Fantasy Football: Biggest dynasty value swings of the 2025 season

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

The fantasy football season is nearly over. In dynasty formats, that means you’re entering a period of roster reconstruction in one way or another. Your season will have been defined by some hits and many, many, many misses. But one person's trash is another's treasure — or at least an overly enthusiastic reclamation project.

Equally, a player whom you plucked from relative obscurity may have turned into one of your only consistent scorers. So, which players had the wildest swings in terms of their dynasty value this year?

QB J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings & QB Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons

It didn’t feel fair to pick just one, and it also didn’t feel fair to give each their own space, thus letting another player who would have made this list quietly sneak out. So, McCarthy and Penix are getting bundled together as one.

Fantasy managers spent premium draft capital on McCarthy and Penix, with Penix experiencing a slide only if the prospect of him being a backup for two years made impatient fantasy managers uneasy.

Entering this offseason, both are on shaky ground, and their value has tumbled. Still, most dynasty managers may as well keep them to see if they can recover.

Just how bad have they been? Among quarterbacks with at least 240 dropbacks since 2015, McCarthy (55.0%) is keeping company with Tom Savage (54.1%), David Blough (54.4%) and Zach Wilson (55.9%) when it comes to completion percentage. With a one-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio (11 of both) and a 63.7 PFF overall grade (29th out of 33 qualifying signal-callers), McCarthy will face a short leash heading into his third NFL season.

Right now, McCarthy sits as the QB29. He has been hurt for part of the season, but it’s a mark way lower than fantasy managers expected.

Misery loves company. Penix may also be on a short leash entering the 2026 season. The eighth overall pick last season ranks 32nd out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in PFF overall grade (59.3).

He has rarely used his cannon for an arm to great effect, registering just eight big-time throws (2.7%), ranking him 29th out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks. Currently the QB30 — which is impacted by his missed games through injury — Penix has had only one top-10 weekly finish, and that was Week 1.

Considering Penix's plethora of weapons, it’s greatly disappointing to see his fantasy numbers be so mild.

WR George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys

Has any receiver earned more money this NFL season than Pickens? And has any receiver’s dynasty value skyrocketed as much as Pickens', either? Maybe Jaxson Smith-Njigba’s, but it’s a short list.

The Steelers traded Pickens in the offseason, pairing him with Dak Prescott and company. The fantasy implications were mixed. On the one hand, he was now going to be in a more potent passing attack. On the other hand, he was clearly going to be second fiddle to CeeDee Lamb.

That, in fact, has not been the case. Lamb has missed three games due to injury, granted, but Pickens has been matching his running mate stride for stride in production. His 88 catches for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns are all career bests, and he currently sits as the WR4 in standard scoring PPR formats.

The former second-round pick hasn’t gone away from his contested-catch prowess, either. He leads all wide receivers with 38 contested targets and ranks third in the league in converting those targets into receptions (22), behind only Puka Nacua and Michael Wilson.

That isn’t to say he’s all jump balls with no nuance. Pickens places sixth in the league when it comes to yards per route run (2.41). 

The former Steeler has developed into the true alpha many thought he could be. And his dynasty value has soared because of it.

WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals

This feels like low-hanging fruit. But there are warning signs and big flashing sirens for Harrison's dynasty stockholders.

The former fourth overall pick entered the season off the back of a solid, if not spectacular, rookie campaign and having added substantial muscle to his frame.

But it didn't translate, and Michael Wilson looked more like an alpha receiver than the man the Cardinals drafted inside the top five to be their dominant X receiver. That's not a good sign for Harrison.

Harrison has logged just one top-10 weekly positional finish this season and has three weekly finishes that rank outside of the top 60.

Add to the mix that Harrison hasn’t logged a 100-yard receiving game since Week 8 of his rookie season (and only three games of 90-plus yards since then), and it’s becoming a problem for both the Cardinals and fantasy managers.

In rookie dynasty drafts two years ago, Harrison was either Nos. 1 or 2 off the board, with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams filling the other slot. It’s hard to know what Harrison’s value is right now — perhaps a single first-round pick — but it’s a far cry from what it once was.

TE Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns

The Browns have found something in Fannin. The third-round rookie is the current TE5 in standard scoring PPR formats, and with David Njoku injured, it may represent a passing of the torch on a more permanent basis.

Dynasty managers were picking up Fannin in the back end of rookie drafts or off waivers for next to nothing. As outlined in my “What to expect from tight ends” piece, it’s hard to predict what the future will hold for Fannin. But in the here and now, his dynasty value is at an all-time high.

The Browns will likely get a clearer quarterback picture this offseason. (They’d have to work hard to make the waters muddier than the four-quarterback rotation that they rolled into this campaign with.) That may mean better quality targets for Fannin.

Even with the uncertainty at the quarterback position, and with Njoku (when healthy) still a big part of the offense, Fannin has logged six top-10 weekly positional finishes.

Moreover, the Browns are still searching for a top pass-catching option, as Jerry Jeudy has seriously regressed in 2025. Fannin’s 102 targets (third among all tight ends) have shown the Browns are willing to give him the opportunity to take a grip on the role of primary pass catcher in 2026 and beyond.