Rebuilding Dynasty Team

Dynasty/Devy Leagues
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First time Dynasty league owner here. 12-team PPR (1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1K, 1DST)
4-6 record in 11/12 position
Current Roster:
QB-Cam Newton, Zach Wilson (Taxi)
RB-Saquon Barkley, Chris Carson (IR), Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson Jr., Alex Collins, Trey Sermon (Taxi), T’yson Williams (Taxi)
WR-Justin Jefferson, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, Allen Robinson, Donovan Peoples-Jones
TE-Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Logan Thomas (IR)

Just traded Darell Henderson, Courtland Sutton + 2023 3rd for Devonta Smith, 2022 1st + 2023 2nd

Minor roster management aside (making room for people coming off IR etc), curious what people’s advice would be for players I should be targeting to compliment my roster, players I should be trading off my roster and if so, what level of draft picks I should be looking for in returns? I did the henderson trade to keep young at WR and have my ‘window’ be open after the 2023 draft in hopes I can hit on a couple of young RBs when my WRs start to enter their prime.

Thoughts appreciated!

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Your strategy sounds good. WRs need ~2 years to develop, Thankfully, in most leagues there is no shortage of impatient owners, who are ready to trade away good WR prospects all too easily.

RBs are a different story. They are either good right out of the gate, or not at all. There are some exceptions, when they have to wait some time for the starter job to open up, like Javonte Williams in Denver right now. But e.g. for Trey Sermon, I don’t see a bright NFL future ahead. He got usurped by Elijah Mitchell, who was drafted after him, and both of them play second fiddle to Jeff Wilson, who just returned.

Mitchell is a player I’d still keep, but Trey Sermon can be swapped with another rookie, if there is anything appealing on the waiver wire. I know it’s hard to drop players like him, as you probably invested some draft capital in him, but I don’t think he’ll ever reach a point where you’d be comfortable starting him. Same for Ty’Son Williams, btw. He had every opportunity this year, and didn’t capitalize.

I’d prefer Chris Evans, Demetric Felton or Jermar Jefferson, if any of them is available on your waiver wire.

As for the rest of your roster - you have a massive problem on QB, but I guess you are well aware of that. Wilson is a terrible QB, and I don’t think he will make it in the NFL, even though the Jets are hell-bent to make it happen. But when you saw how his injury lit up the entire team, you can only guess how popular he is in the locker room.

And Cam’s career is over. There is no reason to believe that he will look any better now than he did over the last 2 years. Which was painful to watch at times. Last week, he was fun to watch (but painful to listen to), but don’t count on that to repeat on a weekly basis now.

Check your league for teams that are over-stacked on QB. If Cam was the best option on your waiver wire, there should be plenty of them. Then go after one of the usually-undervalued QBs like Matt Ryan, Derek Carr or Ryan Tannehill. Even Daniel Jones would be an upgrade over what you have.

Chances are these QBs will only be the 2nd or even 3rd QB on their owner’s roster. Especially the Matt Ryan owner might be very open for modest trade offers right now.

You loaded up on picks and intend to go after RBs - that is the right way to do it. You may want to add a rookie QB as well, but be prepared that you need to stash him even longer than your rookie WRs.

Good luck! Dynasty is my favorite fantasy format. It will keep you busy all year round.

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Yeah not sure if Waddle or Smith will be good long term, but their ages lined up better than Sutton with my plan.

Yeah, its why I blew my whole FAAB budget on Mitchel then picked up Wilson right away and stashed him on IR. Mostly to protect my asset in Sermon on my taxi but with him being a rookie also made sense to prioritize him over Henderson.

Our league has a taxi squad freeze, so I can’t drop T’yson, Sermon or Zach Wilson till after the season or make any changes to it. Evans and Felton are available on the wire but don’t want to drop Collins to protect my investment in Carson. I would like to trade him this season for another pick if he manages to get back to playing this season…

Yeah I missed out on QBs in the start-up draft. Might have undervalued them a bit and ended up getting stuck with Baker at the end of the draft as I didn’t want to take Brady in dynasty (stupid of me…) I picked up Cam more as a joke this week haha. I don’t have anyone else to use and this season is pointless. Matt Ryan is available on the wire though?
I was going to try and trade for a QB when my team was more in the ‘contender’ range based on how I draft the next seasons. And also take a rookie QB to stash on my taxi other than Wilson for next year.

Definitely my favourite format so far!

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We all don’t know. And if we did, fantasy football would be boring. But both Waddle and Smith are fine prospects.

I don’t blame you for reaching for Sermon. Hindsight is always 20/20. On draft day, I was red hot for him myself. Thankfully, I did not get him in either of my fantasy leagues :slight_smile:

Keeping both Mitchell and Wilson absolutely makes sense, as does trading away Henderson. He looked good this year, but will probably lose his starter job to Akers next year.

That’s the right call. Carson would be another trade-away candidate, though, if he has 1-2 big games before the trade deadline. He’s well past his prime. But as long as you have him, it makes sense to handcuff him to Collins.

Pick him up. Fantasy football hates Matt Ryan, and I don’t know why. With that being said, I had him for years, and even I stepped into the trap and sold him way too cheap in the 2020 offseason in a 2QB league. Even this year, I predicted he would regress further. But his completion rate is trending up. As long as he’s starting, it’s good to have him on your roster.

He’ll be a mixed bag for the rest of the season, as he has some tough matchups, and the team just isn’t good. But I think they will be better next year. And it’s not like you’d risk anything by picking him up. Worst case, you move on from him. Best case, you’ll have a high-end QB2 for next year.

What I love about dynasty - even in shallower leagues, you need to know all the players. Not just the top 25 QBs, top 40 RBs, top 50 WRs. We all know what to do with our top picks, but it’s the waiver wire adds that make the difference between a good and a great dynasty team.

After the season is before the rookie draft. I love analyzing NFL rosters, watching college tape for rookies (hint: don’t fall for highlight reels, literally EVERY college player has a few great highlight plays). I play fantasy football for many years now, but since I started playing dynasty 4 years ago, I know a lot more players than I did before.

I picked up Kene Nwangwu shortly before he came off IR. One of the guys in my league shot me a message: “Why??”
Told him: he’s insanely fast, good vision, will play only special teams, but may show highlight-reel stuff there right out of the gate, which could be his path into the Vikings’ offense. Ideally, he’ll become to Cook what Pollard is to Zeke.

His first NFL game - 98 yd kickoff return TD. That’s why you watch tape all offseason. Not that I don’t love it anyway. :sweat_smile:

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Actually, I’d add to this advice: Avoid 49ers completely. As long as Shanahan is there, you can never be 100% certain what his thinking is. Between Mitchell, Aiyuk, Sermon, and Lance, I honestly can’t tell you what Shanahan is thinking. He’s like a bipolar Madden player who wants to start everyone and nobody.

Waddle has already shown brief flashes, and if he ever ends up playing with Deshaun Watson, I shudder to imagine how good Waddle could be.

Smith has potential, just not sure if he’ll reach it with Hurts.

Good advice here. You might even pick up Jameis Winston if he’s available on waivers, and stash him on your IR. He may be a free agent after this season, and could end up in a good situation.

Here is where you can take a lesson from the NFL on QB’s: Get a good veteran and a good rookie. Newton MAY work as your veteran, depending on how he does in the coming weeks. Then you just need to grab a good rookie QB in the draft.

Regardless, I’d grab Matt Ryan. He can be inconsistent, but he can also be awesome at times.

This is why I picked up Demetric Felton. Granted, he’s a smaller player, but he has insane moves on tape. I’ve even gotten trade offers for him, but I turned them down. Honestly, I’d love to see the Falcons acquire him because I could see him as a Cordarrelle 2.0.

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I also see a lot of similarity between Felton and Patterson, and also have Felton stashed in both my dynasty leagues.

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Thanks for all the advice.

Can’t do much about my investment in the 49ers backfield at the moment haha. I latched my horse to that wagon when I drafted Sermon. Overall plan would be to sell high on Carson and ARob to expedite my rebuild, but we’ll see if their values can increase a bit more over the last part of this season.

Will keep my eye out on Felton and Evans. Our benches/Taxi squad size is expanding this off-season so will be able to stash a few more bodies after that.

I picked up Ryan and will hold him this season. Not like I have much to lose there in a toss up betwen him and Cam ha.

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Yeah, errrm… sorry about that. :see_no_evil:

I really thought they just had a bad game last week. But yesterday showed that, without Ridley and Patterson, the Falcons offense is utterly dysfunctional.

Patterson should be back next week, though, and even Ridley may come back still this year. I would hold on to Ryan, unless better options are available on your waiver wire.

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Haha! I mean, Ryan has been on the wire pretty much all year (probably for good reason). If you are able to predict his 40+ point games that manage to save his overall fantasy season then good on you! Honestly it doesn’t matter who I have at QB now. I’ll need to draft one or trade for one when I am closer to contender status anyways. No one on the wire who is going to save me at the position for now.

Once our rosters expand I am looking to stash Jordan Love as he is somehow available right now.

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There is a reason why: Did you see the clunker he put up against KC’s weak pass defense? 34-19-190-1-1. Don’t forget that Davante Adams will probably be gone next year too, so the Packers will be in a total rebuild.

Don’t expect Love to fix your problems. (that also makes great personal relationship advice!)

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Ah, QBs, the one field where Ed and me disagree more often than not. :sweat_smile:

Yeah, Love’s performance against KC wasn’t pretty. But the entire game wasn’t, and it was not all Love’s fault.

It’s way too early to write him off. Just like it would have been way too early to praise him, had he put up a solid performance.

Will Love become a solid NFL starter? Nobody knows. Maybe he won’t. But as long as I can spare a bench spot, I won’t miss out on the chance of getting Green Bay’s 3rd starting QB in 31 years on my dynasty team.

Consequently, I do have him in my main league, and intend to hold on to him throughout next year, even if it won’t be pretty. Because I do agree - the Packers will have a rebuild year next year, and there is every chance they will struggle.

Or maybe they won’t.

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It’s possible that if Love gets an entire off-season as a starter, he may turn out ok. The only rookie QB this season who looks impressive is Mac Jones, although Justin Fields has shown some potential.

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I wouldn’t even go as far as calling Jones impressive. He’s solid. And he shows notable process. But he is an old-school pocket passer QB. Perfect for the Patriots, but a bit outdated in today’s football. It will be interesting to see how he will do once Belichick passes on the baton. Which won’t be in the too distant future.

Fields is great as a runner, but his passing is abysmal on an entirely new level.

Trevor Lawrence looks helpless, but that’s not all his fault. His 2 best offensive weapons (Etienne, Chark) went down early. The remaining offense is underwhelming. And the coaching is… well, let’s not talk about it.

I said before the season: if there is one NFL team that’s capable of messing a talent like Lawrence up, then it’s the Jags.

QBs need time to develop. Some are quicker, some need several years. And they need the right team environment to get to the elite level. Especially in 2 QB leagues, you need to be patient. Chasing after QBs that are elite already is a very costly strategy.

And drafting 1st round QBs doesn’t always work out. As every fantasy owner who invested serious draft capital in Josh Rosen or Dwayne Haskins will gladly confirm.

Bottom line: if you have the option to stash Jordan Love, do it.

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