Few would disagree that a good draft is the most important thing
to winning at Fantasy Football. Every year there are stars that
emerge in Week 1, Week 5, and Week 12 that were unknowns on FFL
draft day, but screw up your initial team selections and you're
fighting an uphill battle all year long. It's possible to build
a winning team composed of the Anthony Thomases and Shaun Alexanders
of the world - i.e., fantasy stars who sat unclaimed in waiver pools
until their breakout week - but it's not easy. What's more, if your
team is a winner, which is kind of the goal, you'll rarely have
the waiver position to get those guys anyway.
But good draft or no, and regardless of waiver position, there's
one resource available to all fantasy players, and that's the
wheeling and dealing that has occasionally built champions in
the NFL (Dallas trades Herschel Walker for a dynasty, Green Bay
trades a late first-rounder for Brett Favre), frequently does
it in other team sports, and can do the same thing in Fantasy
Football. In fact, if ever Fantasy Football champions are accorded
the national acclaim they so richly deserve, in their emotional
press conferences they will no doubt point to one or two key deals
over the course of the season that helped them reach that lofty
pinnacle.
So given that trades are crucial - and it's easy to screw up
your draft, as those of you who drafted Michael Bennett in the
second round can heartily agree - it's worth taking a moment to
look at the different kinds of trades that can make your team
a winner.
Depth for Power
You had a decent draft, and you snagged some late-rounders and
shrewd waiver wire pickups that have made your team not only strong,
but deep. Deeper than somebody else in your league? Somebody,
say, who has Terrell Owens at WR, but has already seen his RB
picks like Fred Taylor and Ricky Watters go on the shelf? Now
is the time. He may not like to give up a stud like Owens for
Keenan McCardell, Travis Henry and Richard Huntley…but he
also might not have much choice, if his RB tandem is currently
Larry Centers and Dorsey Levens. You lose your 3rd and 4th RBs
and 3rd WR, but you've got a wideout you'll be proud to play along
your other top draft picks each and every week.
Exchange of Studs
Maybe you need a stud WR more than a stud RB. Or maybe you just
think Isaac Bruce will have a better second half than Jimmy Smith.
Either way, these are the deals that can be great if you've done
your homework, because although they seem even initially, research
on little things like upcoming schedules and projected needs of
your team can make all the difference in the world, and make what
seemed like an even trade into a steal for you.
The "Balanced" Trade
How often have you made a trade where the key studs, a month later,
have been disappointing, and the guys thrown in to balance it
are the real producers? A month ago I threw Qadry Ismail into
a trade, where I was giving up a superior running back for a lesser
running back and Torry Holt. Holt might still turn out to be the
better player down the stretch - I'm counting on it - but I dearly
regret throwing Ismail into the deal. He's outperforming the other
three guys in the trade at the moment, and has a cooler name to
boot. On the brighter side for me, I got Mike Anderson as a throw-in
to "balance" a trade the week after Terrell Davis came
back to start for the Broncos last November. Davis went down again
and Anderson carried my team into the league championship.
In any case, trades are much more than just building blocks on
your way to a championship - they're fun. It's during those moments
when you truly feel like you're rubbing elbows with the Ron Wolfs
of the world. And it's that fun which convinces me there are special
circles of Hell reserved for those who 1) don't respond to trades,
2) "are happy with their teams as they are," or 3) insult
me with ludicrous offers like Willie Jackson for Ahman Green.
Because trading is great. It's people who sometimes try to take
the joy out of it. Don't let them. Trade on!
:: comments to andy
richardson
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