The Art Of The Early Deal

By Ralph Mancini, NFL Draft Bible

There are two types of fantasy football enthusiasts, the ones who draft their players with the mindset that they will live and die with them and there are those who love living on the edge. If you’re one of those who enjoy walking on the wild side and treat the game as one continuous “buy and sell” venture in the effort of progressively reinforcing your team, you’re probably already scheming on the numerous trade possibilities that could seriously give you a leg-up on the competition.

Trading up or down in the draft order is only recommended if you know how your league drafts. Knowing the tendencies of others will help you determine whether the player you’re targeting will be available once you’ve made the exchange. But once draft day has come and gone, all bets are off. It’s now time to scour everyone’s personnel and start zeroing in on proven commodities that are sometimes taken for granted.

Take Tampa Bay’s Joey Galloway for instance. The grizzled 36-year-old put up another 1,000-yard season in 2006 despite catching passes from the inexperienced and underwhelming Bruce Gradkowski for most of the year. The noted speedster may be reaching the twilight of his career, but he still possesses the skills that have made him one of the better deep threats over the past 10 years. With new quarterback Jeff Garcia at the helm, Galloway will have many more opportunities to flash his big play ability and make defenses look silly.

Deion Branch is another undervalued wide out flying under the radar. With Darrell Jackson running routes in San Francisco, Branch now headlines Seattle’s wide receiver corps and things are looking very promising in the early going. The former Patriot has established good chemistry with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and has reportedly been uncoverable in practice. To his credit, Branch claims to have completely absorbed Seattle’s offensive scheme and is now just reacting rather than thinking his way through his routes.

The time to make a bid for these players is before the start of the regular season. Once they take off and start putting up numbers, their respective values will rise and your opportunity to trade for them fades. By the same token, the preseason is also a most propitious time to unload overhyped players whose considerable name value isn’t commensurate with their true fantasy potential. Sit too long on them and everyone will come to realize that these emperors are running around naked.

If Edgerrin James is on your roster, it may be a good idea to see if you can upgrade your team via the trade route. The Arizona Cardinals are once again one of the league’s offseason darlings and with a run oriented coaching staff on board, many seem to think that ole’ gold teeth is due to experience a renaissance and recapture some of his past glory.

Even if this year’s offensive line looks to be improved with newcomers Al Johnson and Levi Brown in the starting lineup, James showed no signs of being gamebreaker last year with his longest run going for a paltry 18 yards and so far this summer, he has looked rather sluggish. James recently mentioned that he’s gunning for Emmitt Smith’s all time record for rushing yards, but if last year’s 3.4 yards per carry average is any indication, the 29-year-old may need to play into his 40s to come within sniffing distance of his desired goal.

The prospects for second-year signal caller Vince Young are a bit more optimistic, but to expect him to perform like a top-ten quarterback may be too much to ask this early in his career. Unless you’re in a keeper league, it won’t hurt to see what Young can garner in a trade. For all his physical gifts, Young has yet to prove that he can beat defenses by standing in the pocket and throwing the ball. The departure of running back Travis Henry is sure to make life more hectic under center for the two-time Rose Bowl MVP. This isn’t to say that Young won’t be making any jaw-dropping plays this year, but it should serve as a warning to temper your expectations of him.