The Colorado Yeti have made an ELO-busting SEVEN trades since the draft, most of which have gone poorly, to say the least. To say a bit more, I wrote this: http://nsfl.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=4779&st=0
It was a lot of fun to write, and I definitely focused more on that than actually exploring the merit of the trade. However, alert reader @adam2552 made a great point:
Before I begin, let me start by saying that I am only ranking six trades, as one of the seven transactions was not, in my opinion, a trade at all. After the suspension and announced activity retirement of Logan Noble, Arizona gave quarterback Vincent Draxel to the Yeti for a Season Five SEVENTH rounder. I think 7 rounds is already the limit for how far the Season Five draft will go, and I certainly don’t expect any player of value to be found that far down. It was a gift, and while I could scream “COLLUSION!” at one team clearly forgoing value, I think that no one really wanted to see Colorado sent a bot QB in as the starter all season, which is what they were on the verge of having to do. It was a class move by @ADwyer87, though it also screwed the Wraiths over a bit, which was likely a secondary motive.
NUMBER SIX WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
QB Nicolas Pierno, COL S4 2nd (10th), and YKW S5 5th (38th)
for
LB Luke Tiernan
This was an amazing trade by the Yeti. Pierno, who is extremely active and a great locker room guy, at a position of need, and still in the first year of a reasonable contract, for a possibly inactive LB that could stay inactive or, even worse, return to activity and leave in free agency. The Yeti rightly assessed that @Bzerkap was in “win now mode,” and, with the leverage of having an option at QB in Vincent Draxel, found themselves in a rare position of strength. I thought about calling this the best, but they missed a HUGE opportunity. With the addition of Tiernan, Yellowknife had two inactive LBs, both over 100 TPE and very well-built, on the bench. Bzerkap likely would have parted with one of them for nothing, leaving the Yeti with a body to put on the field. All in all, though, the Yeti did get the better end of the deal, but even here, the trade seemed to lack a plan.
NUMBER FIVE WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
RB Michael Newman
LB Arby Krimlaw
PHI S4 4th (27th)
FOR
RB Kieran O'Connell
Yeah, this really wasn’t that bad. The Yeti were, due to a short-sighted trade with the Wraiths, looking at starting a bot at linebacker. In their defense, they thought they could sign a free agent LB from the DSFL, only to find that free agents can’t be called up unless they were previously sent down. Kieran O’Connell put up less than 250 yards, and losing him isn’t significant, but I think they got way too little for him. In their defense, they were smart enough to get a backup RB, though SJS had John Goose (a better RB) sitting in the DSFL and probably would have sent him over for very little. O’Connell, meanwhile, is the best #2 RB in the league right now, with more TPE than the STARTER in San Jose.
NUMBER FOUR WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
LB Brice Boggs
YWK S4 3rd (23d)
YKW S4 5th (39th)
For
LB Wyatt Fulton
COL S4 2nd (10th)
ARI S4 2nd (16th)
Value-wise, this could be a LOT lower, but the Yeti needed a co-GM to apparently not cooperate and discuss plans with. Sorry, was being a dick there. The Wraiths had a hard-working, TPE-maxing player who did constant articles evaluating players. This guy screamed GM. I get it. Also, Wyatt Fulton wanted something new. Boggs was almost at the same TPE as Fulton, and offered the leadership role the Yeti needed. I feel it is safe to say that on paper, this trade looks much worse than it is.
NUMBER THREE WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
PHI S4 1st (6th)
LVL S4 4th (25th)
LVL S5 5th (33rd)
DE Bisquiteen Crockner
For
DE Blaster Blade
WR Jon Ross
What do you do when you have five wide receivers, four of whom are NSFL starting material, and one of them wants to be traded? You trade him. Pro tip, though, don’t let everyone know that he wants to be traded first. On paper, this is a bad trade, but it was an earlier trade that helped put them in the bind that made this trade possible, so I wasn’t as hard on it. I really wonder how Blaster Blade got involved in the deal, though.
NUMBER TWO WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
OL Ben Longshaw
SJS S5 3rd (20th)
SJS S5 5th (36th)
SJS S4 1st (3rd)
For
WR Mayran Jackson
S Torque Lewith
OL Gadget Tech
This one might be the worst, but I think all three players wanted out of Colorado. I’d like to try to break this down a little. Gadget Tech will be replaced by a currently comparable Ben Longshaw, but Tech will leave him behind. So let’s say Longshaw and a 5th for Tech. Torque Lewith, an active safety, is a bit underpriced at a 3rd, but given that it is a Season Five third, by which point I have San Jose making the playoffs, and this is a steal. Mayran Jackson for a second half first rounder in Season Five sounds horrible, but let’s be honest: he was probably going to leave after this season anyways, so shipping him off now was a smart move. This trade is the best example of a domino effect situation. Had they not made so many bad trades, they wouldn’t have had to make this one.
NUMBER ONE WORST PICK:
Colorado receives
WR Mayran Jackson
S Vash Erikson
ARI S4 2nd (16th)
For
DE Big Bot
CB Philippe Carter
This was the trade that lit up the league and immediately transitioned Colorado from a quiet rebuild to a fire sale, all in one deal. Philippe Carter, paired with Alex Hayden, comprised the best cornerback duo in the league, with only Philadelphia coming close. This was the true strength of the Yeti defense. Add in Big Bot, who was developing into a very capable pass-rusher, and no QB wanted to face this team. For what it’s worth, neither of these players were needed. Colorado could have made things work with a lesser, yet still active defensive back (like Erikson) if the price were right. But was it? Mayran Jackson was the last thing this team needed. I talked about this on a podcast with Sweetwater, but the moment they acquired Jackson, Colorado admitted to the league that they had a clearance sale on wide receivers. Not sure what I mean? Let’s look at their WR depth: Mayran Jackson, Kendrick Hendrix, DJ Law, Jon Ross, and JD Young. If a team only has three wide receivers starting, what the fuck are they gonna do with the other two? The answer: get ANYTHING they can. Every GM smelled blood in the water after this trade. I genuinely believe that had they acquired a lesser player at ANY other position, their trade with the Legion and the SaberCats would have gone better, if they’d needed to happen at all.
So there you have it, but after all is said and done, what’s the bottom line? I’ll break it out for you.
At QB, Colorado gained Nicolas Pierno and Vincent Draxel. Draxel would have been enough to bridge them through what was obviously intended to be a bad season, then Noble would have been back, a perfectly serviceable starter guaranteed to stay with the team for years to come. Pierno will become better, but it will take until about 2/3 into Season Four before he is even a small upgrade.
At RB, Colorado lost Kieran O’Connell and gained Michael Newman. With both players currently inactive, Colorado lost about 150 TPE on a backup RB. This isn’t terrible, but a clear loss.
At WR, Colorado lost Jon Ross. With DJ Law and Kendrick Hendrix inactive, Ross was a guaranteed #2 WR for Season Three, and a #1 every year after, and he still had two years left on his rookie deal, enough time to show him that they were going to improve.
At OL, they gained Ben Longshaw, an inactive, and lost Gadget Tech, a semi-active who is already comparable to Longshaw.
At DE, they lost Blaster Blade and Big Bot, and gained Bisquiteen Crockner. This is easily the biggest hit to their defense, putting all of their pass rush on the shoulders of Fuego Wozy.
At LB, they lost Wyatt Fulton and Luke Tiernan for Brice Boggs and Arby Krimlaw. This is the second-biggest hit. Notice how the two biggest hits are both in the front seven? Hello, running backs. Meet this season’s Wraiths.
At DB, they lost Philippe Carter and gained Vash Erikson. While a loss, I think this one was more minor, as Erikson appears a pretty active guy who wanted to start. However, with no pass rush, he is going to be burned constantly.
In terms of draft picks, if we ignore season, here’s what they are looking at (I estimated the pick numbers, by the way).
They gained a 3rd, 6th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 33rd, 36th, 38th, and 39th. They lost a 50th. This looks like a huge haul, but now that the NFL season has started, I don’t think anything after the 27 will matter. I don’t think anything after the 6 will be a real catch. Things are not going to be easy.
((Give 500k to Bzerkap))
GRADED
It was a lot of fun to write, and I definitely focused more on that than actually exploring the merit of the trade. However, alert reader @adam2552 made a great point:
Quote: I mean really the Yeti gave 3 actives for Longshaw and a 1, but my trade is the one getting ripped.I had to admit that while this last trade made me shake my head the most, it was far from the worst one they made. I think I was just sick of seeing this team make hasty trades without exploring options, and I knew from other sources that many options had gone unexplored. However, it got me thinking, which trade WAS the worst? Therefore, this article is devoted to ranking the post-draft trades of the Colorado Yeti from best to worst. Well, maybe not “best.” Let’s say…least worst.
Before I begin, let me start by saying that I am only ranking six trades, as one of the seven transactions was not, in my opinion, a trade at all. After the suspension and announced activity retirement of Logan Noble, Arizona gave quarterback Vincent Draxel to the Yeti for a Season Five SEVENTH rounder. I think 7 rounds is already the limit for how far the Season Five draft will go, and I certainly don’t expect any player of value to be found that far down. It was a gift, and while I could scream “COLLUSION!” at one team clearly forgoing value, I think that no one really wanted to see Colorado sent a bot QB in as the starter all season, which is what they were on the verge of having to do. It was a class move by @ADwyer87, though it also screwed the Wraiths over a bit, which was likely a secondary motive.
NUMBER SIX WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
QB Nicolas Pierno, COL S4 2nd (10th), and YKW S5 5th (38th)
for
LB Luke Tiernan
This was an amazing trade by the Yeti. Pierno, who is extremely active and a great locker room guy, at a position of need, and still in the first year of a reasonable contract, for a possibly inactive LB that could stay inactive or, even worse, return to activity and leave in free agency. The Yeti rightly assessed that @Bzerkap was in “win now mode,” and, with the leverage of having an option at QB in Vincent Draxel, found themselves in a rare position of strength. I thought about calling this the best, but they missed a HUGE opportunity. With the addition of Tiernan, Yellowknife had two inactive LBs, both over 100 TPE and very well-built, on the bench. Bzerkap likely would have parted with one of them for nothing, leaving the Yeti with a body to put on the field. All in all, though, the Yeti did get the better end of the deal, but even here, the trade seemed to lack a plan.
NUMBER FIVE WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
RB Michael Newman
LB Arby Krimlaw
PHI S4 4th (27th)
FOR
RB Kieran O'Connell
Yeah, this really wasn’t that bad. The Yeti were, due to a short-sighted trade with the Wraiths, looking at starting a bot at linebacker. In their defense, they thought they could sign a free agent LB from the DSFL, only to find that free agents can’t be called up unless they were previously sent down. Kieran O’Connell put up less than 250 yards, and losing him isn’t significant, but I think they got way too little for him. In their defense, they were smart enough to get a backup RB, though SJS had John Goose (a better RB) sitting in the DSFL and probably would have sent him over for very little. O’Connell, meanwhile, is the best #2 RB in the league right now, with more TPE than the STARTER in San Jose.
NUMBER FOUR WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
LB Brice Boggs
YWK S4 3rd (23d)
YKW S4 5th (39th)
For
LB Wyatt Fulton
COL S4 2nd (10th)
ARI S4 2nd (16th)
Value-wise, this could be a LOT lower, but the Yeti needed a co-GM to apparently not cooperate and discuss plans with. Sorry, was being a dick there. The Wraiths had a hard-working, TPE-maxing player who did constant articles evaluating players. This guy screamed GM. I get it. Also, Wyatt Fulton wanted something new. Boggs was almost at the same TPE as Fulton, and offered the leadership role the Yeti needed. I feel it is safe to say that on paper, this trade looks much worse than it is.
NUMBER THREE WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
PHI S4 1st (6th)
LVL S4 4th (25th)
LVL S5 5th (33rd)
DE Bisquiteen Crockner
For
DE Blaster Blade
WR Jon Ross
What do you do when you have five wide receivers, four of whom are NSFL starting material, and one of them wants to be traded? You trade him. Pro tip, though, don’t let everyone know that he wants to be traded first. On paper, this is a bad trade, but it was an earlier trade that helped put them in the bind that made this trade possible, so I wasn’t as hard on it. I really wonder how Blaster Blade got involved in the deal, though.
NUMBER TWO WORST TRADE:
Colorado receives
OL Ben Longshaw
SJS S5 3rd (20th)
SJS S5 5th (36th)
SJS S4 1st (3rd)
For
WR Mayran Jackson
S Torque Lewith
OL Gadget Tech
This one might be the worst, but I think all three players wanted out of Colorado. I’d like to try to break this down a little. Gadget Tech will be replaced by a currently comparable Ben Longshaw, but Tech will leave him behind. So let’s say Longshaw and a 5th for Tech. Torque Lewith, an active safety, is a bit underpriced at a 3rd, but given that it is a Season Five third, by which point I have San Jose making the playoffs, and this is a steal. Mayran Jackson for a second half first rounder in Season Five sounds horrible, but let’s be honest: he was probably going to leave after this season anyways, so shipping him off now was a smart move. This trade is the best example of a domino effect situation. Had they not made so many bad trades, they wouldn’t have had to make this one.
NUMBER ONE WORST PICK:
Colorado receives
WR Mayran Jackson
S Vash Erikson
ARI S4 2nd (16th)
For
DE Big Bot
CB Philippe Carter
This was the trade that lit up the league and immediately transitioned Colorado from a quiet rebuild to a fire sale, all in one deal. Philippe Carter, paired with Alex Hayden, comprised the best cornerback duo in the league, with only Philadelphia coming close. This was the true strength of the Yeti defense. Add in Big Bot, who was developing into a very capable pass-rusher, and no QB wanted to face this team. For what it’s worth, neither of these players were needed. Colorado could have made things work with a lesser, yet still active defensive back (like Erikson) if the price were right. But was it? Mayran Jackson was the last thing this team needed. I talked about this on a podcast with Sweetwater, but the moment they acquired Jackson, Colorado admitted to the league that they had a clearance sale on wide receivers. Not sure what I mean? Let’s look at their WR depth: Mayran Jackson, Kendrick Hendrix, DJ Law, Jon Ross, and JD Young. If a team only has three wide receivers starting, what the fuck are they gonna do with the other two? The answer: get ANYTHING they can. Every GM smelled blood in the water after this trade. I genuinely believe that had they acquired a lesser player at ANY other position, their trade with the Legion and the SaberCats would have gone better, if they’d needed to happen at all.
So there you have it, but after all is said and done, what’s the bottom line? I’ll break it out for you.
At QB, Colorado gained Nicolas Pierno and Vincent Draxel. Draxel would have been enough to bridge them through what was obviously intended to be a bad season, then Noble would have been back, a perfectly serviceable starter guaranteed to stay with the team for years to come. Pierno will become better, but it will take until about 2/3 into Season Four before he is even a small upgrade.
At RB, Colorado lost Kieran O’Connell and gained Michael Newman. With both players currently inactive, Colorado lost about 150 TPE on a backup RB. This isn’t terrible, but a clear loss.
At WR, Colorado lost Jon Ross. With DJ Law and Kendrick Hendrix inactive, Ross was a guaranteed #2 WR for Season Three, and a #1 every year after, and he still had two years left on his rookie deal, enough time to show him that they were going to improve.
At OL, they gained Ben Longshaw, an inactive, and lost Gadget Tech, a semi-active who is already comparable to Longshaw.
At DE, they lost Blaster Blade and Big Bot, and gained Bisquiteen Crockner. This is easily the biggest hit to their defense, putting all of their pass rush on the shoulders of Fuego Wozy.
At LB, they lost Wyatt Fulton and Luke Tiernan for Brice Boggs and Arby Krimlaw. This is the second-biggest hit. Notice how the two biggest hits are both in the front seven? Hello, running backs. Meet this season’s Wraiths.
At DB, they lost Philippe Carter and gained Vash Erikson. While a loss, I think this one was more minor, as Erikson appears a pretty active guy who wanted to start. However, with no pass rush, he is going to be burned constantly.
In terms of draft picks, if we ignore season, here’s what they are looking at (I estimated the pick numbers, by the way).
They gained a 3rd, 6th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 33rd, 36th, 38th, and 39th. They lost a 50th. This looks like a huge haul, but now that the NFL season has started, I don’t think anything after the 27 will matter. I don’t think anything after the 6 will be a real catch. Things are not going to be easy.
((Give 500k to Bzerkap))
GRADED