New guy looking for some advice

[House]

I'm new to fantasy football and playing in a 12-team league with standard scoring. Considering I was doing all my research during the draft, and I've only been a casual football fan, I'm actually pretty happy with my team:

STARTERS
QB: Robert Griffin III
RB: Arian Foster
RB: Frank Gore
WR: Julio Jones
WR: Victor Cruz
TE: Antonio Gates
W/R/T: Pierre Garcon
K: Jason Hanson
DEF: NYG

BENCH
QB: Andrew Luck
RB: DeAngelo Williams
RB: Isaiah Pead
WR: Davone Bess
WR: Randall Cobb
TE: Jermaine Gresham

I know there are some weaknesses with my bench - I will admit that I'd only heard of two of the players on it before I drafted them, and was going off the Yahoo rankings and player notes - but I'm not sure of the right strategy for fixing it. We get 30 acquisitions but I don't really know how to properly use them, since I don't really know how the season plays out or what the other people in my league will do.

Should I grab free agents right now? (e.g., Ronnie Brown is available my league and probably a better bet than Cobb) Should I instead be patient and wait a few weeks to see what happens with guys like Pead, Bess, and Cobb? Should I wait until closer to the bye weeks for my starters and pick up players who are performing well at that time? Should I be dumping and adding guys every week? Should I try for a trade?

I really appreciate any advice you guys can offer.

[11stever11]

Welcome to the Cafe
I think you did a good job overall. The Jones and Cruz combination is great. I would look to trade Frank Gore while his value is somewhat high though. Jacobs will be the goal line back and Hunter will take touches away from him. 30 acquisitions for 16 weeks is not a big limit. That is 2 per week which is what I average in my leagues. What are the FAs that are available?

[House]

Thanks for replying. I'll see if I can trade Gore. Would it a good strategy to try to package him with another player (Luck or Garcon?) for an upgrade at RB and then fill in the spot with a free agent? Or should I just hope for someone to be a sucker and take him straight up?

As for FAs that might be improvements over Cobb/Bess, I'm probably overlooking some gems, but a few of the FA's that caught my eye were:

Kendall Hunter
Ronnie Brown
Brandon LaFell

[Gibbs Baby!!!]

Make an offer with just Gore involved, if you're gonna go that way. Let them counter-offer and include a guy on your bench. It's the art of the deal.

With your free agents, I'd wait and see what happens week to week. Right now it's a bit early to be pulling the trigger on guys when you have no real game data to make decisions on.

And welcome to the Cafe!

[11stever11]

Thanks for replying. I'll see if I can trade Gore. Would it a good strategy to try to package him with another player (Luck or Garcon?) for an upgrade at RB and then fill in the spot with a free agent? Or should I just hope for someone to be a sucker and take him straight up?

As for FAs that might be improvements over Cobb/Bess, I'm probably overlooking some gems, but a few of the FA's that caught my eye were:

Kendall Hunter
Ronnie Brown
Brandon LaFell

I would see if you could make a package to the Charles owner. He is undervalued right now. If that does not work try the Fred Jackson owner because he could put up RB1 numbers this season if he stays healthy. A 1 for 2 trade target is McGahee or Ridley. You could also help your bench doing a 1 for 2. I would drop Pead and grab Hunter either way. I prefer Cobb and Bess over the other options as of now though.

[House]

Thanks, guys, for the advice and the warm welcome.

I did some more research and decided to go ahead and pick up Hunter. I'll try working on trading Gore, though I don't know if I'll have any luck getting Jamaal Charles or Fred Jackson for him - both of them were taken in the 2nd round whereas I picked up Gore in the 5th, so I'm guessing their owners must value them pretty high.