Diontae Johnson or 1.01

[lt1hawk337]

Good evening dynasty gurus.

As I enter year 2 of my orphan team's rebuild I pose you this question. Would you rather have Diontae Johnson or the 1.01 in a rebuild situation?

I sent Diontae away today for the 1.01 and feel pretty good about it. I think Diontae is a PPR machine, but I am not 100% on him being insulated from a new QB's ups and downs.

Based on my team (signature below), I won't be competing this year, and have already moved all veterans for pics or younger WRs last year. (w/the exception of Brady-No takers last year)

Would love to hear your rationale on why this is good or bad. Not looking for validation, just would like to keep learning as I go forward.

[Gator Sens]

Johnson is good but not great and I think we saw his best season. He will be 26 when we kickoff in 2022 and I think this is absolute max value for him. I think you did well getting the 1.01.

[FantasyFreak]

1.01 easily. Not close. He's volume dependent, has bad hands, doesn't really do that much after the catch, and Big Ben is gone. Reset at QB mean bad things for him. Zero rapport with whoever comes in. Breece Hall has an elite profile as a potential 3 down bell cow back, and I just don't see anybody outside of your poor leaguemate paying 1.01 for Diontae. Value wise, easily on your side, and Breece, is easily worth the risk. He's has a true elite metrics profile at the RB position, that is a lot harder to fill than WR.

[Anteaters]

1.01 easily for me. Admittedly I'm not the biggest Diontae booster, but I think less than a dozen (maybe half that) WRs are worth the 1.01 with this year's top 3 options. And DJ isn't one of them. I'd definitely want one of the top 2 RB over DJ. And there are at least 2 (maybe 3) rookie WRs I want to reset with instead of holding DJ.

Good trade.

[lt1hawk337]

Gents,

I appreciate the comments. I am actually surprised there wasn't one Diontae truther in the group. What made my decision for me was getting potential points off of my roster this year. I am hoping my team starts to come together at the end of this year, but not before I lock up the 1.01 or 1.02 again.

[FantasyFreak]

Gents,

I appreciate the comments. I am actually surprised there wasn't one Diontae truther in the group. What made my decision for me was getting potential points off of my roster this year. I am hoping my team starts to come together at the end of this year, but not before I lock up the 1.01 or 1.02 again.

Yep. Put that 1.01 on taxi, if you have it. Use the rules to your advantage. I'm not a fan of taxi, but if you have one, stick that rookie on there if you are rebuilding.

[yinzername]

I'm a DJ truther. The guy has been elite and improving thru two seasons of the worst Pgh quarterbacking in years (read: QB proof). Someone above mentioned he passed his apex and when season starts will be "already 26." Lol, what!? Like that's old or something? WRs peak in this 26-29 window all the time. Bad hands and volume dependent? Nah, he gets volume cause he's nice with it. The drops thing can be supported statistically by other high volume WR1s that have a similar catch/drop ratio and don't get bagged on, plus he improved that last year. The kid has a great career ahead of him still, perennial WR1/2 for years, could easily see two WR1 and three WR2 finishes if healthy over the next 5 seasons

that said, give me the 1.1

especially in your situation, I think you made a great move. The value is there over DJ for probably everyone, all day, except your trade partner, who must be a win now beast looking to add him as a WR2/3 or something (i wouldn't hate that for them). If nothing else, trade you can trade the 1.1 again as the fever heats up, move back into '23 with even more and better draft cap. Or take your guy, but be wary of going RB right now if you still think it's a few years away for you, WRs age better.

great question, solid discussion, hope this post is the kind of feed back/opinions you are looking for.

TL/DR

I love DJ, but would take the 1.1 over him 99 times out of 100

[Duard Weese]

For me, easily the 1.01 as well. I don't see Diontae as a "slam-dunk" top-10 WR, which is what I would expect the value of the 1.01 pick to be. Now talking maybe mid-to-late 1st, then I might rather take the "proven" player, someone who has at least laid some real production down as opposed to the mere "hope" that the "1st round pick" always seem to engender. At 1.01, I think every year, no matter how "thin" a particular draft class might be, you ought to be able to find a pretty good player who can help you for a few years. Again, going deeper into the round, I might be more inclined to take the "proven vet".

How many NFL 1st round picks bust? For that matter, how many 1st OVERALL picks bust? (Not calling him a "BUST" in the traditional sense of the word, but what would YOU give for Baker Mayfield right about now...?). Why we value 1st round picks so highly, I'll never know, but having said that, at the very top of the draft I think the odds are more in your favor to find someone that will be productive than will not.