Fantasy Football Trade

[toomuchtime]

I am in a keeper league. I can trade Marvin Harrison for Shaun Alexander. What do you think?

[Kid Rock]

I would expect Indy to be better this year and Harrison to have good numbers. I tend to think of RBs as slightly higher risk. By this, I mean from injury AND from benching. A couple of bad games or a nitpick injury that puts you down a game could elevate the subs carries.

If you are looking for more balance due to having another top notch receiver that elevated himself last year (like Boston) and do not have any good backs, I would do it. Otherwise, no point.

Signed,

A Seahawks Fan

[WWSituation]

It depends on your league, but I would definately do it. Alexander is poised to be a top 4 running back this season which is a very valuable commodity in fantasy football.

Harrison is good, but will he produce huge numbers with Dungy coaching the offense??

[quentin cassidy]

is your league auction or draft? my league is auction, alexander was very cheap, so towards the end of last season, when i realized i didn't have much chance of winning the league, i traded culpepper and owens, who were both high-priced and not really worth keeping, for alexander. everyone in the league wanted alexander. so, if you're in an auction league, presuming alexander is cheap and harrison isn't, i'd say it's definitely worth it, and the guy offering alexander is a sucker.

if it's a draft league, i'd actually probably be more comfortable with harrison b/c he's more of a sure thing.

[Not Mike]

if it's a draft league, i'd actually probably be more comfortable with harrison b/c he's more of a sure thing.

That's what it comes down to... do you REALLY believe in Alexander? I didn't see him play much last year, just box scores (they were impressive)...

If you think Alex is a top 5 back and not a one-hit wonder, you make the deal... but Harrison IS a top 5 WR and will be for years to come...

By the way, keepers in an auction league? We won't do keepers simply because of the bargain factor (i.e. it seems like too big of an advantage to let a guy keep Kurt Warner at no cost and build the rest of the team around it).... we do a restricted FA type of thing...

[toomuchtime]

I am in a draft league. If I do make this trade, I will be keeping A-Train and Alexander. That would maybe be too big of a risk. Plus, Harrison gets featured in Indy, so I wonder if the Offensive Coordinator was replaced with Jim Mora, if so, I would be worried about that.

I could keep Brian Griese or Torry Holt, but I think I would be able to upgrade them in the draft.

Thanks all

[Abducens]

At first I was leaning toward Alexander but not enough to recommend anything. When someone reminded us that Dungy is the coach in Indy, it's screaming Alexander now. To me anyway.

[quentin cassidy]

Not Mike,

hasn't been a problem. the way our league works, no one team has ever been able to be dominant in consecutive years. first, we have a rule that a player can't be protected for more than 2 years in a row (even if he gets traded). also, protected players' auction values increase by 5 units each year (you get 300 to start with). and lastly, there is always a huge amount of trading near the deadline, with all the teams that have a chance to win the league trading away their keepers to the teams that have given up for high-priced studs. i won the league in the 2000 season, and last year i went 7-7, which was the best any defending champion has been able to do in quite some time.

[urysohn]

Take Alexander and laugh your way to the bank. Not only is he easily a top-5 back with many good years ahead (I have him as the #2 back right now, others may disagree), but he's a running back. After a couple years not buying the hype, I have come to be a believer -- all else equal, take the running back over the receiver. There are far more decent receivers available than running backs.

Also, I would personally rank Torry Holt right up there with Marvin Harrison (and I think he has a serious chance to supplant Isaac Bruce as the #1 guy in St. Louis).

If you have Anthony Thomas and Shaun Alexander as your two running backs, you're all but guaranteed of a winning season. If you manage to pick up a decent QB and a couple decent WR's, you're almost guaranteed a good shot at the title.

Take the trade!!!

[toomuchtime]

Thanks for the advice.

Unfortunately, my league makes us play 2 QB's. I do agree that it would be nice to have Alexander for the next few years, he IS Top 5 even if he "only" has the numbers he put up after Rickey Running Watters went down. As for Torry Holt, I don't trust his TD numbers, there are just too too many people to thow to in StL.

Plus, I got Harrison for a 5th round pick a week ago because the guy who had him also has Curtis Martin and Daunte Culpepper, so it was trade Harrison or lose him.

So, I end up with Alexander or Harrison for a 5th round pick, not bad...

[quentin cassidy]

uryshon wrote:

all else equal, take the running back over the receiver. There are far more decent receivers available than running backs

i agree with you to some extent, but it all depends on your leagues scoring system. the way my league is scored, the top 3-4 WRs (owens, moss, harrison, maybe rod smith) are right up in terms of value as the top 3-4 RBs. there is a big dropoff after that, you'll probably have another 5-6 RBs before the next WR. once you get further down the list, there is very little difference between the 10th best WR and the 25th best WR, while there is a huge difference at RB, so the second-tier RBs are much more valuable than the second-tier WRs.

[RedSoxFan]

Definitely take Alexander. He's a top five fantasy player, Harrison is just top 10. Alexander will always be as good as he is now.. if Seattle manages to improve its team otherwise, especially the passing game, he'll only become more valuable. Although the Colts have Qadry now, Harrison will still probably face the same amount of defensive pressure, but if the Colts D is any better, the offense might not have to pass as much.

By the way, the Colts kept the same offensive coordinator, and I doubt Dungy will dabble with the offense too much.