Dynasty Fantasy Football Trading Post: Jaylen Waddle
It is always fun when you find unexpected things on your journeys. It could be finding an amazing pizza place or donut shop when you were too early for a job interview. Getting lost trying to find a restaurant so you end up just stopping at the next place you find and it ends up being amazing. I was trying to get creative with my examples but I think I might just be hungry…
Over the past few weeks, while looking through the DLF Trade Finder, I kept coming across trades involving a certain player who felt off. Once could be a mistake, twice could be a coincidence, but when you see these values over and over again, it might just be a trend. I am too curious to see what is going on with this player’s value that the clever introduction paragraphs are being cut short. Seriously, we need to talk about the value of…
Jaylen Waddle, WR MIA
This past season resulted in the worst output of Waddle’s short career. He finished as the points per game WR12 his rookie year, WR8 his second year, and dropped down to WR24 this past year. This sounds like an epic decline in production but in 2022, as the fantasy WR8, the Dolphins wide receiver finished with a stat line of 70 receptions, 1,312 yards, and eight touchdowns. What if I told you that in 2023 a stat line of 72 receptions, 1,014 yards, and four touchdowns was only good enough to finish as WR24? Because that is exactly what I am telling you. A total of 1.37 points per game is responsible for that drop in rankings.
Also, if we want to get anecdotal about it, which I always love doing, it was very clear the Dolphins wanted to get Tyreek Hill to 2,000 receiving yards and fed him the ball more than they should have. Though clearly, Hill did just fine with the ball. Since we just got brand new 1QB Startup ADP at DLF, I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know that Waddle came in at WR11 and 16th player overall.
What we have definitely seen throughout Waddle’s career is that he is talented and that Miami is a great offense to be part of. If the value is what it feels like, then this adds up to a perfect situation to go see how the person rostering Waddle in your league feels about him.
No more secondary viewings. Let’s enter Waddle into the DLF Trade Finder and see what some real life trades have been made. Then we will run them through the DLF Trade Analyzer and see how we feel.
12 team, 1QB, PPR, start 8.
Sure, first-round picks are nice. They are shiny new toys that never depreciate in value, only increase. But time is money! 2026 is so far away! 2025 is still so far away! It is impossible to guess where a fantasy team will end in two seasons from now, no less three, so we need to just call these “random firsts”. And yes, if you just said “two random firsts for Waddle” that would sound nice, but when put on paper like this I don’t see how you don’t want the stud wide receiver.
Also, we can’t just completely write off Alvin Kamara. He is another player who didn’t have a great season last year but will still have plenty of use on your fantasy team. The rollover in MFL and getting the new year of draft picks is always a great time to throw out these kinds of trades to see what you can get away with.
12 team, 1QB, PPR, start 10.
It is factually correct that two quarters, three dimes, three nickels, and five pennies equals one dollar. But if you had the choice of walking around with a fresh, crisp dollar bill you would absolutely choose that over a pocketful of change. That is what we have here. Jordan Love is nice but in a one quarterback starting league he isn’t on a difference-maker level. Cole Kmet will most likely be a top 12 tight end for the next few years but again, most likely won’t make it to the difference maker tier. Sorry Jeremy Ruckert and whomever gets drafted with those fourth-round picks but you are the pennies in this metaphor. I can’t imagine trading Waddle away for this handful of change.
12 team, superflex, PPR, start 10.
I wanted to make sure I showed the other side of the value coin. This trade is showing some respect for the name Jaylen Waddle (and a little disrespect to Kyler Murray’s but that’s not the point). Murray should absolutely be worth more than Waddle. Murray is also coming off his worst points per game season where he finished as QB10 (in case the sarcasm didn’t cross over into publishing finishing as QB10 is still really good!). If Murray is the QB3 on your roster or you are ready to move on from him for other reasons, I think Waddle is a great non-quarterback pivot but the addition needs to be much more valuable than Jahan Dotson, even with the new OC/QB hype that comes with Commanders WRs right now.
One of the greatest truths in dynasty fantasy football trading is that each league is its own market. A player’s value in one league can be exponentially different from his value in another and these trades show exactly that for Jaylen Waddle. But don’t let it end there. If there are players you like that aren’t on your roster it is always worth a shot to throw a trade offer out there to test the waters on that manager’s values. You might just get a crisp new dollar bill for a handful of coins.
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