Finishing the Rebuild

Dynasty/Devy Leagues
1

In 2020, I took over an orphan team that was in a pretty desolate state. The 2021 season didn’t go too well, but 2022 could be a lot better.

Full PPR, 12 team, 20 keepers
1 QB / 2 RB / 2 WR / 1 TE / 1 FLEX (RB/WR/TE) / 1 K / 1 DST

QB: Trey Lance, Jameis Winston, Daniel Jones, Mitch Trubisky, Tyler Huntley

RB: Travis Etienne, Ronald Jones, Sony Michel, Myles Gaskin, JD McKissic, Nyheim Hines, Kenneth Gainwell, DeeJay Dallas

WR: Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, Michael Pittman, Van Jefferson, Jakobi Meyers, KJ Osborn, Laviska Shenault, D’Wayne Eskridge

TE: Dalton Schultz, Pat Freiermuth

Players in bold are my starters.
Players in italics are the ones I intend to cut prior to the 2022 draft.

I have no 1st round pick, but the 2.02 and 2.08.

My plan is to bundle either the two second round picks, or a 2nd plus Pittman or Jefferson, and try to get a solid 1st in return.

As I see it, I don’t need depth in this draft (we pick rookies + free agents). The one thing I need is a good RB. So I’m ready to give up every pick I hold, plus any WR not named Chase or Waddle, and get some punch on RB. Either Javonte Williams, D’Andre Swift or a top pick.

What do you guys think?

2

Let’s take this position-by-position…

At QB, I want to see what happens during the offseason with your QB’s. But the first thing I saw that might give me pause with Daniel Jones was the hiring of the Bills OC Brian Daboll as the new Giants HC. Remember, Daboll was the guy who turned Josh Allen into THE QB1, and Jones is a similar style of QB.

I also want to see where Trubisky and Huntley end up next year. If they end up in a juicy situation like Pittsburgh or Denver, you might want to reconsider dropping.

At RB, I see a lot of potential, but there needs to be some offseason stuff. Like Ronald Jones needs to end up on a decent team. For example, if he ends up with Miami, Gaskin becomes expendable. As for Michel, with Cam Akers returning, and Darrell Henderson still around, not sure what value Michel will still bring.

As for your WR corps, it is a thing of beauty, and I wouldn’t change a thing. You’re locked and loaded for years to come. You got Chase AND Waddle? (and Etienne too?) How many first rounders did you have last year?

At TE, don’t be surprised if those TE’s switch during the season for you. Freiermuth started to show real promise in 2021, and a decent QB can only make him better.

As for your guys who are my guys…

I would still love to see Jameis end up in Pittsburgh, but I know that’s a pipedream. He’s on my dynasty team, and I liked what I saw from him before he got hurt. He still has amazing efficiency in the red zone.

Last season, Waddle was my first round pick, and I was quite pleased with him. He will be my starter for years to come.

KJ Osborn is a quandary to me. He scored a td in 5 of his last 6 games, but he had only 19 catches on 35 targets. He’s not exactly Adam Thielen, but you can’t quite drop him, can you?

Schultz is my starting TE too. It was looking like Maxx Williams was gonna be my TE before he got hurt, and I traded for Schultz. I still need depth at TE, with Foster Moreau as my only other TE. But I have too many other needs to waste draft capital at this position, so I have to let Schultz ride for another year.

1 Like
3

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

QB is definitely my most fluid position. I’m not opposed to carrying 3 QBs through next season, as Trey Lance is still an unproven asset. Daniel Jones definitely got more interesting, also since the Giants at least verbally committed themselves to him. Winston, Trubisky and Huntley are indeed landing spot dependent.

Jones is heavily landing spot dependent. I wouldn’t be surprised if he can play an RB2 season, but I certainly don’t want to bet on it. RB is definitely the position where I still need help. Gaskin is borderline droppable. I expect the Dolphins to sign or draft a new RB.

Three (1.1 , 1.4 and 1.9), plus two 2nds (2.3 and 2.7). That got me Chase, Etienne, Waddle, Lance and Freiermuth. All 5 players were very high up on my wish list. I’d love to have taken Najee Harris, but then I wouldn’t have gotten Chase, as the #3 team was loaded on RB, but very WR needy (they ended up drafting Kyle Pitts). My expectation was that Etienne would be almost as valuable as Harris in a full PPR league. We’ll see this year if that plan works out.

Schultz is a free agent, and as the Cowboys still have Blake Jarwin (who was supposed to be their TE1), it’s not sure if they will re-sign Schultz. But he’ll certainly find another job. Freiermuth is a fantastic prospect and has top 5 potential. We’ll have to see who will throw him the ball next year. I just hope it won’t be Mason Rudolph.

Just for fun, here is the roster I took over before the 2020 season:

QB: Jimmy Garoppolo, Ben Roethlisberger, Andy Dalton, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco
RB: Devin Singletary, Latavius Murray, Peyton Barber, Darrel Williams
WR: Tyreek Hill, Cole Beasley, Larry Fitzgerald, DeSean Jackson
TE: Austin Hooper
No 1st and no 2nd in the 2020 draft.

1 Like
4

You’re right, that was a pretty brutal team you inherited. Of the ones you got rid of, only Peyton Barber and Darrel Williams showed me something last year. And I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t have gotten rid of them, as your resulting roster is still better.

I suspect you used Tyreek to get more players/draft picks, and that was a good move. If you’re in a rebuild, getting rid of your biggest star is your best move.

1 Like
5

Exactly. I also had Kittle, whom I also sold. He’s missing in the above list, as the previous owner must have added him during the offseason, before he abandoned the team.

For Hill, I got Jalen Reagor, Hunter Henry and a 2021 1st.
Reagor and Henry were turned into more picks later on.

For Kittle, I got RoJo, Michael Pittman and another 2021 1st. That was shortly before the Bucs signed Fournette.

Keeping them wouldn’t have helped me. I would have won 2-3 games, but that would not have gotten me anywhere near the playoffs. It would have devalued my future picks, though.

Looking at the transaction history, I made a ton of trades. Most of them turned out to be okay. Trading away Hunter Henry instead of Jonnu Smith was a mistake, and I now certainly wish I would have kept Singletary. But both decisions made sense at the time I made them. Stuff happens. :sweat_smile:

6

The Hunter Henry thing is in hindsight, but you did far better with your TE’s than Henry, so it doesn’t matter.

As for Singletary, Buffalo’s running game is an afterthought to Josh Allen. I don’t expect Singletary to ever be an RB1 in fantasy. Sure, Singletray finished with great stats, but 5 of his 7 rushing TD’s came then (he did his only receiving TD of the year in the final week), versus (in order) Carolina, New England, Atlanta, and the NY Jets. Three of those teams had already checked out for the year, and weren’t great defenses anyway. He’d have only been useful in the playoffs, but I doubt anyone riding Singletary made the playoffs on his back.

I still like that Kittle trade. That will help you in the long term, assuming RoJo ends up somewhere half decent.

Therein lies the secret to rebuilding. Yes, you were kind of tanking, but you did it with purpose, and I applaud your rebuild effort.

I still think it’s funny when I listen to the media harp about the Dolphins and Browns tanking, and think, “The fans were the ones who came up with the Tanking for Tua thing. And dynasty owners do it all the time! What is the deal?” And when I hear “integrity of the game” lauded as an excuse, I refer them to the Washington Redskins sex scandal.

As long as teams aren’t losing so the head coach or owner or one or more of the players can win a bet they placed (hello, Pete Rose), I have no issue with tanking for purpose, especially draft picks. Every fan base respects the value of high draft picks. If you are out of the playoffs anyway, what difference does it make?

As for fantasy, as long as you submit a roster every week, and it is reasonably ok, even if your team sucks overall, then you are maintaining the integrity of the game.

1 Like