We've definitely reached the time of year where the collective attention span of the Fantasy Football world turns more toward the current year and less toward Dynasty Fantasy football. I even notice it when I put out a request for Dynasty questions, I get a lot more "who should I keep" questions this time of year.
You can take advantage of this shift in focus as the casuals return to your league and notice they have a hole in their starting lineup. You should be able to get more from them now than you could in June when it comes to future assets. With the rest of the league narrowing their focus, it's a good idea to keep your options open.
With those two things in mind, I'm going to start with one keeper question and one trade question, then we'll jump into some more Dynasty philosophy.
Tank Dell vs. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
This question in particular and maybe a Dell/JSN toss up. Thx!
— #LGM (@StillThaSameOG) July 24, 2024
12 team PPR keeper league. Keep forever, but you lose a round each year.
Currently keeping CMC (1), St Brown (6), LaPorta (7). Need a 4th- JSN (8), Dell (8) or London (2)? Prob picking in the back half of the 1st rd
Boy, we didn't think this would be a question a year ago, did we? I like Dell a lot more this year and a little more forever, so he is the guy I am keeping if the cost is the same. London is ranked ahead of both of them, but the difference between a second, particularly an early second, and an eighth, is much larger than the difference between London and these two wide receivers. Dell's advantages include a connection with his QB and the fact that he and his QB should be together for the foreseeable future. I won't be surprised if he outperforms London this year, and every year after.
One other thing, since we don't often talk about keeper leagues here. Remember that keep forever is rarely keep forever, especially if you're just keeping four or five players. You should consider their Dynasty value, but I would weigh their redraft value more than you might think.
Davante Adams vs. Alvin Kamara
I’ve been wanting to ask if I should try to trade Davante Adams for Alvin Kamara because my contending team is deeper at WR than RB.
— Curtis Christianson (@CurtisCBaseball) July 24, 2024
I like this deal if you can get it done. In a vacuum, I prefer Kamara to Adams right now, and if you have more depth at wide receiver it makes it a pretty easy choice. If Kamara stays healthy this year, he could be a top-five running back and I have a hard time seeing that type of upside for Adams with Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew at QB. And I don't really believe you should expect much more than one more year out of either of them.
Using the Trade Block
Suppose you put a guy on the trading block (and perhaps you avoid this problem by never, ever doing that) ... how do you deal with lazy questions like "What do you want for him?"
— Pigbirdjetfan (@PigbirdJetFan) July 24, 2024
First, I haven't really found the trade block to be an effective way of marketing a player. What takes a little more time is to offer that player to every team you think might want him and actually get negotiations started. In that process, I will also tell the rest of the league that I am offering the player to everyone so that they know that he could be dealt to anyone at any time. That is meant to inspire a sense of urgency, even if it does annoy some league members.
But, to answer the question, I would probably just send them an offer and tell them what I want. I know that no one likes to make the first offer, but if you become the guy who doesn't mind making the first offer you are going to get a lot more deals done. Be thankful they reached out at all and try to turn that communication into a trade that makes your team better.
When to go all in
In general if you’re a contender and plan on trading your 1st
— Stephen (@stephen0128) July 25, 2024
Do you want to do it early to have the player longer?
Or wait and make sure whoever you get is healthy when you need him.
This is a good question, and one more contenders should think about more often. For the most part, my answer is that I want to hold the first until as close to the trade deadline as I can, to make it more likely the guy I trade for is healthy in the playoffs. There are a couple of exceptions though.
One, is that if you're getting a significant discount this time of year, I will make the deal. If a manager with vets is willing to take a haircut either to avoid risk or to get point scorers off his roster, then I will oblige. The other is if there is an arms race in the middle of the season and I see other contenders building monsters. If I truly have a chance to hang with them, I may make a deal earlier than I would like.
Valuing running backs
How do I make myself draft an RB in a start up knowing its a deteriorating asset and will hold less long term value than every other position
— Robert Canfield (@RobbyCan81) July 25, 2024
If you aren't planning on competing in Year 1, then you really don't need to. At least not high-end running backs. Even on rebuilders, I like to stockpile backup running backs, because when a guy like a Zamir White becomes a starter you have a chance at instant profit.
I will also say I have heard a lot more talk about "deteriorating assets" and future value the past few years when it comes to Dynasty. While I do think it's a smart way to look at Dynasty, I also like to remind people, as Herm Edwards once said, "We play to win the game." Good luck doing that without any running backs.
Email from Jake
Everyone in Dynasty is obsessed with finding the next Puka value player on the Dynasty waiver wire.
I don't expect any of these guys to actually be Puka but could they be valuable $0 adds?
Are any of these guys good end-of-roster holds into the preseason?
Trey Sermon is absolutely a good hold. If Jonathan Taylor goes down, I would expect Sermon to be the first man up and perform like an RB2. Demarcus Robinson is probably the most likely guy to do something, but I like him better in Bestball leagues, where I don't have to decide when to start him. Jared Wiley has had a great summer, and Travis Kelce is approaching the end rapidly. I would like to put Wiley in a taxi squad, but he might come out of that slot if Kelce got hurt.
