The Dynasty Startup Journey continues, catch up with Part 1, covering the first two rounds here:
Continuing the journey of my late season startup, this installment will cover rounds three through five with some major trade moves.
The Format:
- 12 teams, .5 ppr, IDP tackle heavy scoring, 6 pts passing TD
- 40 man roster
- Start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (R/W/T), 1 K, 1 DT, 1 DE, 1 LB, 1 CB, 1 S, 2 IDP Flex
*My selections in green*
Rounds one and two were flowing fairly well, it was mid-day December 11th when round three began. Being a slow draft, I was able to take some time between picks and really study my target board and my opponent’s moves. These next few rounds would be critical to the shape of my startup.
ROUND 3
- 3.01 Peyton Manning QB3
Editor’s Note: This Peyton pick is going to feel oh so dirty very soon even by the redraft-minded owner.
- 3.02 Julius Thomas TE3
- 3.03 JJ Watt DE1
This one raised some eyebrows around the league and on the chat board, a bit early for IDP. No denying Watt’s talent, but in our scoring format I felt that this was a huge reach. The benefit to me is that for those that claimed this was their first dynasty and first IDP league, it set the bar for them to make reach picks as well, I sat patiently back and let it happen.
- 3.04 Donte Moncrief WR15
Again, another reach, especially with DeAndre Hopkins and other talent still on the board, but he got his man and you can’t argue with that.
- 3.05 Russell Wilson QB4
- 3.06 Kelvin Benjamin WR16
With four picks to go before my next selection I had targets of DeAndre Hopkins, Jordan Matthews, Brandin Cooks, and Keenan Allen, so no real need to move up as I would be happy with any of them.
- 3.07 DeAndre Hopkins WR17
- 3.08 Luke Kuechly LB1 Thank you team 8!
- 3.09 Tre Mason RB7
- 3.10 Jordan Matthews WR18
- 3.11 Brandin Cooks WR19
- 3.12 Keenan Allen WR20
ROUND 4
- 4.01 Giovani Bernard RB8
- 4.02 Jeremy Maclin WR21
I’m on the clock and there are a fair amount of running backs that I figured folks would be interested in. I was targeting Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, or Emmanuel Sanders with my pick and really wanted to get two out of the three if I could. All three were what was left of my tier two group of WR. With my next pick being 5.11, I didn’t think there was any way possible to bridge that gap and move up so far without having to give an arm and a leg. The guy at 4.07 wanted to trade up, he offered 4.07 and 5.06 for my 4.03 and 5.11, I accepted.
- 4.03 Carlos Hyde RB9
- 4.04 Drew Brees QB5
- 4.05 Jeremy Hill RB10
- 4.06 Emmanuel Sanders WR22
Editor’s Note: Really surprised that Carlos Hyde is available in Round 4.
Here is where the beauty of a long draft comes into play. I emailed Chad and gave him the rundown of the first few rounds and told him I was targeting Davante Adams and Allen Robinson with this pick and that my next pick was at 5.06. I wanted to get both of these WR and felt that while I liked Arob more, if I took Adams first, I might be able to get Robinson later since his injury had him out of the minds of these guys. Here was Chad’s response:
“Robinson for me, but can see you rolling the dice to work for both. Good to see you can still get that WR core now”
I decided to roll the dice.
- 4.07 Davante Adams WR23
- 4.08 Arian Foster RB11
- 4.09 Travis Kelce TE4
Editor’s Note: Wow. Will be interested to see how the next 5-10 tight ends shake out from a value perspective.
- 4.10 Andre Ellington RB12
- 4.11 Kendall Wright WR24 What???
- 4.12 Marshawn Lynch RB13
ROUND 5
- 5.01 Lavonte David LB2
So far my patience had paid off; Robinson was still on the board, however, the team that owned the 5.04 pick was the one who had selected Donte Moncrief as a reach in round 3, so I figured he was targeting Robinson with his next pick. I floated a trade to the 5.02 and he took it, my 5.06 and 11.10 for his 5.02 and 40.11, he accepted. If I hadn’t moved down in the 4th, I don’t think I could have made this move.
- 5.02 Allen Robinson WR25 The dice roll worked!
- 5.03 Matt Stafford QB6
Sure enough, the guy that had 5.04 was targeting Robinson, he was disappointed that he wasn’t still on the board and traded down from this spot as a result.
- 5.04 CJ Mosley LB3
- 5.05 Jerrick McKinnon RB14
- 5.06 Alfred Morris RB15
- 5.07 Adrian Peterson RB16
- 5.08 Martavis Bryant WR26
- 5.09 Mark Ingram RB17
- 5.10 Michael Floyd WR27
Looking at the board, the clear cut choice with the next pick was Isaiah Crowell. I tried to trade up to this spot, but the owner declined my trade and went ahead and selected the guy I was targeting. It was the only time during the entire draft where something didn’t bounce my way.
- 5.11 Isaiah Crowell RB18
- 5.12 Latavius Murray RB19
The fifth round concluded midday Friday December 12th. Several teams were already starting to show weakness (IDP choices) and I was thrilled with the core of my team.
My Roster
WR Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, Davante Adams, Allen Robinson
TE Rob Gronkowski
