☕️Bi-Weekly Brew: Seattle Seahawks Edition

By The Dynasty Cafe · August 5, 2026 · Play For Keeps Articles

Welcome back to The Dynasty Cafe for 15th Edition of the ☕️Bi-Weekly Brew, where I provide some special blends for YOUR specific build.  Be sure to try out the previous Brew if you missed it! The 49ers and that dreaded substation were the topic of conversation last time.  That article has already aged poorly, as ☕️The Espresso Shot Ricky Pearsall is out for the season.  What can I say?  They can't all be winners! I would still acquire him, just at a price lower than what was recommended.  Hopefully the other targets hold up a little longer than Ricky!  

Today, we're in the presence of greatness as we discuss the reigning, defending, undisputed champions of football: the Seattle Seahawks!  Seattle saw a bit of a shakeup offensively with the departures of their Super Bowl MVP RB Kenneth Walker III and OC Klint Kubiak.  In their places are rookie RB Jadarian Price and OC Brian Fleury.  Other than that, the offense widely remained the same.  Sam Darnold is back for year two in Seattle, fresh off a 4000 yard, 25 TD season, and his WR room is unchanged.  JSN is still top dog, with Rashid Shaheed and second year WR Tory Horton playing a supporting role.  Can the offense click like last year, or will there be some hiccups adjusting to a new scheme?  Let’s talk about some players to watch out for and acquire off the defending champs! 

☕️Bi-Weekly Brew Themes☕️

For those that are new: welcome in!  Here’s what you’ll find in each edition of the ☕️Bi-Weekly Brew:

In each brew, we will assume super flex is in play, with full point PPR and .5 TEP. 

For each team, we’ll be identifying:

☕️Our House Blend: the perfect player for any build

☕️The Espresso Shot: a player to provide that high upside boost to your rebuilding team

☕️The Dark Roast: ole reliable, a player that can push a contender to its peak

☕️House Blend: Jaxon Smith-Njigba☕️

I don’t mean to be Captain Obvious on this one, but JSN is an absolute stud and should be kept on ALL builds.  DO NOT TRADE THIS MAN!  The 24.4 year old WR is coming off career highs in receptions (119), yards (1793), and touchdowns (10).  There are no signs of slowing down, as the target competition remains the same as last year.  In this same receiving room in 2025, he saw a league leading 35.8% target share!  There’s no reason to believe he won’t see another Top 10 target share again this season, which will allow him to continue hammering out points for competitive teams.  If you’re competing and have an embarrassment of riches, it’s time to start trading some depth and picks to acquire JSN. 

Photo Credit: Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo

The rebuilding case is a little different.  This is more of a recommendation to “hold” if you’re rebuilding as opposed to going out and acquiring him.  It may be tempting to turn him into a cornucopia of draft picks, but it’s best to just hold given his age and ability.  It’s easy to project him as a Top 5 dynasty WR for the next 5+ years, and players like that are hard to acquire.  If you have someone like this, hold at all costs, with the exception of an absolute overpay.  Unless you’re getting what’s guaranteed to be the 2027 1.01 on top of a couple more 1sts, it’s hard to create a package worth trading JSN for.  If you have JSN in a rebuild, hold him and fill out the rest of the roster around him.  I’ll discuss below how to go about acquiring him if you’re a rebuilder because it comes with a few caveats.  

Let's take a look at some JSN trades, courtesy of the Sharp Tracker:

The years don't really matter for me here.  If I'm close to being the best team in my league and have a chance to get JSN, I'm doing it.  Three 2027 1sts? I'll take JSN.  A combo of 2027 and 2028 1sts? Yep, sign me up for JSN.  If I had an abundance of draft capital, I'd even throw a 2nd on top to push this across the finish line.  It's not every day you get a chance to acquire a 24 year old superstar.  Don't get blinded by the bright and shiny bling of the draft capital; get the guy that is a bona fide superstar and pushing himself further into the conversation for dynasty WR1 by the day.  

I would consider this trade as a rebuilder as well, but it would depend on how much draft capital I have.  If you're someone with an absurd amount of 1sts in the coming years, go ahead and trade some capital to get a superstar to progress your rebuild.  If you only have a few picks, maybe look to use them in other ways.

Probably unlikely this trade comes across your desk, but for those that don't have 18 picks to ship off, this is another option for acquiring JSN.  As a contender, I can go either way on this one.  It's smarter to take the JSN side just given how close JSN and Ja'Marr are production wise, but I can understand the argument for chasing a title with Ja'Marr instead of JSN.  

As a rebuilder, you have to take this.  You get a younger WR with similar ability AND an extra 2nd.  There's nothing more to say.  If you're a rebuilder with Lamb, Jefferson, Chase, or Sun God, I'd do something similar to get JSN if possible.  I'd even put a little on top of these guys to get a few years younger at WR but still maintain high levels of production.  

In all honesty, it's hard to pry superstars from opposing owners.  I'm not saying these are guaranteed to get the deal done; they're merely starting points.  These happened in real leagues, so don't be afraid to shoot for the moon.  The worst that happens is a rejection.  

☕️Espresso Shot: Tory Horton☕️

The Seahawks’ 2025 5th round pick out of Colorado State wasn't targeted often last year, but when he was, he made it count.  Horton turned his 22 targets into 13 receptions and 5 TDs in eight games.  Unfortunately, his season was cut short by a cracked tibia, which left everyone wondering “What could have been?” in a rookie year that got off to a hot start in the scoring department.  He also had a punt return TD, which shows just how electric Horton can be when he gets the ball in space.  With Rashid Shaheed in town, I would be surprised if Horton maintained his punt return duties.  However, that doesn’t mean he can’t make an impact in the passing game.  

Photo Credit: Stevem Bisig/Imagn Images

The WR2 spot alongside JSN is wide open, and the youngster could make a run at it.  All reports out of Seahawks' camp say that he is healthy and looking good.  Rebuilders should look to add him now before his value continues to go up.  He’s a young asset that could take over a somewhat meaningful role in the Seahawks’ offense for the next few years, which can in turn translate to long term fantasy production.  Look to add Horton as a guy who has the potential to be a weekly flex play, at worst.  It’s not flashy, but not every move needs to be a home run. 

Horton is going to get some camp buzz, so the time to act is now.  Here is a trade I pulled from Sharp Tracker that is a good trade recipe for acquiring Tory:

3rd round picks are lottery tickets.  I'd trade any 3rd to get Tory on my team.  As discussed above, Tory has already flashed his talent and can easily take over the WR2 role in this offense.  I also saw a lot of trades where Tory was thrown in as filler in larger trades.  Given his current price, I would be reaching out sooner rather than later to acquire Horton.  The more time goes by, the more his value will slowly creep up.

☕️The Dark Roast: AJ Barner ☕️

AJ Barner quietly put together a solid 2025 season.  He became the full time starter and put up 519 yards with 6 TDs.  What really peaks my interest with Barner is his rushing game usage.  Seattle took a page from the Eagles’ playbook and broke out a tush push of their own, opting to use the 6'6, 250 lb TE in short yardage scenarios.  Barner holds sneaky upside potential if they were to start implementing this tactic more regularly on the goal line.  Goal line back Zach Charbonnet is out as he recovers from injury, leaving an opening for some goal line work.  If Barner were to be used on the goal line to convert tush pushes into TDs, he would bring a level of usage from a TE that we have really only seen from Taysom Hill.  As it stands now, he produced a Top 15 TE season in 2025, and that was with only one rushing TD.  

Photo Credit: Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo

Another point of optimism comes in new OC Brian Fleury, who spent time as the 49ers' TE coach from 2022-2025.  In that time, 49ers' tight end George Kittle put up three Top 5 finishes, and a Top 15 finish in an injury shortened 2025 season.  Could we see an uptick in production for Barner with Fleury calling the shots?  Barner only saw a 14.9% target share last season.  It’s not far fetched to think he plays a more prominent role in the offense given the lack of receiving weapons brought in.  Barner is a cheap acquisition for contenders looking to bolster their TE room.  He's a low risk option who comes with high upside.

Let's discuss a trade involving AJ Barner:

I was a little shocked I couldn't find a cheaper trade, but this is an ok starting point.  Ideally, I'd be looking to acquire him for no more than a 2028 2nd.  Depending on pick situation, a 2027 2nd could be ok, but it can probably be better spent elsewhere.  I have other TEs in my rankings that I would rather pay a 2027 2nd round pick to acquire.  Realistically, I'd be pushing for Barner and a future 3rd if I had to give up a 2nd round pick.  Not every trade picked from the Sharp Tracker is meant to be the exact blueprint for a trade; they're mainly just starting points for discussion.  The one above is fine, but it could be reworked to something more palatable for the Barner side.

☕️Note to Readers☕️

Be sure to explore the Sharp Tracker for more trade ideas like those above.  That is a great tool for gauging moves from some of the sharpest players in the Play For Keeps database.  Also, be sure to check out the Dynasty Rankings tab!  There you can see PFK rankings, upload your favorite experts rankings or create your own, and upload them to your Sleeper queue for upcoming drafts! 

I hope you enjoyed the content you consumed here today, and I look forward to seeing you for the next edition of the ☕️Bi-Weekly Brew! 

Remember to follow @TheDynastyCafe on X for additional content and updates!  

Have a question about something mentioned in the article, or ideas for a future topic?  Feel free to reach out! DMs are open for all questions, comments, concerns, and heckles. 

Good luck and happy trading!

Cover Photo Credit: Getty Images, courtesy of BBC.com

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