Tue Jun 13th 2023

The Craziest Rookie Draft Day Trades

The rookie draft in my "Keeper" dynasty league was far and away the craziest. There were ten trades during the draft with top-tier players and valuable future draft picks involved. Several players were even traded twice during the rookie draft. It made for a super fun week.

I was on vacation in Half Moon Bay, California, during the draft, so I could not follow the slow draft as carefully as I would have liked, but I managed to get in on some of the trading action too.

Two seasons ago, we voted to transition this ten-team league to a superflex league. This is the first year with superflex, making quarterbacks a massive part of trades and early rookie draft picks.

Rather than grading the draft as I have in recent weeks, I decided to grade the trades in this draft since there were so many. Here are my thoughts on the ten trades during the draft.

---

Patrick Mahomes, Zach Ertz, 2024 2nd round pick <-----> Russell Wilson, Drake London, Trey McBride, and two 2023 1st round picks (Dalton Kincaid, Jordan Addison)

• The first trade struck in this league was enormous, including arguably the highest-ranked player in superflex leagues, Patrick Mahomes. One manager paid a hefty price for Mahomes by giving up Wilson, London, McBride, and two first-round picks for Mahomes. The first-round picks turned into Kincaid and Addison. It was a two-player for five-player trade that shook up the draft before it started. The manager who was willing to give up Mahomes for the haul of players had Jalen Hurts as his other starting quarterback, which would have been a nasty pair of starters in a superflex league. Still, he's pretty weak at every other position, so he was willing to make the five-for-two deal. I would have been willing to part with Mahomes in a ten-team superflex league to get Wilson, London, Addison, and Kincaid, but I would have liked it more if he was able to draft a quarterback in the first round, but Richardson, Stroud, and Young went 3rd, 4th, and 5th in this rookie draft. Wilson and Desmond Ridder are his seperflex quarterbacks alongside Jalen Hurts, so he really needs Wilson to rebound and Ridder to solidify himself as a franchise quarterback this season in Atlanta. As for the team that acquired Mahomes, they promptly traded him to another team.

Patrick Mahomes <-----> Trevor Lawrence, Jaylen Waddle, 2023 1st round pick (Bryce Young)

• Mahomes was then traded for another haul of players I like even more than the players in the last trade. I much prefer Lawrence, Waddle, and Stroud above Mahomes. Don't get me wrong, Mahomes is the best player in the deal, but to walk away with two young number-one-picked quarterbacks and a young top-twelve dynasty receiver is fantastic. Lawrence and Dak Prescott are his superflex starters, while Young can develop on his bench. The manager that acquired Mahomes drafted Anthony Richardson, and those are his only two starting quarterbacks; if Richardson is given the starting job as a rookie, his team is thin at quarterback going into our first year as a superflex league.

De'Andre Swift <-----> 2023 1st round pick (Zach Charbonnet)

• Swift was traded in the NFL draft and got traded in our rookie draft too. One manager gave away the 1.9 in the rookie draft for Swift, and the other drafted Charbonnet. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder in this trade. It's pretty even, but I prefer Charbonnet, especially since he's younger. Swift could regain his dynasty value if he becomes the lead back for Philadelphia, but they like to rotate their backs a lot, so Rashaad Penny, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott will get touches too. Swift will not get the bulk of the workload. Charbonnet has competition, too, in Seattle but just with one back, Kenneth Walker. He is a better pass catcher and short-yardage runner than Walker and will earn a more significant role than Swift. I would gladly trade Swift to draft Charbonnet.

Kyler Murray <-----> 2024 1st round pick

•  The manager who traded for Mahomes and drafted Richardson was willing to part with Murray and sold him to a team whose only starting quarterbacks are Justin Fields and Brock Purdy. Murray and Purdy might not be healthy to start at the beginning of this season, so Fields might be his only starter to begin the year. It's fair to pay a first for Murray, but I would prefer to have the pick because Arizona is tanking this year, and could the team poised to draft Caleb Williams with the first pick in next year's draft. If they earn the 1.1 next year, Murray will likely get traded to start for another NFL team, so his dynasty value will be old stead even if Arizona tanks this year. 

Baker Mayfield and Donovan Peoples-Jones <-----> 2.6 (Tank Bigsby)

• This is a trade that I accepted while on the clock at 2.6. My only starting quarterbacks are Tua Tagovailoa and Daniel Jones, so I was looking to add another starting quarterback to my roster, and Mayfield, as much as I don't like him, will win the job in Tampa Bay. Quarterbacks drafted as the first pick in the NFL draft have a long leash, and Mayfield's is extended again. I would have done the deal straight up for Mayfield, but DPJ was included in the offer, so I accepted. I ended up trading him later in this draft. Like Charbonnet, Bigsby will have a significant role in Jacksonville while playing behind Travis Etienne. He'll become their goal-line back, score a fair amount of touchdowns, and earn more reliable fantasy points if Etienne gets injured. I like Bigsby, but I would have drafted Michael Mayer had I kept my pick. To my delight, I was able to draft Mayer three picks later at 2.9.

3.2 (Josh Downs) <-----> 2024 3rd and 4th round pick

• One manager had to sit and watch this draft pass by because he only had a pick in the 5th round. He got antsy, though, with Downs still on the board, and gave up a 3rd and 4th in next year's draft to move up and take him. I would have been happy to trade a 3rd and 4th to get Downs there. I have concerns about Richardson's accuracy, and he and Downs are stuck together for many years to come, but he should get drafted in the second round, not the third, as he was here.

Brandin Cooks and Donovan Peoples-Jones <-----> Khalil Herbert and Pierre Strong

• I stated above that I am not very high on DPJ. He was just the piece that was offered in the trade I accepted. The next day I moved him and one of my many shares of Brandon Cooks to get a starting running back and backup running back. I know I'm in the minority, believing Herbert will be the Bears' starter. D'Onta Foreman will share time with him, and Roschon Johnson will have a smaller role. After the trade, everyone assumed I would draft Roschon in the 3rd, but I drafted Jayden Reed instead because I have Reed ranked six spots ahead of Roschon. I was more willing to make this move in this league because I am loaded at wide receiver and thin at running back. The only way this trade goes sour for me is if I am wrong about Herbert's role, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

4.1 (Kayshon Boutte) <-----> 4.3 and 5.4 (Luke Musgrave and Evan Hull)

• The 4th round is the right time to take a shot with Boutte. In this league, a manager wanted to ensure he selected him, traded up from the 4.3 to the 4.1, and gave 5.4 in exchange. I was also trying to trade up in this round because I wanted to draft Luke Musgrave, so I like the Musgrave side of this small trade. Musgrave has a lot of competition for receptions in Green Bay and a new quarterback in Jordan Love, so I've yet to draft Musgrave in any of my drafts, but I was willing to in the 4th round. Instead, I drafted the guy I've drafted more than any player this season, Puka Nacua.

4.5 (Hendon Hooker) <-----> Zach Ertz and 5.3 (Michael Wilson)

• Hooker is always the 5th quarterback drafted in superflex leagues. One manager traded an old tight end and a 5th-round pick to secure the rights to him. Hooker should be drafted in superflex leagues, but I don't like his chance to take Jared Goff's job. Goff is better than dynasty managers give him credit for, and they've given him even more weapons this year, so he will be even more productive. I think Goff will earn a new contract with the team. Ertz will have at least one more productive season, and I'm warming up to the thought that I may have been wrong about Michael Wilson, who will start games as a rookie, especially after DeAndre Hopkins was released.

6.7 (Tyler Scott) <-----> 2024 5th round pick

• This is the only league that has six rounds in the rookie draft. It's pretty thin pickings in the 6th round, but I found it ridiculous that Tyler Scott had not been drafted yet. I've drafted him in the 5th round of other drafts this season, so I was happy to give up a future 5th to draft him at 6.7. He has a lot of competition in Chicago, with D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Chase Claypool ahead of him on the depth chart. Still, Mooney and Claypool have a lot to prove this season too, and one of the two could lose their job if Scott can play up to the level that many of the NFL scouts I follow believe he can.

Leave your comment using the form below

Name
Comment
Enter the code