Fantasy Football - Dynasty Trade Targets + Rebuild vs. Contending? - Podcast for 5/13

Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in Tuesday, May 13th. Welcome in one and all the fantasy footballers podcast. Jason Moore, Mike, the fantasy hit man. I'm Andy Holloway. And here we are again. Another fine episode of the podcast coming your way. Right now. Right here. Kind of special one. This is a normal week? No, we are 19 days away from the ultimate draft kit releasing June 1st, as it does every year for the past. I mean, how many years have we had that? Don't worry about it. 10? Nine. Nine. Something like that. But we have been plugging away this past weekend on player projections for every player on every team, all three of us. And we are just about there.

I've been working on that for a while. Excited. All the sleepers, the breakouts, the bus, the values, everything you need to win your league, getting those things ready for June 1st. And part of the month of May, which it is, is, well, I'll push this button. Welcome to Dynasty Week. That's pretty nice. Yeah, very nice. So it's year five. Dynasty Week is back. Two episodes this week will focus on. Some dynasty topics. Today we've got trade for and tradeaway candidates. For dynasty leagues, we have a good dynasty themed quick question that we'll be jumping into momentarily. And we got a giveaway, a very easy to enter giveaway for the next week. Signed Nico Collins jersey. If you would like to enter, it is free to enter at footclan giveaway.com. We'll give away that signed Nico Collins jersey. I don't know where Nico ended up in either of your rankings, was it?

It was pretty good. Better or worse than you may have thought? Honestly, it was right where I thought. He doesn't strike me as like a top three wide receiver, but he's locked in the top 10. He's chilling at number five for me right now. To me it does, like of all the people that could finish number one on the year, he is in that category. I think he could. Just on the basis of if the touchdowns come his way. I think that's, you know, we don't, none of us have C.J. Stroud rank really high. Correct. He's an interesting name for Dynasty leagues as well right now. For sure. Young stud, great quarterback who was the, what, QB2 or something? I mean, he... In Dynasty? Yeah. Yeah, expectations for what can be. And it wasn't that last year. So that'll be an interesting name to see broken down for 2020. Like, can he redeem some of that value in 2025? Yeah, for sure. I mean, C.J. Stroud was as hot as...

any player in fantasy, especially in Dynasty going in last year. And so you've always got the post-hyped sleepers. The guys that disappoint on the hype on one year, people kind of swing the pendulum too far the other way. And then they come back and they're like, oh, yeah, that was the player that we, we love. Now, it could be that. It could be Baker. Because Baker is, like, he was always the comp for last year, C.J. Stroud of how crazy people got. for C.J. Stroud. Like, he was going to be the next Patrick Mahomes. He's going to have a decade of being a top three fantasy quarterback. And that was what happened back in the day with Baker Mayfield when they added Odell Beckham in the offseason after his incredible rookie. And he was like, okay, this is the next king. And then I mean, Baker's back. But he took, he took himself a tumble to like, you're talking to waiver wires in single quarterback dynasty. Well, probably not waiver. But at a certain point, I'm sure he did.

Oh, Baker definitely did. Yeah, I mean, his story is like very difficult for anybody to ever repeat. It's so rare for a player to fall out of favor and play poorly for so long and then come back and find his footing. Thank you, McVeigh. Yes. It was the scent of McVe. Just a moment. That's all you need for the Rams. You just need to be around him a little bit. So here's the dynasty quick question. How do you know when you've turned the corner from a rebuild into a contender? I did laugh at my answer at your answer yeah I mean what you wrote down here it's the freaking truth what what is how do you know when you've turned the corner from a rebuild to a contender when your team's good I mean people overthink this like crazy it's like just look at your team with the most points at the end of the game gonna win guys I'm just saying people

People wait too long. They say, oh, I'm a rebuilding team. So I can't be a contender. If your team is good, I'm not saying best. I'm not saying top three. Just is it good. Do you have good players? Can you win more than half of your games? If your team is good, then you should consider yourself a contender. Like you should be in the situation where all you got to do is make the playoffs. So let me translate that into a slightly more complex answer. Okay. Because I think that that's obviously true. I mean, maybe it's, you know, making the playoffs. Like, is your team a playoff contender? Because once you get into the playoffs, anybody can win that. It happens every year. But maybe we don't get so locked into this identity of how long it's going to take you to rebuild your team. Because if you set out to be a rebuilding team and then you get surprised, some of the players that you've drafted, you have an opportunity to win now.

I think I would say don't pass up that chance because you don't know that that's going to continue forever. So if you've got good players, you've identified yourself as a rebuilding team, but you're surprising halfway through the year. Yeah, be willing to go in. That doesn't mean to abandon all of your youth and your plans and your project, but that might mean adding a couple of veterans because those are always available on a huge discount. I mean, Al Borland just did this this past weekend trading with me who is. I hate to say this. Oh, man. Messing with my whole. This is big news. Is my whole identity. But I am, I am actually rebuilding. It has been. Yes. Since the beginning of this job. I don't believe you. Yeah, no. Tank, man. I do not believe you for one second. Here's what's going to happen. I'm just calling it now. Oh, okay. You don't believe that I'm rebuilding. Correct. Well, he's rebuilding as of right now. Okay, that's fair. That will last for, I would say till week one. Maybe, maybe till week one. I just traded Kelsey and Camero away.

And I traded them to a team that has been rebuilding and has the potential to win. It's rebuilt. It's rebuilt. And that would be Alborland's team along with Kyle. Who's team? Yeah. And they've rebuilt it. And then they decided to add Kelsey and Camara to give themselves a shot at a run. Now that was a mitigated, you know, a safe level risk. Like they didn't trade all their young players for old players or anything like that. It's not like, you know, you have to go all in and give yourself no future. It's just. Don't be afraid to make the moves you need to make to win this year just because you think you're in a rebuild. If it's going good, help it win a title. Yeah, my favorite thing you just said is don't make your identity a rebuilding team. Like, that's not what your team is like, okay, you're in rebuild mode. Okay. You're in a pit stop. Yes, exactly. Just getting some new tires on real quick. You'll be right back out. 100%. Sometimes people get too caught up with like,

you know oh i'm a rebuilder it's like no you don't want do you want to always be a rebuilder no just like get some new wheels on there and get ready to but i'm i'm really i'm rebuilding jay i sure you have draft picks now right a few so which is rare for you almost impossible i have some i have his second next year so i really hope he rebuilds yeah um he will be like a first yeah will be using those picks this season to trade for assets to go and win. Maybe. If I start well. Yeah. I'm open to it. But no, I look, it's a good answer. Mike, did you have anything you wanted to add? Yeah, I mean, it's just like looking at your starting roster is your, is the majority of your starting roster good players? As Jason Moore said, is your team good? It like, because depth is very difficult and there's things about your bench that you just, you don't know right now. Like my, the,

Everyone is in a dynasty league, not everyone, but the majority of teams have like, do you have two starting running backs? Because if you do, if you have two starters, you're doing better than a lot of people. But then your bench can be full of these backups who as of the recording of this show in early May, those guys have little to no value. And then week six, all of a sudden, you have an RB2. on your bench things change rapidly so it's is your starting roster right now looking like a team that can win can beat out half of the league yeah so that's where that's my starting point um i'm sad because you got to rebuild yeah i'm sad to have to be accepting reality in this situation because um you pushed it way further than we thought you could i genuinely don't feel like i want enough titles

That's the truth. Yeah, that's fair. Like it was a long run and I didn't win enough. And that's why you, I mean, you're playing to win. I, you know, you, I held on for a long time. I felt like I was in an advantage position because everybody wanted to rebuild. And so I was always in this position to take on older, you know, older players, which I think helped a lot. But. I see Jason still doesn't believe me. I can tell. I can tell he still doesn't believe me. Have you seen my team? Oh, yeah. No, I know. It's trash. You'll be back quick. I hope so. And as soon as you smell a victory, you'll buy in. Maybe. We'll see. News and notes from around the league. This is a big one. Oh, man. We got to say goodbye to a. Send it in. We got to say goodbye to a drop we've had since the first year of this show. I mean, he.

predates the first episode of this podcast. Send in the car. Send in the car. Derek Carr. They are sending him into retirement. Yes. This is a bit of a shocker. Derek Carr announces retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons. We are going into our 11th season. And, you know, he was dealing with shoulder issues. It seemed like he was positioning for a trade or to find a new team. And it turned out he's done. Yeah, his shoulder issue, you know, he got soreness and he was trying to, you know, see if he could just kind of play through that arrest, rehabilitate. And then it was determined that the only way that he could come back was surgery, miss a season, come back next year. And he decided to walk away to go into retirement. And if you haven't seen the day one retirement video, like on Instagram, it is the most wholesome, awesome, like,

I don't know if you like Derek Carr or not, but watch that video and you're like, I like Derek Carr. I'm happy for him. He, he, I mean, he's retiring, so it's the time to give him his flowers. Like an 11-year career as a, I mean, he was a starting quarterback for 11 years. I don't remember if he started right away as a rookie, but he was a, you know, he was not scheduled to start as a rookie where he was drafted, but to turn that into the career that he did. It's incredible. It always felt like you were just a little too short, except for that year three. The Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree combo to begin that year, I think they were undefeated through a bunch of games or very close to it. Carr was pacing that year to be an MVP candidate. And then what broke his ankle or something right at the very end? He was 17.9 fantasy points per game. His highest was that year. But fantasy finish wise, man. He was the...

He was the quarterback too. He was. He was the quarterback too. He was, he was the quarterback too. He was, uh, 20, 14, 13, 19, 19, 17, 13, 13, 15. He was just a teenager. Um, so yeah, that's it. We, uh, no more, no more cars. And now the question becomes what happens next for the Saints, for the team, for Tyler Shucked, for the, the, Olave and Camara. I mean, the fantasy ramifications here are. very impactful, very important to diagnose. It would have been better with Derek Carr. More fantasy points all the way around for everybody. But Derek Carr was also, especially at this stage of his career, not something that was so spectacular that, you know, they can't move forward from. Right. It's tough. I mean, talk about just on a platter for Tyler Shuck. Oh, yeah. You were selected ahead of Shador Sanders and Dylan Gabriel and Jalen.

Milrow and you have an opportunity now to compete with Spencer Rattler and Jake Hainer, both of whom we already saw. Which means you are the starter. You just won. Like we've seen those guys. If he's not starting in week one, something has gone. Yeah, shock him off your dynasty team at that point. It's gone real bad. So today's episode is trade for and tradeaway candidates. We had our guys kind of penciled in last week as we prepared. And I told Kyle, you need to add one more player to this because right now, If I had Tyler Shuck, I am 100% trading him away. The hype is wonderful. It's recouping. I don't feel like there's, you see, there might not be a market. I don't think that there's really hype or a market for him. It's just now you know he's a starter. In two quarterback leagues, I really think people, they're willing to pay something for a starting quarterback, especially the team's just starving. I mean, there's always a couple teams in two quarterback leagues that, like, they basically don't even have a quarterback too. Well, I'll trade you very little for him.

But I think he'll, I think he's going to be the starter for the Saints for years. He might be so. I think that's the most likely outcome. I went and I watched, um, after, you know, recently I watched a bunch more of his tape and I will be completely honest. I really liked him. I liked him. That's why he's recommending trading him away. I liked him as much as in fact personally, a little bit more than Jackson Dart. Um, But I don't see him as a first round talent. I see him as a second round talent, which is where he got drafted. And the thing is, is day two quarterbacks, they are a trap for everyone, including NFL teams. If they were talented enough, they'd be taken in the first. They weren't. They would have been taken by the team that drafted them and they fall. If you look since 2014, 24 day two quarterbacks being selected, of those 24, there's only three of...

relevance, which is Derek Carr, Jalen Hertz, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Pretty much, other than that, only three had a starting job for more than one full season. This is a team that's going to have a top 10 pick next year, probably with Tyler Shuck. So dynasty-wise, you could make an argument that his value might be the highest today of all time. Yeah, I think this move, the retirement, Rashid Shaheed, it's brutal for him. He had a special connection with Derek Carr. Alave is still going to be the number one, but we saw how bad it can be on offense for the Saints last year when they don't have Derek Carr. And so you are gambling. I mean, Alvin Camara, the checkdowns, he'll probably be fine. Checkdowns will be there, but the offense is worse. But the offense is worse. And, you know, Olave is already a risk, regardless of the quarterback, just due to the concussion history. And so you're looking at...

Look, I think I said it a few weeks ago. I don't think the Saints are a good football team. I just don't. I just don't think in that division they're going to be able to compete. And I thought that with this shaky car situation, so to Jason's point about maybe having another top 10 pick, it could happen. It's, you know, the offense has got to figure it out. I like Tyler Shuck's film too, personally. So I think he will be the starter. We've seen enough of those other two guys. Alvin Camara was really good on a per game basis last year.

He, you know, outperformed his draft price and all that. But if you take a look at the Derek Carr games, the first month of the season, Alvin Camara was averaging 24.5 fantasy points per game. That's incredible. That's been number one. Yeah. And then after the last 10 games, he was averaging 13.3, which is still a relevant fantasy option, but it is a massive step down. Yeah, that's true. And they don't, I mean, he'll be the guy. It'll just be the guy on a team that you don't necessarily love the offense for. And, you know, that kind of feels a little bit like Tennessee last year when they were playing quarterback roulette. And we didn't, you know, Pollard was okay. Good sometimes, not good sometimes. Jonathan Brooks on the PUPP officially placed there by the Panthers won't play in 2025, which means Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdell.

Some other fellas like Trevor E.T.N. will be the backfield in Carolina. I love Chuba Hubbard this year. He's just a good running back. He's just a great running back. I do. I think Chuba is a good running back as well. His ADP should be fine, but he's one of the players that'll be interesting of the way that RICO was brought in and the way that Chuba slowed down at the end, I think the timeshare is. closer. It's still Chuba's team. So I'm not declaring this RICO, but I'm saying eating away more at the work than we will be happy with. James Cook declined to say whether he'll hold out for a new contract. Do people really hold out anymore? Aren't they only hold-ins? Yeah. So he could just say, yeah, I won't hold. You should have just said I'm not going to hold out. I'm not lying. Nick Chubbs' days as a Cleveland Brown seemed to be over. This was

Cleveland General Manager Andrew Berry saying that it is unlikely the team brings him back. So that one, Nick Chubb was a player that I feel like everyone liked. Yeah, for sure. Like there's running backs out there that a lot of people like and they're high profile running backs. But there's groups. You're like, I don't really, I don't think that players is good. But Nick Chubb was just that dude. And then that, whatever, week two or week three knee injury was just, that was dark. We also found out that the Eagles will host the Cowboys in the first game of the season. That's a fun one. And George Pickens, welcome. Welcome to the East. I did that. This whole, we're slowly rolling out the schedule. It is. Don't get me, don't get me started. NFL. Look, NFL. I love the NFL, but my eyes have rolled in the back of my head. We haven't discussed this, but we were on the exact same page of a press release, about a press release. Stop it. Stop it.

Just, just release the schedule. Let us buy our tickets. It's not that. It's not that cool. Yeah. It's not that cool. They, you love it. I don't I. I don't love it, but I understand it. And they're doing exactly what they should do because they own the press. Always. If they can, if they can put out one piece of information and have. Press releases and every sports news and Twitter and social media. Stop it. Here's a new one. Stop enabling this. Never announce a schedule. You just get on a plane. You don't know where you're going. Now we're talking. You fly somewhere. When you land, you know who you're playing? That's what I want. When is the official release? It's like tomorrow or something, right? Yeah. I think it's Wednesday. Yeah. Maybe. Who knows? Well, Jason will be front row at the event.

All right, we'll take a break. Come back with some trade talk. What city is hosting this? Oh, gosh. Oh, my God. All right, Jason's got his tickets to fly out for the schedule release figured out in that break. Let's talk trades. Let's talk trades. Spectacular. Had you seen that videographic? I don't remember it. I saw it this morning. But I liked it. That's a new one. That's a new one from The Biggest Loser. Very nice. All right. We're talking trades. Players to trade four players to trade away in Dynasty based on where we're at right now. Middle of May. Players you might want to, you know, put on the roster for me. I'll start that. Go ahead. The trade four candidate for me is I think we're going to enter a window here for Justin Herbert that I think will be extremely good for your.

dynasty team. I think we're entering now, I'm not going to go as far as Super Bowl champions that Jason may have, well, he made a lot of Chargers fans very happy. But I do think that the stability on the team, the addition of Ladd-McConkey, Trey Harris, Mike Williams, Johnson's still there, the weapons that they have, Hampton out of the backfield. Justin Herbert, we already, I don't think anybody would argue that he's one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks in football. No, that dude could chuck it. I mean, he is a tremendous passer. He is able to evade pressure. He can throw on the run. He can make plays when it matters. And he's 27 years old. Now, Mike, he was one of your trade targets in the dynasty pass. He has been because I am with you. I think that he has been under. He's undervalued. That's the reason I want people to go after him right now is I think that there's a chance that you could trade a player, a quarterback, for Justin Herbert and a little something.

and maybe you're not really taking a downgrade in Dynasty. This was a player who in his first three seasons was the quarterback 9, 2, and 11. So we know what's in the arsenal. These were years he was thrown for 4,300 to 5,000 yards. Injuries, offensive philosophy, they took a toll on the past two years. And I just think that this team is heading in the direction where, look, they proved they were willing to put more on his plate over the back half of the year. Yes. You know, he's got a head coach who loves him. More weapons. Do they have enough weapons? I'm not sure exactly. But you look at that post-by-week Justin Herbert last season. He was top 10 in neutral pass rate and completion percentage and yards per game and EPA per pass and explosive plays. And he's got more weapons than he's had in a while. So, you know, eight top 12 performances in fantasy from week eight on.

That's second place behind Lamar Jackson. I think Justin Herbert is one of those players, and I even mean it in redraft. Like you were talking a later round quarterback this year in redraft or acquiring him on the Cheapen Dynasty because you're at this stage of his career where people think they might have, they might have him figured out and what he's going to be. And I think there's a fatigue there in Dynasty that you can benefit from if you're looking to pick him up. And, you know, I don't know if that's Baker. Right? Or somebody like that in that category where you could go get Herbert plus a little something for Baker? I don't know. But I think he's a trade for target. I like going after Herbert not because I think it is an absolute home run of go get Herbert. I promise you that things are turning around this season. It's not that at all. But it's in the range of outcomes. He has shown us he can do those things. And for pocket passers, like try and go trade for one of the runners.

It's going to cost you so, so much. The running quarterback. Yeah, the running quarterback. So now I've got to find a pocket passer who I think could do a Joe Burrow. Try and go get Joe Burrow. You're not going to be able to do it. But Justin Herbert, in the right system, has shown he can be a 5K 40 plus touchdown type of a player. And it's the fact that it's hard to see the path for that to come back. Even this year, we're working on a redraft rankings. I'm like, oh, man. I know the second half was so much better for Herbert, but it's tough for me to get him into my top 12. But I know that the talent is there. And betting on talent in Dynasty over situation is frequently, like if you go with that path, you're going to win more than you lose. There's a really good historical comp to me, and that's Matthew Stafford. Nobody has ever doubted that Matthew Stafford was a top-tier armed talent quarterback in the league.

But there were ebbs and flows in his early years. It started so hot, aside from the injuries. Yeah, I mean, he was quarterback 5 in 2011, 10 and 7, had an off year, came back with top 10 finishes. I see those two players, obviously not at this stage of Stafford's career, but as an early career, Matthew Stafford. So what's going on with Herbert? I think there's an opportunity. Yeah, and obviously this is for Dynasty. This isn't like saying that this year he's going to be the best. I think he's going to be a quality fantasy quarterback this year. to be a top 10 quarterback. But yeah, when you're looking for trades, whether you're trading for or trading away, it's really just about value. Yes. Is this player undervalued or is this player overvalued? You capitalize on that. And a lot of times, if you take away the player's name, you know, and you just think about the situation and then compare that to the value, it's like a no-brainer. So I'll go next because I think this one is a no-brainer. There is, I'm going to take the name away.

There is a first round wide receiver, an NFL drafted first round wide receiver who went to a great offense with a great offensive head coach who has produced a lot of fantasy success. In fact, he has produced a guy in the last three years who's been a two-time top 12 wide receiver. Oh, but that player's no longer on the team. Now, granted, there is another star wide receiver on this team. Wait, he's injured. So you're telling me that there is a wide receiver drafted last year in the first round on his rookie contract who has a pathway on a great offense, a 10 and a half win projected team total. And he is currently being drafted in Dynasty startups as the 100th player. So how do you say that? Yeah. No, no. We know. Definitely 100% how you got it. 100th player. Yep. Now that I say it sounds even worse than the first time. No, that's, uh, that's good. I like that. How about this? He's the 47th wide receiver in Dynasty.

47th. He's the 47th drafted wide receiver in Dynasty startups. You can take everything else away and say, I know that's undervalued. All right, Mike, it's your turn now. Now let's talk about the player. It's Ricky Pearsall. Ricky Pearsall was a player I liked going into last year. He was a good route runner. He has unbelievable hands. If there is a catchable ball, he will catch it. You should see him do Thumb Wars. undefeated. Oh, his hands are incredible. I've, that's a stat we should give. The thumb weight is that? It's dexterity. Oh, thumb dexterity. Yes. Which helps you catch the ball. I'm guessing Kenny Pickett's not pretty good on that one. These hands are small I know. So, so you love the first round.