Dynasty Fantasy Football Players to Watch: AFC West Edition | Is Justin Herbert Still a Good Option? What About Isiah Pacheco, Zamir White, Greg Dulcich and Others?

Standard fantasy football leagues are fun, but I most enjoy dynasty leagues. From startup drafts to rookie drafts, making the right waiver wire moves and trades and most importantly assessing a player’s long-term outlook, the in-depth process appeals to me more over a year-to-year setup.

At FantasySP, we mostly focus on standard leagues, but are also here to help the dynasty owners out. In this new series of mine, I’m going to look at every team’s best dynasty players and then players to watch moving forward. 

We’ll stick on the offensive side of the ball and break things down by division. We’ll start with the AFC West, because the reigning champs are from that division. Check back soon for the stories from the other divisions.

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Kansas City Chiefs

We’ll start with the champs, and of course, quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

He’s turning 29 this season, but has plenty left in the tank yet. He’ll be around for at least a decade (if he avoids injuries) and is probably only behind Josh Allen in dynasty rankings - and that’s because Mahomes doesn’t run as much. 

Running backs are becoming less and less valuable in dynasty leagues, but Isiah Pacheco is still a strong dynasty option at only 25 years old. Fantasy backs start falling off before they hit 30 years old, so you still probably have a few big seasons left with Pacheco.

Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy are the team’s top dynasty receivers, while Marquise Brown isn’t too far behind them. Rice gets the edge over Worthy because he’s shown he can deliver in the NFL, and the edge over Brown because of their age. I’m a big believer in Worthy, so I have him ahead of Brown in dynasty formats, but not by very much. 

Tight end Travis Kelce appears to be nearing the end of his career, so his dynasty value gets a big knock. If you have Kelce in a dynasty, make sure you have a plan in place for when he retires, because it feels like it could come soon.

Las Vegas Raiders

Things don’t look great in the dynasty world for Vegas quarterbacks this season. Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell look more like bridge QBs before the Raiders eventually draft a highly-touted rookie.

Running back Zamir White is an interesting dynasty asset. He showed promise in his second NFL season, but now is finally about to get a starting workload. Because we don’t know exactly how White will perform in that role, he’s probably sitting around 30th in the dynasty RB rankings - that’s behind several older backs and some newly-drafted backs.

The Raiders don’t have any young emerging fantasy receivers, so Davante Adams is the best option despite being 31 years old. He looks to have plenty left in the tank, but again, probably sits around 30th at the position in dynasty ranks.

Vegas has two interesting players at tight end - rookie Brock Bowers and second-year pro Michael Mayer. Bowers could play his way into the top tier of dynasty TEs this season, but is probably just outside that at this point. Mayer was highly-regarded out of college, but struggled in year one and now has Bowers to contend with. I think both can still be long-term options, but Bowers is the easy favorite between the two.

Denver Broncos

Denver has several young offensive players who are on the radar of dynasty owners. Things start with quarterback Bo Nix.

He wasn’t many people’s favorite coming out of college, especially after the Broncos reached for him at pick 12, but after a strong preseason, opinions are starting to change on the rookie. Coach Sean Payton had success with Drew Brees in the past, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Nix becomes a good fantasy option someday - I doubt he reaches Brees’ level, but all fantasy owners are really hoping for is at least average play for an extended run.

Denver has several young backs, but no clear favorite for the long haul. Javonte Williams, Audric Estime and Jaleel McLaughlin are all under 25 and could be the lead back in the future.

Williams is the top dynasty option right now because he’s got some history of success in the league. I think he’ll eventually land on a team that wants to utilize him as a workhorse, so I’m not ready to give up on him yet.

Estime is only 20, while McLaughlin is 23, so I give Estime the slight dynasty edge even though he hasn’t appeared in an NFL game yet. Both guys could be decent fantasy options in the years to come if the Broncos part ways with Williams.

Courtland Sutton is the team’s top option for the coming season, but he’s also 28, so youngsters like Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin offer a little more dynasty upside, even though they haven’t done much (or anything) at the NFL level yet. I really like Franklin because he played with Nix in college, and a QB-WR connection can never be overstated enough, especially with two young players just coming into the league.

Greg Dulcich is a name to remember on the tight end front. He was a third-round pick in 2022 and had a solid rookie season before only appearing in two games in 2023. Dulcich is mostly being overlooked right now, but if he can remain healthy, he’s a guy who could be a decent-to-good fantasy option as Nix grows.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers also have some young offensive talent they hope to build around. 

It starts with quarterback Justin Herbert, who is just 26, but is surprisingly low on a lot of dynasty lists I’ve seen. I get it because he was banged up last year (and so far this year), but he was viewed as one of the top QBs in the game just a couple years ago. I think there’s still plenty of big fantasy seasons in Herbert, and I’d love to capitalize on his lower ranking right now - whether that be getting him later in a startup dynasty draft, or acquiring him in a trade for cheaper.

Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins are OK dynasty options, but rookie Kimani Vidal might be the best option even though he hasn’t played yet. I am not super high on Vidal and think the Chargers will draft their RB of the future in an upcoming draft. I would not put much long-term hope in the Charger trio.

There’s young receivers galore in LA, with Ladd McConkey being the top name after being a second-round pick this past offseason. A lot of that has to do with Herbert being his quarterback, and I too am a big believer in McConkey in dynasty leagues. He could become a top-end fantasy option every season if all things come together.

Joshua Palmer and Quentin Johnston are other options, but a tier or two below McConkey right now. Palmer is 24 years old, and has shown flashes in his first few seasons, but just hasn’t been consistent yet. Johnston was a first-round pick last season, but looked like a bust. I’m not ready to give up hope yet, but right now, Johnston’s dynasty outlook is pretty bleak.

Brenden Rice, the son of Jerry Rice, is a name to keep a close eye on. The bloodline is there, and without many proven pass catchers in LA, he might get on the field early, which could help him develop into something special.

The team lacks any decent dynasty tight end options, so expect a draft pick at the position soon.