The Five W’s

Kevin OBrien

freeman-2For those not familiar with dynasty leagues, the commitment appears to be a major undertaking. I’m writing this to try and break the endeavor into a commonly used method for information gathering, referred to as The Five W’s. These are the What, Why, Where, Who, and the When.

The What:

Dynasty leagues at their core are simply fantasy football leagues that don’t start from scratch each August. For the purpose of this article, I want to emphasize the basic principles of a dynasty league. The basic concept is to hold a “startup” draft and build the core of your franchise.  The roster is an important piece of a dynasty league, but other aspects are bylaws, format, roster construction, scoring, etc. I’d like to focus on the added components of a dynasty league compared to a traditional redraft league, because there are a lot of overlaps which can make dynasty leagues seem more complicated than they actually are. Scoring and lineup requirements are really no different.

This is my biggest recommendation if you are converting your home league to dynasty; keep the core scoring & lineup setup that you’ve already established. Why re-invent the wheel and feel the need to start with a blank piece of paper? Instead, focus on the aspects that differentiate redraft and dynasty. For instance, roster size. With redraft, a shallower bench is probably more common. Typical redraft leagues utilize somewhere around eight or nine starters, and five bench spots. In dynasty, you’ll want that to be closer to 20-24. Possibly with the addition of a Taxi Squad for rookie players and Injured reserve spot(s). Once you have broken into dynasty, the formats are endless.

The Why:

There comes a time in every fantasy football player’s life where the usual redraft just isn’t enough. After years and years of enjoying fantasy football between August and January, you ask yourself, as Pink does in the song, ‘Sober’, “But how do I feel this good, sober?”. Fortunately, for fantasy football, that outlet is Dynasty Fantasy Football, where the pleasure of roster management simply does not stop. Where trades are year round, and rookie drafts are in March or April. For some leagues, there are also restricted free agent drafts, unrestricted free agent drafts, and even development (college) drafts. There truly is no off-season in dynasty leagues. [inlinead]

So why exactly should you make the step out of your comfort zone and into a dynasty league? Simply put – you crave the roster management of fantasy football all year long. The challenge of drafting a roster, shaping it as players fade and others emerge separates dynasty fantasy football from the pack. The added dynamic of being a fantasy GM, where you can cut, add, trade, and build your roster for the now and the future is an experience like no other.

The Where:

The site I am most familiar with is myfantasyleague.com. The customization is unlike any other. Many of my leagues are themed based leagues, such as the Seinfeld Dynasty League, where all names are based from the show. All of the graphics and the site look and feel were completely customized for Seinfeld. Other examples of leagues I am in are Game of Thrones and Wrestling (WWF/WWE). The MFL site is extremely flexible to formats, lineup requirements, scoring settings, and size. No better example than the Scott Fish Bowl tournament: a massive, theme based seasonal league with 360 teams split into six conferences and five divisions within each conference. Each conference this past year was named after a Will Ferrell movie. This league had 360 owners divided into 12-team conferences.

The Who:

One of the most common obstacles I hear is that people want to join a league, but can’t get a network of 10-14 people together to form a league. After realizing that your friends, family, co-workers, etc. aren’t interested, most people feel stuck. However, there are a number of community forums set up to unite and connect people just like you, as well for owners who look for replacement owners in existing leagues.

MFL Forums for available teams

DLF Help Wanted Forums

The When:

Once you’ve decided to commit and take on the challenge of dynasty fantasy football, you need to decide when the right time to get started is. There isn’t a wrong answer here, just variations of preference. The dynasty calendar is truly a year-round endeavor. January through about May is heavily focused on incoming rookies, and in June to August there are various free agent auctions, building up your depth and getting ready for the upcoming season. August through December is more typical with competing and in-season management of your roster, with the added caveat of keeping long term objectives in mind. Some dynasty leagues have developmental drafts in July of college players who form a taxi squad almost like a farm team and as they get drafted into the NFL, join your core roster.

As for joining a league, there are two ways; first by creating a new league and starting from scratch, and second, taking over an orphaned team, within an existing league. If joining a startup, the ideal time frame in my opinion is between January and March, and hold separate drafts; one for the current (as of January) NFL players, and then a rookie draft in the June-July time frame. If joining an existing league by taking over an orphaned team, the timing really isn’t a big factor, but rather finding the right situation. Often orphans open up in the February time frame and that would be a good time to shop for an opening. I do recommend researching and shopping around for the right league and the right format for you.

In conclusion, dynasty fantasy football fulfills an addiction like no other. It has all the ups and downs of the regular season similar to redraft, with trades and free agency and drafting of rookies which emulate the building as if you were a GM for an NFL team. You have complete control and can set a vision for your franchise in order to create a dynasty of winning year after year with the accumulative moves you have made.

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kevin obrien