Early Round Wheeling and Dealing

As I looked over the upcoming draft, it was hard to ignore that eleven of the picks from the first round, and six out of sixteen from the second were moved in previous trades. That's a lot of movement. Coming from my keeper league, where draft picks are rarely used as currency, I was interested in what all this wheeling and dealing resulted in. So here we go, a look at all the draft day trades involving first and second round picks from the last three years (2009-2011).

Some of these trades haven't fully vested of course, but we can still get a pretty good idea of what's happened with these moves completed. Here's a look at some of the interesting ones.

2009 #71: Marques Colston for DeSean Jackson, Brady Quinn, Percy Harvin (2009 1.9), Owen Daniels (2009 1.15), Cadillac Williams (2010 1.12): That's quite a haul for just one player. Colston was coming off of an injury wrecked year and would go on to produce 1,000+ receiving yards and 9 TDs. Not bad but DeSean Jackson exploded for 1,150+ and 9 TDs himself in his sophomore year while Percy Harvin also got into the action with about 800 yards and 6 TDs. The lesson here could be don't send the farm for a non-franchise player?

2010 84: Adrian Peterson for Clinton Portis, Joseph Addai, Eddie Royal, Malcolm Floyd (1.11), Roy Helu (1.14): Even though Peterson busted his ACL, this trade is still a big win for the owner who received All Day. Portis, Addai, and Royal weren't as good as advertised. Oh but wait, Helu was flipped for Steven Jackson and Michael Crabtree. Did that even things out a bit? Crabtree was in his sophomore year and racked up 741 yards and 6 TDs in 2010. Underwhelming. Jackson was nice but he was clearly no Peterson. Basically it was Jackson and the pupu platter for the best running back in the land.

2009 85: LeSean McCoy (2009 1.7) for Darren Sproles (2009 1.8) and 2012 2.9: This 2012 RD2 pick could make up a lot of ground for this trade. Sure Sproles has become an asset recently but there's no arguing that LeSean McCoy is far and away the better fantasy player moving forward, even after notching only less than 200 yards combined his rookie year.

2011 87: Mike Sims-Walker (1.8) for Hakeem Nicks (1.12): Considering Sims-Walker could be out of the league after he caught twelve balls total last year, this was hugely lopsided. Nicks was dinged up but still managed 1,192 yards and 7 TDs in 2011.

2010 86: Darren Sproles (1.8) for Santana Moss (1.13), Eddie Royal (2.16): At the time, this was a wash, as Sproles was still mired in San Diego and putting up less than 800 yards combined. Royal was considered up and coming and went on to post 600+ yards and 3 TDs before fading. Moss had a great 2010 season, posting 1,115 yards with 6 TDs. However, Sproles then turned the tables one year later, becoming a yardage monster for New Orleans. He outproduced both Moss and Royal in receiving yards just on his lonesome in 2011.

2009 90: Tim Hightower (2009 2.15) and Brett Favre (2009 3.6) for Bernard Scott (2009 2.6): This was the year Favre went off for 4,200+ yards and 33 TDs. We'll go ahead and say that Bernard Scott probably didn't put up numbers like that. Also, who is Bernard Scott?!

2010 103: Ryan Mathews (1.2) for Sam Bradford (1.4), Lee Evans (2.13), Robert Meachem (3.13): It took awhile for Mathews to find his footing but nobody can argue that this trade isn't completely lopsided two years later. Bradford looked like a franchise caliber QB his rookie year but now it's Mathews who has taken the fantasy lead. Possibly forever.

2010 107: Michael Bush for Laurent Robinson (3.10): Bush wasn't fed a lot of carries yet but he still churned up 655 yards on the ground and added 194 through the air. Plus he added eight touchdowns. Mr. Robinson had a disastrous time with the Rams, putting up 300+ yards and 2 TDs. Both players performed better in 2011 but Bush still maintained his value by going over 1,300 combined yards and dropping in the same number of touchdowns. Robinson had almost 900 yards for Dallas and an impressive 11 TDs. Now he's in Jacksonville however. We're guessing he didn't sit on the roster of the owner who initially traded for him very long.

2010 108: CJ Spiller (1.5) and 2012 RD1 (1.6) for Beanie Wells: Spiller hasn't even done much as a player yet but him plus a first rounder for Beanie Wells seems wonderful in retrospect. Someone really believed in injury prone Beanie when they trade two firsts for him. Ouch.

2011 122: Larry Fitzgerald and Kendall Hunter (5.6) for Marcedes Lewis (1.11) and 2013 RD3 (3.?): I don't even know what's going on here. Short of that 2013 RD3 pick becoming Tom Brady, Marcedes Lewis for Larry Fitzgerald seems like it should have been outlawed! We're thinking that was a future first traded for the chance of winning the lottery. Or maybe someone just really loved Marcedes Lewis?

2011 125: Ben Roethlisberger, LaDanian Tomlinson, Mike Wallace for Joe Flacco, James Starks, Austin Collie, Knowshon Moreno (1.6), Joseph Addai (2.2), 2012 RD1 (1.13), 2013 RD1 (1.?): This one is very interesting. Mike Wallace should swing this trade heavily toward the first team's favor, even with Tomlinson ending up nigh useless and Big Ben having an off year. However, even though Flacco, Starks, Collie, Moreno, and Addai were near worthless, there are two first round picks still coming to maybe even this trade out. Draft well whoever owns those selections!

2011 126: Steven Jackson and Michael Crabtree for Roy Helu (1.14): A secondary flip in the aforementioned Adrian Peterson trade. We'll go with the Jackson and Crabtree side, even though Helu has some promise. And considering Helu netted two RD2 picks this off-season, the trade may have already paid off for his past owner.

2011 127: LeSean McCoy for Tim Tebow, Julio Jones (1.2), Daniel Thomas (1.4), 2012 RD1 (1.10): The toughest trade to evaluate. Would you rather have one of the best RBs in fantasy or Tebow's magical run last year, plus a very promising WR prospect, and another RD1 pick? Heck, even Daniel Thomas could work out here. This seemed like a huge "now versus later" gamble and it's still hard to gauge. We'll give the edge to the McCoy side but Jones, Thomas, and that RD1 could eventually make a difference.

Out of thirty four trades, I could only find about a half dozen that resulted in lopsided deals. And some of those couldn't even be called outright wins or losses. What was interesting to me was that there were a few defenses selected with those second rounders. If I said pre-draft that I'd give you a defense for a player, you'd laugh your ass right off! Yet when the draft clock starts ticking, the top defenses sometimes look mighty tempting.

While no conclusive evidence can be made at looking at these first and second round moves, the most important rule is always: draft like your life depends on it. Because it does!