This dynasty trade was made in a 12-team super flex league with two rounds of devy each year. The league starts 1-1-1-1-4Flex-1SFlex and has a shallow two-man taxi squad for devy players. Any devy owned over the two-man taxi squad would occupy a roster spot.
The Approach
Derrick Henry has been a buy recommendation the past few weeks in the Preemptive Dynasty Waiver Wire columns. Taking Chad’s advice to heart, I sent out a few offers for Henry in this league where I am competing in year 1 thanks to a solid core of quarterbacks and receivers. Running backs are devalued due to the start-1 format. Another key to this deal was consolidating roster spots in 2017. With the devy players taking active roster spots and the super flex format, 26 roster spots is extremely tight. My initial offer was to send Isaiah Crowell and a rookie pick for Henry, but negotiations took the deal in a different direction.
The Trade
Gave Kelvin Benjamin, Cameron Meredith, 2017 Devy 1, 2017 Rookie 2, 2017 Rookie 4
Received Jordan Matthews, Derrick Henry, 2017 Rookie 1
I wrote this offseason about buying Jordan Matthews, and I continue to like his long term potential. Matthews is a slight upgrade over Benjamin. With 24 devy owned (21 of them are 2017 eligible), the rookie 2nd and 4th have extremely low odds to make my roster. I do not consider Cameron Meredith to hold value past this year. The rookie 1st could still land me a solid prospect in the rookie draft once the dust settles on the NFL draft process.
The core of the deal is Derrick Henry for the 2017 Devy 1st. I project this pick to be mid to late. While the pick could land me a solid 2018 eligible prospect or an elite 2019 prospect, Derrick Henry has already gone through the draft process. He already is a 2nd round NFL Draft pick and we know where he has landed. The only knocks on Henry are we haven’t seen him flash in the regular season and he is blocked behind DeMarco Murray. By the time the player selected with the devy pick hits the NFL, I would be surprised if Murray is still the lead back. I am also able to insert Henry into my lineup when needed and any points he scores me this year and next are a bonus.
Post-Trade Roster Highlights
Jameis Winston, Russell Wilson, Mathew Stafford
Isaiah Crowell, Christine Michael, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Williams, Ka’Deem Carey, Dwayne Washington
Amari Cooper, Jordan Matthews, Josh Doctson, Will Fuller, Tavon Austin, Davante Adams, Mike Wallace
Jack Doyle, Vernon Davis, Clive Walford
2017 Devy 1,2,2
2017 Rookie 1,1,1,3
*Derrius Guice, *Courtland Sutton, *Royce Freeman, *Samaje Perine, *Wayne Gallman, *Mike Weber, *Christian Kirk
Takeaways
The best way to stay ahead in shallow dynasty leagues is to look ahead. The largest gain of this deal was consolidating and freeing two roster spots, despite the trade involving two players on both sides. This league, despite being only 26 roster spots, has 6 draft picks annually (4 rookie and 2 devy). To make this more challenging for a UTH owner is the taxi spots are locked at 2, and you may not gain a spot if your devy player returns to school. With two devy on my roster who are not even eligible to enter the draft in 2017, all 9 of my draft picks prior to this trade would have had to go directly to my active roster. This early consolidation will make my 2017 offseason cuts easier while gaining maximum value for the late round picks.
