Am I Contending or Pretending?

It’s important to understand where you stand among your league. In a 12 or 14 team league, you should be able to have top options at almost every starting lineup position in order to win. If you have studs in every position but one, that’s when you make that move to secure that missing link mid-season. But it’s in the middle of the year when you have to understand - am I a contender or not? Am I top-3 or 4, or not? If you’re not, you should be operating very different mid-season compared to if you’re going for the championship.

If you’re in a superflex league, you want to make sure you have that high-end QB. Regardless of whether you’re in a SF or non-SF, one or two workhorse RBs is very important. One bell cow is almost necessary, as you get the added floor and ceiling with how involved in the receiving game they should be. You also need high upside WRs - think Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, etc. Multiple high-end WRs with upside to win any given week is a must. Don’t be afraid to acquire productive veterans - you do not have to always stay young in dynasty, especially if you’re trying to compete and get over the top. However, I would not be trading valuable rookie draft picks (especially Round 1) unless I’m getting some young talented players or high-end QBs in SF (could take multiple 1st rounders). If you have the upside WRs, you have the high-end QB, but you lack a RB or two, midseason is the time to make a move to fill that spot to put you over the top and help you win a championship. There will be teams in your league are not top-3 or 4 that will be happy to give up RBs for longer term assets or draft picks, which leads me to the next point.

If you’re not competing, which means you don’t meet any of the requirements in the last paragraph, you want to give up on those RBs mid-season. Why? Because with every “missed” or “failed” season, that RB is getting a year older. You can trade away workhorse RBs, especially younger workhorse RBs, to really bolster your young WR core, and maybe even get that near-elite QB in superflex. In non-SF, I’m not worried about having that elite QB. Obtain the bellcow and workhorse RBs when you’re competing, move away from them if you can get big returns if you’re not.

If you’re not competing, obtain as many rookie draft picks as possible. Why? Because those are assets that continue to gain value as you get closer to the draft. It’s like the S&P 500 except you know that there is a peak value at some point - and that’s during that rookie draft. Compare that to a promising player, who might lose his QB, or might have a terrible offensive line, or has a devastating injury, or is on a run-heavy offense as a WR - there are a lot of factors that can impact a player’s value, but not many that impact rookie draft picks.