Geoff Gets a Top-10 Player
It’s been a tough year for Geoff.
Though he started with the second pick, Geoff drafted Le’Veon Bell who has yet to play a down for the Steelers. Then picked LeSean McCoy (marooned on a listless offense in Buffalo). Then Mike Evans who he traded away for George Kittle plus parts. Then Marvin Jones, Aaron Rodgers and Greg Olsen. Not terrible, though even Rodgers has underperformed. Then Peyton Barber, Josh Doctson, Jordy Nelson and finally DeVante Parker. Oof.
Given those first 10 picks, it’s no surprise that Geoff is on pace for the worst season in Worst League history as measured by TW%. In fact, following Week 9, Geoff was the only team owner in the league not to have a single RB or WR that ranked in the top-10 at his position.
Trevor’s got A.J. Green. JT’s got Julio Jones. Samantha’s got Christian McCaffrey and Emmanuel Sanders. Gray’s got… well, Mike Evans. Heck, even Greco has Antonio Brown. But the best RB or WR on Geoff’s roster is Marvin Jones, currently WR25.
Until now.
That’s because Geoff traded Panthers TE Greg Olsen yesterday to Josh in exchange for Rams WR Robert Woods. Though he was drafted in the fifth-round and was the 26th overall WR selected, Woods has vastly over-performed his draft position this season in a high-powered Rams offense. And he’s been remarkably consistent, tallying at least 70 yards receiving or a touchdown in eight straight games. With 96 points on the season, averaging 10.7 ppg, Woods currently ranks as the ninth-best WR in fantasy, trailing only Adam Thielen, DeAndre Hopkins, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Antonio Brown, Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and A.J. Green. Obviously, that’s terrific company, considering all but one of those players was drafted within the first three rounds.
Yes, Geoff finally got his top-10 guy. And now with a receiving corps that consists of Sterling Shepard and Marvin Jones, the latter of whom is one of only two other players on Geoff’s roster outside QB to have registered a 20-point game, Geoff’s offense suddenly has potential. If Aaron Rodgers can play like Aaron Rodgers (only three 20-point games so far this season) and Le’Veon Bell can return to being Le’Veon Bell (yes, there are once again reports that Bell will return to the team next week; we’ll see…), then Geoff could certainly make some noise down the stretch. As I said in our Week 9 Power Rankings, Geoff has a decent schedule that could allow him to sneak into the playoffs at 7-6. This trade definitely helps those prospects.
As for Josh, this trade is certainly a great move for him as well.
That’s because entering Week 10, Josh had a top-13 player starting at every major skill position in his roster except for TE, formerly his most glaring weakness. For the season, Josh is averaging 3.2 ppg from TEs, which would rank seventh-worst all-time trailing only a handful of teams plus Brandon’s team this year (just 2.3 ppg). In fact, Josh has not had a TE score more than 5 points in a game since Week 2, the only other owner besides Brandon who can say that. (This is your weekly reminder that Brandon has ignominiously not topped 4 points at the position all season.)
Now enter Greg Olsen. The sixth-round pick suffered an injury early this season and was forced to miss four weeks, including a Week 4 bye. But he’s been productive since returning in Week 6, averaging 8.5 ppg over his last four games including three straight weeks with a touchdown. That is until last night on TNF when he tallied just 4 points on 40 yards receiving. Regardless, Olsen is a player that when healthy should rank within or near the top-5 at his position every week.
Will Olsen be as productive as Robert Woods? Probably not. I think I’d rather have Woods. But the trade still makes Josh better. That’s because Josh has Patriots WR Josh Gordon waiting in the wings, ready to step up in Woods’ place. Ironically, Gordon was selected 56th overall in the draft, one position behind Robert Woods. And since Week 5, Gordon is actually averaging more points per game than Woods—9.6 ppg compared to 9.2 ppg. So there’s an argument to be made that he might have just gotten better at WR by trading away Woods.
Also, don’t underestimate the fact that Woods still has his bye in Week 12 while Olsen, if healthy, will play in all four remaining games. That being said, by losing some WR depth, it may get a little hairy for Josh in Weeks 11-12 against Samantha and Alex when Josh Gordon and Tyreek Hill go on bye, which will likely push either Danny Amendola, David Moore or new free agent acquisition John Ross into starting duty. But if anyone can take the hit, it’s Josh who has the explosive point-scorers to make up for it.
All in all, I love this deal, which is to say I hate this deal because it makes both teams better. And with the trade deadline rapidly approaching in the days preceding Week 12, this is your first reminder that this is your last chance to do that for your team in 2018.
Geoff and Josh certainly just did.
