Keep Dynasty Weird: BoyzIIMen League

Ryan McDowell Posted On August 10, 2014

boyz2men

One thing I love about our team here at Dynasty League Football is the uniqueness we possess as a team. Each one of us has different strengths and experiences that have helped to mold us as dynasty owners and writers. You won’t see the same cookie cutter opinions and strategies here. In fact, we’ve been known to have some healthy debates in a variety of mediums.

Earlier this off-season, one of these discussions between myself and a pair of our other scribes (Jeff Miller and Eric Hardter), led me to an idea for my newest wild dynasty league idea. If you’ve read much of my work, you will not be surprised to hear that some have labeled me an ageist when it comes to my general dynasty theory. It’s true, you’re very unlikely to find Roddy White or Andre Johnson on any of my fantasy teams. In short, I like ‘em young.

[inlinead]Drafting and acquiring young (and often unproven) players is part of my strategy and has worked well for me so far. While this is the case, I can also see the other side of the coin. Banking on veterans, especially the most established players, such as Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson, is very likely to pay off in the short term.

I decided to put these two strategies to the test. The idea was simple. One half of a league would only be allowed to roster younger players, while the other side would be limited to veterans of a certain age. After briefly describing the idea, I had a full league of owners who were intrigued by the idea. DLF’s own Jeff Bearn coined the league BoyzIIMen and we were off.

Once we all got together, each owner had to choose the side they would represent. Of course, a half and half split was necessary and most felt very strongly about one side or the other. The majority of the other rules quickly fell in place. Everyone agreed we should use an auction format and while we briefly considered “mulligans,” one player from the “other side” who could be rostered, the idea was quickly shot down in an effort to stay true to the idea the league grew from.

The largest and most difficult hurdle our league had to overcome, and in fact, one we barely survived, was determining at which point a player would move from “Boyz” II Men.” Some members of the league did some extensive research focusing on the age of the top scoring players of recent years, while others simply researched birthdates in order to gain a better understanding of how the age of a player can help us predict on-field performance. After a few league polls, some deep message board discussion and a couple of fights, we had settled on the ages which, much like a Bar Mitzvah or a quinceañera, would be a time of transformation for players.

Based on the data we collected, we chose the following ages:

Quarterbacks: 27.5 years old
Running Backs: 27 years old
Wide Receivers: 27 years old
Tight Ends: 27.5 years old

We also all agreed that in order to keep things simple, we should use the date of week one’s first game as our cutoff date. This means, if a running back turns 27 in week two or three of the regular season, he will still remain on the “Boyz” side and all players switches will happen during the off-season.

The rules were in place and it was time to hold our startup auction. Although all 12 teams were participating in the same auction, each player had a maximum of six suitors based on our age based segregation. As you might imagine, this led to some very reasonably priced players on both sides of the league.

Through the process of the auction, we came to a few other realizations, both good and bad for the future of our league. First, while the age cutoffs we chose seem fair based on the scoring of the top players at each position, much of the quality depth of fantasy football leagues are young players. This meant the teams on the “Men” side of the league struggled to fill their 23 man rosters, resorting to the likes of Deji Karim as a running back option. There was even a battle for Tim Tebow before someone realized he still qualified for the Boyz side. Yes, I’m serious. Meanwhile, the Boyz teams had so much depth to choose from that players typically deserving of a roster spot were left lonely on the waiver wire, such as Stevan Ridley and Sam Bradford. This will be a point to monitor as we work through out inaugural season. The age breaks or even roster size may have to be adjusted to create a balance playing field.

Another realization we had is that trades in this league may by atypical, compared to most dynasty leagues. Although we are not using contracts in this league, age acts as a contract of sorts for the Boyz teams as we count down each player’s available years remaining before they get the call up. Rookies such as Brandin Cooks and Eric Ebron, two of the youngest players in the league, have added value because of their seven years of Boyz eligibility. On the other hand, players who are nearing the end of their time lose value. For example, the winning auction price of AJ Green, who has one year remaining before moving up, was $34. The cost of Eagles’ running back LeSean McCoy, also just a one-year rental, was $26. Meanwhile, four rookies with at least six years of playing time before moving on were very costly, in comparison. Cooks went for $27, Ebron ended at $32, and quarterbacks Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater were priced at $42 and $51, respectively. Needless to say, this league has its quirks. When it comes to trading, we haven’t seen anything too far out of bounds yet, though I did recently trade Michael Crabtree and his one remaining year, along with a future third round pick, for rookie running back Jeremy Hill. That is not a move I’d normally make in other leagues.

I am really looking forward to seeing this league play out and one of the most interesting details of the league will play out during the annual auction next off-season. While other leagues are holding their rookie drafts and auctions, the BoyzIIMen league will hold a combined rookie and dispersal auction. While half of the league bids for the rights to roster Todd Gurley, Marcus Mariota and Amari Cooper, the other six teams will be battling it out for some veterans to bolster their lineup. This could be where the pendulum swings to the favor of the Men side. I already mentioned both Green and McCoy as players moving up next year, but there are many others, including Matthew Stafford, Colin Kaepernick, DeMarco Murray, Antonio Brown, Percy Harvin and Demaryius Thomas.

In the end, will this prove one strategy is better than another? Will it change the minds of anyone involved? The answer to each of those questions is likely “no,” but we’ll have fun along the way!

What do you think of this league concept? What kind of leagues do you participate in to keep dynasty weird?

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Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.