The DLF Dynasty Trading Post: March

Welcome to the Dynasty Trading Post, a quarterly column here at Dynasty League Football. This column is intended to track which players or assets are increasing, or even decreasing, in value, allowing our readers to adjust their sights and values accordingly.

The last time the Dynasty Trading Post, well, posted, we were right at the tail end of the NFL season. Since then, the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots forced many of us to rethink ever watching a Super Bowl again, and I’m a Rams fan! However entertaining the Super Bowl may (or may not) have been, the dynasty fantasy football world never sleeps. Many of us were out the next morning making trades and reevaluating our team for next season.

We saw a fair amount of movement via trades and free agent signings since the last column. The movement of many of these players could have dramatic effects on the internal dynamics of leagues and who comes out on top at the end of the season. The savvy owners will be looking to pivot in or out of many of those players in order to be just a bit more competitive than last season.

Additionally, we’ve seen some huge names from dynasty seasons past decide to hang up the cleats, like Rob Gronkowski and Jordy Nelson in addition to IDP heavyweights Haloti Ngata and Julius Peppers. However, this is the time of the year were new life gets infused into the league through the NFL Draft and rookie picks are all the rage in trade talks across the dynasty landscape. Nothing like some good trades to kick off the dynasty season, right?

Let’s see what the Dynasty Trade Finder can reveal to us…

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Fournette About It

Leonard Fournette has rocketed to the top of dynasty tradability rankings over the past 60 days. Last month, he was involved in more trades than any other player in the NFL with 24 recorded over that time frame, and he is the third-most traded player over the past 30 days with another 40 trades involving him. The reason for this jump could be traced to several root causes.

First, the Jaguars announced they were voiding the guaranteed money in Fournette’s contract due to a clause which stated that any such money would be waived if a player was unable to play for any reason other than an injury. This issue arose due to Fournette being suspended following an on-field fight he engaged in with Buffalo Bills players. Fournette has appealed the move to the NFL Front Office but it doesn’t take much thought to see that, no matter which way this decision goes, the two sides could have some issues bubbling up in their future.

Second, Jacksonville released Carlos Hyde at the beginning of March, leaving Fournette as the clear bell cow running back for the time being. This spike in trades is likely due to owners buying into the possibility that he could maintain that role, while others are deploying the parachute on the belief that the team may draft another running back to help shoulder the load.

Finally, some owners may view the Jaguars’ move to sign Nick Foles and release Blake Bortles as a sign that, at least for the time being, Fournette will be relied upon heavily while Jacksonville attempts to build their receiving corps up to better support Foles. No matter the case, Fournette shares are red hot right now.

A Steep Hill To Climb

Tyreek Hill’s tradability is at an all-time high over the past month as he has suddenly found himself in the middle of some possible legal trouble.

In mid-March, news broke that Hill was being investigated for battery against his three-year-old son by the Overland Park Police Department. The investigation reportedly centered on Hill and his fiancé, Cyrstal Espinal, after his son was found to have a broken arm following the police being called to the couple’s home. The police report does not list Hill, but it does list Espinal. At this point, neither Hill or Espinal have been charged with a crime.

Both Kansas City and Hill are familiar with legal issues as of late with Kansas City releasing their star running Kareem Hunt last season after video emerged of him being involved in a physical altercation with a woman, and Hill pleading guilty to assault and battery in 2015 for punching and choking Espinal, who was pregnant with their son, the alleged victim of this most recent investigation.

There is a lot to digest here, most of which isn’t football related. It appears many dynasty owners are choosing to wash their hands of the situation entirely while others seem to have faith that Hill wasn’t involved or will be exonerated when all the details come to light. However, simply the possibility of Hill being involved in the investigation has resulted in his trade market exploding by 614.3% while making him the most traded player over the past 30 days.

Silver, Black And Brown

It isn’t every day, or season, that one of the game’s top receivers gets traded. However, this off-season saw Antonio Brown traded to the Oakland Raiders and Odell Beckham Jr moved to the Cleveland Browns. The trades resulted in major increases in both player’s trade markets with the number of Brown trades increasing by 444.4% and Beckham’s trades swelling by 181.8%.

This is one of the rare instances where either player is mentioned among the top traded players due to each being notoriously tough to acquire, and even tougher for most dynasty owners to trade away. It is questionable whether each player will be able to produce at the level which the dynasty community has become accustomed to with Brown moving from the fourth-most productive offense to the 23rd-most productive, and Beckham now part of a hyper-crowded receiving corps that features Jarvis Landry, Antonio Callaway and tight end David Njoku. Brown has seen his ADP drop from WR7 in December to WR11 while Beckham has fallen from WR1 in December to WR3.

There is value to be had here, the question, as always, is on what side?

IDP Corner Market

This tends to be a quieter time of the year for defensive trades while most dynasty owners take a ‘wait and see’ approach to the NFL Draft. However, there are some signs of life sprouting up in IDP trade markets as well. Starting with the defensive line, Chris Jones and Aaron Donald share the title for the most-traded defensive lineman over the past 30 days with Donald also seeing the biggest spike in action. Neither player’s appearance is a surprise as both rank in DLF’s top ten defensive linemen.

At the linebacker position, there is a bit of a surprise as Alec Ogletree shares the top traded spot with Bobby Wagner. Wagner is always a highly-coveted asset with a rank of LB1 on DLF’s linebacker rankings, however, Ogletree has seen his value slip in recent years. Currently, he is ranked as LB23 so his recent spike in trade volume is a bit surprising. However, this bump could be attributed to rumors claiming that Ogletree could be traded in the lead up to, or during, the NFL Draft.

Finally, the defensive backs feature a couple of well-known names atop the most traded list with Landon Collins and Keanu Neal holding the top spot. Most IDP owners would be more than happy to welcome either player to their team, however, Collins stands out a little more due to his recent signing with Washington. While the move could do little to improve Collins’ ranking, as he sits as the number two defensive back in DLF’s rankings, it could allow him to see a slight increase in opportunities.

The unofficial start of the NFL season is upon us with the NFL Draft fast approaching. The ability for dynasty owners to wheel and deal will likely be a determining factor in what helps some teams get an early head start on the competition, while the inability of others will force them to play catch up right out of the gate. As of this edition of the series, the Dynasty Trade Finder has recorded 165,102 trades that have occurred over 3,969 dynasty leagues, making it the premiere trade database in the dynasty fantasy football market. Make sure you check it out today by clicking here.

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