Fantasy Football Headset 2020; What I’d Trade (Nati and Sidearm)

[12 team league, 25 man rosters, 5 taxi spots, start 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 2Flex, 1DST, 1K]

These two teams made the decision to trade a big piece ahead of the season, conceding they weren’t championship contenders, but have found themselves in playoff contention. Both teams were in post season last year, but even with trading star players now find themselves deciding which way to go for the rest of 2020.

Sidearm has finished 2nd and 4th in the previous two years and a big part of that was the stack between Patrick Mahommes and Travis Kelce. However, his running back position took a big hit and he decided to load up on assets and come back in 2021 by trading Kelece. Two 1st round picks and Blake Jarwin is a solid haul. The reason the trade hasn’t hurt him as much is because of the emergence of Mike Gesicki and the long awaited revival of Mo Alie-Cox.

Sidearm has done a solid job building his team through the draft with Mahommes, Devin Singletary, Antonio Gibson, Terry McLaurin, Gesicki, Christin Kirk, Phillip Lindsay, Josh Reynolds, Hunter Renfrow and Henry Ruggs. This his how the team went from picking in the top five to a top playoff team in just a few seasons. However, the running back position was why he leaned in to a retooling in 2020.

Marlon Mack and Lindsay were a big part of his run to runner up two seasons ago, but both got company in the backfield this past offseason. That’s the case for Singletary though Zack Moss’ injury has allowed him to flourish early. Gibson was a good pick and those two have provided enough production to get him to 3-2 with a manageable game this week. I still have my questions about those two being lead backs for a championship team.

The trade of Kelce gives Sidearm two 1st in 2020 and 2021. He also traded Josh Allen for Drew Lock and a 2nd and 3rd which gives him two 2nd round picks in 2020, a 2nd and two 3rd round picks for 2021. He is absolutely loaded in draft capital with T.Y. Hilton and Emmanuel Sanders on his bench that could be moved for a few more mid round picks.

The question is how do you go the rest of the way for this season? Sidearm could move Hilton and Sanders to add even more draft pick capital or could deal from his stash of picks to push his team in to contention. Saquon Barkley, Leonard Founette, Kenyan Drake, James Connor and Raheem Mostert have already been traded, leaving the RB market a bit thin but the assets are there to entice a team to part with a top RB.

A lot of the core is in place and good ages so you could go either way. It is supposed to be a loaded rookie draft which makes it all the more tempting to get to the draft and see what you can add to a solid team, but will you find a superstar? If someone like Christian McCaffrey is available then you have to be tempted to make a deal, especially with his draft pick and WR depth, but do you want to be that aggressive?

I think you go for it. Finding a superstar is easier said than done and with four draft picks in the top two rounds for this draft and three for the next one there’s plenty of capital to make a move and not leave the cupboard bare. Plus, you can’t count future championships without winning one first. The team has produced so go for it and still have an incredibly young team. However, if the price is too steep then you have to move Hilton and Sanders. Load up on picks and put together one of the youngest teams in the league that can really grow in to a title contender.

Nati’s reason for trading was a little different. Despite being a playoff team he was realistic about his team. The TE duo of Darren Waller and Austin Hooper was a big factor in his success, but his best WR was Jamison Crowder. Nati got an offer for Barkley he flet like he couldn’t turn down and decided to retool his team knowing he couldn’t get it with his WR. The trades was a 2020 1st and 2021 1st round pick, Preston Williams and Calvin Ridley.

Now, I’m still not sure it was the right trade to make but it does look like a short term win with Barkley hurt for the season and Ridley becoming a superstar. However, there are some other trades to go over. A trade last year for A.J. Green cost him his 2nd and 3rd round pick this past draft and he felt the need to get a QB so he went with Joe Burrow instead of a WR. Nati has also traded the 1st he got for a 2nd next year, John Brown and a few other depth WR.

Nati started off solid because David Montgomery was producing and Ridley was a big boost to the weak WR position but has fallen off and could be 2-4 after this week. With Hooper falling off and Barkley gone this roster is showing what it really is. Montgomery and Dalvin Cook are the top running backs but after that isn’t really much. Besides Waller and Hooper there isn’t much at TE either.

The WR position has been remade with Ridley, Crowder, Brown, Williams and Green, but it still needs help. Chris Hogan, Randall Cobb and Kenny Stills are really the only vet WR worth mentioning. Nati’s team has shown it still is very much a work in progress, though early on it was in line with Sidearm to consider using the draft capital to push towards more contention.

With the trades Nati only has his 1st round pick and 2nd rounders in 2020, but two 1st and 2nd round picks for 2021 so this is a retooling team with not much draft capital this season to add, so he needs to lean in to the retooling. Crowder, Green (if he can produce), Matt Ryan, possibly Brown and any other vets should be on the market to try and get some more draft capital for a loaded rookie class.

Nati could also hit the nuclear rebuild after trading Barkley already and go after a haul for Cook. While there’s no argument against trying to build around him, Cook could bring back a haul of players to build around along with picks and would be a full rebuild to reset the clock. This is where the questions are raised over trading Barkley. It upgraded the WR position but also revealed more of the weaknesses of this team, and with the lacking of capital this year would make it tough to replace Barkley for 2021. Though Nati absolutely has to get at least a RB in a Cook trade because that’s where the Barkley trade really hurt him.

Sidearm is really in the position to go all in or wait and see with his roster and draft capital where Nati needs to rebuild at least partially, but both have vets they definitely need to move in the least. Theoretically, both could look up for a Dalvin Cook trade and it would work out for both.