Dynasty League draft picks - valuable?

[gruntbusters]

We've been having a little discussion here in the off season in our 10 team dynasty league about the value of picks in the upcoming rookie draft.

Some coaches feel that now is the time to move a mid 1st rounder as it's value is higher now than after the NFL draft. After the draft, maybe the guy you were targeting ends up buried on a depth chart or not in a position to make a more immediate impact thus lowering the picks value.

Other coaches feel that it's better to wait it out and see where players land and deal to the highest bidder looking for a particular player that ended up in a great situation.

What do you think? Do you get more value out of a draft pick before or after the NFL draft in a dynasty league?

 

[WesDawg]

I'm a big fan of the known vs. the unknown, so the answer to your question is both.

What I mean by that is.. figure out what you would go after with your particular selection, then shop the pick both before and after the draft and see what you can get. I'll throw out an example..

You have the 5th pick in the first round of your draft this year and you have a perceived weakness at RB. I tend to believe that C.J. Spiller will be universally one of the top 2 choices in Dynasty drafts this year so he'll be gone when you pick. In any event, I would shop this pick hard for a young RB to an owner who values picks higher than I do. I would rather deal this pick for a guy like Shonn Greene or Jamaal Charles who has at least some shred of a track record and a definite starting job.
The flip side of this is if you have a surplus at a position and you have a draftee that you're very high on and are almost assured of getting at a certain slot, start dangling established players now to the owner(s) of that draft pick and see what happens.
In any event, a first round dynasty pick will probably be used on a guy who will contribute at least something to your team this year, unless we're talking QB's. This should be fairly evident regardless of if you employ this strategy before or after the draft.