Late Season Pickups For Dynasty Leagues

Title: Late Season Pickups For Dynasty Leagues

Fantasy playoffs are here and most players are solely focused on Week 15 action at this point. Depending on what kind of league you're in, this can also be a great time of year to look toward the future. For dynasty leagues—depending on how yours is run—this is the time to find a couple of worthy stash candidates that you may want for your team in 2015. Here's a look at a few such candidates at skill positions.

Quarterbacks

Johnny Manziel - Did you really think Johnny Football wouldn't make the list? He may be yet to prove himself at the NFL level (though he's looked pretty good in brief stints on the field), but he seems virtually guaranteed to start for the Browns in 2015. Brian Hoyer reportedly wants out, which means it's Manziel's time to shine. The Browns are getting better and a young QB could do a lot worse than having Josh Gordon to throw to. Stash Manziel if you have the chance.

Teddy Bridgewater - The young Vikings QB hasn't been sensational, but he's a dual threat QB on a team showing signs of improvement. Adrian Peterson may or may not be back, but Minnesota's defense has been solid (which should keep the offense on the field), and Bridgewater has a slew of promising young WRs. Charles Johnson has come out of nowhere as a viable fantasy threat, Cordarrelle Patterson is too talented not to break out, and even Jarius Wright has shown promise.

Running Backs

Carlos Hyde - Hyde has been a trendy dynasty mention all season. He's been virtually useless in 2014, though, so he's still available in a lot of leagues. Grab him while you can. San Francisco prefers to run the ball, and with Frank Gore aging and banged up and the passing game non-existent, Hyde stands to get the keys to the offense in 2015. The Washington Post called him a likely "volume-heavy, low-end RB1" for next year, and that sounds about right.

Tre Mason - Mason is a stretch as a dynasty pickup, because unless you're in a pretty shallow league he's probably already been snatched up. But in case he hasn't, it's worth noting that Mason is a promising young RB who's still flying under the radar. In its preview of Thursday night's Cardinals-Rams game, Betfair put it best by stating that Mason was "on nobody's radar" through the first part of the season but took full advantage of his chance when it came along. You can find more of their betting tips here, but suffice it to say Mason has an endorsement from the oddsmakers—he could become a lower top-10 RB for 2015.

Wide Receivers

Marqise Lee - One of the hottest names in a loaded 2014 WR draft, Lee didn't make the impact many expected in his rookie year, though he was hurt for much of it. In recent weeks, he's looked like a real threat and heading into 2015 he'll be the most talented WR on a Jaguars team whose offense can only improve. ESPN recently named him among its top long-term waiver wire pickup targets.

Charles Johnson - I touched briefly on Johnson's emergence in the section on Teddy Bridgewater, and he makes sense as a dynasty pickup on his own as well. You may be hesitant to go for a Vikings WR with high upside after pretty much every fantasy analyst out there whiffed mightily on Cordarrelle Patterson this year, but Johnson is already more proven. He appears to be Bridgewater's favorite target, and from Week 11 to Week 14 he amassed 283 yards and two touchdowns. Those aren't mind-blowing numbers but they're nothing to ignore, particularly coming out of an offense that's still discovering itself in the post-Adrian Peterson era.