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

It’s interesting
that in this 12 team league there are pairs all the way up in how
they should handle the season. Admittedly, this pairing got here in
two different ways but face a tough choice of trading a top RB to go
full rebuild or try and trade and push towards the playoffs.

McCaffinator’s
team was built around Christian McCaffery and has been a playoff team
with him and a few other solid players. The week’s right after the
injury looked like an obvious tank season, but the team has leveled
out and could make a run in to the playoffs if McCaffery comes back
right, but that’s the tough choice…should he?

McCaffinator is
set to go 3-2 and a big part of that is his WR position bouncing
back. Adam Thielen, D.J. Moore (finally showing up), OBJ have been
solid. Golden Tate and Sammy Watkins can be flex vets in a league
where you can start up to five WR. That top three is why he has been
able to weather the McCaffery injury.

Rookies Josh
Kelly and Jerry Jeudy are big rookies that will be key to his team
going forward. QB Gardner Minshew, while on a bad team, has been
solid in filling out his lineup. However, keeping Ryan Tannehill and
trading for Phillip Rivers and Jimmy Garoppolo have been whiffs at a
position with very little value.

The running back
position has been a weakness of this team, even with McCaffery and
why there could be a lingering big decision. An offseason trade for
Duke Johnson and Tarik Cohen, while not studs, could have provided
enough coverage with CMC and the WR to be playoff team, but that
hasn’t worked out. Tight ends Jack Doyle, Greg Olsen, Trey Burton and
Cameron Brate has also been a big weakness.

That’s why this
team could face the choice of trading CMC. It’s a bold choice but
even with CMC the team has never even sniffed the championship game,
let alone winning the chip. RB depth is a problem, though Kelly could
give the team pause for the big move, Thielen is old and how much do
you trust OBJ? QB is an easier position to fix but TE is a hole as
well.

Even injured
McCaffery is still worth a haul; a couple of young players and
multiple high end picks. The move would also likely put Thielen on
the block, possibly OBJ and put other fringe players on the block to
really load up picks. Trading CMC would also fuel a push to a top
pick for his own and allow him to add a lot of young players with
Kelly and Jeudy to really build a strong core instead of one
superstar and some solid pieces around it.

DaFnBoys faces a
similar decision but got there by building up from a complete tear
down. He’s set to be 2-3 and still a ways away. There have been some
questionable moves in the draft but the team has collected some nice
young pieces; Josh Jacobs, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, Zack Moss,
Tyler Higbee, Tyler Johnson, Justin Herbert, Michael Pittman, Darius
Slayton, T.J. Hockenson and Ronald Jones. There’s a lot there but
still not a playoff team.

The problem is
that’s basically the team. Mark Ingram, Dak Prescott, Teddy
Bridgewater, Matt Stafford and Rob Gronkowski are really the only
veterans of note, most of them at quarterback and none of them
lifting your team. Even worse, Prescott is now out for the season
with an uncertain future.

Now, DaFnBoys
faces a similar choice as McCaffinator when it comes to a stud RB but
has some more flexibility. Trading CMC is something to consider
because of the rest of the make up of the team, but for DaFnBoys most
of their team is young and it would be very reasonable to just
continue to try and add more and more young players. Most of his core
is on a similar time line, whereas McCaffinator hasplayers on a much
shorter timeline.

It is a tough
pill to swallow to be the one moving a top player, espeically because
no one wants to be on the losing side of moving a stud, but you have
to be honest about your team. If you’re constantly middle ground even
with a superstar then it could make sense to tear it down to build a
more complete team. This league saw Saquon Barkley get traded and,
despite the injury, it looks like it might of been the right call for
their team. If McCaffinator plays it right he quickly could have a
young core with the haul he gets from the trade, but can he swallow
making the move?