If you're in a dynasty league, you're always on the look out for the next big thing. More to the point, unlike typical redraft leagues, you have a roster, an open waiver wire (probably), and a long list of free agents to consider in your off moments. Should I add this guy? Can he help my team in 2014, 2015, or further down the road?
I spend a lot of time looking at these free agents and considering them. Here are 10 guys, in no particular order, available in one of my two dynasty leagues. Perhaps they're also available in yours.
1. Dustin Keller. If you add Keller you're thinking short-term; he's 29, which is old for a tight end. But things have been so quiet regarding him lately I can't help but think he has a verbal agreement with some team to sign right before training camp. If that team is the Patriots, he becomes awfully intriguing in fantasy leagues.
2. Alfred Blue, Texans. Blue is just a sixth-round pick, but let's not hold that against him. Other sixth-round running backs from the last decade or so include Chester Taylor, James Starks, Alfred Morris and Andre Ellington. If you're wary of selecting Arian Foster in the first round it's because you think he might get hurt, and behind him are Andre Brown (also an injury risk) and Blue.
3. Justin Forsett, Ravens. Ray Rice is looking at a multi-game suspension, leaving Bernard Pierce as the likely Week 1 starter. Pierce isn't available in most dynasty leagues, but he's coming off a surgery and did nothing with his opportunities to play a year ago. Forsett is expected to get passing downs work with Rice out.
4. Lorenzo Taliaferro, Ravens. Perhaps you're sensing I'm not much of a Bernard Pierce fan. I actually traded Pierce away in February -- and I have Rice on my roster. I don't view him as the heir apparent in Baltimore, so Taliaferro deserves to be on a roster on the off chance he is.
5. Robert Herron, Buccaneers. I'm trying to figure out how to get him on my roster. The sixth-rounder impressed at OTAs and is in the mix to be the slot receiver for Tampa Bay, competing with the likes of Louis Murphy and Chris Owusu. Even their projected No. 2 wideout, Mike Evans, is a green rookie. Herron could make a quick impact and be a nice player to have in dynasty. It's harder to find sixth-round receivers who have made an impact in recent years, but one noteworthy guy is Antonio Brown.
6. Jeff Janis, Packers. There's a popular belief that second-rounder Davante Adams is the heir apparent in Green Bay (Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb are both in contract years), but Adams didn't stand out at OTAs, and Janis did. There might be more than one opening in Green Bay's top three receivers regardless, and while Adams is owned in every dynasty league, Janis is available. A worthwhile flier in deeper leagues.
7. Devin Street, Cowboys. Street is just a fifth-round pick, but Dallas is already going with a youngster at No. 2 wideout (Terrance Williams) and may need somebody else to step up. Dallas should be a pass-heavy offense and their defense figures to be terrible, so Street -- though not a great 2014 option -- could develop into a viable offensive piece down the road.
8. Nick Toon, Saints. The son of former Jet Al Toon flopped in his chances to get on the field last year, and now he's buried behind a couple of other youngsters in New Orleans in Brandin Cooks and Kenny Stills. But both of those guys are unproven, and Marques Colston is older and injury-prone. Maybe this is the year the light comes on for Toon, and if it does, better he be on your roster than another one.