Dynasty Fantasy Football: Traversing the Trade Finder

Many will tell you that the best part about dynasty fantasy football is the thrill of completing a trade. There’s just something about getting the notification that a trade has been completed in your league, opening it up, and seeing that your offer was accepted. In this new monthly series, I will be taking a look at three players and REAL trades that have been completed with those players that can be found using the Dynasty League Football Trade Finder tool to try and find opportunities for what I believe are market inefficiencies that we can exploit.

For all trades, I will be using the following filters: 12 teams, 1QB, 4 point per passing TD, and 1 point PPR.

Cam Akers, RB LAR

I find myself lower than consensus on Akers. Currently, Akers has a DLF Startup ADP of RB13 and is RB9 in the DLF Consensus Dynasty Rankings but I have him as my RB19. My main concerns are that two years into his career we don’t actually have that much to go off of because of injuries, what we do have to go off of is hit or miss, the Rams became a different offense with Mathew Stafford and passed more in the red zone (6.59 red zone passing attempts per game in 2021 as opposed to 3.63 attempts per game in 2020), and I think that Darrell Henderson is a quality RB as well who will have a role in the offense. With this in mind, I wanted to see what Akers could fetch on the market currently.

I would easily take a random 2023 first-round pick for Akers and would smash accept that side of the deal. The 2023 class is shaping up to be one of the best we’ve seen in a while and these 2023 first-round picks are like gold. Also, as the rookie draft approaches, those 2023 first-round picks will continue to grow in value. Even if you’re a contender, this is a deal I would make. It’s important to remember just because you traded for a rookie pick doesn’t mean it has to be used as a rookie pick. Rookie picks are liquid. If you find yourself needing one running back to put you over the top, this 2023 first-round pick can likely get you a productive aging running back like Aaron Jones or James Conner plus more on top.

Perhaps it’s a hot take, but I think it’s very possible that Akers and AJ Dillon will be close in production this season and moving forward. I believe the Packers are setting up to rely heavily on their running backs which means even though he’s technically a backup, Dillon could have plenty of opportunities and has shown to be very productive when given the chance. When you add in that Courtland Sutton is a massive upgrade over Marquez Valdes-Scantling, I will happily take the Dillon/Sutton side.

This one seems complicated but it can be simplified since Ryan Tannehill and the 3.08 are about equal to David Njoku and the 3.03 since Tannehill doesn’t have much value in a one-quarterback league. So really this trade is Akers for Rashod Bateman and a 2023 second-round pick, which is easily the Bateman side for me. I have Akers and Bateman within three spots of my overall rankings so the 2023 second-round pick being on the Bateman side makes this an easy decision.

Elijah Moore, WR NYJ

Since the drafting of Garrett Wilson, Moore’s dynasty value has taken a hit. In April, he was drafted as the WR17 but now in June is being drafted as WR28 and is eight spots behind Wilson at WR20. I personally have Moore and Wilson back-to-back as WR17 and WR18 in my rankings. I’m still a big believer in Moore who played very well as a rookie when healthy (wide receiver four in full PPR scoring from weeks 8-13 in 2021) despite poor quarterback play. Knowing I’m higher than consensus on Moore, I wanted to see how cheap he is to acquire.

Smash accept the Elijah Moore side. It’s honestly not close and no matter what ADP, rankings, or calculator you look at, the Moore side is favored. Some of you may be reading this thinking: “Well that will never happen in my leagues” and you may be right. But this is a REAL trade. Lopsided trades happen. Shoot your shot, you never know what offer gets accepted.

This trade is very easy for me. I value Moore right in line with the wide receivers normally available at the 1.04 so in essence, this is a free 1.12. Even if you’re not quite as high as me on Moore, this is still basically asking: would you rather have Wilson or Moore and the 1.12? Take the player who we’ve already seen produce in the NFL and profit an extra first-round pick.

Josh Jacobs is in the final year of his rookie contract, with the Raiders declining his fifth-year option, and his situation potentially got worse this off-season with Josh McDaniels becoming the head coach. He has used a running back by committee system for many years. I will happily move on from a volatile and potentially descending asset in Jacobs to acquire the ascending asset in Moore (who’s also being drafted ahead of Jacobs currently according to DLF ADP) even if it means I move back from the second round to the third in my rookie draft.

David Njoku, TE CLE

Njoku has a lot of hype right now after signing a big contract extension with the Browns but he’s had a mostly disappointing career to this point and arguably is not worth the contract he was given. He showed a little promise as a rookie, got good usage but was just ok fantasy-wise in year two, missed almost all of year three due to injury, got replaced by Austin Hooper in year four, and played really well albeit on limited opportunity in year five. Maybe it’s just because I’m a jaded Browns fan, but I’m not buying the hype. Let’s see what we can get if we’re trying to sell Njoku.

This trade seems like it’s obviously the Tony Pollard side, and well, it is. Pollard is going three rounds before Njoku in startup drafts. Maybe the Pollard manager really needed a tight end and was willing to overpay. Maybe the Pollard manager believes the Njoku hype. Either way, you should see this as an opportunity to get a similar deal done.

Somehow Njoku is being drafted ahead of Cole Kmet according to DLF ADP and I can’t understand it. Kmet is two and a half years younger, is almost assuredly his team’s second target, and had more targets in his second year than Njoku has ever had in a season. I personally have Kmet as my TE13 and Njoku as TE18. I’ll gladly add two fourth-round picks to go from Njoku to Kmet.

This is another opportunity to upgrade from Njoku, except this time we get a tight end who finished as TE11 in 2020 and TE3 in 2021. Dalton Schultz’s future may be a little bit up in the air as he’s currently franchised tagged and hasn’t been able to get an extension with Dallas yet, but he’s at least playing for them this year, still could get an extension, and he’s a known commodity who has played really well and has the fantasy production to show for it. Michael Gallup could miss half the season and lose his job to Jalen Tolbert. If he’s all it takes to upgrade from Njoku to Schultz, I’m in.

Hopefully highlighting these trades helps you find a deal you’re excited to get done in your leagues. I’ll continue to try and find these deals for you, traversing the trade finder.