Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Listener Mailbag Episode, Keeper Questions

Question there. That's perfect there. It's Antonio Brown. It's Antonio Brown. Body or mine? That's body. That's soul, man. Down to my soul. Your mind says you've got to take that value. So this, I'm going to put this out here for you. Let me put it another way. Jordy Nelson and Devanta Freeman, would you accept them in a trade for Antonio Brown? Somebody offered you Devonta Freeman.

And Jordy Nelson for Antonio Brown. I don't think I would. All right. Then you have held true to your beliefs. You have passed the test. What's it you, Andy? Who would you keep? Antonio Brown. Yeah, I think I would as well. I think I just, I mean. There's only five guys or so in the league that are true elite. You say five guys?

Oh, no. That's delicious. We're going to get a burger. But there's only a handful of guys that are true. Elite, elite, complete difference makers. Not every team gets one of those guys. Elite squared. And that would be Antonio Brown. Yeah, talking, going back to this, nobody's really safe. Antonio Brown is safe. Yeah, he's as safe as they get. Oh, that's right. All right. We're going to go to a voicemail question, I think. Hey, guys, this is Taylor. Love the show. I have a quick question for you.

10-man standard keeper league. I get a keep two. You lose the pick where you keep the player at. I have DeMarco Murray in the 3rd, Lamar Miller in the 4th, DeAndre Hopkins in the 5th, Alan Robinson in the 9th. And I also have Travis Kelsey in the 7th. I'm thinking Hopkins in the 5th, Robinson in the 9th, leaving me spots 1 through 4 for the running back. So let me know what you got to think.

Give me your opinions. Love the show. Wow. I'm not very far off what you have set up there and what you said. I would probably not in a standard league combine the values of both wide receivers when you got Robinson in the ninth. I would actually go Lamar Miller fourth, Alan Robinson ninth. That is exactly what I would do, and I would do it because there's not a...

a huge discrepancy and value between Hopkins and Miller, and it will leave you more flexibility in your draft, having one of each position. You don't have to get a running back. Yeah, you don't have to have the mindset you just said, which is like, okay, I got to get a running back rounds one through four. Yeah. That's a good one. Yeah, that argument has swayed me. I was on the two wide receivers, but I like to leave my options open, so that's how I would lean. All right, Garrett and Kansas City said last season, our point per reception league switched over to a keeper league with five per team.

He's got OBJ Hopkins and Gurley for sure. But he also has Alan Robinson, Lamar, Miller, Thomas Rawls, and Cam Newton. You are starting with a good team. I think I could package three of these guys to get either Julio, Lev Bell, or David Johnson. Which of my four would you keep, and which of the three would you trade four? Oh, okay. So he doesn't have to trade them, obviously. He's trying to kind of trade up and grab another.

great top tier option like his girly and OBJ and Hopkins. But does he already have that with Alan Robinson and Lamar Miller? Right. So OBJ Hopkins Gurley, that's unlocking those guys in. If I could move Miller, Rawls, and Cam, and get Levi-on-Bel and keep him alongside Alan Robinson, I would do that. Or even Julio. Or even...

Any of those three. Because if you're having to send guys back, then this makes sense to me. Right. Yeah. The way that I look at it is if you can package Cam, Rawls, and someone else for the same position that you're sending. So if you're sending A-Rob and you get Julio or you send Lamar Miller and you get Levy on Bell, that's what I would try to do. Otherwise, A-Rob, Lamar Miller, and those other three, you're still great.

Let me ask you a philosophical question that comes up with this situation. You're in a league that's a keeper league. Clearly, you're loaded. You're about to send three guys off that somebody else is only doing that trade so they can keep those three guys and have a really strong keeper group. Does that factor in your decision-making at all, or do you just have to wash that out and bring the best guys to the table for yourself? I definitely think about that, that you're shallowing the draft pool.

So that does factor in, but when you're talking about you have the opportunity to get an elite player, Julio Lev Bell, and David Johnson's probably pretty close to there for me, but Julio Lev Bell for sure. Because of the caliber of the player, I'm willing to...

sacrifice the draft. I don't really mind making another team better at this stage of the year. The only time that I care is if we're nearing the trade deadline and I would make a deal that would make someone else that's clearly on their way to the championship better than I worry about it. But this is so early, I'm just focused on my team. Make me the best I can be. And that goes for the person in the opposite position here, sending off a Lev Bell or sitting off. Yeah, I think so. Because if you've got one of those guys, I mean, we've been in this situation a lot of our drafts where

You go into the year and you pretty much know you have to trade your best asset because you're a little bit weaker elsewhere. Obviously, if they're keeping this many of those guys, they need to do that. They might need to unload and grab it. And it's probably going to be a good trade for both teams. Yeah, fair enough. All right. Anthony in Sacramento, California says, love the show, guys. Haven't missed an episode in months. Oh, good man, Anthony. Don't want to break the rules and miss an episode. There's rules. Yeah, there is. We give one password on every episode that if you don't put it in the computer.

Everything blows up. All right, I have a trade question that I could use some input on. I'm in a PPR keeper. It looks like Keep seven. It's like a half dynasty. Yeah, no round penalty league, and you can trade the next season's draft picks. All right, so very similar to the league that we play in it for one of our leagues of record. Only we keep three. The Evans owner is shopping him to me, and I have a couple of offers in my head. Oh, offer one. Alan Robinson.

Okay, Mike Evans. Offer two, Josh Gordon in a first round pick. Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. Offer three, Randall Cobb, two first round picks. Hmm. How hard should I push for Evans? I would do offer two, and that is it. I agree. That is the only one that I would do. Yeah, I still feel like it's a coin flip of down Robinson, so you're too neutral to make that trade. Yeah, I believe that they're very close. Uh,

in my opinion, especially for moving forward. I bet that Gordon... That deal is gone. But if it's still available, I hope you hit Accept before we were able to get to you. Otherwise, I'm not... No guilt, Mike. You wouldn't have any guilt accepting that. I think it would get vetoed, probably. Most leagues. You guys would veto it. Oh, we don't veto. Let me move on here. Duff in Singapore.

You make my bike commute amazing while I dodge cars. Whoa, stay safe, Duff. Just like Todd Gurley, dodging defenders. Dodging cars? Well, dodging cars. That's what I was going. You can dodge a car. Twelve team half point per reception league have to keep three from the following. Rolls for a sixth, Nelson for a fourth, Alan for a fifth. Keenan Allen. Yes, just in case. As opposed to Buck? Yeah.

Okay. Mike Evans for a second. Keenan Allen is a lock. Three of those guys. Rawls for a six, Alan for a fifth, Nelson for a four, Evans for two. I am going. I'm probably going Rawls Nelson. I'm throwing Nelson back. Really? Yeah, ACL. I would rather have Jordan Nelson in a fourth than Mike Evans for a second. So I'm going to keep.

Nelson, and I'm actually going to throw Mike Evans back. I don't think he's insane value. In fact, I don't even think he's a value in the second. I think that's about where you should be drafted him, so I would let him go, barring any news changes on Rawls. That's fine. I'm okay not getting value for Evans. I would keep the three wide receivers. So you'd throw Rawls back? I would. Which I could do, depending on what the Seattle Seahawks do in the draft, but as of now, I want to keep him. Ray in Ontario, Canada.

Bonjour, Ray. That was angry almost. It was not pleasant. With all the injuries to prime players last season, I would expect the same to happen this year. Some first rounder will go down and everyone scrambles for the backup. And so number one, and he has 18 questions. Is the handcuffs move tailored for running backs only? Let's go one at a time here. That's what I did. It's mostly, there's not really another situation I can think of.

Yeah, the other situations where you can handcuff a guy are extremely unique. It's not positional. It's not like, oh, yeah, you can handcuff a wide receiver or a tight-in. It's like in this position. For instance, Martel has Bennett. Yeah, that was the one guy that at least comes to mind first, but I still wouldn't handcuff him. I would rather have the roster spot to be used and be open for streaming a position. And then if Grant goes down, I'm going to spend my fab or spend my waiver to get Bennett. Okay.

All right. Question number two. Does the league structure matter with eight teams, with an eight team league, what does that say? Being a nah. As in the smaller the league, the less important it is to handcuff is the question. So he's saying eight teams, don't worry about it up to 12. You must do it. Do you change how you look at the handcuff? Yes. Because of just sheer depth. I mean, if you're in an eight team league, the likelihood of you being able to go grab a ball and play him in the event of an injury was pretty high last year.

As opposed to in a 12-team league when he's probably scooped up. So, yeah, I think it is a higher priority for those teams, and you also have a higher emphasis on elite players in those, you know, so DeAngelo Williams being able to at least come in and be elite. You kind of got to take a chance on that versus just filling in the gaps with like a Charles Sims or something. So during the draft, is the handcuff always your last or third to last pick? No.

It doesn't always. No. Kevin Coleman's not going third to last. Yeah, I was going to say it depends on the player. I mean, you know, if you draft Shady, you are going to get Carlos Williams. And if you think you're waiting until your last, you know, pick-ish, you're incorrect. You will not be getting him. So it really depends on who it is. You know, there are certain players, you know, Tim Hightower. You can probably get with that third to last pick and grab your defense and your kicker in those last two rounds. Is it a selection on draft day or play throughout the season?

As in, do you always draft your handcuff or do you kind of feel it out through the season? One of the biggest problems with drafting handcuffs, unless they are unique, is that you often get fatigued with them on your bench. Let's say you have two elite running backs. Let's say you got Devante Freeman and you've got Levian Bell. Are you going to fill two bench spots with Kevin Coleman and DeAngel Williams for the entirety of your season? Because you probably think you will for about three weeks and then you'll be like, oh my gosh, look at.

Yeah, look at this guy's on the, oh, C.G. Anderson got her. Ronnie Hillman's sitting out there. And so that's the situation you get in. I think there are situations where you want to do that with one guy, but very rarely do I do it personally because I just am not willing to, I'd rather have a guy on my bench that is better and tradable as opposed to a guy like Daniel Williams, so I could not trade unless I have an injury. Yeah, I would say that the need increases the longer the season goes.

You'll hear us talk about it, but as we're kind of approaching the playoffs, let's say you're in contention. You say, oh, I'm going to make the playoffs. You better get your handcuffs on your team. I'll pay a price for my handcuffs in that situation. Because you need to be ready. Yeah, to answer the question, I very much more often have handcuffs, not after the draft, but through the year. Andrew in Florida, 12-team Keeper League, keeping Levion Bell in the 3rd and Gurley in the 5th.

Do I now have to go wide receiver in the first two rounds, or since that position is so comparatively deep, can I take another running back if I can't get Julio Jones? What say you? Keeping Lev Bell in the third, Gurley, and the fifth, do I have to go wide receiver in the first two rounds? What's the format for this league? Is there a 12-team half-point PPR? But you don't have a disproportionate amount of running back starting or flex positions? We don't see that, right? There's nothing. I'm going to...

Guess normal, regular. No, not in the first two rounds, but you need a wide receiver in the first two rounds, if that makes sense. Sure. And I think there's a good chance that you'd be better off to grab two. Right. But it's so hard. We never want to say you have to do something because that's just, it's foolish to go into a draft thinking this is what I have to do. I mean, you might end up with Gronk and Evans with those first two picks. Right, yeah, exactly. I would, I would. I would.

de-prioritize running backs a little bit to me if I was going into this draft because at this point you're getting a flex player which which is which is okay or then a bench player depending on your your format I got a scenario for you okay let's say you're at the back you're you're the kind of like the back middle so that 7-8 area now your tier of running back there's still let's say the second tier or the first tier whatever it's running out