The DLF Mailbag: Bonus Edition
Welcome to the latest bonus edition of the weekly mailbag.
Send me your questions using the DLF Mailbag Form and I’ll include the best in future articles. Remember the guidelines to have the best chance at seeing your question get posted:
1.) Dynasty questions only, no start/sit questions
2.) Help me help you by providing sufficient information about your league (e.g. line-up requirements/PPR or non-PPR/etc.), and include your first name and where you’re from.
3.) Your chance of getting your question answered is inversely proportional to the length of the question.
Let’s get to it!
*Editor’s Note – For total team evaluations, please be sure to use the DLF Newsletter Team Advice Form!*
1.) So, in my upcoming draft I have the number two overall pick. I am debating on what I should take, quarterback or receiver. With an extra FLEX spot it is tempting to take Antonio Brown. My other thought is to take Aaron Rodgers, depending on if he goes first. If he does go first should I take Andrew Luck, or just stick with Brown? – Karl in WI
There’s no way I’d take a quarterback first overall in a 1QB league, even despite how good Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck are. The fact is you can get reasonable talent at the position later on, without sacrificing too much value. I have no issue with the selection of Antonio Brown first overall, and would also consider receivers such as Julio Jones and Dez Bryant as well. These are players who can provide you with a legitimate weekly and yearly advantage, and would be a much better use of your draft capital than any of the signal callers would.
2.) My league has a contract cap of 80 years and a separate practice squad that you can stash rookies on for up to three years. Practice squad players can be poached by other teams who offer them contracts on their active roster. If I decline to match the offer I receive a draft pick one round higher than originally drafted. I drafted Dorial Green-Beckham at 2.01 and planned to stash him, but there are some very receiver-needy teams and his preseason play so far makes it unlikely he will last through the season. Unfortunately I am pressed up near the cap already. Should I sign him to a short two-year contract just to be sure I keep him, or is getting a random 2016 first rounder back enough to resign myself to losing him? – Paul in Vancouver
[inlinead]Given Dorial Green-Beckham’s rawness, I don’t believe he’s overly likely to contribute as a rookie. As such, if you can only afford a two-year contract for him, at best you’ll be getting just one year of fantasy viability. I already have my reservations about Green-Beckham, mostly as it relates to his off-the-field concerns, so I’d be perfectly fine if you could get a first round pick in return for getting him poached from your practice squad. It would also ensure you get something in return for your second round selection, as opposed to the potentiality of throwing two contract years down the tube. I’d be fine rolling the dice.
3.) I am in a 32 team, 53-man roster league. Our league is salary cap based ($100M) and I am somewhat comfortably beneath that cap at roughly $93 with 51 players. Free agency is winding down and the league requires a minimum of 35 players for each roster. A lot of teams who were not active early in free agency are now scrambling to find ANY players to get their teams up to the minimum 35 players. I have been contemplating taking a few players that I overpaid for that are up there in age (Jon Beason, Clay Matthews, Roddy White) and trying to trade them for rookie picks in the next few seasons. My team is very good so I am in win now mode. Is this a good strategy to have, especially since some owners may be willing to overpay for decent players since the free agency pool is so thin and mainly 3rd string players at this point? – Justin in DE
As a contender, you essentially you need to decide if the players you’re looking to move will have a prominent role for you this year. If they are then I’d stand pat – it’s hard enough to win in a 32-team league even if you have a fantastic lineup, and weakening your roster would only make it that much tougher. However, if you truly believe you can live without them I’d absolutely explore some trades. Contending in the present if great, but churning the middle of your roster for future picks should ensure you stay a contender for years to come.
4.) At the moment do would you rather own Tevin Coleman in Atlanta or Bishop Sankey in Tennessee? – Russ in London
Tevin Coleman, please and thank you. Look, there’s a decent chance he might not amount to anything, but I think we’ve seen a reasonable amount on Bishop Sankey to know he’s not going to live up to his draft status. Continuing, he simply hasn’t earned the trust of his coaches, who were looking to give rookie David Cobb some run with the starters before his untimely injury. If nothing else, Coleman was handpicked by the new Atlanta regime, and only has the underwhelming Devonta Freeman as a roadblock. He plays on the better team with the better quarterback, and is in a weaker division. Though I’m not completely throwing in the towel on Sankey, I’d prefer the unknown upside of Coleman.
5.) I just entered a startup keeper league. There’s some good and bad in my situation: the good is I have two first round picks at 1.05 and 1.07! The bad is I don’t have a pick in the second or third rounds, and therefore my next pick is 44th overall. The situation/question is I am stuck on is what should I draft in the first round? Should I draft a QB/WR or WR/WR? I’ve always been so high on quarterbacks, and Andrew Luck or Aaron Rodgers really interest me. Should I pass them up and wait until the fourth round? This is the first year drafting of a five-year keeper league. At the end of each year we get to select only 3 keepers to go onto next year. – Kosta in Toronto
While I can understand why the finite window of your league could cause you to want to lock up elite talent at the NFL’s most important position, I still can’t and won’t advise taking a signal caller that early in a dynasty (or keeper…or re-draft) draft. You should have you pick of two of the top-tier receivers, or even take a ball carrier like Le’Veon Bell – considering the defined endpoint, running backs could and should see an uptick in value. While sitting out the second and third rounds isn’t ideal, there will definitively still be some solid quarterbacks left. I’d still advise you to wait on the position.
6.) So with the news that’s come out about RGIII being held out against Baltimore I’m officially panicking. I would like to shore up my QB2 and I’ve been offered Jameis Winston and Brandin Cooks or Jordan Matthews (I choose) for Julio Jones. I feel that this offer in a 2QB league isn’t bad and I’ve been thinking about taking it for Cooks and Winston. This league really values quarterbacks. – Mike in DE
And herein we have the exception to the quarterback rule. 2QB leagues are just a horse of a different color, and in many instances you might not even be able to get Julio Jones straight up for a guy like Jameis Winston given the necessity of the position. So if you can get Brandin Cooks on top, it’s a move I’d absolutely make.
7.) I have an offer to trade Alfred Morris and a late 2016 first round pick for Jordy Nelson and a mid 2016 second round pick. It sounds fair, but in your opinion what side wins? – Vince in CA
It all depends on where you believe your team is heading, and how valuable Redskins running back Alfred Morris is in helping you get there. If he’s a key cog in your ball carrying corps, and his loss would remove you from contender status then I’d stand pat – championships are tough to win without trading your key assets. However, if you’re not contending, or if the loss of Morris would do little in terms of changing your weekly lineup, then I’d make the deal. I get the fear about Jordy Nelson returning at a lesser physical status, especially given his age, but the fact is he was one of the best receivers in the NFL, and the injury happened early enough that he’ll have every opportunity to return full speed. In a vacuum he’s the much better dynasty asset, and the flip-flopping of picks doesn’t change that. If you can handle the loss of Morris, I’d make the deal.
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