Dynasty Fantasy Football: Trading Away Injured Players
Injuries are a cruel part of football and can devastate your dynasty squad in a matter of moments. One minute you are a powerhouse in your league and the next minute you have a decimated roster that is clinging to its playoff life.
This article focuses on helping fantasy managers figure out what to do with the players they just lost for the rest of the 2023 season. We will suggest a strategy for both rebuilding and contending teams and suggest trade options based on the DLF Trade Analyzer.
Honest Self-Evaluation
As we get set to kick off this article let’s clarify one thing. The most important thing to do before reading this article is to look at your roster and your league to accurately determine where you fall in the league hierarchy.
My preferred method to do this is not by looking at your team’s record, wins and losses can be heavily influenced by the luck of the draw on the schedule. Instead, look at your points scored in comparison to your league mates. If you are in the top four in your league scoring you should consider yourself a contender, bottom four in scoring and you should consider yourself a rebuild.
If you fall in the middle, you need to use your best judgment to determine which direction you want to go. The biggest sin you can commit in dynasty football is to get caught in the middle in purgatory. I’m a firm believer in the belief that you need to pick a direction and commit to it in full.
As always, it should be said that you should be targeting league mates on the opposite end of the spectrum that you’re on. If you’re rebuilding, target a contender to deal with and vice versa. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get into it!
Joe Burrow, QB CIN
Week 11 saw the end of Joe Burrow’s season as he was lost to a thumb injury that was later called a wrist injury. He isn’t expected to return to throwing until at least four months post-op, so it’s very likely he will be ready for the start of training camp in 2024.
Contender Strategy
If you are a true contender, the play here is easy. Target rebuilding teams in your league and attempt to trade Burrow straight up for any quarterback in his tier or in the tier immediately below him.
The options in his tier are obviously the best if you can manage to acquire one. Giving him up for Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, CJ Stroud, or Trevor Lawrence to a manager who prefers Burrow long-term is an easy win.
If you are unable to acquire any of the same tier options, I would be willing to trade down a tier but would require a mid-round pick to do so. If I can get Justin Fields, Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, or Dak Prescott from a rebuilding team, along with a draft pick or decent player I am doing so and keeping my drive for a championship in full gear.
Rebuilder Strategy
If you have Burrow and you are a rebuilding team the strategy is easy, hold onto him and play for next season. His value to your team was the future, so his missing the rest of this season doesn’t impact your game plan.
Conversely, if you are a rebuilding team that has any of the quarterbacks listed in the contender section, you should be offering them for Joe Burrow. These are the situations where you can acquire a previously untouchable quarterback for far less than you ever imagined.
Courtesy: DLF Trade Finder APP
Nick Chubb, RB CLE
Nick Chubb suffered a multi-ligament knee injury in Week 2. This injury typically requires 15 months to recover from and a player is not typically back to full speed until their second year after surgery.
Contender Strategy
This one is far tougher because Chubb is a 27-year-old running back who will be 28 by the time the 2024 season kicks off. If we go by the timeline above, that means Chubb could conceivably be 29 years old by the time he is back to full speed.
The possibility that this injury effectively ends Chubb’s career as a fantasy asset is there. As such, if you are a contender, he has almost no value to you and should be dealt for any running back that could provide you late-season value, whether as a handcuff or lottery ticket.
At this point, the starting running backs are likely out of the question for Chubb unless you can find someone who truly believes in Chubbs’s ability to perform as a 29-year-old.
I would be aiming for several different things here. First, I would aim for the undervalued running backs such as Isiah Pacheco and Brian Robinson just in case I catch a sleeping manager who isn’t aware of how good they have been. In the event that fails, I would then aim for the more nauseating targets. Injury-prone players like James Conner and Khalil Herbert could provide you with some late-season value as could potentially league-winning handcuffs Zach Charbonnet and Tyjae Spears.
The name of the game here is to find someone who still wants to buy into the Nick Chubb name, and trade him away for any usable asset for the stretch run.
Rebuilder Strategy
If you are a rebuilding team that rosters Chubb presently, you have no option but to sit tight and hope for the best. This is one of the reasons I heavily advocate for trading away all aging running backs when I start my rebuild. Should worst-case scenario set in, like it did in this case, you have lost all value in a player you may never get to use again.
If you’re a rebuilder who doesn’t currently roster him, you may be thinking that Chubb holds no value to you, but that’s not true. If you can acquire Chubb for a depth player who isn’t going to help you this season then go for it.
If you are right, you could have a potential stud running back, even if he only has one or two years left in him. If you are wrong and Chubb never plays again, you only lost a bench player anyway. This is a low-risk home run swing, if you connect Chubb could be a valuable trade piece that could help jump-start your rebuild.
Courtesy: DLF Trade Finder APP
Mike Williams, WR LAC
Williams sustained a season-ending ACL injury in Week 3 and is currently slated to be ready for the start of the 2024 season.
Contender Strategy
This is another interesting situation as Williams has been injury-prone for most of his career and will be 30 years old by the time he is back in action.
Having said that he is a wide receiver, so his age carries less of a negative connotation than it would for a running back.
The trade market for Williams should offer many more trade options due to both his age and the availability of late-round receivers.
The best place to start would be to offer Williams and a draft pick to rebuilding teams with other aging receivers. A rebuilding team may be willing to swap Williams for Adam Thielen or DeAndre Hopkins simply to acquire additional draft capital for a similar asset.
If that doesn’t work, your options are going to be limited. You’re only other course of action is to find a patient manager who wants to stash Williams and will deal away a dart-throw type receiver. Jayden Reed, Jameson Williams, Demario Douglas, and Rashid Shaheed all offer upside and could be usable, even if you have to throw in a mid-round draft pick to get the deal done.
Rebuilder Strategy
As I stated above, if I’m a rebuilding team, it’s all about draft capital. I’m looking to acquire him as a throw-in piece. Trade away one of your aging players for Williams to get additional draft picks and if he produces for you when you are a contender, consider it a bonus.
If you are a rebuilding team that currently rosters him, you’re out of luck. Sadly, you must hold onto him until the 2024 preseason, and when he starts to gain some steam, sell him as soon as possible.
Consider this another warning to trade away aging players when you start a rebuild before they implode on your roster, leaving you holding the bag.
Courtesy: DLF Trade Finder APP
Mark Andrews, TE BAL
The same game that saw Joe Burrow go down to season-ending injury, also saw Mark Andrews lost for the season to an ankle injury. Andres carries significantly more value than Chubb or Williams despite his age. Not only is he currently one of the elite players at his position but he could potentially be back for the Super Bowl which gives him a clean bill of health for 2024.
Contender Strategy
If you are a contender, you trade away the injured, aging asset for something that will help you now.
My first step would be to offer Andrews and a second-round pick to a rebuilding team with either Travis Kelce or TJ Hockenson and pray they are in love with Andrews.
If that strategy fails, I think we treat it like Joe Burrow and attempt to trade in the same tier or one tier down. Andrews will be 29 by the time the 2024 season begins and despite his value, his days are beginning to wind down.
If I can trade Andrews straight up for George Kittle I, do it in a heartbeat. I could also be convinced to do so for David Njoku and Evan Engram but would want a draft pick or player along with it.
Rebuilder Strategy
This is the best player of the four if you are a rebuilding team. Not only are there good options to trade him away but there are good options to acquire him.
While you won’t be able to get a win-now team to trade for Andrews, you could convince a manager who believes his team to have a multi-year window to trade for him. They could see it as a discount on a 2024 stud that will put them over the top. In that case, you can trade him away for a solid young tight end such as Dalton Kincaid, Sam LaPorta, or Trey McBride. These players are a tier down currently, so you should be able to get draft capital with them in exchange for Andrews. A year from now they could easily be in the same tier as Andrews.
If I’m a rebuilding team I could also be convinced to acquire Andrews. Whether it be to use him on a rebuilt team in 2024 or simply to flip him during the offseason, it’s always beneficial to buy a stud at a discount.
If I can trade away similarly aged veterans such as Dallas Goedert, Darren Waller, George Kittle, or Dalton Schultz to acquire Andrews, I would do so eagerly.
Courtesy: DLF Trade Finder APP
SUMMARY
The most critical part of any dynasty league is honest self-evaluation. Do not lie to yourself, it will just hurt you later. Wini-Loss records can be deceptive, my favorite way to appraise my teams’ value is by checking to see where I rank in points scored. If I am 7-1 but I am third last in points scored it is likely that I’m living on luck and am not a real contender. The reverse can also be true if you are 2-6 and are on the wrong side of some boom weeks. Assess your team honestly and go from there, that is how you ensure your team never gets caught in the middle wasteland.
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