Fantasy Fireworks: Trade Bait Drama, Draft Day Gems & Bold 2025 Predictions

Can you feel the excitement? Yes, you can!

We’re getting close, folks. If you haven’t drafted a bunch of teams, it’s time to go. I promised myself I’d cut back this season, but I’m going to wind up with about 20 teams, most of them through DataForce, but I also commish three private leagues. I had like 15 teams last season. So much for cutting back.

There’s just too much fun to be had, so we grow, and we go, and we grind. Let’s do this!

 Let’s scattershot some ideas as the season draws closer:

Trade Bait

What does it really mean? Trade bait seems to mean different things to many people. To some folks, trade bait seems to mean that you’re willing to get rid of a player for a pittance. Some of the trade offers I get for guys I list as trade bait are clearly of the “are you kidding me” variety. To me, trade bait means these are guys I’m willing to trade – at a fair price. Emphasis on fair. Am I willing to deal a trade bait player at a slight discount? Maybe. Depends on who it is. Depends on the value. But am I going to essentially give away a guy I’ve listed as trade bait? Nope. That is not what trade bait means to me. Still, I always decline nicely when I get a ridiculous offer. I pride myself on being a nice guy.

On the other hand, there are fantasy managers who list players on their trade bait, but when you make a fair offer for that player, it’s immediately rejected. No comment. No negotiation. No counteroffer. When that happens, that tells me that manager is only willing to trade that guy if he gets an arm and a leg for him. That’s not trade bait. That’s putting a player up for ransom. Managers who list players as trade bait but are only willing to trade that a player at way above value shouldn’t do that. What’s the point? That guy isn’t trade bait – that’s I want to steal your socks and your underwear if you want this guy.

Dynasty Rookie/Free Agent Drafts

As of July 31, I had completed 12 dynasty rookie/free agents drafts – none were superflex. Ashton Jeanty went 1.01 in every single one of them. Surprise, surprise. This is a list of the best undrafted rookies, in my opinion, in each of those drafts.

Draft 1: Ravens kicker Tyler Loop. This is an extremely deep league – 30 roster spots.

Draft 2: Colts RB DJ Giddens – the only draft I did where he was undrafted.

Draft 3: Bears RB Kyle Monangai – undrafted in 5 of 12 drafts.

Draft 4: Raiders WR Dont’e Thornton – undrafted in 6 of 12 drafts.

Draft 5: Bengals RB Tahj Brooks – undrafted in just 2 of 12 drafts.

Draft 6: Monangai

Draft 7: Browns TE Harold Fannin – undrafted in 3 of 12 drafts.

Draft 8: 49ers RB Jordan James – the only draft I did where he was undrafted.

Draft 9: Thornton

Draft 10: Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa – undrafted in 5 of 12 drafts.

Draft 11: Titans WR Elic Ayomanor – the only draft I did where he was undrafted.

Draft 12: Seahawks QB Jalen Milroe – undrafted in just 2 of 12 drafts.

My All-Halloween Team – 10 guys on my dynasty rosters who scare me:

1. Packers WR Jayden Reed: Is he really the WR1 in Green Bay, or is he just part of an increasingly crowded WR room?
2. Saints WR Rashid Shaheed: Can he come back from his knee injury, or was he just a short-lived Mardi Gras mirage?
3. Commanders WR Deebo Samuel: Will he find some magic with QB Jayden Daniels, or are his best days mere San Francisco memories?
4. Colts WR Adonai Mitchell: Talk about a guy who came into the NFL with a bunch of hullaballoo. Was it all a bunch of hot air?
5. Texans WR Christian Kirk: I really like this guy. Always have. But he has sort of turned into a bouncing ball – from Arizona to Jacksonville to Houston. Is he done? As in burnt toast?
6. Chiefs WR Rashee Rice: Has he really learned his lesson? Doesn’t look like he’ll  avoid a suspension. Will Patrick Mahomes really get him the ball? I mean, like, a lot.
7. Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson: Is he about to lose his job to rookie TreVeyon Henderson, or does he genuinely have something to prove, and will he do so?
8. Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd: As a rookie, he was the invisible injured man in 2024. Is he more than that? Is he essentially still a rookie? Will he disappear in 2025?
9. Saints RB Kendre Miller: Can this guy finally stay healthy? Can he finally steal touches from Alvin Kamara? Or will rookie Devin Neal zoom past Miller?
10. Texans RB Joe Mixon: Is there still juice left in his tank, or is he nearing the end in Houston? And now he has a foot injury that is slow to heal. Seems pretty dicey.

My No-Thank-You Team – 10 guys I’m out on this season:

1. Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers: I can’t stand this guy. Please just go away. And I’m a Steelers fan. Maybe not this season, though. Did I say I can’t stand this guy?
2. Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter: I’m not buying that he’s going to get a ton of reps at WR. Sure, he’ll get some. But this playing-both-ways stuff won’t work in the NFL. If the Jags’ coaches push this too hard, Hunter could be a rookie who is on the questionable list every dang week. Having said all that, I did take him in one rookie draft where he fell to the back half of the first round, and that particular team of mine is amid a massive rebuild, so I was like, what the heck, let’s give it a shot.
3. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey: I’ve won leagues with him in his healthy years, and I’ve finished dead last in leagues with him when he’s out. I’ll pass in 2025 and probably forevermore.
4. Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill: Too much drama for me. Is he still fast? Like real fast? Sure, he is. And I’ll skip right past him in drafts real fast.
5. Rams WR Davante Adams: Dude has a Taco Bell in his house. Does he really want to be a primo WR anymore? I’m not convinced that’s a yes.
6. Panthers WR Chuba Hubbard: I just have trouble believing in this guy. There’s certainly no way I’ll take him at his fourth-round ADP.
7. Saints WR Chris Olave: I’ve drafted him a ton in recent years. I ought to be smacked upside the head for doing that. Go ahead. Rattle my brain against my skull.
8. Lions WR Jameson Williams: I’ve never been able to get past the fact that this guy was suspended for gambling before he barely even entered the NFL. So, I just can’t put my money on him unless he falls in a draft to a point where I can’t help but ante up.
9. Browns WR Jerry Jeudy: In 2023, Jeudy went off on former star WR/current NFL analyst Steve Smith. It was crazy. Steve Smith can be very outspoken, but he sure seems like a good guy with a good heart. Jeudy reminded me too much of Antonio Brown or some other whacked-out WR. I don’t care about his talent. I’ll pass.
10. Cardinals QB Kyler Murray: Sorry, but I’ve been burned by him too many times. Having him as your QB is like riding in a dragster with an engine that likely will blow halfway down the strip.

My I’m-Counting-On-You Team – 10 guys I have multiple shares of:

1. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: How can you go wrong with Mr. Tush Push who is now a Super Bowl champion?
2. Jets QB Justin Fields: The Steelers screwed up in letting him go.
3. Titans RB Tony Pollard: I need a career year out of him even if he does split time with Tyjae Spears, whom I also have as a trusty handcuff on some teams.
4. Broncos WR Courtland Sutton: For some reason, I seem to wind up with him a lot. Hopefully Bo Nix finds him a lot.
5. Bills RB Ray Davis: As far as I’m concerned, James Cook can keep on pouting about his contract – and Josh Allen can just give the ball to my man Ray.
6. Cardinals WR Michael Wilson: His wife is the former Sophia Smith, an incredible soccer player, and they’re about to have a baby. Wilson ends up on a lot of my teams, and it would be nice if he became as much of a star as his wife.
7. Seahawks WR Tory Horton: I keep grabbing him in dynasty rookie drafts, and I won’t stop. I have him on eight teams at this point. Won’t surprise me if he’s WR2 in Seattle by season’s end.
8. Giants RB Cam Skattebo: Before dynasty rookie drafts began, I wasn’t a big fan. But drafting late in the first round or very early in the second, I keep finding myself taking him if my roster is RB needy. Now it’s time for him to help take my teams to the promised land.
9. Broncos QB Bo Nix: I picked him up late in several dynasty rookie drafts last year. As the saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
10. Browns WR Cedric Tillman: Every time someone cut him the last year or so, I snapped him up with FAAB. Maybe he’ll be the winning lottery ticket in 2025.

Good luck this season!

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