Welcome to the Dave Alley Show!!! We only completed seven trades this season, and Dave was involved directly in the first six, and indirectly in the seventh. Let’s see how it went!
(Pretend you don’t know Nacho Team is in 12th place)
This post is subject to change depending on how the post-season plays out.
Trade 1: Sept. 3rd – Bell for Beckham
Sc4_Skippers gets;
Odell Beckham Jr. – Cle – WR
Landon Collins – Was – S
Nacho Team gets;
Le’Veon Bell – NYJ – RB
Vontaze Burfict – Oak – LB
Dating back to the days of LaMont Jordan, Nacho Team has always had a real hard-on for the Oakland Raiders, and that’s no different in 2019. Burfict is the first of two different Raiders they will trade for this season. And while Bell has done as well as can be expected on a J-E-T-S JETS! offense where Sam Darnold missed a bunch of games, Burfict predictably wound up suspended. The Raiders LB was barely serviceable in the first 3 weeks, averaging under 100 points, then a pumpkin-to-pumpkin hit in week 4 cost him the rest of the season. On the other side, Beckham has under-performed, finishing the regular season outside the Top 20 WRs (#24), about 200 points behind Bell (the #11 RB). That said, he still was the best WR the Skippers had this year. The real scale-tipper here though is Landon Collins, the 6th best DB this year, and easily the highest-scoring player in the trade.
Seeing as this trade was made before week one, you have to think it played a major part in how the respective seasons worked out – Nacho Team in last place, and the Skippers with a first-round playoff BYE…
Headline: Bell trumps Beckham, but stud Collins outweighs dud Burfict
Winner: The Skippers
Trade 2: Sept. 8th – TE Swap
TIM! gets;
Eric Ebron – Ind – TE
Phillip Lindsay – Den – RB
Nacho Team gets;
Hunter Henry – LAC – TE
Completed just in time for Week One, this was another huge miscalculation by Nacho Team, and another big reason they’re gonna get that #1 pick in 2020. This trade backfired for Dave almost immediately, with Hunter Henry, who is easily the best player involved, getting injured in Week One. This, however, might still have been alright if Dave had shown some patience and waited for Hunter to return in Week Six, but instead, he dropped the TE that week. Despite missing 5 games, Hunter still ranks as the 8th best TE this season and #4 in per game average. As for TIM!, Ebron was pretty subpar, breaking 100 only three times before being placed on IR last week. This ranks him as the 15th ranked TE for the season, aka not a starter. Phillip Lindsay, however, checks in at RB #14, which is exactly one spot ahead of (foreshadowing) Todd Gurley…
Headline: Dave gives away a Top 15 RB for literally nothing.
Winner: TIM!
Trade 3: Sept. 12th – The Trigger Trade
Flying Dutchmen gets;
Kwon Alexander – SF – LB
Nacho Team gets;
Tyrell Williams – Oak – WR
Calais Campbell – Jax – DE
Nacho Team’s third trade before Week Two – sure seems like someone wasn’t happy with their draft. The difference here, Dave didn’t get totally jobbed!
Alexander is probably the best player in this trade, and upfront seemed like a good move for Trigger, but a trip to the IR cost Kwon the last 5 games of the season and he only turned in one game with over 200 points – which was his first game with the Dutchmen. That’s called “diminishing returns”. On the other side, Campbell ranks in at DL #13, but after the trade, Dave waited only one week before dropping him and missed out on a 310 point week three performance. Nacho picked Campbell back up in time for Week Four, but he’s been pretty mediocre since, never breaking 170 again, and only topping 100 points in only 5 of the 9 following games, averaging 98 points per game since being readded.
Dave also got Tyrell Williams, and while the Oakland WR hasn’t been great (ranked #42 WR overall), he was (sadly) one of Nacho’s top-three options the rest of the way – especially when you consider Watkins averaged only 63 points a game after his 453 point explosion in Week One. In per game average, Williams is the 45th best WR, which is good enough to be rostered but he had his biggest game of the year in Week One, for Trigger. In his final five games, he averaged only 49 points.
Williams and Campbell seeming lulled Nacho into complacency, as he never recognized the better options on the waiver wire. Even with the injury, Trigger still could have won this had Alexander been more valuable when on the field because Nacho sort of wasted two roster spots down the stretch. This one is a wash.
Headline: Mediocre Play and Injuries Make Trade Impact Negligible.
Winner: No One?
Trade 4: Sept. 26th – The Blockbuster
TIM!;
Patrick Mahomes KC – QB
Zach Brown Ari – LB
Nacho Team gets;
Aaron Rodgers – GB – QB
Shaquil Barrett – TB – LB
Danny Trevathan – Chi – LB
Todd Gurley II – LAR – RB
The remaking of Nacho Team continues, creating a 2017 Superpower backfield…in 2019. Two years ago, Bell and Gurley would have combined for almost 6400 points, but in 2019, they came closer to 2800.
Last year’s QB1 Patrick Mahomes looks like he’ll be a superstar for years to come, but this season, Dave banked hard on his trade value, and after Arron Rodgers put in three lackluster performances to start the year, Dave thought he would swoop in and grab him. In Week Four it paid off, Rodgers put up 473 points, and a few weeks later, had a game of 630. The problem is the other five games, where he averaged only 277 points. Aside from a few clunkers, Gurley has been alright, and Trevathan was ok before getting hurt against the Lions a few weeks back, averaging about 125 in the 6 games he wore a Nacho jersey for. Shaquil Barrett, who was averaging 283 points a game before the trade, dropped to a paltry 117 since. All in all, it’s easy to see how this season went wrong.
As for TIM!, Mahomes was scoring 486 before the trade and dropped to a still respectable, but less spectacular 310 since. That includes two games lost to injury, both of which resulted in TIM! getting blown out, though given the scores its doubtful Mahomes would have made a difference. Zach Brown, a fantasy stalwart the last three seasons, lasted only two more weeks on TIM!’s roster, as well as on the Eagles’ roster. He’s since been picked up by the Cards, but hasn’t played. He’s a total bust. Because of Brown’s flameout, and Mahomes having only one really dominant game since the trade, you’d have to give the edge to Nacho Team here, even if all the players he got underperformed and took up roster spots.
Headline: Nacho Team Trades Young Superstar for Aging Names, It Sort of Works Out.
Winner: Nacho Team, I guess
Trade 5: Sept. 27th – Never Trade for a Titans Passcatcher
The Quasars gets;
Stefon Diggs – Min – WR
Nacho Team gets;
Delanie Walker – Ten – TE
As nice as the Edelman trade worked out, how much better might that offense be if Stef Diggs were the third WR rather than Tyrell Williams? Well, it would have given Dave three WRs in the Top 20 (along with Kaiser) – and would have been the best statistical WR core in the league. Instead, he traded Diggs for a TE from the Titans…ok.
There is some logic here. Through the first three games, Diggs had not played well, averaging only 62 points. And Nacho needed to replace the injured Hunter Henry he just traded for weeks earlier. Walker to that point was averaging 112 a game (which is a Top 5 TE sort of number). Problem is, after the trade, thanks to a super consistent Titans passing attack that would see their QB benched, Walker averaged only 19 points a game over the next four weeks, and then wound up on the IR, again. The 35-year-old TE only played one game last year, he made it to 7 this time around.
After the trade Diggs gets good. It helped when the Minnesota WRs publicly complained about not getting the ball and Cousins was then allowed to air it out. In the eight games since the trade, Diggs average has gone from 62 up to 160, and though there were still a few bad games mixed in, he’s currently ranked the #19 WR overall, and after tonight MNF matchup, if he hits his average, he could jump as high as #11.
Headline: Slow Start By Diggs Causes Panic in Nacho Land
Winner: The Quasars
Trade 6: Oct. 10th – Paying Big for the Patriot Way
C Tan vs The World gets;
Jordan Howard – Phi – RB
Matthew Stafford – Det – QB
Nacho Team gets;
Julian Edelman – NE – WR
What could have been a really big deal for both teams, actually took a turn in favor of Nacho Team in the weeks following its completion. I initially listed this as “a huge overpay” – but as it turns out, Edelman has been pretty productive in a sputtering Patriots offense. In the seven weeks since being acquired by Nacho, Edelman’s per game average has gone from 123 up to 150, and that’s not nothing. In fact, he’s perhaps been the most consistent player on Nacho Team.
On the flip side, Stafford was having a really solid year, and Howard was just starting to take off when he got hurt. Howard turned in two clunkers after the trade, which led to C Tan dropping him, but he then rebounded with back to back good games before getting injured. We will ignore that Stafford’s per game average is 50 points higher than that of Arron Rodgers this season, and give Dave credit for striking while Stafford’s value was high. Since the injury to the Lions’ signal-caller, C Tan has been rolling with Derek Carr, who has averaged only 218 points during that time (vs. Stafford’s 356 per game) and Chris missed the playoffs by one spot. That said, he went 3-1 and Stafford wasn’t gonna overcome a 700 point loss to John…
Headline: Nacho Team Clears Roster Spot and Solidifies WR Core
Winner: Nacho Team
Trade 7: Oct. 20th – The Revenge of Hunter Henry
Redbank Mallrats gets;
Kenny Golladay – Det – WR
BE A MAN HOGAN gets;
Hunter Henry – LAC – TE
Jabrill Peppers – NYG – S
The Mallrats attempted to solidify their WR core early, taking Davante Adams with the seventh pick in the first round of the draft. This didn’t work out great, as a case of Turf Toe cost him five games. Even while healthy though, he is averaging only 13th best among WRs, so a trade for a true #1 emerged, and it was all made possible when Nacho Team cut ties with Hunter Henry.
Utilizing their waiver priority, the Mallrats scooped Henry up just ahead of his Week Six return, when he had 240 points. He was then flipped to BE A MAN HOGAN, along with Giants Saftey Jabrill Peppers for Kenny Golladay.
Since the trade, Hunter was averaging about 111 points per week until a 20 point dud in Week Thirteen. Likewise, Peppers (DB #10) had been strong, pulling down 150 per before missing the Week Thirteen matchup with Green Bay. As for Golladay (WR #4), his value was certainly expected to drop once Stafford went down, and he scored only 26 points in his first game for the Mallrats (a Week Seven loss to SECOND DECK), but since then has averaged 173 a game and helped the Mallrats ride a five-game win streak headed into the playoffs – which might see these two teams square off in Round One.
*The spot opened up for the Mallrats was used to sign Eric Reid, who was just dropped by The Quasars because of a BYE week. He is currently DB #2, and has averaged 216 points since joining the Mallrats.
Headline: Kronner and Sanchez Swap Pro-Bowl Caliber Talent
Winner: Pending – The Playoffs Will Decide
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