A Rebuilding Tale: Part Two

Jacob Feldman Posted On June 6, 2016

In a previous article, I outlined a recent experience in one of the DLF leagues. My back to back championship team had reached the end of its window and it was time to do something drastic with the roster to get me back on top as soon as possible. If you want to know how I knew it was time and what I did during the 2015 season to start the process, take a look back at the previous article. It is full of my thoughts and decisions. Overall, I was pretty happy with how things went. Rebuilding is tricky and a little frustrating at times. I hate losing, and it took a while for me to accept the playing for the future approach.

Heading into the most recent off-season, I was poised to be a fairly big player in the rookie draft. I had the first overall pick in addition to the 2.01, 2.08, 3.01, 3.03, 3.07, 3.09, 3.10, 4.01 and 5.06. The first thing I did in the offseason was to let the league know I was willing to move the 1.01 pick if I received the right offer. Quite a few owners in the league did show interest, but none of them were willing to put together the kind of package of young players and/or picks I was looking for in exchange for the pick. I knew Ezekiel Elliott’s value would continue to rise as the draft approached, especially if he ended up playing for the Eagles or Cowboys. I was hoping for a deal involving a young rising receiver like Amari Cooper, but just couldn’t find anyone willing to do that.

As the 2016 off-season progressed, I did make a pair of trades. These were the eighth and ninth trades I had made since I decided it was time to rebuild my roster.

[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]

Trade 8 – I’m not sure if this was a good move or not, but I gave up Maxx Williams in exchange for Willie Snead. Keep in mind this is a TE premium league. I really like Williams, but I felt Snead had a better chance to be productive. I also needed receivers a bit more than tight end. Hopefully it isn’t a move I end up regretting.

Trade 9 – The week of the NFL draft, I decided to move Jay Ajayi. I wasn’t ever a huge fan of his, and I felt the Dolphins weren’t very high on him either. I figured they would draft a running back in the middle rounds and maybe still bring in some free agent competition. So I packaged Ajayi with the 2.08 and 3.09 picks to get a second first round pick at the 1.08 position. If Ajayi ends up leading the team in rushing for the next few years, I’ll regret this deal, but time will tell.

A couple of weeks later our rookie draft was underway. Leading up to it, I mentioned the availability of the 1.01 pick again, just to do my due diligence, but no one had an offer which intrigued me enough. Zeke was the easy choice at the top slot. I was really hoping Michael Thomas or Sterling Shepard would fall to me at the 1.08, but they went at 1.06 and 1.07 respectively. I even tried trading up to get them, but I couldn’t get the deal done. I ended up going with Will Fuller at 1.08 and then making another trade.

Trade 10 – The owner of the 1.09 pick was looking to trade back. I had a few players at the same level on my board at the time, but I figured I would explore just to see what they wanted. I knew I had too many picks in the draft, so I was trying to consolidate them a bit. This seemed like a good chance. I was able to move the 2.01 and the 3.01 for the ninth pick, which I turned into Tyler Boyd. I’m not overly high on Boyd, but I think he will hold some trade value as this year progresses.

After trading both of my second round picks in package deals for first round picks, I was out of the draft for a while. That was fine with me, because the majority of the second round were IDPs. I told myself I wasn’t going to draft any defensive players unless there was a great deal because an awful lot can happen on the defensive side of the ball in the one-two years before I’m competitive again. So I just sat back and waited for my next pick at 3.03 to come around.

By the time I was on the clock, I had to choose between Malcolm Mitchell, Austin Hooper, and Jared Goff. It was a tough call, but I ultimately went with Mitchell. I almost went with Hooper since it is a TE premium league, but the upside of Mitchell in New England won out. I figured at least one of the others would still be on the board a few picks later at 3.07. I was wrong.. which lead to another trade.

Trade 11 – With my targets off the board, I went to the trade market. I was pretty happy when I was able to move the 3.07, 3.10, 5.06, and a 2017 fourth for a pair of 2017 second round picks. One will be very late, but the other one has a chance to be middle of the round or better. I felt this was great value and helped to fix my issue of having more picks than I had roster space.

I had one pick remaining, and it was the 4.01 pick. I had what I felt was a tough choice between Alex Collins and DeAndre Washington. I really like Washington’s situation, but I decided to go with the player I had much higher prior to the NFL draft and selected Collins. At that point I thought I was done with the draft.

Trade 12 – In this league, you need to drop players to make room for your draft picks. One of the other teams dropped Richard Rodgers. While I’m not overly high on him by any means, I saw enough growth last year to consider him. He was a third round pick in 2014, and tight ends take a few years to reach their potential. In a TE premium league he was worth a flier. So I traded my 2017 fifth round pick for a 2016 and a 2017 sixth and used the 2016 sixth to pick up Rodgers.

After the draft, I picked up Moritz Boehringer and Chris Moore on the waiver wire. I don’t have a ton of faith in either of them panning out, but considering it didn’t cost me a think to get them, why not give it a try!

Overall, I walked out of our draft feeling fairly good again. I ended up with a draft class headlined by Ezekiel Elliott as well as Will Fuller and Tyler Boyd. I added Malcolm Mitchell and Alex Collins in the middle rounds of the draft as well as Boehringer and Moore on the waiver wire. Not a bad haul. What might be even better news is I also have a pair of first round picks and four second round picks in what seems to be a very deep 2017 draft class.

What is next?

This season will be a bit of a work in progress. I doubt I’ll make the playoffs with my current team. It is too young and as a result lacks the depth to handle injuries and bye weeks. Maybe I’ll be surprised, but I plan on continuing the rebuild this year. I certain hope it isn’t another bottom of the league finish, but if I’m unlucky on the injury front it could be bad.

I’m set at quarterback with Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford. Running back is very top heavy with Elliott and Lamar Miller, but lacks depth right now. Melvin Gordon and Jerick McKinnon are also on roster, along with Collins, but they all have question marks surrounding them. Dez Bryant leads my receiver group. A group of veterans with question marks join him. I have Victor Cruz, Torrey Smith, and Kendall Wright. Several of them will need to step up because everyone else is young. In addition to the rookies I have Chris Conley, Bruce Ellington, JJ Nelson, and Willie Snead. Tight end is a little scary, especially since it is a TE premium league. Eric Ebron had the highest upside with players like Will Tye, Rodgers, and MyCole Pruitt as other young prospects.

Where my team really needs some help is on the defensive side of the ball. I’ll need to be vigilant on the waiver wire this season as well as a little lucky to see if I can pick up some young talent. I have a few pieces I like, but there are some major holes on that defensive side.

If all goes well, especially since I have six picks in the first two rounds this next year, I should be able to be back in the playoffs with a shot at the title in 2017. I would be pretty happy with that!

For those of you contemplating a rebuild, here are my suggestions.

Commit to your decision – If you are going to rebuild, then rebuild. The worst thing you can do is to do it halfway! Let the entire league know who is available and actively seek out those owners who are contending and might be interested in what you have on your roster. Rebuilding is a very active thing. I made 12 different trades and a ton of waiver moves to reshape my roster. If you’re just sitting back and waiting for the draft, your rebuild won’t go very well.
Don’t be afraid to wait for the right deal – You’re going to get a lot of offers with people just testing the market. Don’t feel like you need to accept the first offer you receiver for your best veteran or even an offer that first week. Sometimes it will take a while to get the right offer. That is difficult because everyone knows you are trying to sell these guys, so they want to make it a buyer’s market, and you want it to be a seller’s market. Do what you can to create interest from multiple teams.
Make sure your prices are reasonable – You want the right price, but you need to make sure you are asking a fair price as well. In a different league, I was inquiring about Brandon Marshall from a team which was clearly out of it. They wanted a pair of firsts plus a bit for him. That wasn’t going to happen. Keep in mind, if you are truly rebuilding, these guys don’t help you on your roster. You need to move them for something. Don’t price yourself out of the market. Find the sweet spot.
Think 2-3 years down the line – When you are trading for players, make sure you are thinking about the future not the present. Will they gain value or lose value over that time? Does their contract or that of a key player on their team expire in the next year? You need to make those judgment calls. Along with this, you need to be willing to give up a lot more present value for that upside. Some of the veterans I dropped were decent players. Not good enough to get something back in a trade, but definitely higher ADPs than the players I picked up. I was playing for the future though.
Develop a plan – Decide who you are going to sell and who you are going to keep. Identify a list of targets on other teams which you might accept instead of just draft picks. Which teams do you view as contenders? These are your buyers. Make special note of which contenders have picks which aren’t their own. Once you have your plan in place, accept that you’re going to lose a lot of games.
Don’t tank! – There is a major difference between tanking and being forced to start Maxx Williams because he is the only TE on your roster. It is okay to build for the future and as a result have a terrible starting lineup for the week. It isn’t okay to purposely start someone like Williams when you have Gronk on your bench. Start your best healthy lineup each and every week. If they happen to be terrible, there isn’t much you can do about it. Just don’t purposely throw games. Try your best if for no other reason than the fact you need the rest of the league to trade with you.

Here’s to hoping my rebuild is a success and this write up helps you should you ever end up in a similar spot!

[/am4show]

Author
Recent Posts

Jacob Feldman

Honorary Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Jacob is a high school math teacher by day and a father at night. This doesn't leave too much time for sane thought, so occasionally words like "icky" will slip into his writing. It is all a part of the fun!