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ORPHAN TEAM REBUILD

Rebuilding an Orphan Team

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League #36849 – The Peanut Butter Boners

By: Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl)

Dynasty Owners, welcome back to another week of dissecting orphan rosters. Before we get started, let’s hit the countdown to the season. We are officially just 23 days away from the start of the 2022 NFL season and we can finally put things like the debate of Gabriel Davis ($998,595) to rest, until next season at least.

Before jumping into the article, I would like to welcome any new members from the Fantasy Football Expo and any new members in general to the Dynasty Owner platform. If any of you have questions, please feel free to get ahold of me via Twitter. If you have not heard about the Expo, I would like to encourage you to check it out and hope to see you there next year.

As always be sure to let your friends know about Dynasty Owner and use your referral link to ensure you get $10 in cold hard cash while your friend gets $10 off their new team. Just use promo code FRIENDS. Enough of my jibber jabber, let’s get into the orphan roster you are all here for.

Building Blocks

  1. Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) – 2 years/$9,047,534
  2. A.J. Brown (WR – PHI) – 1 year/$1,413,092
  3. Chase Claypool (WR – PIT) – 2 years/$1,654,156

I know, I know I am a big old, biased Steelers fan for calling Chase Claypool a Building Block and not Brandon Aiyuk. The main reasons for this are the fact Deebo Samuel ($1,811,869) will remain in the Bay Area. I like the overall talent of Claypool more and feel he has more room to grow.

A.J. Brown may be questionable to some because of his price tag next season (4 years/$25,000,000 per year), but that is part of the reason he is a Building Block. If you were to try and trade A.J. Brown right now, he wouldn’t bring back much more than a single first round pick. Trust me, I have tried. At that price it is just not worth losing a player who is a Top 10 guy when healthy. I know the accuracy issues that come with Jalen Hurts can be worrisome, but we have seen plenty of stud receivers overcome much worse over the years.

The last guy on the list is the King of Swag who doesn’t pick out his own clothes, Joe Burrow. When I saw Burrow’s name my face lit up though I was soon let down as the rest of this roster leaves a lot to be desired. It’s the same way I felt when I found out Burrow’s teammate Ja’Marr Chase dresses the star QB.

Players to Trade

  1. Alvin Kamara (RB – NO) – 4 years/$15,000,000
  2. Elijah Mitchell (RB – SF) – 3 years/$915,892

As I just finished saying in the Building Blocks section, the rest of the roster leaves a lot to be desired and I think the Players to Trade list highlights that perfectly. With only two players who will bring back decent value right away, the new owner of this team will surely have their work cut out for them.

Alvin Kamara may be a tough trade right now with a potential suspension looming on top of a $15,000,000 per year salary that already makes him difficult to move. If Kamara doesn’t get suspended this season, he should be able to be moved due to the lack of high-end fantasy running backs in the game right now.

The other player on the list is Elijah Mitchell and he comes with plenty of his own question marks. Mitchell is the 49ers’ top running back now, but we all know how quickly that can change in a Kyle Shanahan coached offense. My best advice for any non-competing owner is to move on from Mitchell while he is the presumed starter. I am not saying it’s going to happen, but it would not surprise me to see Mitchell holding a clipboard midway through the year.

Players to Hold

  1. D’Onta Foreman (RB – CAR) – 1 year/$2,000,000
  2. Eno Benjamin (RB – ARI) – 2 years/$849,428
  3. Jamaal Williams (RB – DET) – 1 year/$3,000,000
  4. Michael Carter (RB – NYJ) – 3 years/$1,071,842
  5. Brandon Aiyuk (WR – SF) – 2 years/$3,132,835
  6. Jalen Guyton (WR – LAC) – 1 year/$895,000
  7. Harrison Bryant (TE – CLE) – 2 years/$1,016,007
  8. Josiah Deguara (TE – GB) – 2 years/$1,136,941

The Players to Hold list is full of players with eight total, but only a couple who are intriguing enough to bring back value right now. The others you will have to sit on. The biggest name on the list is Brandon Aiyuk and an argument can be made he could be a Building Block on this roster. Aiyuk had a fantastic finish to the 2020 season and looked to be heading towards stardom and then 2021 and Deebo Samuel happened. If Aiyuk develops a solid connection with young quarterback Trey Lance ($8,526,319), he could be a big piece for this roster.

The other players on this list who are intriguing are both running backs with the first being Michael Carter. Carter looked excellent when healthy in 2021, but that was not enough to stop the Jets from drafting college standout Breece Hall ($2,253,694). If Carter can gain the role of third down back, he could have decent trade value after we see some real football.

The last player I want to talk about is Jamaal Williams. Williams has been an extremely consistent back for several years now but with D’Andre Swift ($2,134,728) seemingly always banged up I would hold Williams and wait until he hits peak value at some point this season before moving him.

Players to Cut

  1. Jaret Patterson (RB – WAS) – 2 years/$820,000
  2. Ben Skowronek (WR – LAR) – 3 years/$891,131
  3. Jamal Agnew (WR – JAX) – 2 years/$4,750,000
  4. James Proche (WR – BAL) – 2 years/$865,774
  5. Josh Reynolds (WR – DET) – 2 years/$3,000,000
  6. Josh Gordon (WR – KC) – 1 year/$1,120,000
  7. Kylen Granson (TE – IND) – 3 years/$1,046,592
  8. Taysom Hill (TE – NO) – 4 years/$10,000,000
  9. Cole Beasley (WR – Free Agent)

As usual I won’t spend much time on the cuts of the roster. The only player on this list I would realistically think about keeping is Kylen Granson. We haven’t heard much about Granson in quite a while, but the Colts seemed to love him heading into 2021 and tight ends tend to take a while to develop,

Long Term Building Blocks

  1. Malik Willis (QB – TEN) – 4 years/$1,290,025
  2. David Bell (WR – CLE) – 4 years/$1,273,726

The poster child of Long-Term Building Blocks (Malik Willis) is back! Willis had a solid showing in his first career NFL showing and showed flashes of why he was projected to go so high. If Willis can refine his skillset over the course of 2022, he could be a gold mine as soon as next season for the Dynasty Owners who drafted him this season.

David Bell is a player I could see having success in 2022 but I don’t think he becomes someone you can even think about starting until Deshaun Watson ($46,000,000) is back from suspension. Thus, making Bell a possible Long-Term Building Block.

Players to Amnesty

  1. Deshaun Watson (QB – CLE) 5 years/$46,000,000

The case can be made to keep Watson because of the shape this roster is in, but I think it’s best just to move on from him and look to draft someone in the next year or two. The main reason for this is the fact that Watson will likely miss most of 2022 meaning you will get roughly one year of Watson before Burrow signs his new deal. Had Burrow been three years away from a new contract, I would likely have a different approach.

Current Draft Picks

2023 – 1st, 2nd, 3rd

2024 – 1st, 2nd, 3rd

2025 – 1st, 2nd, 3rd

2026 – 1st, 2nd, 3rd

Dynasty Dollars and Amnesty Provisions

Dynasty Dollars = $10 million

Amnesty Provisions = 2

My Thoughts

One of the hardest parts of doing these orphan teams is the fact I am not able to see the rest of the league and must assume there is a powerhouse lurking. At first, I really wanted this to be a team I just retooled and was ready to compete with next season, but I just do not see enough talent regardless of what the rest of the league looks like. The roster above is in desperate need of a top end tight end, a receiver or four, and at least one more running back and that’s if Alvin Kamara somehow avoids suspension this season.

If you happen to read this and purchase this team, please reach out as I would like to discuss your strategy and go over how you plan to attack the weak spots. Hopefully this will be the last orphan article but not because I don’t enjoy doing them, it’s because I hate seeing open spots in anyone’s league and there are only three orphan teams left in the Dynasty Owner Orphan Store right now.

Thank you all for reading and be sure to check out our other articles written by Steve, Nate, and Matt. Stay safe out there and good luck on your 2022 Chase for the Ring!

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