Dynasty Stock Market: Destination Players

Ryan McDowell Posted On October 10, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, I made a big trade in one of my main dynasty leagues. I dealt Jamaal Charles, Joique Bell and a future second round rookie pick for Trent Richardson. Now, the merits of the trade can be discussed ad nauseam with little to gain. What happened next is what will be the focus the upcoming weeks of the Dynasty Stock Market. After the trade was accepted, I called my most trusted dynasty advisor (we all have one of those, right?) and quickly asked for his opinion on the deal. His response was that he liked it, except for the fact that there was no “next move” I could make with Richardson. I knew his reasoning for this was based on the fact that I have Richardson ranked as my top running back in dynasty, but I was still confused by his point. After all, if I just acquired one of my most coveted players, even at a steep price, should I really be looking for a “next move” involving that player? I explained to him that the idea of being “stuck” with Richardson was perfectly acceptable to me since he was a player I ranked highly and had no intention to move. In my explanation, I used a label for Richardson that has been stuck in my mind ever since- Destination Player.

As the definition of this new term formed in my mind, I thought of other well-known “destinations,” including destination weddings and destination jobs. I’m sure most people are familiar with those terms. A destination wedding takes place when a bride and groom choose an exotic locale for their dream day. Friends and family are often invited along to support the couple. Though I’ve never been a part of a destination wedding, I imagine the happy couple can think of no better place to say their vows and would not trade that memory for anything.

Often times newly hired coaches will refer to their new position as their “destination job,” alluding to the fact that they have reached their pinnacle and plan to spend the remainder of their careers with that same school or team. These coaches, and many others who find ultimate satisfaction in their current careers, would not trade their job for any other position in their field. Whether we’re talking about weddings or jobs, simply stated, this is where you want to be.

This idea is what I had in mind when the term destination players popped into my head. Richardson falls into that category for me, as do many others that we’ll get to later in the series.

Defining Destination Players:

So, what exactly is a destination player? Very simply stated, a destination player is one whom, once on your team, will almost certainly be staying there for the majority of his career. Your dynasty team is that player’s ultimate destination, at least when it comes to your league. There is a big difference between defining and identifying destination players. My list of destination players will look vastly different from yours and all other dynasty owners. This is partially due to league parameters and current status of your team. For example, if you play exclusively in two quarterback leagues, your list of destination players would likely be littered with quarterbacks, while those in standard start one quarterback leagues would have far fewer signal callers making up their list. The same variations can be expected in leagues with tight end premium scoring, developmental players or any other format that typically affects player value. Another aspect that could alter your list of destination players is the current status of your team. For example, if you are early in a rebuild, there may be a veteran player that you would normally love to have on your team, but it makes little sense to roster him at all, let alone for the long term.

We will focus more on how to identify destination players later, but there are really two main categories that should make up all lists of destination players. The group that makes up the majority of destination players is often referred to as studs. These are the players at the top of any set of dynasty rankings and players whose value is as high as it can get. It should not be difficult to identify these players and once you get them on your team, there’s a good chance they’re not going anywhere. I’m talking about players like Aaron Rodgers, LeSean McCoy and Calvin Johnson. Again, these are obvious players who would be labeled as destination players.

The next group of destination players signals the beginning of the variance from list to list. This criteria is based on your own dynasty rankings. I realize many owners do not create their own dynasty rankings. Trust me, it’s a taxing activity, but one I enjoy. If you do create and maintain your own rankings, this exercise should be fairly simple. If not, it may take more time, but I think it will pay off. A player can be a destination player for you no matter where they are ranked, even if they are outside your top ten players at a given position. If you find that you value a specific player abundantly higher than all others in your league, he has now become a destination player for you. That’s not to say that you would never consider trading that player, but rather, because you value him so much more than the large majority of dynasty owners, it is highly unlikely that anyone in your league would be willing to pay the price you’d require. An example of this type of player for me would be the Redskins rookie tight end Jordan Reed. Reed was a player I watched throughout his college career at Florida, during which time I became a big fan. I made it a priority to draft Reed in as many leagues as I could. Although he is not highly ranked by the majority of dynasty owners or experts, nor is he considered a fantasy starter yet, he is a player I value highly, much higher than most dynasty owners. Because of that, Reed fits the role of destination player for my team.

As you can see, there are many players that could fit into the category of destination players. The next step would be to identify which players would comprise your list of destination players. That idea will be next week’s topic in the Dynasty Stock Market.

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Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.