Fantasy Football Dynasty Trade: Package or Studs, What do you prefer?

A common trade in fantasy football leagues involves, ‘the package, or the stud’, where a premier player is traded for a bevy of picks or players. But answering this question on preferences can vary depending on multiple factors, such as the number of teams, starting roster spots, positional bonuses, etc. Therefore, it is not always black and white, as there is a lot of gray areas when discussing this strategy. It can be easier to build the plan from the ground up in a startup draft, but what do you do when you are in an existing league and have built a team to a certain point?

The League, The Trade, and Fantasy Football

I am in that exact scenario metnioned above. I wanted to give a rundown of my thought process on a deal I made to add some stud players. The league is none other than the League Winners Dynasty League. The details are as follows. It is a 10-team Super Flex League with ten starting spots per team. (I’ll touch on why this is important momentarily).

Let’s break down a traditional fantasy football dynasty league. I will do that using Sleeper settings. A standard dynasty league is 12 teams with ten starting spots. Doing the math gives us 120 starting players at any time. Let us say you are shrinking the starting spots per team to eight, which cuts the starting spots by 24 to 96. It causes fewer players to impact weekly scoring, boosting the effect of the elite fantasy assets (Justin Jefferson, Austin Ekeler, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, etc.) and making those players more valuable.

On the flip side, If you have ever played with starting rosters of 12 or 14 per team, you will see the impact from those players decrease as we have 144 or 168 starting. You can start McCaffrey, Hill, and Diggs each week and routinely lose if you are weak at other spots and need more depth on your roster.

An 8-team league starting 10 players will only have 80 players impacting lineups each week. Every team is considered a super team, as you can imagine. When you migrate to 14 teams or, heck, even 32-team leagues (I am in one, and it’s bananas.), you can see how different the league becomes. So it’s essential to understand the type of fantasy football league you are in and build accordingly. Take this mindset and apply it to any premium scoring as well. You always want to focus on what the league rules deem essential.

Now that we know the league I am referencing is a 10-team starting 10 players, you would think you should only go after studs – but that’s only partially true.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of gray areas in strategy. So here is what I meant.

Does your team have the necessary depth and pieces to make a move for studs without crippling the infrastructure? By adding stud players, are you damaging other starting spots, extinguishing the remaining draft capital you had, or are you pulling from a wealth of similar players/picks that do not impact your overall team?

Let me tell you about a fantasy football trade I made with my colleague, Pru Patel, and you be the judge.

Why Jesse Traded for the Stud

Why did I do the deal? I have built up a competitive win-now team with good depth. I am comfortable packaging a few pieces together into upgrades. While I love Hollywood and Burks (check my Twitter timeline), they were borderline starters for me. I wanted to secure a top-five pick in the rookie draft, as the top five is a juicy place to be this year in Super Flex leagues.

Along with that, I wanted the rookie wide receiver who was selected 8th overall last year and went on to put up an elite 85.3 PFF grade, > 2.0 yards per route run, and 29.5% Target Share. Drake London did everything we could have asked from a rookie without scoring fantasy points – only 10.5 PPG –  which was WR43 in 2022. It’s a bet on the talent. Hopeful the situation improves. Moving up from the Burks/Hollywood tier to London in dynasty was worth it with where my team is at.

Why Pru Traded for the Package

You may be asking yourself why Pru broke his assets into multiple pieces. He still has four first-round picks remaining (1.01, 1.03, 1.09, 1.10). Draft capital is copious, but his team needed more depth. He also wanted to buy into assets that have the chance of being the WR1 on their teams – which all three wide receivers he traded for do.

Along with the 2.07, which is based on mocks to date in a 10-team league, it is still a pick with good options. This step in the right direction made his team more competitive. It was a deal that worked for both parties as well.

Hollywood would be a borderline flex starter for me. Burks and Wan’Dale were strictly good depth pieces, but more vital to Pru’s roster. As you can see from the graphic below, the players in the deal had similar seasons. The bonus for Pru’s side is that all those assets have the ability to rise to give him more options to gain value than the two assets I received in the deal.

So now that you understand both sides of the deal, which side do you prefer: the Studs or the Package in this circumstance? You may find in each fantasy football dynasty league you play; you might have a different answer. I’ve attached a super scientific Twitter poll. Tell us what you think, and yes, comments are absolutely encouraged.

10-team Super Flex PPR League

— Jesse Moeller (@JMoeller05) February 27, 2023

Jesse Moeller

Jesse Moeller is a fascinating character. By day, he's a restaurant manager, but during his free time, he transforms into a fantasy football analyst. He's been playing fantasy football since 1999, which means he's been around the block a few times. But his passion for the game has never waned. Jesse is a devoted husband to his wife Andrea, whom he's been married to for five years. They have a lovely daughter Cecilia, who is now four years old. Jesse's journey into content creation began with The League Winners in 2021, and he hasn't looked back since. Dynasty is his passion, and his love for the game is infectious. Jesse is a true degenerate who loves the fantasy football and the community that supports it.