This dynasty trade was made during an early July rookie draft in a 14-team .5ppr Superflex league with unique settings. Starting lineups are 1-2-2-1-2Flex-1SFlex-3IDP-1K Some highlights of the scoring include 0.1 points per return yard, big play-game bonuses as well as boosted passer scoring across the board.
The Approach
Quarterback scoring in this league includes 0.5 per completion, -0.25 points per incompletion and one point per 20 pass yards. The top-19 and 22 of the top-23 scorers were quarterbacks last year. Because of these settings, Drew Brees was the QB1 with 512 points. This total is a staggering 10 points per game more than the highest non-quarterback, Antonio Brown, who finished with 354 points thanks to the return yardage boost. Because the format benefits accurate passers, I will hold Drew Brees until he retires. The depth of my team led to a championship in league Year 2 and my plan for the off-season was to package up some of my depth. Matt Ryan was a player I was looking to upgrade.
The Trade
Gave Matt Ryan, Mark Ingram
Received Russell Wilson, 2017 3rd
One misconception about the scoring of this league is volume is king. What I’ve found is that accuracy is king. Only accounting for the completion and incompletion scoring, Wilson scored the 9th-most points despite the 17th-most pass attempts. Wilson’s attempts and passing yardage have both increased each of his four years in the NFL and he has never had more than 10 interceptions in a year. With the departure of Marshawn Lynch and the breakout of Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett, Seattle is expected to lean on its passing game in 2016.
While Matt Ryan is an accurate passer (67% over the past four years), his low touchdown upside caps his ceiling. He is a very serviceable starter in this format after finishing as QB14 in 2015 due to the completion bonuses but is not a difference-maker. Sending Mark Ingram is a costly piece, but even in a start two running back league the position is devalued due to quarterback scoring and return yard bonuses. I also have enough other pieces at the position continue to contend.
My Post-Trade Roster
Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson
Todd Gurley, Carlos Hyde, Charles Sims, Jonathan Stewart, Dwayne Washington
Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, Keenan Allen, A.J. Green, Donte Moncrief, Sammie Coates, Davante Adams, Josh Gordon
Zach Ertz, Gary Barnidge, Jimmy Graham, Maxx Williams, Vance McDonald
Luke Kuechley, Ryan Shazier, Malcolm Brown, Derron Lee
2017 1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5
Takeaways
Superflex is a different animal than your typical start-one leagues as this recent UTH Roundtable discussion outlines. Even though I was sitting on two of the top-3 scorers at the position, the quarterback position holds so much value it is worth making my positional advantage stronger. Sometimes you have to pay the iron price to get the stud, and when your team is positioned to be able to afford it, locking up a stud quarterback in Superflex is a worthy goal.
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