Dynasty Fantasy Football Startup Draft Strategy
Dynasty Fantasy Football is for the person who just can’t get enough fantasy football and wants to enjoy the sport all year long. When you first start playing fantasy football most of us join a group of friends, coworkers or family in a traditional redraft league. Once you get hooked on fantasy and you want more, you start to explore the dynasty league format. Dynasty is not for everyone; you need to be involved in the league and active to make your team a success. Before we start to discuss strategy for your startup dynasty league let’s just take a minute to explain dynasty for the person joining their first league.
Dynasty leagues, much like regular redraft leagues have different variations there is the standard dynasty and the super flex dynasty. In standard leagues you have a similar set up to your redraft league, the super flex is very popular and for all intensive purposes is a 2 QB league, but the second QB comes in the form of a flex position that you can start any player (QB, RB, WR & TE). The next difference is the scoring rules for your league, most dynasty leagues have different scoring systems in place that could include bonus points for long plays, or first downs. Some positions may also receive bonus points to make the position more valuable than normally. You will also want to look at the roster construction, how many starters in each position you will need to start on a weekly basis. If you have more WRs or RBs to start, you will want to go heavy on that position during your draft. Then take a look at your “TAXI” squad. This refers to a part of your roster that is designated for rookies, that you can stash for two seasons. This squad is not active, once you play a rookie off your TAXI squad they must remain on your active roster. This is a good way to stash talent until you are ready for them to occupy a slot on your active roster. These are the major differences you will find in the dynasty format, as opposed to the redraft leagues.
Draft strategy for your start up dynasty league, as usual I always preach balance in fantasy football. Do not get carried away with a heavy focus on one or two positions and certainly do not get carried away with rookies in your initial draft. Balance, Balance, Balance is the key to a successful team draft. If the league is a 2 QB or Super Flex league you will want to start your draft by selecting 2 top tier QBs with your first two picks. Then determine if you want to go best available player at that point. You may take a look at a tight end like Brock Bowers, or the best available WR or RB. This could be determined by a look at your starting lineup if you have 3 wide receiver slots, and 2 running backs in your starting line up to go along with a couple of flex spots. In this scenario you would want to get the best available wide receiver before you move on to other positions. Once you have locked in a well-balanced starting roster, then you can take a few dart throws at rookies out of the last class. The rookie draft can be tricky because even the highest ranked rookie could be a complete bust. I prefer to lock in players with proven talent in the NFL before I roll the dice on a rookie.
Once you have completed your draft, look at the waiver wire and see if any players have been overlooked in the draft process. Then check out your team and see how many IR (injured Reserve) slots you have on your team. See if there are any players designated with an injury on the waiver wire that you can stash on your IR. If you have any players on your team, you drafted that are injured place them in the IR and pick up healthy players with potential off the wire. The key to running a successful dynasty team is getting the most of players that you pick up from the waiver wire or improving your team through trades. Much like any other fantasy football the more you are active and involved in the league the better your chances of success are, may the odd be ever in your favor!
