There hasn’t been much news from a fantasy perspective this past week. The coaching staff is growing and we’re also starting to hear who will and won’t be participating in the NFL Combine. Keep it here to stay up to date with all the Dynasty news!
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From disagreement…
Out like a lamb
Which side do you favor as the team in need of help in a 12-team superflex PPR league – 2026 picks 1.02 and 1.07, or CeeDee Lamb? The team that Lamb gives up is committed to rebuilding.
This seems about right to me. Pick 1.02 puts you in an enviable position in a super-flex league, as it broadly guarantees you can select quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who will likely be the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. While it’s true that this doesn’t directly address a need on the receiver’s part, signal callers never go out of style in a superflex format, and if it shows even a little, it will retain its value in the future.
To drive home the point, despite Cam Ward’s bumpy rookie season in which he completed just 59.8% of his passes at 5.9 YPA, he’s still averaging fourth-round picks among dynasty superflex startups as the QB17. No doubt he was given some mercy for playing on one of the poorest teams in the league, with a bare cupboard of offensive skill position players and a revolving door at the head coach. While the latter won’t be true for the Las Vegas Raiders, this is still a team that is being rebuilt from the ground up, and as such, Mendoza will likely be graded on a curve as well.
You could also bypass the current convention and select Carnell Tate, or one of the other likely first-round receivers. Again, this may not meet your immediate need – while it’s true that rookie receivers have the ability to put up big numbers in their first year, I’d rather not count on it and be happy if it does happen. Last season, Tetairoa McMillan was the only rookie pass-catcher to eclipse 1,000 yards, finishing as the PPR WR15. Good numbers, but in terms of points per game he was only the WR23. So while he was clearly a serviceable player, he was closer to a weekly WR3 than he was in the top five.
You may be able to target the receiver at pick 1.07, where you will likely take a player like KC Concepcion or Denzel Boston. Both players are popularly mocked in the mid-to-late first round, which could actually position them well if it was a team in need of a receiver like Buffalo or San Francisco. But again, this will probably do little to meet your immediate needs.
Injuries prevented Lamb from putting together his usual numbers, but he still covered nearly 1,100 yards despite missing four games and parts of others. Perhaps more importantly, while we would have liked to see more green in the chart below, Lamb never really lost weeks for you.
While it would be nice if he was 1-2 years younger, Lamb will only be 27 years old at the start of the 2026 season, putting him firmly in his prime. Furthermore, he has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards every year of his career aside from his rookie campaign, and most recently when fully healthy, he went for a whopping 135-1,749-12 line (181 targets) in 2023, even posting another 113 yards and two scores on the ground. Unsurprisingly, he’s a fairly unquestionable addition to the dynasty.
It doesn’t hurt to offer the deal. It at least passes the red-face test, even if the value appears to be on the Lamb side. As you noted, your potential trade partner is trying to rebuild, and while Lamb is a strong asset for teams of all shapes and sizes, they may be more moved by the picks than they otherwise would be.
If that doesn’t work, it’s important to remember that there are a few more bites at the apple of value here. If players perform better at the Combine, or land in what is seen as a good spot in the NFL Draft, it’s possible that picks 1.02 and 1.07 could increase in value. In addition, it is believed that a choice is never more valuable than when it is on the right date. While ideally you would get something done sooner, there are plenty of opportunities in the coming months.
Live, Ladd, love
For a rebuilding team in a 12-team PPR league, I have picks 1.04, 1.10, and 1.12 this year, and then two first-round picks in 2027. I’m considering trading my 2026 first-round picks for pick 1.01 to take Jeremiyah Love. I’m also considering trading Ladd McConkey for pick 1.02 or 1.03 and then selecting a top receiver. Is this wise?
Let’s start with the first part of the deal.
When considering the above valuations, it is important to remember that the currency indicated is in the form of draft picks. Draft picks don’t have names, they can’t get hurt, and they don’t have any potential character issues. As such, it is not surprising to see what appears to be a linear sliding value scale from 1.01 to 1.12.
But… that’s not how the fantasy football world works. Week in and week out there is a practical application of starting tangible players, not vague draft picks. Players with names, positions and skills. And especially in the 1QB leagues, there is a defined 2026 rookie hierarchy that starts with Notre Dame running back Love, and ends with literally everyone else.
As such, I would take the DLF Trade Analyzer outputs with a large grain of salt. In a vacuum, the deal is fine – pick 1.04 seems likely to land a top-tier receiver, and then you get two more chances to find another contributor in the late first round. Personally, I don’t like that zone with the class of 2026, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and your potential trade partner may feel differently.
Personal? I would suggest the deal and see if you can get to the finish line. You then get the best player in the draft and still keep your two selections for 2027. I would see this as an added value to your roster.
As for the second part of your deal, the DLF Trade Analyzer would argue that you should keep McConkey. But I would like to pull that string a little more.
In 2024, McConkey was the Offensive Rookie of the Year, finishing as the PPR WR13. Last season, despite conceding just six fewer goals, he finished as the PPR WR38. This is despite quarterback Justin Herbert putting up more fantasy points (868.7) in one fewer game than he did in 2024 (857). So what went wrong?
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
As seen above, he played almost exactly the same way last season as he did in 2024, as evidenced by an equivalent aDOT of 9.9 yards. He just did worse, catching a smaller proportion of passes, breaking fewer tackles and dropping a slightly higher percentage of goals. Perhaps more importantly, while his target share didn’t fluctuate wildly, he was Herbert’s first look at 19 fewer targets compared to his rookie season. More importantly, he and Herbert were more out of sync compared to 2024, as McConkey’s achievable target fell by 13.1% (Source: PlayerProfiler). I don’t know if this was more about Herbert or McConkey, but all other things being mostly equal, this seems to best explain the receiver drop.
Still, I could understand that McConkey was not as bullish as the DLF Trade Analyzer. He was nearly stopped by Keenan Allen’s peel, and both Quentin Johnston and Oronde Gadsden were significantly more efficient with their looks. Whatever the reason, he stepped back and was a fantasy albatross in the process.
For me it will ultimately come down to preference. The McConkey name probably still carries some buzz considering how well he played as a rookie. But if you think a player like Carnell Tate or Jordyn Tyson has a better shot at future fantasy stardom, it would be reasonable to try to close the deal, and maybe even get a little bit more back. You could say you’re selling low on McConkey and buying high on a newcomer, but ultimately the transaction will be validated somehow between the white lines.
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