Dynasty Trade Advice: Deshaun Watson & Jameson Williams (Fantasy Football)

Training camp is here, and your missing leaguemates are returning from whatever remote, wooded location they’ve been hibernating at for the last couple of months. You can ignore that guy who keeps offering you Elijah Moore for a third-round rookie draft pick. And stop stressing about Dillon Johnson going to Carolina. It’s time to consider more significant moves.

The August dynasty trade flurry is approaching. Prepare to include yourself in this activity bump. Some managers will look to shore up depth while others will aspire to more seismic reconfigurations. Training camp hype will artificially boost values, especially when it comes to athletic, unproven youth. It’s a hectic time of year. It’s time to get the house in order and finish shaping our 2024 rosters. Here are a few players to trade now in dynasty fantasy football leagues.

Dynasty Trade Advice: Players to Sell Now

Deshaun Watson (QB – CLE)

Deshaun Watson had 10 300-yard games in 2020. He’s had zero since. He’s also apparently had some character issues? Watson played in six games and scored 90 fantasy points in each of his last two seasons. That would extrapolate to 250 points, which would rank him right in that middling dead zone with Derek Carr. Watson has regressed significantly since leaving Houston. From 2017-2020, Watson averaged 8.27 Y/A. In both 2022 and 2023, he averaged 6.5 Y/A. He’s also throwing more interceptions than ever. Over the last 12 games, he’s thrown for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. This 1.55 ratio is significantly worse than his previous career ratio of 2.89. There hasn’t been a spark. No glimmers of hope. Just weird shoulder injuries, weirder press conferences and uninspiring play.

Watson has had zero 300-yard games with the Browns. Joe Flacco had four in five appearances. Flacco’s 13 touchdowns in that span are only one less than all of Watson’s touchdowns since joining the Browns. As the cycle of mediocre play followed by mysterious injury continues, consider escaping this terrible ride once the training camp hype gains momentum.

Watson is still a QB2 with upside. His fully guaranteed contract financially ties him to Cleveland through 2026. Cleveland itself is a decent situation with a good head coach, a proven offensive coordinator, good offensive line and high-end weapons in Amari Cooper and David Njoku. Also, Watson’s injuries could work in his favor when it comes to trade value. You could point to the shoulder as a source of the struggles last year. Could Watson return to form after a healthy training camp? Watson’s star continues to dim as 2020 gets further and further away. Trade him now while he’s still relatively valuable.

Jameson Williams (WR – DET)

Jameson Williams is a man on a mission. Jameson Williams looks like a new player. Jameson Williams is the most confident he’s been in his career.

Training camp hype at its finest. Combine that with Williams’ electric 42-yard touchdown run in the playoffs and you got yourself a player ahead of Ja’Lynn Polk on the dynasty trade value chart. Williams has had a rough go of it when it comes to playing time and offseason training. He came into the league with a torn ACL that sidelined him until Week 12 of his rookie season. Then there was the six-game suspension last year. Now, Williams finally has a normal training camp to establish himself as part of this offense.

Detroit hardly incorporated Williams in 2023. He received over five targets on three occasions, failing to break 10 fantasy points each time. He finished the season with 24 receptions, 354 yards and two touchdowns. The best game of Williams’ season came in the playoffs. He caught two passes for 25 yards and had a 42-yard touchdown run. It would’ve been a four-point game if not for the run. He’s definitely very explosive and his late surge was fun. However, the season-long sample size is concerning.

His basic stat sheet is almost identical to Allen Lazard’s. They also had the same amount of 20+-yard receptions (five). His Reception Perception success rates were 57.5% against man, 72.1% against zone and 53.3% against press coverage. I don’t necessarily think this is a death mark on his future. He’s still only 23 and he’s finally stabilized when it comes to health and off-the-field issues. His presence on this list is due to his current value with his production.