AB Value

[TheDogPound]

Now seems like the perfect time to discuss AB.

Ben seems to continue to flirt with retiring. He seems to be non-committal to playing until he's 40. He seems to be taking it season by season. I am not sure how real any of this is or if it should even be bought or not, however, it does seem to be prevalent and an ongoing trend heading into all off seasons concerning him.

With this being the case, what is the value for AB? (Especially in a 1 point ppr league with PR/KR points)

Obviously, he's still a stud and will continue to do so as long as Ben is his QB. However, if any of the retirement talk is real and Ben suddenly retires then there goes his value. I think he could still be the focal point of that passing game but no way he's as valuable as he is today.

My questions are:

1. If looking to shop AB what should I expect in return? What shouldn't I take less than? (Let's say post draft and player compensation only.)
2.What do you all think his window of dominance WR1 status is?

[Mjvb5]

I'd still want 3+ firsts for him
With the wr1 seasons it depends on what you mean
As THE WR1, I think that goes out the window the second Big Ben retires, realistically to be the wr1 you need to be in a good situation not just a talented receiver. Saying that if I were betting on who would be that this season AB is as safe as it gets.
As A WR1, I'd easily give him 3 more seasons even if Big Ben calls it quits. The problem with this is that his value could drop fairly quickly if this happens due to being right on the edge of 30 and that incredible elite was being gone.
Saying this I believe at least 25% of his value is tied to Big Ben staying in the league just because without him I believe he loses his edge as the wr1 in all of fantasy.

[Dr. Trades]

I have him on my team, too. Also a Steelers fan. But I like your points. I agree, it is about time to probably start maximizing what you can get for him for the following reasons: 1) his age 2) the sheer # of weapons in that offense 3) and how much longer will Ben really play?? I think AB's value is intimately tied most to the latter, as you've seen his production and "catch" streaks suffer significantly when Ben has been hurt. However, all those factors come into play. If you can get 3 high 1st rounders for him, like previous post mentioned, I believe that's a pretty fair deal and if I'm able to shop him and get that in return, I'd probably be pretty happy with that.

[Crwdstunna]

If you are a contender I think AB is worth much more to you on your team than selling for maximum value. He is currently the best WR in the game going into next season at 29, sorry OBJ. With or without Big Ben I think AB is a generational type WR and can put up top 20 WR seasons well into his 30s. That is worth more than 3 firsts. Just my two cents though.

[roseyknee]

If you are a contender I think AB is worth much more to you on your team than selling for maximum value. He is currently the best WR in the game going into next season at 29, sorry OBJ. With or without Big Ben I think AB is a generational type WR and can put up top 20 WR seasons well into his 30s. That is worth more than 3 firsts. Just my two cents though.

I agree that his elite status depends a lot on Ben. We've seen Brown play without Ben, and he put up dud games. Albeit it was with Landry Jones, but how likely is it that finding Big Ben's successor is a smooth transition? I feel like people underrate how difficult it is to find replacement QBs in the NFL (see Nuk/ARob discussions where a lot of people just say "new QB=better situation"). Even if I'm contending, I'd be looking to cash out sooner than later--why not get an AJG+ for him now?

[IBall2]

A few months ago I traded AB for Gurley + Parker. Some people consider it selling low on AB but I have absolutely no depth at RB (current RB1 on roster is Fat Rob) so I needed some help there and I got some youth out of it. Team is in rebuild so I think it will work out.