Young Players To Sell In Dynasty Fantasy Football: Abandon Ship on Bucky Irving?
Sam Wallace highlights four young studs to consider offloading before it's too late in your dynasty fantasy football leagues.
While dynasty fantasy football players naturally look to offload veterans on their rosters once they enter the sunset of their careers, it's equally important to identify young players to sell in dynasty fantasy football to maximize their value. Let's walk through some young players who are worth selling before the 2026 season kicks off.
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Players To Sell In Dynasty Fantasy Football
Bucky Irving | RB | TB
Let's be clear; you're likely to have some strong reactions to the players mentioned in this column since I am suggesting trading away young players who are still A) in their prime and B) potentially highly productive fantasy assets. Let's kick things off with Bucky Irving.
Irving has been the lone bright spot from the 2024 RB Class in what has otherwise been a dumpster fire of a group. Hey, at least Jonathon Brooks might still be a thing.
In 2024, Irving broke out immediately as a rookie to the tune of:
- 207 rushing attempts
- 1,122 rushing yards (5.4 YPC)
- 8 TDs
However, he only appeared in 10 games last season due to a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery. Coincidentally enough, he finally returned to the practice field this week, so there's some level of optimism about his status for the upcoming season, although it's worth noting that no definitive timetable has been given.
In fact, his return to practice provides more of an opportunity to sell Irving. Currently, our early projections have him finishing as the RB22 in PPR scoring formats. While that could be updated as more news comes out about his health in the coming weeks and months, the community perception will likely push his value up quicker than most rankings will.
Irving is still just 23 years old and is getting set for his third season. The Tampa Bay offense added Kenneth Gainwell, who is a phenomenal pass catcher out of the backfield, and Sean Tucker, a bruising, short-yardage option, is still on the roster. When fully healthy, Irving offers strong upside, but I believe he's at the right stage to sell to maximize a return.
Rome Odunze | WR | CHI
This is one I've been monitoring for a while. Well, technically, I've been super high on Luther Burden for some time, but I suppose that naturally lends itself to being slightly lower on Rome Odunze by comparison.
The Chicago Bears lost DJ Moore this offseason but have plenty of firepower to make the NFC North one of the more exciting divisions to watch this fall. To show you just how loaded this team is up front, we currently project four different skill position players to finish with 190+ points in PPR scoring formats.
You'll notice that Burden, Odunze and Colston Loveland are essentially in a three-way tie in terms of projected targets, receptions and receiving yards. By general consensus, Burden (WR19) and Odunze (WR20) are ranked right next to each other in dynasty leagues. In my own dynasty fantasy football rankings, I have Burden up at WR11 and Odunze down at WR29.
Whenever I see disparities like that, I'm naturally inclined to try to extract value however I can. Again, similar to Irving, Odunze is someone who can positively contribute to your fantasy rosters for the next several years. I just believe his value has peaked and that the Bears offense will funnel primarily through both Burden and Loveland. That makes this the ideal time to trade away Odunze for max value.
Marvin Harrison | WR | ARI
This one is definitely more tricky to evaluate. On one hand, Marvin Harrison Jr. has the second-highest score in our Rookie WR Model since 2017. His score of 97 is only behind Ja'Marr Chase (100).
A disappointing rookie season saw him haul in just 62 of 116 targets for 885 receiving yards and eight TDs. That was … fine for a rookie, but certainly not what dynasty managers were hoping for when they spent a premium rookie pick on him. His sophomore season (2025) was cut short due to a multitude of injuries. In all, he dealt with two heel injuries, a concussion and appendicitis, all of which added up to cost him five games.
It didn't help that, in Harrison's absence, third-year wideout Michael Wilson broke out in a big way. He topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his career and scored six TDs over the final five games. Looking ahead to this season, we project Wilson to finish slightly ahead of Harrison.
The Cardinals also have arguably the best TE in football right now in Trey McBride. They also added Jeremiyah Love via the NFL Draft. In short, there are two dynamic, elite playmakers on offense who don't play wide receiver. Toss in another strong season from Wilson, and it becomes easy to see why Harrison might not quite be what we thought he was.
Could Harrison turn it around and become the player so many of us projected? It's certainly possible, but we have almost two years' worth of games of data and an offensive environment with other talented players. Now is a great time to sell him while he still has strong value.
Brian Thomas | WR | JAX
Let's finish up with another controversial, somewhat disappointing wideout. Brian Thomas had a massively successful rookie season in 2024 when he erupted for:
- 133 targets
- 87 receptions
- 1,282 receiving yards
- 10 TDs
Unfortunately, the joy we all experienced was short-lived when Thomas turned in a brutal sophomore campaign. While he did deal with various ailments that included ankle, shoulder and wrist injuries, he did appear in 14 games and only finished with 700+ receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
So, what version of Thomas is the real one? The Jaguars quietly have a strong receiver room that includes both Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers in addition to Thomas. According to our projections, it looks like it'll be a three-way race for the No. 1 wideout position in Jacksonville this upcoming season.
Thomas is certainly the highest valued of the three in dynasty formats, but he's going to need to bounce back in a big way if he's to regain that elite value again. While I wouldn't be advocating for tiering down to Washington or Meyers, I would definitely explore the possibility of trading away Thomas while there's still a handful of things going in his favor.
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