Fantasy Football Dynasty Rankings Update for Week 13: Buying the George Pickens breakout
Updated Dynasty rankings for quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end positions
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3 min read
George Pickens has turned himself into one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL, and that is making him very difficult to rank for Dynasty Fantasy Football purposes. It's a good problem, and one made more complicated by how many young stars we have at this position right now, but heading into an offseason where he is a free agent, he could also be one of the most important players to be right on.
Let's start with a brief overview of what Pickens has done this season. He is currently WR3 on a per-game basis, behind only Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua. He is the only receiver with 1,000 yards besides JSN. He is also third in touchdowns behind Davante Adams and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Amongst receivers with at least 50 targets this season, he ranks top 5 in both yards per route run and yards per target. And he doesn't turn 25 until March of next year.
This breakout started when CeeDee Lamb went down, but it hasn't slowed down since Lamb returned. He has been the best Cowboys' wide receiver in Fantasy since Lamb came back from his injury. Still, it is an eight-game sample of elite performance versus some much longer track record for the guys who were previously ahead of him. I have already moved him up to WR15, but just how high should we go.
This week, I had Adam Pfeifer from FTN Fantasy on Fantasy Football Today Dynasty. We talked about Pickens, future posthype breakouts, whether we're optimistic about Bucky Irving, and more. Check it out:
On the episode above, Pfeifer argues for Pickens as a top 10 Dynasty wide receiver. Checking some other sources, I see him at WR21 in the FantasyPros consensus rankings and the Dynasty League Football Dynasty ADP. He is up to WR12 on KTC. A big part of this discrepancy may come from the fact that Pickens is a free agent after this year. If he had a long-term deal with Dallas, I imagine he would be top 12 just about everywhere. If he leaves and prioritizes money over situation, he could fall outside the top 20 again. That is not an answer we have available to us at this time, and Pickens is a volatile Dynasty asset because of that.
Obviously, if you have Pickens and you are contending, there is much of a question as to what you should do. Hold him and start him, hope he keeps this up, and you win a championship. As to whether he is a buy or a sell at his current cost, I really believe that has more to do with the person you are negotiating with. I buy this breakout to the extent that it reminds us he is an extremely talented wide receiver who is still improving. I do not believe he has proven a bulletproof profile that could survive any landing spot this offseason.
The last thing I will say about it is that it may seem foolish to think the Cowboys would let a talent like this go. I would remind you of who we are talking about and how they handled the Micah Parsons saga. The more Pickens does, the more expensive he becomes, which may make a franchise tag the most likely outcome this summer. There is no telling how Pickens would respond to that, but it is sure to be entertaining. It may also ensure we are having this conversation again next year.
As always, you can get my weekly updated Dynasty Trade Charts over on SportsLine. There you'll find trade values for both Superflex and One-QB trades to help you dominate your Dynasty league.
