Vox Talks: Best and Worst Moves this Fantasy Season

Welcome back to another edition of Vox Talks; the series that peels back the curtain on the private DLF writer Voxer chat.

It’s hard to believe we’re already here, up against what is for most the last week of the fantasy season. Hopefully you’re still alive somewhere, even if it is only in your toilet bowl. I’m personally watching two finals matchups closely, and also fighting hard for the extra pick available as a reward for the toilet bowl win in one league.

I’ve already talked about our habit of navel-gazing around this time of year. It’s where we can really take the time to assess how we did, what we did right, and what we can improve for next year. I don’t know about you, but when I look back at my fantasy season, I’m astounded at how many different moves and strategic decisions I made this year. Trades, waiver wire pickups, lineup decisions – there are so many little things that add up each year. With that in mind, I wanted to ask the team this question:

What was the best move you made this season?

But then I realized that was too easy. Sure, we can always find one move that makes us look smarter than everyone else, but where’s the fun in that? What I really wanted to know about was both the good and the bad. So with that in mind I pivoted slightly to this:

What are the best and worst moves you made this fantasy season?

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Now we’re talking. Hopefully this helps you see that sure, we make some good ones, but we also make mistakes. It’s part of the game.

My personal best move probably came when I traded away Ezekiel Elliott in one of my leagues. While I love Zeke as a dynasty asset, I made a point this season to try to avoid players who had what I saw as off-field issues around morality. So in the off-season I traded away my one share when gave up Zeke and received Todd Gurley and a 2018 first. This looks especially good in retrospect, but remember it was not that obvious at the time.

My worst move was turning down an offer that would have netted me Jordan Howard, a 2018 second and third round pick for Ben Roethlisberger, Javorius Allen and Doug Martin. I was under the delusion that I was competitive in that particular league when I really wasn’t.

On to the responses. Due to the nature of this question, I couldn’t help but add a little commentary to each.

Brian Malone

Just before the season, I traded Mike Williams (whom I drafted at 1.05) for Kareem Hunt (drafted 2.04). Because opportunity matters.

Back in July, I traded Alvin Kamara for Willie Snead.

Ryan’s Take: Brian’s response is really a good example of exactly what I was hoping to see from the team. Sure, he made a strong move for Hunt, but he also turned around and made quite a misstep with Kamara. It happens to the best of us.

Bobby Koch

The best move I made this season was buying into Kareem Hunt right before the season started. In two separate leagues I acquired the rookie runner. I traded Jay Ajayi for Hunt, Kenny Golladay, and a first in one, and the other deal was Quincy Enunwa, a mid 18 first, and a 2019 second for Hunt and DeVante Parker.

The worst thing I did was trade Golden Tate and Duke Johnson (also in preseason) for Willie Snead, Laquon Treadwell, and DeAndre Washington. I was later able to make up for the Treadwell mistake, but ugh, Snead.

Ryan’s Take: Bobby is another writer who saw the writing on the wall with Hunt. I wasn’t so lucky, as I don’t own him anywhere. Interestingly, Bobby made a bad move similar to Brian’s error in acquiring Snead. I’m sure they aren’t the only owners how expected a lot more out of that particular Saints receiver.

Peter Howard

I guess if I was going to single out one negative move it would be ignoring the positive signs on Alex Collins because I was so fixed on Javorius Allen who I’d already stashed in a lot of leagues. Just because you like a player on a team doesn’t mean you have to ignore other players on the same depth chart if they have positive indicators.

I had trouble making Adam Thielen trades where I didn’t get him because I also had Stefon Diggs. I like Tyrell Williams so well that I didn’t take the discount on Keenan Allen this off-season too. But the Alex Collins/Buck Allen situation is probably the biggest most common example across my leagues.

Ryan’s Take: Well, in true Brit fashion Peter is tough on himself here and doesn’t even take the time to show us his best move. He did share an interesting issue that I’m sure some of us have from time to time. It’s sometimes easy to ignore other players on rosters when we find ourselves enamored with their counterparts.

Anthony Santigate

My best move was pegging the Todd Gurley comeback. I felt like I saw it coming. My worst move was buying Mike Gillislee in a league for a late first. I really thought he could be the missing piece.

Ryan’s Take: I was also a buyer of Gurley in the off-season, and I’m very happy wherever I own him. That train is only getting started. Anthony isn’t he only owner to expect more out of Gillislee this season. And remember that very first game?

Nathan Powell

Best: Jay Cutler, Leonte Carroo and a second for Deshaun Watson in superflex. Worst: sent a projected late first and Cameron Brate for Tyler Eifert, and my team got hit with injuries and it became the 1.02.

Ryan’s Take: Any time you get Watson in superflex you’ve really gotten the job done. As far as Nathan’s bad move, I did something similar last year, trading away my first one what I thought was a contending team only to see it turn into the 1.01. Ouch.

Jake Anderson

Best: Nelson Agholor and a late second for Adam Thielen. Worst: Joe Mixonand a fourth for Jay Ajayi and a fifth.

Ryan’s Take: While Agholor has come on a bit this season, Thielen has really exploded as a dynasty asset. I admittedly totally missed that boat. On the bad side, I went a little heavy on the Ajayi this past off-season as well. I’m hopeful my shares still pan out.

Joseph Nammour

Worst: gave Christian McCaffrey, Adam Thielen, Eric Decker, and a third for Jordy Nelson and Willie Snead back in May.

Best: gave Joe Mixon, Demaryius Thomas, and Tyler Eifert for David Johnson, Josh Gordon, and a late 2018 first in September.

Ryan’s Take: Joseph upped the ante here showing how much he gave up for Jordy and Snead. I really can’t blame him. They looked like good assets then. But hey, when you can turn around and pick up DJ, things aren’t so bad.

Well there you have it. Some our best and worst moves this off-season. So where did you have unnatural foresight and really win a deal, and where did the house win?

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