Im looking at grabbing an early 1st round pick if any one is looking to drop back.
I’m always willing to listen to a trade. What are you offering?
Having given them some thought I actually like all your trades quite a bit. You recognize right off the bat that you’re a rebuilding team and sometimes owners in dynasty have trouble recognizing when it’s time to blow it up and trade your aging assets away. You did give up the most important draft pick, but you got a QB that should be a reliable and important part of your team for over a decade. I think QBs in dynasty are underrated by the general public mostly because I think people don’t expect leagues to really last a really long time and/or they don’t have the patience for the long term that having a top QB pays off over the other option, so while I think most dynasty players would not be thrilled to give away the #1 pick for a QB and non-top WR, I think it’s definitely a move that can pay off over the long term.
Shedding Rodgers is an obvious move after that and you got good value out of him. Adams into Higgins is a really good move since your contending window probably won’t appear for another couple of years and Higgins is way younger. I was surprised that Adams is under 30 - he feels like he’s been around for a long time.
Anyway, good moves, good job being bold and decisive right off the bat. I look forward to seeing what you do with your team over the years.
He’s mine…he’s mine…he’s finally mine!
13 years ago I intentionally didn’t pre-rank for our inaugural draft to force myself to wake up for it, as my schedule would have normally had me sleeping at the time. So naturally I overslept, and didn’t show up until (IIRC) the third or fourth round. As (bad) luck would have it, Yahoo auto-drafted me Brian Westbrook with my first pick at 1.08. Brian Westbrook would retire the following year, after rushing for 300 yards both the season I drafted him and the season he retired. Not the best value for what could be argued as the single most important draft pick in any dynasty league: Your first pick in the initial draft.
The fact that he rushed for under 600 yards for the rest of his career was just incidental; only the greatest of the great fantasy backs would be worth spending a first round pick on in the inaugural draft, and only then if they were very young. At least that was my thinking at the time, when my plan was 100% to draft Aaron Rodgers, who looked like he’d be a high scoring fantasy passer for a decade or two. Aaron Rodgers was, in fact, available when Yahoo autodrafted Brian Westbrook. Rodgers should have been mine.
Pretty sure everyone here knows this story from me telling it at least a dozen times over the years, but we have a new guy, and he just traded me Aaron fucking Rodgers!! Woohoo!!! Better late than never.
If I had not slept through that initial draft, I would bet you a dollar that Aaron Rodgers would still be on my team now. I don’t see me ever trading him. And I could have then always used my homer New York quarterbacks as backups; Eli would have been such a better backup to Rodgers than he was my starter for so many years. His greatest ability was availability; the perfect backup.
Looking back at that initial draft (I link to it in post 5 of this thread) the first few rounds were pretty much a run on running backs league-wide. If I were starting a dynasty league today, I wouldn’t look at running backs until after I had starters at QB, WR and TE first. All those careers are two or three times longer than a running back’s career.
Question for everyone who was here at the beginning: If you knew then what you know now, what position would you have taken with your first pick?
1.01 furt: Maurice Jones-Drew
1.02 RNATB: Michael Turner
1.03 Hamlet: Adrian Peterson
1.04 Hermit: DeAngelo Williams
1.05 Stringer: Matt Forte
1.06 Petey: LaDainian Tomlinson
1.07 Retro: Chris Johnson
1.08 Ellis: Brian Westbrook
1.09 Beef: Steve Slaton
1.10 Varlos: Larry Fitzgerald
1.11 Justin: Brandon Jacobs
1.12 dale: Drew Brees
First nine picks were all running backs, some of whom sucked. Adrian Peterson is the only one of them that looks like a legitimately good pick to me. And shout out to dale with the big brain strategy. Drew Brees was a solid pick in that spot, albeit a little old already by 2009.
It feels right to have him retire on your team. I would have traded him to you last year for the low, low price of Saquon back. I guess you decided to make a worse deal to help the new guy. Charitable and kind, though.
Josh Allen, QB, Buf
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Ten
David Montgomery, RB, Chi
Nick Chubb, RB, Cle
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, NE
J.K. Dobbins, RB, Bal
Darrel Williams, RB, ARI
Deebo Samuel, WR, SF
Tyler Lockett, WR, Sea
Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LAR
Rashod Bateman, WR, Bal
Allen Robinson II, WR, LAR
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Cle
DJ Chark Jr., WR, Det
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR, TEN
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atl
Dawson Knox, TE, Buf
Harrison Bryant, TE, Cle
Matt Gay, K, LAR
Dallas, DEF, Dal
Denver, DEF, Den
Los Angeles, DEF, LAC
Cuts
Ray-Ray McCloud III, WR, SF
Jordan Howard, RB
Marcus Johnson, WR, SF
Devonta Freeman, RB, Bal
Travis Homer, RB
T.Y. Hilton, WR
Jalen Reagor, WR, Phi
Damien Williams, RB, ATL
Leaves me with 3 picks. 1.12, 2.12, 3.12
No joke, I would have traded 1.08 for Rodgers. I’m pretty happy to get have gotten the deal done with just the 2.02.
As for my cut list, clearly that has to change. I’d like to drop Mayfield and Darnold, just keeping Rodgers and Jones, and there’s a good chance I will do just that. The only problem is that will give me draft picks at 4.02 and 5.02, and I really don’t want to draft that late.
I was heading into the draft with four picks that end by 3.02. Now it’s looking like 5 picks but they won’t end until 5.02. The horror.
If you wanted Rodgers that bad I tried to sell him several times over the years and I don’t remember you ever sending me a message. A first rounder would be a pretty big overpay I think - how many more years do you think he’s going to play?
Two years. I’m counting on two years, with the hope I can hit on a young guy next year, who then takes over for me in his second year.
You had Rodgers when he had a lot of career left, where he was worth much more than a second rounder. I didn’t have enough capital in my team to offer you a trade that made sense for me.
Also I had Big Ben, who was a good enough substitute that I did manage to miracle a championship from him and CMC.
I’m finally starting to get a more steady footing at running back and wide receiver, but have a glaring hole at quarterback and a looming issue at tight end. With two first rounders, I could afford to try for a 2-year stop gap at quarterback with my second rounder. That was my thinking, anyway.
2.02 is almost a first rounder; it would have hurt but I could have been persuaded to up my offer to 1.08 instead. I legit did not have a starter; Daniel Jones is my best and he scores single digits per game.
If I knew then what I know now, I absolutely would have went QB in the first round. And it probably would have been Brees. I waited until the 6th round to draft Donovan McNabb, and he worked for a few years, but later trading for Brees was one of the best moves I ever made.
Looking at that list, I’m also surprised that at least four of those guys passed through my team at some point. Besides Brees and my homer pick (Brandon Jacobs), I also traded for Forte and Fiitzgerald.
Peteys
QB
Lamar Jackson, Bal
Trey Lance, SF
Mac Jones, NE
RB
Aaron Jones, GB
Josh Jacobs, LV
AJ Dillon, GB
Nyheim Hines, Ind
Mark Ingram II, NO
Myles Gaskin, Mia
Ronald Jones II, KC
WR
Cooper Kupp, LAR
Justin Jefferson, Min
DK Metcalf, Sea
Josh Reynolds, Det
Byron Pringle, Chi
Tutu Atwell, LAR
TE
George Kittle, SF
Zach Ertz, Ari
Def
Arizona
Minnesota
K
Tyler Bass, Buf
Cuts
Tyler Huntley, QB, Bal
Nelson Agholor, WR, NE
Dan Arnold, TE, Jax
Brandon Bolden, RB, LV
Cole Beasley, WR, Trump University
We still need cuts from @Ol_Gaffer and @dalej42. The cut deadline is in about 32 hours, and that’s when the draft begins.
Mayfield won the job and Darnold is now injured, so it’s no mystery which of those two scrubs I’m cutting. Also, apparently Carlos Hyde is a free agent, not on any team. Career looks like it’s fully over, so I guess I have to cut him, too. I really don’t want to draft past round 3 or 4, so I think I’ll just keep my backup kicker (Giants, of course) now instead of waiting until the Chiefs’ bye, when I normally resign him.
New York Fanboys:
(Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB) <== not part of roster until after cuts applied
Daniel Jones, QB, NYG
Baker Mayfield, QB, Car
Saquon Barkley, RB, NYG
Joe Mixon, RB, Cin
Samaje Perine, RB, Cin
DJ Moore, WR, Car
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Ind
Marquise Brown, WR, Ari
Jarvis Landry, WR, NO
Corey Davis, WR, NYJ
Nico Collins, WR, Hou
Sterling Shepard, WR, NYG
Travis Kelce, TE, KC
Jonnu Smith, TE, NE
Harrison Butker, K, KC
Graham Gano, K, NYG
Pittsburgh, DEF, Pit
Cleveland, DEF, Cle
New York, DEF, NYG
New York, DEF, NYJ
Drop:
Sam Darnold, QB, Car
Carlos Hyde, RB, Jax
Kyle Juszczyk, RB, SF
Darius Slayton, WR, NYG
Kalif Raymond, WR, Det
Cutting 5 players leaves 20 (not counting Rodgers), which gives me picks 1.02, 2.02, 3.02, 4.02, 5.02.
The big trade last year with Jules sends my 5.02 to him and his 1.08 to me.
This year’s trade with Mundi sends my 2.02 to him, who then passes it along to Jules.
That leaves my effective draft picks as 1.02, 1.08, 3.02, 4.02, which will bring me to 25 with Rodgers.
Kind of a bummer fantasy career for Carlos Hyde after drafting him 2nd overall back in 2014.
Additional cuts:
-
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Mia
-
Giovani Bernard, RB, TB
So heading into the draft I should have:
Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB (Trade to Ellis)
Jared Goff, QB, Det
Alexander Mattison, RB, Min
Darrell Henderson Jr., RB, LAR
Ameer Abdullah, RB, LV
Cam Akers, RB, LAR
Gus Edwards, RB, Bal
Trey Sermon, RB, SF
Davante Adams, WR, LV (Trade to Jules)
Christian Kirk, WR, Jax
DeVante Parker, WR, NE
Van Jefferson, WR, LAR
Zay Jones, WR, Jax
Pat Freiermuth, TE, Pit
Rob Gronkowski, TE, TB
Greg Joseph, K, Min
Baltimore, DEF, Bal
Las Vegas, DEF, LV
That is 20 which would give me 5 picks. So my draft would be:
1.01 (Trade to Hamlet)
2.01
3.01
4.01
5.01
6.01
7.01 (Trade to Hamlet)
Thanks - you capture my reasoning pretty well (not that it is so difficult to figure out 
)
Obviously the team I took over was in last place for a reason - and I don’t mean that as an insult to my predecessor. You can clearly see a plan that might have come together but circumstances did not align. I had (and still have) 1 starting RB on teh team, I’m just not sure which one it is. My strongest assets were an old QB, a stellar WR going to a new team, and 1st pick in the draft. But I am well more from 1 player away from contending this year. I wasn’t confident that I could draft my way into contention in 2 years, even if I finished last again this year (and I cannot make myself tank - Herman Edwards would hunt me down and hurt my feelings.) So I looked at my roster with my “2 years later” glasses (patent pending.) What did I see:
QB Rodgers retires and I have Goff as my QB1… shudder
RB I probably have the Rams starting RB if I can figure out which one it is. I like Mattison’s chance to get an RB1 shot somewhere next year and prove worthy of it. Edwards was good before injury, but already losing out to Dobbins. Probably a viable backup. Who the hell knows what Shanahan will do with his backfield year over year. He’s been saying really nice things about Sermon - but Sermon has looked like trash in live action. He’s young enough to wait some more before throwing away.
WR Adams going on 32 but still top talent. I like Kirk a fair amount. Think he will be a solid 2/3. Parker is a tease, but he might stand out in NE (how hard is it to look better than Agholor and Meyers? And for some reason big brain Billy cannot draft top-end WR talent.) Jefferson has a chance if he gets enough looks to develop - will be better if OBJ doesn’t come back to the Rams. Zay is just another Jones, but I can’t cut everybody.
TE I like Freiermuth quite a bit as a prospect. Solid 1st year and reliable in teh red zone. Not Pitts by any means, but happy with what he looks like after year 3. Still a chance Gronk comes back this year for a playoff run - which means he might have more value to a contending team later this year than I will get from a 7th round pick in this draft
K Exists in physical space
DEF I have 2. Neither very good, but the Ravens might become good. But this league has an insane number of DEF on rosters. There is nothing but trash on teh heap, so no sense cutting the Raiders for a chance to draft them again later. This is my first time playing Dynasty, so I admit to being mystified by the meta that explains some folks keeping 3 or even 4 DEF on a roster
So . . . plan became pretty simple. Turn whatever I could of my 3 real assets into stronger value in future years without sacrificing respectable competition this year. It quickly became obvious that nobody was going to part with a solid young RB for the chance to draft the next great stud RB/bust lottery ticket, so I waffled for a bit on whether to keep 1.01. But it turns out I really don’t love Breecy on the Jets that much. I was always liked Madman Across the Water better. The pieces I traded for have some risk, but the foundation of Burrow and Higgins is solid, and those are the pieces that should have value for a decade. Maybe Ridley comes back as close to the talent he left. Maybe Juju actually regains his form when not forced into the slot every snap. But I am more comfortable betting on young WR talent in today’s NFL than I am betting that Breece is going to be the RB stud who delivers solid value for 5 years.
Correction: I have 1.09, not 1.08. Justin has 1.08.
I have no idea if keeping a lot of defenses is typically done in dynasty leagues - I really have no other leagues to compare us to. But I do think there are good reasons to do it. For one, defenses always have value - their careers don’t end, they can’t get injured, they won’t retire or get cut. That also makes them scarce - once all of them are taken up, it’s not like you can just draft a rookie defense. They have a finite number.
I suppose you could use the same justification to only keep one defense, though - your defense will never be out and can always be played, so you only need one and don’t actually need depth.
They also tend to be harder to predict over multi-year periods. You know your stud WRs are going to be great unless they’re hurt, but defenses can go from good to bad in a way that’s somewhat hard to predict. It’s good to have several of them because as one is waning hopefully another is rising.
I also really like to play matchups with defenses more than any other position and it’s good to have at least 2 options.
Bye weeks.
Yeah, my thinking was that the Steelers are generally good, and the NY teams are occasionally good. I’m starting to side-eye Cleveland, but honestly all four are pretty darn suspect.
And agreed, being able to play matchups is good.
Ah right, bye weeks, so given that it’s possible that all defenses can be rostered, you really need at least 2.
Because of bye weeks and the ability to play matchups, I’m surprised that any defenses are ever available. You’d think even a bad defense is worth more than a fourth-string runner or TE.