DLF’s 2018 Predictions Retrospective: Best Dynasty Sell

Ryan Finley Posted On January 25, 2019

It’s always a bit of a let-down to realize just how quickly the NFL season passes. Months and months of buildup are followed by a short-lived whirlwind of actual football. The calendar has turned to a New Year, your favorite team’s playoff dreams are being dashed left and right, and the fantasy playoffs are a fading memory. This year we thought we’d go ahead and take a hard look at our annual predictions series. We’ll see who was very right, who was very wrong, and try to pick a true winner for each category. Here are the categories we tackled:

Fantasy MVP
Fantasy Rookie of the Year
Sleeper Rookie of the Year (outside our top 24)
Bust of the Year
Fantasy Sleeper
Best Dynasty Buy
Best Dynasty Sell
Fantasy Comeback Player of the Year

We’ll continue our retrospective by taking a look at our picks for Best Dynasty Sell.

The Good

Randall Cobb, WR GB

Being Aaron Rodgers’ WR2 has proved to be valuable in fantasy over the course of Rodgers’ career and Cobb figures to have that role locked up this year. As a result, many have suggested Cobb is due for a great season. He was productive when both he and Rodgers were on the field together last season, but Cobb has just not been able to stay healthy the last couple of years. He has already been dealing with nagging ankle issues on the same ankle he had surgery on earlier this summer. In addition, Cobb is a free agent after this season with no guarantee Green Bay re-signs him next year. His value could take a big dip if he suffers another injury or if the Packers let him walk after the season. Cobb might be productive this season but there are too many risks with his future outlook. For this reason, I would be looking to sell while he still holds decent value. – Kyle Holden

Remember when Randall Cobb carried WR1 value? You know, after he had nearly 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2014? Yeah, those days are long gone. He hasn’t cracked 900 yards since that lofty statistical season. In 2018 he missed several games and netted less than 400 yards and two touchdowns. If you sold him before the season, you certainly got more value than he showed on the field this year.

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Le’Veon Bell, RB PIT

While Bell’s value is still high, a solid return can be had. Now is the time to cash in on Bell’s value and convert it into a second tier up and coming receiver. I would move Bell for a Keenan Allen-type rather than sell for a handful of picks or players. Expectations are that Bell will not re-sign in Pittsburgh and he very well could be entering his final years of productivity. – Kevin O’Brien

Nobody could have predicted what actually happened with Bell this past season. I know I drafted him with the first overall pick in the Scott Fish Bowl, which did not go well for me. (Like 0-12 not well.) While the FF Engineer didn’t call the whole situation, he was prescient enough to see the real value. If you were smart enough to sell Bell before the season last year, kudos to you.

The Bad

Antonio Brown, WR PIT

Brown has enjoyed an elite fantasy career and it likely is not going to be over this year. He’s still a dominant fantasy option but he’s now 30 years old. Brown is still seen as one of the top dynasty assets and it would be wise to sell now for a massive return. Pittsburgh recently added JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington, who have both been impressive. At some point, Brown’s age has to catch up with him and I’d rather sell a bit too early than too late. – Justin Bales

I hesitate to really label this bad, as Justin’s argument is still valid. You could have gotten a King’s ransom for AB before the season, and it’s likely his value starts to drop with recent news out of Pittsburgh. His value could fall precipitously depending on how the whole situation shakes out. I’ll still leave it here as he was the WR5 this year, and likely still helped more than one team win the championship. At least this pick didn’t end up as…

The Ugly

Ezekiel Elliott, RB DAL

News flash: Dallas is not the same team of the past couple of years and may be in a transitional period. They let Dez Bryant walk (and he still hasn’t caught on anywhere) and I know a lot of people like to say that leaves nobody but Zeke to get a huge volume of touches. However, I don’t buy that. I could see a lot more negative game scripts this year for Dallas and that could lead to a lot of games where they’re trying to catch up through the air. The line is also having significant injury issues and that could lead to all that volume being far less valuable. I still think he will perform admirably – I just think he might seriously disappoint. I don’t think you can get a better price on Zeke after this season and I’d look to move off of him while you still can get huge value. – Ryan Finley

Wow. This is embarrassing. It seems I’ve done it again here by making another bad choice in Zeke. As is often the case, I was swinging for the fences a bit and trying to think outside the box. Sometimes when you do that you end up with egg on your face. I really believed that the Cowboys would take a step back this year and that Zeke wouldn’t hold up on a bad team. Hopefully, nobody out there laid any bets based on my poor prediction.

The Truth

We once again had a writer nail this one in Kevin O’Brien’s pick of Le’Veon Bell. We spend the whole season wondering which week Bell would make his appearance. He couldn’t possibly throw all that money away, right? Well, he tossed it all. Every last dollar. Bell made a stand that nobody expected, and it cost more than one of my teams this past season. It’s also likely that his value will only continue to go down after this season. There could be a shift up or down in his value based on where he lands, but it will never be as high as it would have been this past off-season. I would add here, however, that I’m still a huge believer in Le’Veon Bell. I don’t subscribe to the “he was replaceable” narrative. He’s still the man at running back as far as I’m concerned.

So what do you think? Was Bell the best choice this season? Or was there a sell that you thought was better?

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