To Rebuild or not to Rebuild

Missing the playoffs or just making the playoffs and going one and done, donating fees year after year, or just sick and tired of being sick and tired of your dynasty team.

These are symptoms of a team that may need to go into dynasty rebuild mode.

First things first, take a truthful assessment of your own team.

Look at your strengths and weaknesses. Ask these questions:

Do I have enough elite young talent to win now or a year down the road? Don’t kid yourself, if you don’t, it’s time to make the change.

Do I have a mix of productive youth and veterans? Teams that are too young or too old need to decide on a direction. If you’re too young you will be spinning your wheels hoping that eventually it will pan out. The “win now” philosophy works well in the short-term, but can be costly if you don’t hit your target with a championship this year.

Does the team I built match the scoring system? Sometimes teams are built from name recognition or the scoring system that you use the most often.

If you answered yes to all three questions, then keep moving forward. Make a few trades to improve your team and your trading partners.

Otherwise, it might be time to consider tearing down your team and rebuilding.

Contrary to popular belief, when you decide to go into rebuild mode, you do not want to trade for a bunch of draft picks. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good draft just as much as the next guy.

However, it is easier to find an unproductive rookie than a useful one. Everyone wants the new guy that has all the promise in the world and the rookie hype machine is always in full throttle.

A team in rebuild mode needs to target the second and third year players. Miles Austin and Jamal Charles anyone?

Trade your solid veterans to the teams that are close to making the playoffs. A solid #3 WR or #3 RB who has a good playoff schedule can put their team over the top. Target these teams that are in the “win now” mode and most are willing to give up young guys that aren’t playing much. Dig for these gems. Also get your trade partners to throw in a meaningless 2^nd or 3^rd round pick for next year, as long as you aren’t asking for a 1^st round pick most will be happy to cough this up for a productive vet. Contending teams view this as a small price to pay.

Hold on to your young talented players and build around them. Look for the backups of aging studs. Michael Turner, Aaron Rodgers, and Pierre Garcon were prime examples of handcuffs that became fantasy forces themselves.

If a player doesn’t fit your team’s plan, trade him.

Remember, it isn’t tanking if you don’t have full-time starters. You want to start a competitive lineup every week, but if your team is still ripening on the vine, you won’t be able to win many games. This will help you secure a higher draft slot. I’d rather choose between Dez Bryant, Ryan Matthews, and Jahvid Best versus Demaryius Thomas, Arrelious Benn, and Sam Bradford.

Be careful about being too young to contend and donating to your league. If it’s not working change it. That is why you can’t build strictly on the draft; you can end up waiting too long.

Make sure you are getting other opinions as we all sometimes get too attached to our teams and players. If you want a second opinion, drop me a tweet @realanakin or call in to the “Talking Trash with Taz” heard on blogtalkradio.com and on The Fantasy Sports Channel Tuesdays at 10 pm EST.

Good luck.