TRADE 1: On Legality

After perhaps the most well drafted draft in Larkspur Bowl history, no team was in dire need at any particular position. No vital players went down with injury in the past ten days, no one's stock took a suddenly unexpected nose dive. It looked as if, until the games were played, we'd have the top of the rosters set in cement. 

Well, the first game DID kickoff before we got a deal, but it's still a transaction that goes into effect for week one: 

PAWNEE ACQUIRES: RB MELVIN GORDON

DEPUTY ACQUIRES: RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT

The Indiana rivalry gains a new wrinkle, as the teams trade top running backs on the eve of their debuts. Melvin Gordon is a known commodity to the Pride, who rode his breakout last year to great regular season success; The team was unable to grab him in the first round (where the Van Halens snagged him at ninth overall) but then took a gambler on Ezekiel Elliot after the turn, 17th overall. The sophomore running back was, at the time, facing a six game suspension to start the year.

However, the discipline was put on hold by a court ordered injunction, which could last the duration of the season. Elliot was the game's #2 running back this year, and would appear to have the higher upside once again, should he play all sixteen games; He played 15 (to Gordon's 13) and outscored the latter by a substantial 89 points. Of course, his erratic behavior and the looming case don't put him out of the woods, and Deputy inherits that risk, now potentially transposed to later in the season.

The winner of this deal will be easy to determine at the end of the season. Suffice to say, with a one for one exchange of marquee talents, each team is happy with its reinvestment at the outset!