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Hope for These Struggling Superflex Dynasty QBs?

Will these QBs turn it around?

With Superflex QBs in Dynasty, holding onto them while their value is tanking creates urgency on your roster:

• Do you hold and hope for a turnaround? 
• Get what you can in a trade?
• When do you just cut them?

Three QBs bring up these questions so far this season:

• Deshaun Watson
• Will Levis
• Bryce Young

Watson mans one of the worst offenses in NFL history, and calls have been made to bench him for Jameis Winston.

Levis leads the league in interceptions with Mason Rudolph breathing down his neck.

Young saw the bench after Week 2, though the Panthers expect him to start again this year. 

Let’s break down both positive and negative film to assess each QB's current level of competency to see if they have the potential to turn it around.

Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

Watson was a three-time Pro Bowler with the Texans but has been an unmitigated disaster with the Browns.

After signing his $230 million fully guaranteed deal despite sexual assault accusations, Watson regressed to a shell of his former self. The Browns offense reflects this.

Per the 33rd Team, this is where the Browns offense ranks out of the 798 teams six weeks into a season since 2000:

The presnap motion tells Watson that the Commanders are in zone coverage, but he fails to recognize it somehow.

Once the MLB blitzes, Watson pulls the trigger on his first read with a throw directly at the robber safety in a shallow zone.

Even worse, the throw was going to be well behind the WR had it not been batted away.

Perhaps it was a miscommunication, and Watson thought the route would break at five yards instead of 10, but that is still a major part of the problem.

Throughout Watson’s film this season, he is not progressing to any other reads. If the first read isn’t there, he either takes a sack, scrambles or throws it anyway with disastrous results. 

On this play, he had a wide-open hitch check down to the left, and never considered it.   

That raises major red flags when a QB can’t (or won’t) even consider additional reads and shows no signs of working back to that.

Combine this with a lack of recognizing coverages and you get a historically bad offense.

When Watson recognizes the defense, good things can happen.

On the play above, Watson reads the DBs on his left after the snap and recognized the cover-6. That means his first read will be perfectly situated behind the second level. 

It’s not the easiest throw, but Watson essentially throws against air for the completion.

This remains the best-case scenario where the first read and defensive play call align perfectly, but that can be rare against NFL defenses.

Downfall is Real

Going through all of Watson’s passes this year, he needed this exact situation for the play to go correctly:

1. Recognize the defense
2. First read matches what the defense is giving
3. Little to no pressure

There wasn’t a play with Watson throwing to a second or third read that was accurate. On top of that, he had very few plays when under pressure where Watson created a positive outcome.

The downfall is real and there is little hope for Watson to turn it around.

It is too late to sell, but certainly don't buy Watson even at an extremely reduced cost.

Our Trade Value Chart has Watson worth 19 points in Superflex, similar to a third-round rookie pick. It may be worth trading him away for that.

Will Levis, Tennessee Titans

Levis entered his second season with new HC Brian Callahan who engineered the dynamic Bengals' offense with Joe Burrow for years.

After starting nine games as a rookie, Levis felt like a solid dynasty asset with upside. He is young with a new promising coach.

The team even added weapons like Calvin Ridley and Tony Pollard.

The results have been disastrous, though, with Levis leading the league in interceptions and averaging nearly three turnovers per full game.

Let’s see if there is any promise left for Levis’ future.

Pressure = Problems

The YOLO ball has been a staple for Levis in every game so far. There is a play or two where the pressure is coming and he whips it up hoping for the best.

This is one of those.

He eyes the single coverage 9-route right from the start, ignoring the single high safety who is reading the QBs eyes. 

Levis stares down his receiver from the snap, causing the safety to slow down in anticipation of a pass along the right sideline.

He doesn’t get near enough air under the ball to get it out in front of the WR, so it is an easy interception.

Similar to Watson, Levis remains a one read and throw QB. He panics under pressure resulting in inaccurate passes.  

He certainly is far from Joe Burrow in the Callahan offense.

On the positive side, Levis has tools when he isn’t pressured.

He reads the zone defense using motion and correctly identifies presnap which WR will be open in this Levels concept. The throw is accurate and his footwork is clean.

But, he still just stares down his target. 

Against a better defense, this play wouldn't have worked with the shallow defender playing back as he watched Levis telegraph the pass.

Levis Hasn’t Developed

The lack of progression development from last year to this year doesn’t bode well for Levis’ future.

He needs an extremely clean pocket and the defense to not recognize his tendencies to even have a chance at making NFL type throws.

Progressions are a key tenet of Callahan's offense. So I don't have much hope of Levis working out.

If he creates a sell window with a good game, take advantage and move him.

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Young’s rocky rookie season was unsurprising, given the circumstances. Not only were the Panthers’ weapons incredibly lacking, but HC Frank Reich got fired midseason.

Hiring HC Dave Canales this year was supposed to fix Young. After all, Canales helped resurrect the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield.

Instead, Young got benched after two games for journeyman Andy Dalton.

Let’s look at film from Young’s first game this season to see if he improved at all from last year.

Development Still Needed

Young’s first pass of 2024 was a disaster.

The Saints attempt to hide their man cover-1 by passing off the motion receiver instead of sticking with him.

Young reads the defense well. He locks in to the open crossing route and launches the pass.

It was so far off the mark, though, that I couldn't even tell who Young was targeting at first watch.

Young’s accuracy and footwork need more time to develop. Benching him to get those corrected makes sense.

But the mental side of his game was still there, even on that horrible INT. 

This comeback route succeeds because Young masterfully manipulates the defense.

Young’s pre-snap recognition is on point again to identify the man coverage. He starts by looking to his left, but he knows the comeback will be there to his right.

Looking off the defense then making a sharp pass is something he couldn't have done as a rookie.

There is some hope for Young's NFL future.

Glimmer of Hope

Young getting benched seems like the death knell for huis career, but there's some hope.

If Canales is developing Young, he could still reach his potential.

The mental side of his game is there. He also has the zip needed if his footwork and accuracy get under control.

Keep holding Young in superflex and maybe toss a few offers out for him in deeper leagues.

You can use our Dynasty Trade Calculator to craft the perfect deal for Bryce Young in your dynasty league.

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Shane Hallam, Writer

Shane has over 20 years of experience creating content and playing every fantasy football format including redraft, dynasty, devy, IDP, and more. He is a multi-year winner of $500 dynasty leagues on the FFPC and utilizes deep film and scheme study to enhance his fantasy performance.