Dealing with Critics
When it comes to fantasy football, dynasty fantasy football specifically, trading is not only one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game, it’s also sometimes the most agonizing. Trading is an art form. You have to approach each situation uniquely. You need to know your trade partner. Some of them will counter every offer, regardless of how sweet it is. Some owners don’t want to deal with the B.S. and just want your best offer the first time. Every league has the owner(s) who love to send offers of a collection of junk for one of your cornerstone pieces with a message trying to convince you how trading Julio Jones for Bishop Sankey, Terrence Williams, Doug Baldwin, Alex Smith and Brent Celek makes all the sense in the world for you because “this really helps your lack of depth.” You know what? No, it doesn’t.
Truth is there isn’t a formula to analyze any fantasy trade. Each one is specific and there are so many variables which go into every trade. In a redraft league, trades are made for immediate impact and players of similar tiers are swapped. In dynasty leagues, there are many more levels. Depending on how long the league has been around, some teams will be stronger than others, some will be cellar dwellers, and some will be stuck in the middle, which, in my opinion, is the worst spot to be in. The never ending cycle of self evaluating your team is a constant burden. You never want to be stuck with an old roster and be one of the bad teams in the league. If you’ve played in dynasty leagues long enough (or taken over an orphaned team), you’ve been on the bottom looking up. If you don’t have a roster you believe can make a title run in the next three seasons, you should be looking to sell older players to teams in a win-now mode. On the flip side, if you believe you have a championship caliber squad, trading for these types of players make sense.
So, what happens when you make a trade you believe makes your team better and your league mates or Twitter call you crazy?
The simple answer is you could be caught second guessing yourself. You wonder if you made a mistake and just sold “the next big thing” for pennies on the dollar. A deal you just felt great about has been wiped out by buyer’s remorse. You rationalize your decision by going through your thought process again, looking at your roster before and after. Sometimes you do make a mistake, not every trade turns out to be a winner, but more often than not you realize you know your team better than the naysayers and you’re privy to information the others are not. Most importantly, you calm down because their opinions mean zilch. For as awesome as Twitter is for meeting thousands of people who are into the same things you are, it’s also a voice for countless people who may not need to be heard.
[inlinead]A couple of weeks ago I made a trade in the DLF IDP League with an owner who was looking to re-shape his roster after taking over an orphaned team. I gave Allen Robinson, Brian Cushing, Pick 1.11 in 2015 and a 2nd round pick in 2016 for Kelvin Benjamin. I knew going in I was willing to overpay a bit to get Benjamin – this is a PPR league and I feel like I have a team that has a chance to make a run. It was my belief Benjamin’s red zone ability to score touchdowns made him a stronger asset sooner than Allen Robinson. It also factored in my belief in Cam Newton over Blake Bortles.
I tweeted the trade and definitely got a little more backlash than even I was expecting. Many people stated they would rather have Allen Robinson over Kelvin Benjamin straight up – this shocked me. I tweeted that exact question, who would you rather have Benjamin or Robinson? The results ended up 13-10 in favor of Benjamin. Regardless of what others thought, I was happy with the trade and we’ll see how it plays out.
I asked my DLF brethren of similar scenarios they’ve been a part of. Jeff Miller (@FFJeffM) said he was raked over the coals last off-season for trading Christine Michael for a 2015 first round pick. Twelve months later he owns the 1.07 in this year’s draft and Michael’s dynasty value has dropped. You would be hard pressed to move Michael for any mid-to-late first round pick at this point. This is an example where Jeff’s vision to sell high really paid off for him.
Last April, Jeff also made the following trade – Lamar Miller, Dwayne Allen and a 2015 fourth round pick for Steven Jackson and a 2015 third round pick. He said he needed running back help and felt he had a closing window to make a run. People felt like he was getting too much for a tight end and a running back who had failed to do anything up to that point. As it turned out, Jeff was giving away the running back to own in this deal and was definitely the loser in this trade. We’ve all been there.
James Simpson (@JS_Football) gave me this great example – he gave Lamar Miller, Keenan Allen and a 2015 second round pick for Arian Foster in a non-PPR, 2QB league. He felt with Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, the addition of Foster would give him the ammo to make a title run. He wasn’t a believer in Miller, believed Allen would regress in his sophomore year and was confident his second round pick would be late. With Foster being sold for pennies on the dollar, James made a move for his RB1. Foster finished as the RB5 and James scored the second most points in the league. Unfortunately, Rodgers and Wilson performed poorly in the fantasy playoffs and James fell just short of a league title but it was clear the move he took all that heat for paid off.
My point is simple – you can ask for all the advice in as many different forums as you want but at the end of the day, trust your gut above all else. Nine times out of ten, the people giving you a hard time don’t have all the details and truthfully, they aren’t interested in them. They could simply be trolls. This is a game, it’s meant to be fun and you don’t know anyone an explanation. If you see an opportunity present itself and you feel it puts you in a position for a title, don’t let the fear of public ridicule be the only thing to hold you back.
Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.
[ad5]
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Seven - October 24, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Six - October 16, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Five - October 10, 2018
