Bench players blowin up - strategy (1 Viewer)

[Hank Mardukas]

I have VJax and Hakeem Nicks, with Fred Jackson and Ray Rice at RB, and Ryan Mathews at flex. I also have Maclin on the bench, who I was able to draft in the 7th round. I'm considering packaging Mathews and Maclin to try to get an elite RB, like AD or McCoy. Would you do this kind of thing or would you hold onto Maclin for the bye-week/insurance value? I feel like he has more value in a trade than the few starts I"ll get out of him if he's sitting on my bench. I guess I could play matchups, but I'm not a big fan of having to agonize every week over sit/start.

Is your personal strategy to hold onto WW/low round guys who blow up or to trade them away to stack your starting lineup?

 

[ponchsox]

Depends. I like having the depth and many times my low round/waiver guys end up replacing underperforming starters. One thing I learned in fantasy is don't fall in love with your high draft picks.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

I'm a big fan of upgrading starters by trading depth. You don't typically get prizes for having great players on the bench.

 

[solorca]

This is always a tough one for me, and I typically end up holding on to players that rot away on my bench. Other times though, it does end up paying off. This year, for instance, I have Lesean McCoy and Jahvid Best as my starting backs, with VJax, Manningham, and Santana Moss as my starting receivers. I also have Fred Jackson, Felix Jones, Nate Burleson, and Percy Harvin as my flex options.

I tried all week to trade Fred Jackson and couldn't find anyone who was willing to give much up for him, because of the fears that he is older and not "legit" enough. Now, I'm quite happy I couldn't trade him because I think he's going to start over Felix Jones for me in the flex.

Looking at my team, I have the following who will most likely ride my bench most weeks...

RB - Daniel Thomas - Felix Jones - Dexter Mccluster

WR - Percy Harvin - Nate Burleson - Jacoby Ford

I'm happy with the depth overall, but if I was able to package Daniel Thomas and Percy Harvin into maybe a high WR2, I would gladly do it. The problem is that you have to get value for the depth you're trading away...and this early in the season, it's tough. Now, if this were week 9 and the playoffs were in the horizon, I would be trading off all the depth I can to strengthen my core starters.

 

[JbizzleMan]

Keep the depth. I'd rather have guys blowing up on my bench than sitting on my opponents starting roster.

 

[supersecretid]

Tell us how many points you think each player will score this year and list any relevant back-ups. This is, at it's heart, a math question so you need the numbers.

 

[Banger]

I'm a fan of trading bench depth but not so early in the year. Injuries can mount up quick and you don't want a strength to become a weakness unless there's a deal that you feel can really improve your team in the long term. I like to wait for some of the heavy bye weeks and then package them up for an upgrade.

 

[DoubleG]

I'm a fan of trading bench depth but not so early in the year. Injuries can mount up quick and you don't want a strength to become a weakness unless there's a deal that you feel can really improve your team in the long term. I like to wait for some of the heavy bye weeks and then package them up for an upgrade.

You might think guys' value is going up as injuries start to mount, but when more guys start going down, bye weeks are in full swing and the FF playoffs start to draw near, the value of 1 healthy and productive RB or WR can skyrocket (remember the frenzy to snag Ricky Williams 2 years ago?)Plus, as someone already pointed out, there are two big plusses to keeping them on your team:1) Injury could befall your team too2) If they are on your team, they're not scoring points against you.

 

[dagwood]

I have VJax and Hakeem Nicks, with Fred Jackson and Ray Rice at RB, and Ryan Mathews at flex. I also have Maclin on the bench, who I was able to draft in the 7th round. I'm considering packaging Mathews and Maclin to try to get an elite RB, like AD or McCoy. Would you do this kind of thing or would you hold onto Maclin for the bye-week/insurance value? I feel like he has more value in a trade than the few starts I"ll get out of him if he's sitting on my bench. I guess I could play matchups, but I'm not a big fan of having to agonize every week over sit/start. Is your personal strategy to hold onto WW/low round guys who blow up or to trade them away to stack your starting lineup?

If you get someone to bite on Mathews/Maclin for McCoy or ADP. You hit accept as fast you can.

 

[dagwood]

I'm a fan of trading bench depth but not so early in the year. Injuries can mount up quick and you don't want a strength to become a weakness unless there's a deal that you feel can really improve your team in the long term. I like to wait for some of the heavy bye weeks and then package them up for an upgrade.

You might think guys' value is going up as injuries start to mount, but when more guys start going down, bye weeks are in full swing and the FF playoffs start to draw near, the value of 1 healthy and productive RB or WR can skyrocket (remember the frenzy to snag Ricky Williams 2 years ago?)Plus, as someone already pointed out, there are two big plusses to keeping them on your team:1) Injury could befall your team too2) If they are on your team, they're not scoring points against you.

The flip side of that is guys like Maclin are not going to have weeks like this every week.

 

[Hank Mardukas]

I'm a fan of trading bench depth but not so early in the year. Injuries can mount up quick and you don't want a strength to become a weakness unless there's a deal that you feel can really improve your team in the long term. I like to wait for some of the heavy bye weeks and then package them up for an upgrade.

You might think guys' value is going up as injuries start to mount, but when more guys start going down, bye weeks are in full swing and the FF playoffs start to draw near, the value of 1 healthy and productive RB or WR can skyrocket (remember the frenzy to snag Ricky Williams 2 years ago?)Plus, as someone already pointed out, there are two big plusses to keeping them on your team:1) Injury could befall your team too2) If they are on your team, they're not scoring points against you.

The flip side of that is guys like Maclin are not going to have weeks like this every week.

That's the thing. I targeted Maclin in every league because his ADP was so low due to the illness and I firmly believed he would have a huge year, but still, this might be his biggest game of the season. Plus he has the name recognition, the track record, and the hype right now to get serious value in a trade. Someone hurting for a WR right now (like someone with Colston or Dez) might pay through the nose to get him. I'd like to sell high, but I get the point about trading him away too early in the season. Given Nicks' history and present condition, I'll probably end up holding onto Maclin for a bit, but it's really hard not to try to squeeze a monster trade out of him.

 

[bulger2holt]

If you trade your bench players now, you are going to wish you had them when injuries start happening and when BYE weeks start. Depth is the key imo.

 

[Badgers Fan]

I like to have one more player than required for rb's and same for wr's. I like to leave flex as an open spot because it's the easiest to fill.

To make sense of that, my leage is 1 qb, 2 rb, 3wr, 1wr/rb. I have 3 legit rb's, handcuffed 2 of them, and another decent option (tate). I have 4 legit wr's and then lance moore sitting behind them. I also have 2 qb's (but I do HATE my backup). Obviously it doesn't always work out this way. I was lucky to get a solid trade (reggie bush for steve smith after week 1) and two guys outperforming their adp (smith and britt). Last year I had a ton of bench depth and turned it into a plus for my starting lineup. I guess it depends on situation, I don't see any need to upgrade my starters since my worst player has been Chris Johnson. Overall, reiterating my statement, I like to have one extra player for each position. Talk to the Jamaal Charles owners who had Fred Jackson on their bench, they don't feel nearly as crappy as the Charles owners with no depth.

 

[massraider]

I have VJax and Hakeem Nicks, with Fred Jackson and Ray Rice at RB, and Ryan Mathews at flex. I also have Maclin on the bench, who I was able to draft in the 7th round. I'm considering packaging Mathews and Maclin to try to get an elite RB, like AD or McCoy. Would you do this kind of thing or would you hold onto Maclin for the bye-week/insurance value? I feel like he has more value in a trade than the few starts I"ll get out of him if he's sitting on my bench. I guess I could play matchups, but I'm not a big fan of having to agonize every week over sit/start. Is your personal strategy to hold onto WW/low round guys who blow up or to trade them away to stack your starting lineup?

Trade for stud starters. If I can package Maclin and Matthews for a stud, I do it.

 

[We Tigers]

I like to have one more player than required for rb's and same for wr's. I like to leave flex as an open spot because it's the easiest to fill.To make sense of that, my leage is 1 qb, 2 rb, 3wr, 1wr/rb. I have 3 legit rb's, handcuffed 2 of them, and another decent option (tate). I have 4 legit wr's and then lance moore sitting behind them. I also have 2 qb's (but I do HATE my backup). Obviously it doesn't always work out this way. I was lucky to get a solid trade (reggie bush for steve smith after week 1) and two guys outperforming their adp (smith and britt). Last year I had a ton of bench depth and turned it into a plus for my starting lineup. I guess it depends on situation, I don't see any need to upgrade my starters since my worst player has been Chris Johnson. Overall, reiterating my statement, I like to have one extra player for each position. Talk to the Jamaal Charles owners who had Fred Jackson on their bench, they don't feel nearly as crappy as the Charles owners with no depth.

I'll buy what this guy's selling. Several of my teams are in injury hell already, and it's only drafted depth and good early pickups that are keeping me contending. When you get past your bye weeks, then yes, start wheeling and dealing, and obviously take a great deal if one opens up for you. However, assuming that your team stays healthy and high-performing this early in the year can be really dangerous.

 

[The_Wolfman]

I'm a fan of trading bench depth but not so early in the year. Injuries can mount up quick and you don't want a strength to become a weakness unless there's a deal that you feel can really improve your team in the long term. I like to wait for some of the heavy bye weeks and then package them up for an upgrade.

+1Most teams are one injury away from having "great depth" to starting a guy off the WW. I wouldn't be so anxious to make a trade unless I was getting great value back.

I think some owners get a little edgy when guys start blowing up on their bench and if they're able to trade away their depth it eliminates the need to have to make these decisions since it's obvious who to start every week.