Mid Season Assessment Part 2

By Joe Goodwin

We are at that time of the season where you need to take quick stock of your team’s immediate and foreseeable future.

If your team is currently 1-5, you are debating even keeping up with the rest of the regular season.  My advice: keep working!  Will you make the playoffs? Most likely not.  Will you gain the respect of your league mates? Most definitely yes.

Redraft Leagues: Keep working hard, your league mates will appreciate the effort and you may avoid any punishment your league may issue for finishing last.  With this team, be on the lookout of players that may just find themselves in better situations due to injuries or trades.  In this situation, look for Gus Edwards or D’Onta Foreman.  Both players seem to be gearing up for a heavier workload in the 2nd half of the season and they may turn your fortune.  Also, look to poach any good players a team may drop due to bye week issues.  Some teams can’t afford a ZERO in their game and may have to cut a fringe player on their roster to make room for a bye-week replacement, but would probably start for your team.  In this situation, look out for: Romeo Doubs, Miles Sanders, Michael Gallup.  These types of pickups may drastically improve your team's chances of being competitive in the later half of the season.

Dynasty Leagues: This is where a dynasty league manager can have some fun.  Look for teams that are 4-2 or 3-3 and believe they have a realistic chance of getting into the playoffs.  This team may overpay for a startable player from your team, but has no value long term in dynasty.  Players that fit this mold for me are: Hunter Renfrow, Latavius Murray, Gerald Everett, Tyler Higbee.  These are all very good fantasy players.  However, they should not be in your long term plans.  Use these players to bulk up your draft picks for the 2023 rookie draft or add young talent now that has not had as much opportunity to play yet, but you can afford to wait on.  Players that come to mind are: James Cook, Isaiah Spiller, Elijah Moore, and Brevin Jordan.  These players are not current starters on any fantasy roster, but may be more valuable next year.  Trade away those players that are not helping you win anyway, and use them to improve your situation moving forward.

Devy Leagues: The same as the dynasty league, but include devy draft picks as well.  Since devy leagues are deeper with youth, you should try to add to your devy list:  Rakim Jarrett, Arik Gilbert, Sean Tucker.  Since devy league picks are volatile, managers may be more willing to move a player that is not performing as predicted and will make a deal to improve their chances this year.  For any devy league manager that is not going to make the playoffs, try to add as many draft picks as possible; both rookie and devy draft picks. You can improve your team quickly by having more opportunities to hit on a pick.  Blake Corum probably wasn’t drafted in every devy league, yet is a monster this year.  Why do I bring that up? Because it proves the NCAA will have players appear like “can’t miss” stars now, but 6 months ago, may not have been on many radars.  Having more picks means you can take more risks to add players like this to your devy roster and wait.

Whether you have hopes for a long playoff run, or are trying to avoid last place, fantasy football is supposed to be fun.  So, have fun!  Make long term trades to increase your chances of winning next year.  Or, invest in young players now and watch them mature.  My first dynasty league team didn’t start out too hot; no thanks to Drew Brees, Zeke Elliot and Adam Theilen.  So, instead, I kept trading older players for draft picks in the hopes of a brighter future.  That team now has Trevor Lawrence, Justin Jefferson, Jaylen Waddle, and Kenneth Walker as my core.  And I have two 1st round and two 2nd round picks this year to hopefully round out a team that should compete quickly; welcome, Blake Corum!

The moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to take risks because nothing beats hitting on a move that most others won’t take.