[12 team league, 25 man rosters, 5 taxi spots, start 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 2Flex, 1DST, 1K]

Continuing my ‘take over’ of the rest of the teams in my league, this one just experienced a big time off season whammy. Oh how cruel fantasy football can be. After finishing 2nd and 4th in the last two dynasty seasons, right on the cusp, this team took a huge shot at the running back position. Devin Singletary, Marlon Mack and Phillip Lindsay all got some notable company in the backfield and all three are on this team. Oof! Fantasy rankings already weren’t kind and his RB position and is now a very distant 12th in a 12 team league.

Drafting at the back of the first round, in a snake draft, this team added Henry Ruggs, Antonio Gibson and Jalen Hurts as the notable rookies. A rough draft for a team that took a big hit in the offseason. After being so close two seasons in a row this team faced a tough decision for 2020, buy continued contention or hit some sort of a reset. He chose to hit the rest.

A big part of this team’s success has been the stack of Patrick Mahommes and Travis Kelce stack but with the beat up RB position it was going to take a big move(s) or trade some vets. A week before the season and Kelce finds a new home, being traded for two 1st round picks and Blake Jarwin. This are likely going to be two late 1st rounders in 2021 and 2022 but it’s the move I would have made. Kelce is a stud but 30 and at peak value and that extra ammunition could be used very quickly to get back to contention for next season.

The RB room is Singletary, Mack, Lindsay, Gibson and Royce Freeman. Gibson was a nice snag but those are split backfields and why this team is hitting reset. Depending on how the Colts manage their backfield Mack should still be very startable. I’d expect Gibson to get plenty of touches and Singletary is still interesting. Gotta hope Lindsay is at least a flex, but there’s not a lot of depth.

The depth is quite the opposite at the WR position. Amari Cooper, T.Y. Hilton, Terry McLaurin, Ruggs, Christian Kirk, Mike Williams, Emmanuel Sanders, Josh Reynolds, Dede Westbrook, Hunter Renfrow all have decent projections. Scary Terry was a homerun pick last season and Ruggs should see plenty of touches in Oakland. Cooper and Hilton are the number one options on their team, Sanders in a favorable situation in New Orleans and Westbrook, Renfrow and Reynolds could see a fair amount of balls thrown their way.

With Kelce gone the TEs that remain are Mike Gesicki and Jarwin. Both are sleepers with some upside but obviously a big fall off from Kelce. If either takes a step forward it would be a huge sigh of relief and allow the focus to remain at RB.

There is no doubt at QB with Mahommes and a great back up in Josh Allen. The Hurts pick is interesting, but a project. It’s good to have depth but with only one starting QB and the value of QBs low outside of the top guys Allen could make for an interesting piece with a strong QB rookie class expected in 2021.

For my take over of this team I’d go with a reset more than a rebuild, flip some vets for some more draft ammo and get after it in 2021. With that depth at WR there could be a move made with some of the extra draft pick ammo to go get a RB in 2020 and still be a playoff team. For 2021 he’ll have two 1st round picks and two 7ths with no third in the eight round draft. The benefit of waiting for the off season to make the trade would be enhancing his own first round pick to put him in a position to grab one of the top RBs in the rookie class.

The obvious trade candidate is Sanders. As a consummate professional he thrived in San Francisco despite the mid season trade and will benefit playing with Drew Brees and opposite of Michael Thomas. He’s the type of player to move to a contender for more draft picks. I’d look at moving Hilton as well. He’s 30 and will be the top receiving option for a Colts team that will run the ball, but should fetch an early 2nd at least.

While RB is a weakness on this team Mack is someone I’d consider flipping as well. The writing seems on his wall for his time in Indy and I don’t think he’ll be a lead back ever again. But if he remains fantasy productive in a split backfield he could be someone a playoff team goes after for some depth, though that trade would probably have to happen earlier in the season.

Other than that I think this team will just tread water for 2020. The RB position will really be a weakness, though the depth at WR could bring back an interesting RB. However, I think you punt on the year and target a top RB and then use the extra draft pick ammo to get another and quickly get back to contention. I’d also watch TE closely and see if there are any more interesting options to stash and try and get some solid production.