Team Owners: Your Team Analysis (1 Viewer)

So, I believe it's time to get some thoughts and ideas from the rest of you here in the Shark Pool.

Mods, should this thread belong in the Assistant Coach Forum, feel free to move it.

Otherwise, I would appreciate any Keeper or Dynasty owners filling me in on how you evaluate your team prior to your preseason draft along with how you handle the current year draft. Re-Draft owners are welcome to post also, no wrong answers here. The purpose of this thread is simply to help Me and any other fantasy player improve their preseason effort.

Once again, every post is right. I plan on stealing  most, if not, all of your processes. TIA

Here is a team in a dynasty league I'm in.  The owner is excellent and competitive every year.  We've argued about this in the past, here's my .02. 

14 team, non ppr, all tds 6 points, all turnovers -3, 24 man rosters expand to 30 on the offseason, free agent waivers run in August. 

Qb

Aaron Rodgers

Ben Roethlisberger

Carson palmer

Teddy Bridgewater

Rb

Jordan Howard

Jonathan Stewart 

Chris ivory

Shane vereen 

DeAndre Washington

Christine Michael

WR

Alshon Jeffrey

Donte moncrief 

Michael floyd

Brett perriman 

Mike Wallace

Ted Ginn Jr

Steve Smith (ret)

Te

Martellus Bennett 

Ladarius green

Lane Kendrick

K - there are kickers on the waiver wire

Matt bryant

D - all defenses are expensive and it's rare to see someone with 3 d's trade one. 

Cardinals

Rams

Saints

They also have their own 1st, 3rd and 4th round picks this year (9th, 37th and 51st) and all picks next year.

Depending on how long you've been playing in said league, take mental notes on how your fellow owners are with trading. Who is always ears vs who is a guy who prefers to sit back and build through the draft/WW. How difficult is it in your league to acquire rookie draft picks?

I see guys on here each year who have like 5 of the first 6 rookie picks and I don't understand how. My dynasty everyone values their picks highly. I play a deep 16 team idp dyno and the most I've ever seen a team have going into the rookie draft is 3 first round picks, usually scattered throughout the round.

I maintain a spread sheet I call the "War Room".. Its analogous to a team's big board at the draft. It contains my roster by position and serves as a type of depth chart.  It also contains free agents or trade targets I have my eyes on.  This helps from forgetting about guys.  I jot down trade ideas.  I won't offer them now because the league is dormant (most owners) until summer.

I literally first started looking at it, with an eye for next year, on week 16 of last season.  I adjusted the depth chart from one based on last season to a dynasty outlook,   Determine who I expect to keep, release or even try to trade.  I will continually update it as free agency, injuries, retirements, etc. happen.  I'll add in the rookies class; include the league draft order and mock the 1st round.  I'll list players height/weight/age numbers and I'll move players up or down they board routinely, assess and re-assesses my keepers.  As the season approaches, I'll compare public rankings to my internal ranking.

I look at my team and give it an honest assessment.  Where am I too thin? too old? too shallow? What players are expendable? Is a productive player creeping up in age yet still valuable enough to return something in trade? Do I like the new draft class?  Who will be on the board when I pick?  Is it a year to trade up?  Or trade out of the first round? Who are my sleepers?  Who do i like based on off-season research that seems to be off the radar enough to fall in the draft?  Maybe they need an injury or some other opportunity to emerge.

The two key parts of this is having the data organized and constant assessment.  Things change fast.  It has been hugely successful for me as teams win regularly and I've avoided any major rebuilds or downturns in 20+ years.

Regarding the roster above - To my eye this team has a lot of talent backed up at the wrong positions. They are over invested at quarterback - there's no reason for Carson palmer to have been on this roster or to have two good qb options languishing on one team.   Tight end looked like a strength, but then green got another concussion.  He could still end up emerging eventually.  They let Jonathan Stewart get old and now he's almost impossible to trade.  They got lucky with Howard last year but not with Jeffery or floyd and moncrief is kind of meh. 

I think this team needs to make some moves.  

One options is to trade Rodgers.  He's an enormously valuable asset with our anak starting lineups and qb heavy scoring.  They have Roethlisberger, so trade Rodgers for a decent younger qb and a good young wr, and roll with big Ben as your qb1 and reload on the fly.  Move Stewart and palmer for whatever you can get.  

I think the better choice would have been to trade Ben, but with him mumbling about retirement that might be difficult.  It would be nice to get something for him before he's done. 

With your draft picks, if there's a good running back available at 1.9, I think that's first choice.  You won't get one of Fournette, cook, mccaffrey, kamara or Mixon, but you might get foreman, or whoever the Colts or packers take. 

You could make a case for adding a receiver, but they've got a bunch of decent guys. If you really like Ross or Schuster then go for it, but you're probably just adding depth to an already murky part of your starting lineup.  

The other thing to remember is that they're dropping Steve Smith and gave some other very droppable guys. The easiest position to find short term help during the season is receiver. Almost every rb is on a roster and the guys who get opportunities get taken by the teams with waiver priority so if you're going to be light at a position and expect to have extra roster spots, go with receiver/flex and play the waiver game. That probably sounds crazy to ppr guys, but even in ppr, I like to have a lineup spot to play with during the season.  

At 1.9, i think you take oj Howard and build around Rodgers, alshon and the Howards. If you're struggling (or if OJ or green emerge this year), you should be able to move Bennett for a decent prospect.  If not, you can move from one good tight end to another. 

I'd also hope to move 3.9 and 4.9 for picks in next year's draft.  If you're not rebuilding, those roster spots are more valuable churning waiver guys than tied up in late round lottery tickets. 

The other nice thing about going tight end here is it becomes easier to pull the plug and rebuild if things go bad. Oj Howard won't accidentally carry you to a mid round pick.  If you lose a bunch of games early you can just start unloading vets and hope to get one of the top rbs in next year's draft. 

14 Team non-PPR. No TE Req. QRWFFFKD (3 flex allows a starting lineup of 4 RBs )

QB - Russell Wilson, Big Ben, Mike Glennon

RB - Blount, Duke, Gillislee, Jonathon Williams, Damien Williams, Alfred Morris

WR/TE - OBJ, Cooks, Coleman, Gronk, Olsen, Jimmy Graham, Enunwa, Kenny Stills, Allen Hurns, Travis Benjamin

K - M Bryant

Def - New England

2017 Picks - 1.10, 2.08, 2.10, 3.10, 4.10, 5.10, 6.10

This team made the playoffs in 2016. Obviously it can really use RB help. The Receiver Corps is deep and young. Ideally would like to trade a Receiver for a RB but in a league without PPR and the ability to start up to 4 RBs in a 14 team league, RBs are extremely valued. I'm a believer in talent over opportunity. Last year in the draft I took Corey Coleman instead of Booker (yay so far) or Howard (boo so far). With the 10th pick this year, I am hoping a decent RB falls but wont over reach. Would probably take Mike Williams over D'onta Foreman even though I have a need at RB and not one at WR/TE so there ya go. QB is solid. I like to get above average QBs who have won Super Bowls. The thought there is that they aren't going anywhere for a decade and I can concentrate on getting more talent elsewhere. Glennon was a late season FA pickup to help my QB stop get a little younger. Last year during the draft I traded Marvin Jones for an early 2nd rounder and drafted who I thought would be a starter...Keith Marshall. The thought process was right...Matt Jones is JAG and that job was available, just picked the wrong guy as Kelley won that job. There's a good chance I trade my picks this year for 2018 picks if the opportunity arises.

bostonfred said:

Regarding the roster above - To my eye this team has a lot of talent backed up at the wrong positions. They are over invested at quarterback - there's no reason for Carson palmer to have been on this roster or to have two good qb options languishing on one team.   Tight end looked like a strength, but then green got another concussion.  He could still end up emerging eventually.  They let Jonathan Stewart get old and now he's almost impossible to trade.  They got lucky with Howard last year but not with Jeffery or floyd and moncrief is kind of meh. 

I think this team needs to make some moves.  

One options is to trade Rodgers.  He's an enormously valuable asset with our anak starting lineups and qb heavy scoring.  They have Roethlisberger, so trade Rodgers for a decent younger qb and a good young wr, and roll with big Ben as your qb1 and reload on the fly.  Move Stewart and palmer for whatever you can get.  

I think the better choice would have been to trade Ben, but with him mumbling about retirement that might be difficult.  It would be nice to get something for him before he's done. 

With your draft picks, if there's a good running back available at 1.9, I think that's first choice.  You won't get one of Fournette, cook, mccaffrey, kamara or Mixon, but you might get foreman, or whoever the Colts or packers take. 

You could make a case for adding a receiver, but they've got a bunch of decent guys. If you really like Ross or Schuster then go for it, but you're probably just adding depth to an already murky part of your starting lineup.  

The other thing to remember is that they're dropping Steve Smith and gave some other very droppable guys. The easiest position to find short term help during the season is receiver. Almost every rb is on a roster and the guys who get opportunities get taken by the teams with waiver priority so if you're going to be light at a position and expect to have extra roster spots, go with receiver/flex and play the waiver game. That probably sounds crazy to ppr guys, but even in ppr, I like to have a lineup spot to play with during the season.  

At 1.9, i think you take oj Howard and build around Rodgers, alshon and the Howards. If you're struggling (or if OJ or green emerge this year), you should be able to move Bennett for a decent prospect.  If not, you can move from one good tight end to another. 

I'd also hope to move 3.9 and 4.9 for picks in next year's draft.  If you're not rebuilding, those roster spots are more valuable churning waiver guys than tied up in late round lottery tickets. 

The other nice thing about going tight end here is it becomes easier to pull the plug and rebuild if things go bad. Oj Howard won't accidentally carry you to a mid round pick.  If you lose a bunch of games early you can just start unloading vets and hope to get one of the top rbs in next year's draft. 

Click to expand...

My first thoughts on that roster was too much depth at QB and not enough at RB/WR.  Perhaps I'm being too harsh on the latter for a 14 teamer. 

I agree with your thoughts but would push Ben (even for picks), even though he is less marketable.  i don't think Palmer returns much so I'd keep him for depth.  Howard would be fine at #9 unless someone falls.

Nice thought on 3.9 and 4.9.  Move them for earlier 2018 picks or maybe even bundle with Ben for RB depth

I took over a team last year and the very first thing I did was ask myself these questions:

1.  Who do I not like on this roster

2.  Whose expendable that applies to #1 as well

3.  Where do I need to improve

4.  How do I get more draft picks

Now I've never thought of these as bad questions to ask and rightfully so that I did a pretty large re-tooling of the roster.  Got a lot of value in some trades that I clearly won and bolstered up a bit.  And there are still guys on this roster that I would like to trade.  Just being smart with the opportunity to cash in on guys rising or peaked.  Approaching the season (after all my rookie draft prep) I find myself asking a few more questions

1.  Again, Who do I not like on this roster that still has value

2.  Who is likely to increase/decrease in value

3.  Who/what draft pick I want to target in trades

That leads me to all my trade scenario's that I keep written in a notebook with thoughts on trades, value spikes, value dips, what draft picks I might want to trade into or out of.  Most of the time (in this league) there is 1 guy I love trading with because I know we view players much differently and I feel like I can exploit that.  Other owners, 2 in particular I know for a fact they won't trade future picks unless they're getting one hell of a deal on a current compete year.  And the other owners are relatively smart in managing their teams and if a deal comes then it comes.  I tend to seek out a lot of deals for guys I constantly want a piece of.  Mike Evans was that guy a few years ago, still have yet to get him in this league though because he's on one of those current compete year owners team.  Just know your leaguemates, take note of what they tend to do. 

And then the most important rule I try to follow the best I can is don't trade for older age if it can be helped

Thank You to:

@bostonfred

@ShamrockPride

@DropKick

@Dope

@Zyphros

for your thoughts

First - a realistic check based on last year plus projections to see if I'm a strong contender, weak contender or should rebuild.  This just helps put the next steps in context and serves as the frame. 

Second - categorize players by core/key/roster depth/future/dump.  Core players don't get traded unless for other core players I like more.  Key players can be dealt if I'm contending only for core or upgrades at key positions. Roster Depth can always be had but I don't want to get too shallow anywhere.  I like to keep my future players (they don't have to be future studs but guys who i think will help later) but around mid season others trade productive players and I'll open up my future.  Dump doesn't mean I'll drop them immediately but they can be had fairly easily.

I'm only in one league now which is a 32 (players available twice) idp league in which I was the top team most of the year but faded at the end.  Off hand I think I'm not really strong headed into 2017 but definitely contending. 

Roster breakdown:

Mularkey, Mike TEN Coach -K

Barkley, Matt SFO QB -D

Kessler, Cody CLE QB -D

Mariota, Marcus TEN QB -C

Newton, Cam CAR QB -K

Charles, Jamaal KCC RB -R

Gillislee, Mike BUF -R

Jackson, Darius CLE RB -D

Jennings, Rashad FA -R

McCoy, LeSean BUF RB -K

Williams, Damien MIA RB -D

Williams, DeAngelo PIT RB -D

Williams, Karlos FA RB -D

Brown, Antonio PIT WR -C

Decker, Eric NYJ WR -K

Enunwa, Quincy NYJ WR -K

Evans, Mike TBB WR -C

Marshall, Jalin NYJ WR -D

McEvoy, Tanner SEA WR -D

Rogers, Chester IND WR -F

Rogers, Eric SFO WR -F

Shepard, Russell CAR WR -R

Smelter, DeAndre SFO WR -F

Wallace, Mike BAL WR -K

Wright, Kendall CHI WR -R

Bell, Blake SFO TE -F

DeValve, Seth CLE TE -F

Derby, A.J. DEN TE -F

Ebron, Eric DET TE -K

Graham, Jimmy SEA TE -C

Sims, Dion CHI TE -R

Thomas, Logan BUF TE -F

Crosby, Mason GBP PK -D

Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK -K

Hargrave, Javon PIT DT -R

Suh, Ndamukong MIA DT -K

Ansah, Ezekiel DET DE -K

Ealy, Kony NEP DE -R

Graham, Brandon PHI DE -R

Mack, Khalil OAK DE -C

Vernon, Olivier NYG DE -K

Jackson, D'Qwell FA LB -R*

Johnson, Derrick KCC LB -K

Morrison, Antonio IND LB -F

Ogletree, Alec LAR LB -C

Spaight, Martrell WAS LB -D

Wagner, Bobby SEA LB -C

Johnson, Trumaine LAR CB -K

Shead, Deshawn SEA CB -R

Talib, Aqib DEN CB -R

Byard, Kevin TEN S -F

Church, Barry JAC S -K

Mathieu, Tyrann ARI S -K

Swearinger, D.J. WAS S -R

Ward, T.J. DEN S -K

I have picks 28 (14) and a mid 2nd.  I doubt a back I like will be there at 14 but should be able to get two future key players.   

Rarely will corners, safeties or d line be considered core players.  Mack is one exception.  The only coach who would be core is BB. no kicker is core but I've had Gostkowski a while now.  Clearly the RBs are weak. McCoy is a key player but charles has slipped. QB, WR, TE, and LB are fairly strong for a large league.  Overall I'll contend but probably won't be a top 3 team.  

Thanks @-OZ-  for the reply. More good ideas I can use to run my team