The DLF IDP Rookies and Beginners Leagues
Trying new things can be scary. From brussels sprouts to dating to attempting a new scoring system in fantasy, making changes can lead to trepidation. While I can’t recommend brussels sprouts with a straight face (and I’ve been married for too long to offer any decent dating advice), wading into IDP (Individual Defensive Player) leagues is something I can help with.
One of the most common responses I get from those non-IDP players looking to check it out is “I’d like to try it, but there’s just not as much information out there about IDP and I don’t want to pay for a league just to try it and find out I don’t like it.”
I decided to remove both of those roadblocks for a group of people looking to give IDP a try. I decided I was going to start a league just for IDP newbies.
I set to work laying out what I wanted to accomplish. I created an action plan that laid out the size of the league, how I planned on handling advice and how I was going to recruit people for the league. Because I wanted to fly the DLF banner, I brought my idea to the DLF Partners. They graciously offered a year of DLF premium subscription and a DLF T-shirt to the winner and a six month subscription to the runner-up.
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With a league full of people who have never played IDP before, I knew they would need more advice than your average startup. While I am confident in the advice I give, having several voices and opinions I thought would be good for beginners. Lucky for me, the DLF IDP crew have my back. I asked for volunteers and got fellow teammates Eric Olinger, Steve Wyremski and Eric Breeze to volunteer as coaches.
Next came the site I wanted to host the league on.
My first dynasty IDP league was on Fleaflicker and it offers free leagues, so I felt this was an excellent choice. Hal Spivack from Fleaflicker was kind enough to set up a league to my specifications and graciously answered questions along the way. I felt that using a slow email draft was better than doing one online. While I prefer the online version myself, I knew that with new players would come more questions. To allow time to ask and answer those, slower would be better. While this league is really a re-draft league, I was hoping people would treat it as year one of a startup.
Just to give context to the league, I’ll list the scoring settings we will use this season.
On the offensive side, the leagues are set up as a 1 quarterback, PPR format. It’s four points for a passing touchdown and -2 for an interception. A fumble will cost you -1 points and a fumble lost is another -1. Both rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth 6.
On the defensive side, I set up the scoring to mirror what we use in the DLF IDP league that the writers play in. Solo tackles get you 1.5 points, while and assist is worth .75 points. Sacks are worth 5 points and interceptions are worth 6. A safety is worth 4 points. A defensive touchdown is worth 6, but bonus points are awarded depending on the length of the score.
From there, I set to Twitter and the DLF forums looking for people who wanted to get their IDP feet wet. My original plan was to have one league, but the response was so overwhelming, I ended up splitting the league into two, the Beginners and the Rookies. Because we split the leagues, we split the coaches as well. Olinger and Breeze took over the Rookies league, affectionately referred to as the Eric league. Wyremski and I coach the Beginners league, though I commish both leagues and answer questions from both.
With 24 excited folks in tow, plus the four coaches, we started the draft. I’m not going to lie, there were some hiccups along the way, including replacing an owner who stopped responding once we began the first round of the draft. Challenges were to be expected, though. With 24 people who had little to no experience in an IDP league and this being my first time serving as commissioner, bumps in the road were no surprise. All in all, it was a (mostly) smooth experience for all involved.
Once I opened the draft, the excitement revved up. In the Beginners league, Jamaal Charles went with the 1.01 and J.J. Watt came off the board as the first IDP at 1.09. In the Rookies league, Dez Bryant went first overall, with Watt coming off the board at the 1.02.
After that, IDPs began to come off the board in the fourth round in both leagues, with Luke Kuechly and Robert Quinn the next two off the board.
When I set up the leagues, I had set minimums for the positions. My intention was to build in backups/bye week fill ins into the initial draft to help ease with the waiver wire transition. What we’ve discovered is that has added another level of strategy. In essence, once you have your minimums covered, you have one roster spot to use any way you like. How that spot is managed will determine the makeup of your squad.
In the coming weeks, I’ll interview members of the two leagues to discuss their strategy and how they have found their initial IDP experience. I’ll ask about their initial strategy, how quickly that went out the window and what surprises (both good and bad) they’ve run in to. Please check back to see how these leagues are progressing as I think these will be valuable lessons not only for the uninitiated, but for veteran IDP players, too. These articles may just bring you into the wonderful world of IDP leagues.
Here are the links to the two leagues so you can see the different rosters:
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- Sunday Six Pack: Week Four - September 29, 2019
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