover 4 targets in dynasty fantasy football: Kyler Murray, Chase Brown, Ladd McConkey and Tucker Kraft.
Dynasty fantasy football aficionados, we have some players for you to target in your leagues. One is a familiar name, especially to our fearless founder, and the others are up-and-coming players who popped at various levels in the 2024 season. They're all names you need to keep in mind, so Jake Trowbridge, Jonathan Fuller, and Sam Wallace bring you the dynasty players—one at each skill position—you need to zero in on in start-up drafts and trade chatter.
QB | Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray is one of two quarterbacks in the NFL who’s averaged 230+ passing yards and 35+ rushing yards per game over their career. The other is Josh Allen. So you’ll forgive me if I’m not rushing to write this man off after one moderately disappointing season where he let down our big boss Matthew as his Ride or Die—in which he still managed a Top-12 finish, mind you.
2024 was obviously a bummer for Kyler enthusiasts, but his performance deserves more context. Did you know that going into the year, the Cardinals’ wide receiving unit had averaged just 37 receptions per NFL season? Combined? And only one of those players (Zay Jones) had amassed at least 80 career catches?
Granted, Murray wasn’t exactly throwing to the cast of The Replacements, either. Tight end Trey McBride had a massive third-year breakout and Marvin Harrison Jr. was one of the greatest receiving prospects to come out since the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. But my point is this is a very young group that has plenty of room to grow together.
Murray, who will be just 28 years old when the league year begins, seems to be on the Russell Wilson path of fantasy underappreciation. There’s always something that keeps dynasty managers from fully buying in. His height, his affinity for video games, his fluke injuries … it’s all made this dual-threat QB a bit of a hidden treasure.
In fact, on a fantasy-point-per-inch scale, he might be the best quarterback in the league.—JT
RB | Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Chase Brown is currently valued outside the top-12 dynasty RBs, but he has an excellent chance to vault into the top tier of ballcarriers by the time the 2025 season comes to a close.
In just his second season, Brown assumed lead-back duties for the Cincinnati Bengals following the departure of Joe Mixon. Brown more than made the most of his opportunity as shown by his impressive season-ending numbers:
- 283 touches
- 1,350 scrimmage yards
- 11 total TDs
The Bengals are bringing back their top three pass catchers from last year in Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Mike Gesicki, but Brown will have more than his fair share of opportunities both on the ground and through the air.
If you won't listen to me, here's what Matthew Freedman had to say about Brown when he pegged him as a 2025 breakout candidate:
"And in his final eight games, he had 930 yards, 6 TDs, and a position-best 95 Utilization Score (per our industry-leading Fantasy Life Utilization Report). As a heavily used No. 1 RB in a top-5 offense, Brown has the potential to go off with a top-3 campaign, but it will likely be easy to acquire him outside of the top 10 at the position."
If you strip away the name and just look at the numbers, you would have no problem shipping off a future first-round pick for this budding fantasy superstar.—SW
WR | Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Coming out of Georgia there were questions about Ladd McConkey's ability to serve as the No. 1 pass catcher in an offense. This concern was partially due to his role as a slot receiver, but also because he was never really a full-time player at Georgia, peaking at 288 routes and 608 receiving yards in his second season.
McConkey quickly put all those doubts to rest in his rookie campaign with the Los Angeles Chargers. In the 16 games he played, McConkey ran a route on 88% of Justin Herbert's dropbacks and earned a 23% target share. Not only was he able to handle significant volume, he was efficient on that volume, recording 2.38 yards per route run, which ranked ninth among all WRs. It was a breakout performance in every sense.
From a dynasty perspective, McConkey is just 23 years old and the clear top receiver on his team while also tied to a talented QB for the foreseeable future. This situation checks all the most important boxes for dynasty managers. The only possible issue you can take with his outlook is that the Chargers want to be a run-first offense, which may limit his target and TD ceiling. Despite that, McConkey looks set to be a WR1 for fantasy purposes for years to come, which makes him an incredibly valuable piece to build a dynasty roster around. —JF
TE | Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
Tight ends are extremely fickle beasts in dynasty. When you find an exceptional one, hold on for dear life and never let go. That’s why I’ll pay almost any price to get an elite tight end like George Kittle while they’re in the prime of their careers. Alternatively, you can chase ascending talent like Tucker Kraft.
Though he fell outside the Top 12 tight ends in points per game, there was a lot to like about Kraft’s second pro season. He ranked 11th among all qualified pass catchers in Yards Per Target, sandwiched between Nico Collins and Justin Jefferson. Among just tight ends, Kraft was:
- 1st in Yards After Catch Per Reception (12th overall)
- 1st in Broken Tackles
- 2nd in Yards Per Reception
- 4th in Route Participation Percentage
- 5th in Passer Rating When Targeted (8th overall)
We need to see some improvement in his target share (just 15%) and Targets Per Route Run (52nd among TEs) before we can consider him an elite option, though.
But Green Bay’s draft-and-develop philosophy and unwillingness to pay top free agent receivers should ensure Kraft maintains a big role moving forward. Add in the Packers’ propensity for two-tight end sets and, baby, you’ve got a stew going! —JT
