Trade.
Defined as the action of buying and selling goods and services, trade is something that has often caused conflict throughout history.
The Boston Tea Party resulting in the Revolutionary War and the demand for cotton leading to the Civil War are both conflicts that were initiated by trade.
Every year in the Kane’s Extraordinary Gentleman (KEG) league, some sort of conflict regarding trade arises throughout the season.
Two years ago, I accepted a trade in which I sent Isaiah Crowell and Ben Roethlisberger to league mate Kevin Cleer for Allen Robinson and Tyler Eifert.
The trade was immediately vetoed, and all hell broke loose. The league members continued to say that Cleer and I were stacking my team.
They claimed that I couldn’t have Robinson because he would be a “godly flex” for me, but we both disagreed.
Truthfully, I had Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota in their breakout seasons and didn’t need Roethlisberger. I was also stacked at running back with rookie Ezekiel Elliott and Melvin Gordon in his breakout campaign.
I desperately needed a tight end, and Robinson would serve as a solid flex option for me.
I didn’t speak to some of my best friends for weeks because of this conflict.
Eventually, on our third attempt, the trade finally went through, but our league had officially became the “No Trade League.”
After Eifert ended up getting hurt the next week and Robinson ended up being a huge bust, Cleer ended up getting the better end of the deal and our league mates finally started to see the light, or so we thought.
Last season the league transitioned from the “No Trade League” to the “No Veto League.” But this resulted in trades going through in the league that started to seem like just dumb moves.
Chris Cummings, often referring to himself as “Trade Master Mega Beast,” traded away Jordan Howard and Tyreek Hill halfway through the season for Will Fuller, who was on a heater at the time.
Fuller ended up injured the next game, and Cummings was left with nothing after giving up two of his best players.
A few weeks later, Cummings traded away Alvin Kamara for a bunch of mediocre players that included the likes of Emmanuel Sanders and other players who were in the midst of sub-par seasons.
What the hell was going on?
This trade ended up single-handily changing the entire landscape of the league.
I played Andrew Pierson the next week, and because both Julio Jones and Kamara had great games, I lost that week, and eventually missed the playoffs on a tie-breaker due to it.
Jeffrey Kocjancic snuck into the playoffs because of my absences and ended up winning the league. If it weren’t for the terrible Kamara trade, I very well could have won the league, as I scored the most points in the league throughout the playoffs.
After another season was disrupted by trade conflict, I thought my fellow league mates had finally came to their senses about trading. Everything was quiet in the league this season.
Until Wednesday.
Cummings asked Pierson, who had a higher waiver claim than him, to claim O.J. Howard off waivers and then agreed to trade Dion Lewis for him.
My roommate Jack Kocjancic was livid. He wanted to claim Howard for himself. A few hours following the trade, it was vetoed, and the league group message exploded.
Personally, this time I did not think the trade was unfair enough to veto, as Lewis has had a very unproductive season thus far.
The counter-argument was that the trade should not be able to go through because Pierson had no intention of rostering Howard, as he already has two tight ends.
And then yesterday, a trade similar to the Kamara deal last year occurred. Derek Bundy agreed to trade Kareem Hunt to Cummings for a group of players, including Taylor Gabriel, Phillip Lindsay and Tyler Boyd.
While the trade itself may not seem too bad, it’s already the eighth trade Bundy has made this year, and he and Cummings seem to be trading frequently with one another.
This resulted in an all-out war in the group message, with personal shots beginning to get thrown around at one another.
Who is right, and who is wrong? No one can tell. But as soon as personal shots begin getting thrown around over fantasy football, everyone is a loser.
But the point is that as long as there is trade, there will be conflict at some point. No way of getting around it.
Now, let’s get to it.
Quarterback I’d Start this Week:
Baker Mayfield (Cleveland): Baker Mayfield is averaging more than 14.3 fantasy points per game since he became the starter. But that’s not what draws me to start Mayfield this week. It’s the fact that he is going up against a Tampa Bay defense that averages the most points to opposing quarterbacks (33.8).
Quarterback I’d Sit this Week:
Deshaun Watson (Houston): Houston, we have a problem. The Jaguars have allowed fewer than 16 fantasy points per game this season to opposing quarterbacks.
With Deshaun Watson playing in Jacksonville against a division rival, I expect this to be a low-scoring, defensive game with the running backs becoming heavily involved.
Running Back I’d Start this Week:
Tarik Cohen (Chicago): Let’s face it. Even with a good Bears defense, we expect Chicago to be down in this one. And even if they aren’t, Tarik Cohen has been a crucial part of Chicago’s offensive success over the past two games. In that timeframe, the back has hauled in seven receptions. With such a high floor, Cohen should be a safe play.
Running Back I’d Sit this Week:
Marlon Mack (Indianapolis): I’m not jumping on the Marlon Mack train as fast as everyone else.
Even though Mack had 10.3 fantasy points last week, he still only had one reception. The Bills defense gives up fewer than 80 rushing yards per game.
Wide Receiver I’d Start this Week:
John Brown (Baltimore): John Brown has busted onto the scene this year, as he is currently ranked the WR25 in PPR formats. Going up against a Saints defense that allows the most points to opposing wide receivers, I’m all in on Brown this week.
Wide Receiver I’d Sit this Week:
Marquise Goodwin (San Francisco): While the 49ers will likely be fighting from behind against the 6-0 Rams, Marquise Goodwin still has ONLY nine receptions on the entire season.
Battling injuries, he’s a boom-or-bust player at this point.
This column was originally featured at ThePenn.org October 18, 2018.
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