The trade deadline approaches, so this week we’ll be looking at potential moves each team could make to secure their playoff chances.
Performance Rankings
But first, a quick summary of how the rankings shake up.
Overall Rankings
Little movement on this front.
Offense
Tricksters get a nice boost here after a good showing, but their division is anything but secure.
QB
Kali Warriors can thank Jimmy G for having a great game on Thursday and Pegasus for playing a little too safe by benching Lamar Jackson against the Patriots D in favor of hometown hero Brisset.
RB
The difference between Not Lucky and Kali Warriors gets smaller each week.
WR
The Golden Eagles have fallen from grace. Tricksters hang out on top above the chaos.
TE
A nice showing from Zach Ertz makes the Golden Eagles feel a bit better about trading for him. Unfortunately the other players they acquired from the Hussars (Sony Michel, JuJu Smith-Schuster) earlier in the season played poorly this week. A lot of inconsistency.
Defense
Good showing from offense, less good showing from defense for the Tricksters.
DL
Pegasus surges behind 25.5 points from Justin Houston to take fifth.
LB
Winged Hussars look back to form this week at LB.
DB
Golden Eagles are now miles ahead of everyone else.
Team Strengths/Weaknesses
Bling Bling
Strengths: RB, LB, DL, DB
Weaknesses: QB, TE
The main success from Bling Bling has come from being really strong at core positions like RB and LB, and being at least good at most others. Their weaknesses come from the specialty positions of QB and TE, and this along with an inconsistent WR group is likely what’s lead to their two losses. Most teams are going to ask a lot more than is worth to give up their QB. Bling Bling is one of the few teams that could afford to do that, but they might be better served looking for their future through the draft. An undervalued QB could definitely slide to the end of the first round especially since most of the worst teams are pretty solid at QB.
Not Lucky
Strengths: RB, WR, DL
Weaknesses: QB, TE, DB
Not Lucky is in a similar situation as Bling Bling, but unlike Bling Bling they’ve got more weaknesses and are not as dominant at their best positions. Giving up Dalvin Cook was a tough one. Kirk Cousins or Jared Goff could pull through for them at QB. They likely want to get better at their strengths as that could tip the balance against Bling Bling.
Kali Warriors
Strengths: QB, RB, DL, LB
Weaknesses: TE, DB, WR
I think the biggest concern for Kali Warriors is at WR. They definitely aren’t bad at that position, but it’s definitely a weakness when having to face the top two teams in the league. Cooper has been playing hurt most of the year, Beckham is barely the number one receiver on his own team (which as a reminder is the disappointing Clevelend Browns), and Diggs is playing behind an inconsistent passing game (though that’s looked better in recent weeks). They’ll make it just fine through the rest of the season, but come playoff time, I wouldn’t be extremely confident in their receivers.
Tricksters
Strengths: WR, TE
Weaknesses: QB, RB
Tricksters suffer from being pretty mediocre at a lot of positions. They’re ranked in the bottom half only once in all positions, and are in the top five just three times. They look great at WR especially over the last few weeks. They have a solid RB1 with Josh Jacobs, but their RB2 situation looks pretty meh. That will be a weakness they want to patch up if they’re going to consistently beat the top teams. Devin Singletary returned recently, which might be someone they decide to ride with, and could be pretty good for them. It may be best for the Tricksters to ride their recent success, but they could benefit from some added depth at defense and RB.
Detroit Wolverines
Strengths: QB, RB, WR
Weaknesses: LB, DB
The Detroit Wolverines look great at the big three offensive positions, but their defensive players have not done well. I’d chalk up some of their weaknesses to not starting the right defensive players. They have some good players like TJ Watt and Aaron Donald, and some of their other options aren’t half bad either. They could do with some added role players to keep their defensive performance more consistent, but after acquiring Dalvin Cook, they absolutely look like a playoff caliber team.
speed-demons
Strengths: QB, TE, LB
Weaknesses: DL
When I say the speed-demons are terrible at DL, I mean they’re terrible. It’s mostly has-beens on their team with a few unproven young players. It’s definitely the biggest weakness. They’ve got good RBs and WRs with Ezekiel Elliott, Mike Evans, and Julian Edelman, but the flex positions is where they need some help. It would likely take just one or two players to turn their team from good to great, and they have enough RBs to shell out to a desperate team. Finding a good trading partner will be key for them if they want to win this season.
Necessary Roughness
Strengths: TE, DL, DB
Weaknesses: QB, WR
Necessary Roughness has performed well as of late, thanks to some great performances from their defense. Philip Rivers has not been the gunslinger they’ve hoped for, and Mayfield has been a disappointment to say the least. Him or Minshew may turn to be something in the next few years (although it seems Minshew is losing his starting job to a returning Foles), but we can all learn a lesson from the Browns to not buy into the hype. Unlike some of the other teams that have pretty weak showings from QB, Necessary Roughness has not made up the difference at RB or WR. Their receivers are boom-or-bust, and while Nick Chubb has been great, James White has been underused as is typical for Patriots RBs. They will want to nab one more consistently good player if they want to increase their chances of making the playoffs.
Total domination
Strengths: WR, TE
Weaknesses: RB, DL, LB, DB
Bell’s injury seems like nothing serious, and even though he’s underperformed this year, I think Total domination will be able to ride him and Lindsay through the playoffs. That’s if they make the playoffs. Their defensive players have been pretty shaky this year owing to their biggest weakness. They’ve got a few good players like Danielle Hunter, Devin Bush, and Tyrann Mathieu. But one or two good players, a strong defense does not make (or something like that). I’m concerned they don’t have enough depth to make any big trades for defense. They may end up sitting this playoff out.
Pegasus
Strengths: QB, DL, LB
Weaknesses: RB, WR, TE
Oh Pegasus! How thou hath fallen. The biggest issue for Pegasus has been zero depth. Prior to bye week season, they looked great. Since then, they’ve barely lead a pretty terrible division. Kamara may return soon, which will be exactly what they need to make a run in the playoffs. Keenan Allen has not scored double digit points since Week 3. Pegasus will need more from him if they’re going to do well in the playoffs. My main concern is that Pegasus lacks so much depth, they really can’t afford to make any significant trades. They won’t want to give up any draft picks either, which is where they’ll likely have to look to get better depth. If they return to form, Pegasus will look like a major playoff contender, but their inconsistency would cost them in most other divisions.
Golden Eagles
Strengths: DL, DB
Weaknesses: LB
The Golden Eagles suffer from being on the other side of mediocrity for pretty much every position. The only position they’ve consistently ranked abysmally is at LB, but most other places they’ve had a hard time getting out of the bottom half. They do have a few bright spots, and if they could get a couple studs, they’d actually be pretty good. Unfortunately for them, the players they thought would be studs haven’t turned out so well. They’ve also given up a lot of draft picks. They have no first round picks in the next two years, and have just three picks for this upcoming year. This is a team that could go from bad to worse if they don’t make some changes, and after losing this week, their playoff chances don’t look so good.
Winged Hussars
Strengths: QB, LB, DB
Weaknesses: RB, WR
The Winged Hussars are strange because they’re not bad at those overlooked positions that turn a team from good to great. They’ve got some new hope at DL now that D-Law looks back to his usual self, and have made better decisions at which linemen to start. They have a ton of young players on their team, which is good for their defense because they’ll likely only get better. The problem with the Hussars is that they’re terrible at RB and WR. None of their WRs has proven dominate and they have very few viable options at RB. The biggest asset for the Hussars are their draft picks. They have eight picks going into this year including two second rounders, and three third rounders, all from teams in the bottom half of the league. This is a team that could be competetive in the coming years if they make the right moves. The fear is that they get stuck in endless rebuild mode, which is a scenario that could absolutely happen.
Red Warriors
Strengths: QB, WR
Weaknesses: Everywhere else?
Don’t let their recent success fool you. This team has not been good. They have a few bright spots on the team (like Russel Wilson and a returning Jason Pierre-Paul) and some potential for others, but unlike the Hussars they’re not as young. They will want to look to the draft if anything else, which is good because they’ve got an extra first rounder this year. But that first rounder comes from the rising Kali Warriors. Even more unfortunate for the Warriors, what looked like an easy shot at the first overall pick has gotten a lot trickier after beating the Winged Hussars. They may want to look to give up something big to get some help. This is a team that needs to go into rebuild mode.
Potential Trade Partners
After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each team, I’m going to pick a few of them that might be in a position to make a move just before playoff season hits us.
speed-demons & Golden Eagles
The speed-demons need one or two more players to round out their team. The Golden Eagles need stars and draft picks and they have a handful of solid D-Linemen, which is a weak spot for speed-demons. I could see a trade where the Golden Eagles give up a player like Dante Fowler Jr. or Adam Thielen in exchange for an unproven like Marquise Brown and maybe a draft pick or two.
Detroit Wolverines & Winged Hussars
The Detroit Wolverines don’t need to make a big trade. They just might want to look for some help on the defense. The Winged Hussars have a host of defensive players that could start for some teams. Grady Jarrett, Yannick Ngakoue, Anthony Walker, all some solid DL and LB that would give the Wolverines some much needed depth. The Hussars need RBs and WRs, two things the Detroit Wolverines have a host of. I could see them nabbing one or two defensive players from the Hussars without having to give up too much.
Red Warriors & Bling Bling
Hot take right here, but I think the Red Warriors best move is to trade away Russell Wilson. Wilson is their most valuable asset, which means they could get a lot by trading him. Bling Bling has one major weakness, and that’s QB. And unlike some other teams with poor performing QBs, Bling Bling has the wealth to acquire one. Draft picks, young players, veterans, you name it. Red Warriors can go shopping here and Bling Bling would still be unbeatable. Seeing Russell Wilson starting for Bling Bling is a scary prospect. If Red Warriors believe that Drew Lock is their future (or someone else they can get in the draft), trading with Bling Bling could be a very profitable move.
Final Thoughts
We are at the point where a lot of teams are going to be giving up on their playoff chances, and others are going to be doing anything they can to win the championship. There’s been a lot of major moves this season, but it’s been quiet over the last couple weeks. That could change with the deadline almost here. I’m still waiting for a three-way trade to happen.