How to Handle Pick 1.01 in Rookie Drafts (Fantasy Football)

It’s been a long, rough season and you have wrapped up the first-overall pick in your rookie draft. Maybe you dealt with injuries, had ineffective players or maybe you’re in the middle of a rebuild. Whatever the case, a small token to take away from the season is that you will be able to pick any player you want come draft time. Maybe holding onto the pick isn’t your best option though. Maybe you can find the right owner to hand over a king’s ransom and reshape your team for years to come.

Or maybe you had a great season and you don’t have the first-overall pick. Your team is loaded, but you want that pick and can hand over a competitive package to get it. We have plenty of time for trade talks before the draft gets here. We know who is going first overall in almost every rookie draft that takes place this year. Adding a piece like that to an already competitive team could be the final stone that secures championships for years to come.

Either way, you have some decisions to make this offseason. When it comes to the first-overall pick, this is an exciting year. If you own it, you can’t go wrong. I’m here to help you walk through the possibilities, though. Keep an open mind when reading and moving forward. Don’t make a decision yet with your plans regarding the pick and miss out on a great opportunity.

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Keeping 1.01

Let’s start with the easiest of the scenarios. If you own the pick, you probably know who you are taking already. For the sake of this article, I am going to assume Saquon Barkley will be the 1.01 pick. Barkley is one of the most exciting players we have seen in a few years. Two years ago I spent an entire offseason hyping Ezekiel Elliott. Not everyone was on board and thought he would be limited in Dallas his first couple of years due to the presence of Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden. That wasn’t going to happen, and it didn’t. But why? Elliot is good in the passing game, both as a receiver and blocker, and also had all the attributes you wanted in a runner. Barkley is exactly the same. If Barkley can find his way into the right situation, he will offer just as much impact as Elliott did in his rookie season.

According to NFL.com, Elliott was on 21.57% of fantasy championship teams in 2016. You can expect the same result when it comes to Barkley in 2018. Now those numbers refer more to redraft leagues than dynasty leagues, but drafting a player of Barkley’s caliber makes rebuilding much easier on owners. If you have the first pick, you are taking Barkley. I don’t see anyone in this year’s rookie class that would warrant a pick above Barkley in fantasy leagues, especially dynasty.

Dynasty fantasy owners are salivating over rookie running backs right now. You can thank the four running backs who finished in the top 10 of PPR leagues last year for that. Alvin Kamara (RB3), Kareem Hunt (RB4), Leonard Fournette (RB9) and Christian McCaffrey (RB10) all rewarded owners this year with RB1 performances on the season according to FantasyData.com. Hitting on a player like that is every dynasty owner’s dream, and that is likely what you will get by picking Barkley. Could that potentially make the pick worth more in a trade than the player himself though?

**Blockbuster Trade just went down for the 1.01 in my Dynasty league.**

Who wins?

📦= Mike Evans, Devonta Freeman, Aaron Jones, Robert Woods, 2019 1st round pick. @MyFantasyLeague @FFDynastyTrades @DoOrDynasty @DynastyTrades

— Hunter Hulen (@Hulen97) January 2, 2018

You probably won’t see too many offers like this one. Someone is either a Penn State fan or has way too many top players and could justify trading this package. The point is the same. When you have the opportunity to capitalize on a deal that could improve your entire team, it’s hard to pass, even if it means missing out on Barkley. The deal has to fit your team, though.

Take some time to walk through each of these steps for trading the 1.01 pick.

Let your entire league know 1.01 is on the block
Do not limit yourself to talks with just a couple teams without hearing what every team would be willing to give up. Ask teams to send you starting offers for you to review. Just don’t offend anyone by telling them the offer is horrible.

Counter every offer you receive
Do not accept an offer right away. Even if you think it is a good offer, look through the owner’s roster and find an extra player or two to toss in. You can also swap in a player you like for a player you don’t like. If you think the offer is great and you would be happy with it, try to get a little bit more. The owner won’t get upset and pull the first offer. If they were willing to offer it, they will be willing to send it again if you can’t get them to bite on your counter. If the offer you receive is bad, and you will see some really bad offers, counter with whatever it is you would want for that pick. The sky is the limit. If the owner wants the pick, the owner will be willing to work on it.

Don’t be afraid of extended talks
Some owners will shy away from this. I can’t tell you how many times I have had an owner tell me they don’t want to have extended talks, so send my best offer. That is not how this works people! That drives me nuts. The best trades, for both parties, happen when each owner takes their time to ensure they get everything they want. Who cares how long it takes, we have plenty of time before the season starts

Do not trade the 1.01 for more picks
The draft is one, great big gamble. Even picking 1.01 is a gamble, despite having the ability to take Barkley this year. But the 1.01 is far less a gamble in my mind than other picks. Sure, having five lottery tickets could turn out to be more fruitful than one, but you could also win more on just the one ticket than all five combined. Don’t trade your one lottery ticket for more lottery tickets. You need to get proven talent back. If you are in the middle of rebuilding, get a deal with picks and young players in return. Stay away from aging vets or players with little to no upside. If you are a team coming off a bad year due to injuries or are very close to winning, find those missing pieces to finish off the championship club, a mixture of vets and young players with upside. Remember, winning is everything.

Look for the clubs with the most depth to trade
When seeking out trade partners, target the best teams with the most depth. They will be most willing to give you an assortment of players. The more depth they have, the more likely they will give you better players because they know they can survive the season without them. You want quality and quantity.

If you are unsure about whether you are getting a good deal or not for the 1.01, just jump on Twitter and ask. Twitter typically does a pretty good job of roasting owners who make bad deals. You will find out pretty quickly.

Now, what to do if you don’t have the pick? It’s time to pay up.

Trading for 1.01

I already mentioned how high I was on Elliott heading into the 2016 NFL Draft and after as well. I made the move for the 1.01 in all of my dynasty leagues that year. It took a lot of work and a lot of conversations for those trades to happen, and it worked well. In all three cases, I was coming off top-three finishes the year before and had the depth plus picks to work the deal. If you are a team coming off a top finish and want to make this move, you will need to offer multiple first-round picks plus strong players. Start with the picks and your younger players with upside. Maybe you have some rookies from 2017 that didn’t have a great season. For instance, you could offer young players like Corey Davis or Joe Mixon, your 2018 and 2019 first rounder plus younger, less established players and a couple of serviceable veterans to help. If you play in a contract league, you could also offer to take on a couple of bad deals to help the other owner. You need to convince the other owner that your deal is the quickest route to winning a championship. Having a better team will obviously make it easier to strike a deal. It’s having a team with fewer assets that is trouble.

If you own a team that is, let’s say, less than desired, it may not be worth trying to make the move. Getting the first-overall pick could actually set you back more than you realize. Keep in mind, you will need to give up current and future assets to make the deal. Gutting your team of this much talent could lead you into rebuilding for multiple years and is not only bad for the owner but bad for the league. When owners go all-in and trash a team for one player, it can lead to turnover that is hard for a league to overcome. Before making a deal like that, keep your team and the league in mind. I don’t recommend making a deal if your team is in this state and you would need to leverage too many assets. It won’t be worth it in the end.

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It is going to be a very exciting draft and if you own the 1.01 in your league, congratulations, you own one of the most valuable pieces in dynasty fantasy leagues. You won’t go wrong making the pick and as long as you follow some of the points listed here, you won’t go wrong trading the pick either. Whenever you make a decision on the fate of your first-overall pick, prepare for the rest of the draft and be sure to nail every pick. You’ll see the playoffs in no time.