This turnaround story comes from Jeffrey Hill, one of the great stories of turning around a rough start to a dynasty team into a trophy-holding champion. Follow him on Twitter @Hill_Jeffrey.
- 10 teams, non-PPR, 4pt Passing TDs
- 22 man rosters
- Start 1-2-3-1 with 1 RB-WR-TE flex
We had an auction startup in August 2013 – this was my first startup AND my first auction draft, so I did a lot of prep trying to gauge how others would value players and positions. All I can say is I was way off in several ways. I was very focused on getting one of the top RBs and a top QB I could rely on for 5-7 years, landing Adrian Peterson and Aaron Rodgers within the first 15 names nominated or so. I added Alfred Morris a few picks later, and had my two RB positions set. I got caught price enforcing when I thought Andrew Luck was going too low, and suddenly I was stuck with Rodgers and Luck in a start 1 QB league, and almost no money left.
Chad’s Take: Price Enforcing, even in dynasty auctions is dangerous at the quarterback position. There is bound to be a few top-15 options that go for far cheaper than one would project in a static situation due to supply and demand. That dynamic makes paying up for one of the first names nominated a dicey decision.
I had to build a WR corps and a full bench on a budget, adding Pierre Garcon, DeAndre Hopkins, and Hakeem Nicks for a combined $39 out of a $200 budget. After that I was left with nothing but $1 and $2 players. Notable pickups for $1: Julian Edelman, Julius Thomas, Joique Bell, Robert Woods.
Post-Auction Roster:
QB: Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck
RB: Adrian Peterson, Alfred Morris, Joique Bell, Shonn Greene, Ronnie Hillman, Joseph Randle, DuJuan Harris
WR: Pierre Garcon, DeAndre Hopkins, Hakeem Nicks, Julian Edelman, Kendall Wright, Robert Woods, Stephen Hill, Ramses Barden
TE: Julius Thomas, Travis Kelce, Jared Cook
Notable Moves
10.13.2013 Received Julio Jones, Jimmy Graham, Andy Dalton, Tyler Eifert, Markus Wheaton, BenJarvus Green-Ellis for Aaron Rodgers, Pierre Garcon, Hakeem Nicks, Rashad Jennings, Julius Thomas, Jared Cook
This trade started as a text from the other owner: “Rodgers + Garcon + Nicks = Julio + ?” In the words of Ron Burgundy, “that escalated quickly.” I asked for Jimmy Graham, he asked for Julius Thomas/Jared Cook, back and forth, back and forth, and we eventually settled on the above deal. I was able to flip one of Rodgers/Luck, along with what I considered non-essential pieces for two building blocks. Thrilled with the outcome so far.
10.24.2013 Received Gio Bernard, David Wilson, Andre Brown, 2014 1st (1.07) for Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Ronnie Hillman
When Julio went down for the year with a broken foot, I realized I did not have the WR depth to compete this year, and went into fire sale mode. I sold Peterson to a playoff team for Gio, a future 1st, and the NYG backfield – at the time I figured one of the two would have value in 2014, which was dead wrong. See below for what that future 1st turned into, and again I’m very happy with this trade.
12.26.2013 Received Michael Floyd, Brian Leonard, 2014 1st (1.04) for Alfred Morris, Mario Manningham
As soon as my fantasy season was in the books and it looked like Mike Shanahan may be let go by the Redskins, I started shopping Alfred Morris. He’s obviously more valuable in non-PPR, but I was concerned that another head coach would come in and install a new offense that didn’t fit his skill set. I sent offers to 3 different owners: Floyd/1.04, Cordarrelle Patterson/1.05, and Da’Rick Rogers/1.02, willing to move on the first accepted offer. The Floyd owner was happy to take on Morris, and I suddenly had 3 1sts in the upcoming rookie draft. I earned the 1.03 pick in the first year.
Summer 2014 Received DeMarco Murray, Torrey Smith, Joseph Randle, Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce, 2014 2.01 for 2014 1.04, 2014 2.03, 2014 2.09, DeAndre Hopkins, Kendall Wright, Andy Dalton, Dwayne Allen
This was actually two different trades made with the same owner over the course of the summer. I thought I was buying low on the Ray Rice scandal (oops), while at the same time consolidating some late picks for what I thought was a top 5 RB. The other owner wanted Sankey at 1.04, who was a non-target player that early. I thought with a backfield of Murray-Rice-Bernard and a pass catching corps that included Julio, Floyd, Jimmy Graham, and Torrey plus 3 1sts, I was ready to compete in 2014.
Summer 2014 Received Christine Michael, Percy Harvin for Gio Bernard
After the Bengals drafted Jeremy Hill and he started getting glowing reports in training camp, I grew a little nervous about Bernard’s usage, plus I was willing to take the gamble that Bernard and Michael would be worth roughly the same in the summer of 2015, with Harvin as a bonus piece.
Draft Day Haul 1.03 (Brandin Cooks), 1.07 (Odell Beckham), 2.01 ( Donte Moncrief), 2.09 (Tre Mason), 3.05 (Charles Sims), 3.06 ( John Brown)
At the time I was happy to take Cooks at 1.03, “settled” for Beckham at 1.07 when I couldn’t find a willing trade partner to trade down (hindsight is 20/20!). I thought Moncrief was a little early, but it was a toss-up between him and Allen Robinson. After Robinson started sliding past the middle of the round with non-target players (Andre Williams, Devonta Freeman, Johnny Manziel, Marqise Lee) flying off the board, I started trying to move back into the mid to late 2nd to target either Robinson or Tre Mason. Alas, I struck a deal for 2.09 with 2.08 on the clock, which is where Robinson finally went off the board.
Draft Day Trade Received 2.09, 3.05, 3.06 for 3.02, 4.03, 2015 2nd
I’ve been a big believer in Tre Mason for a while, and couldn’t believe he was still available at 2.09. It was tough to give up a future 2nd, but I trusted that my team would be in the playoffs and that the 2015 draft would be significantly thinner than the 2014 class I was staring in the face.
10.23.2014 Received Bishop Sankey, Cody Latimer for Percy Harvin, Donte Moncrief
This is the one trade I made in this league that went against the UTH principles, and it’s the one that still bugs me. Harvin had just been traded to the NY Jets, Floyd was being underutilized, and I was hanging around .500 despite having the highest points scored by a significant margin. I panicked a bit and looked to add a RB who would get 10-12 touches a week to plug into my flex, while moving Harvin to a Jets fan. He wouldn’t budge without adding a sweetener, and I threw in Moncrief for his Latimer, which took me all of 48 hours to regret. Moncrief started seeing the field shortly after and showing why he’s a metric favorite, while Latimer is still buried on the Broncos depth chart. Sankey didn’t help much in 2014, although he and Latimer should still be well below their peak values, so plenty of opportunity to sell down the road if need be.
11.8.2014 Added Brian Quick from waivers
As fantasy football seasons often go, I found myself in 5th (4 teams make the playoffs) going into the last week of the regular season as the highest point scorer. I was up against the team in 4th place, who happened to have the 2nd highest point total behind a Broncos heavy team of Peyton Manning, Demaryius Thomas, and C.J. Anderson, while also boasting Jamaal Charles, Jeremy Hill, and Josh Gordon. I’d love to say that great team management and an inspiring speech led my team to victory, but I basically got on Odell Beckham’s back and rode him for 3 straight weeks, with my closest matchup being a win by 37 points. Beckham put up 77 points in non-PPR scoring those 3 weeks, and I managed to turn a team that was built around two veteran RBs and two stellar QBs in a start one format into a UTH-approved title winning team in just 16 months.
Final Roster
QB: Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill
RB: DeMarco Murray, Tre Mason, Bishop Sankey, Christine Michael, Charles Sims, Joseph Randle, Bernard Pierce
WR: Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, Brandin Cooks, Michael Floyd, Torrey Smith, Brian Quick, Cody Latimer, John Brown, Malcolm Floyd
TE: Jimmy Graham, Tyler Eifert
