Keeping Dynasty Weird – Catch 22

Ryan McDowell Posted On June 23, 2016

A couple months back, as we were all just preparing to witness the 2015 NFL Draft and take in all of the impact it would have on our dynasty teams, I was already dreaming of the class of 2017. I know I’m not alone and who could blame me, or anyone really, for looking so far ahead. After all, the class potentially features instant impact talents at running back like Leonard Fournette, Nick Chubb and Dalvin Cook, along with talented receiver Mike Williams, Juju Smith-Schuster and Corey Davis among others. The tight end class looks like it could be the best in a few years thanks to a trio of juniors, Evan Engram, OJ Howard and Bucky Hodges, returning to school for the 2016 season and while the quarterback class lacks depth, there is the star power of Deshaun Watson to keep us interested. Not only is there star power, but the class also features above average depth at most positions.

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With my attention focused on this game-changing class of collegiate players, I did what many of you have tried to do, acquire 2017 draft picks. Time after time, I was turned away, with many of my competitors explaining that they had no intention of moving any draft picks. They hype had reached a peak. I knew if I wanted to control the rookie draft, I would have to go about it in a different way.

I came up with an idea that was admittedly far-fetched and I had no idea how it would be received by the dynasty community, but I took to Twitter to find out. Late one Saturday evening, I shared my idea with my Twitter followers and by Sunday morning, the league was full. There was even enough interest to create a waiting list.

Before I go on, it’s time to reveal the wild idea to you. In a typical 12 team format, I desired to own the entire first round of rookie picks in the class of 2017. In exchange for this, I was willing to forfeit my entire startup draft, meaning I would build my team from the waiver wire at the conclusion of the draft. Upon sharing this idea, I received a wide variety of responses, with some thinking I was a shoo-in to dominate the league under these settings, while others suggested it would take years to build a competitive team after bypassing 20 or more picks in a startup draft. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which group I agreed with, which made the experiment even more interesting.

Over the next few days, interest in the league and the format in general grew and I was hearing some feedback from some of my co-workers here at Dynasty League Football. Like my other Twitter followers, some envied my position of loading up on 2017 draft picks, while others doubted this could work. I was able to make room for all of them as well as clearing out the previously mentioned waiting list as there was enough interest in fill six of these leagues. Aided by a clever Twitter follower, I chose the name Catch-22, which was the perfect name for this format, especially considering we would each roster 22 players.

The leagues would have a pretty basic setup, including PPR scoring for all players and flexible lineups, requiring just one starter at each spot along with five flex spots among running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. One unique rule related to my team, along with some of the other DLF writers in their respective leagues. While we are allowed to make trades, including trading away any of the future rookies we now own, we were not allowed to make any picks in the startup draft.

While the other 11 owners in my league loaded their teams with established veterans, high upside rookies and more, I was left to sit back and wonder what my team would look like when the dust settled. With just 22 roster spots, I expected to be competitive at the quarterback position and I almost always feel comfortable finding running backs on the waiver wire, especially in a start one format. It was clear as I observed the draft that it would be the wide receiver position that was truly ugly, which is no surprise given how most dynasty owners currently value the position.

While I was waiting for the draft to conclude, I had a lot to think about. Should I simply load up on as many young, high upside players as possible and take my lumps in 2016, or should I actually try to win a game or two. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not delusional. I don’t think my team could be a playoff team in 2016, but playing the role of spoiler and even winning a couple of games would be noteworthy.

Once the draft concluded, the waiver wire opened for my team only and I began adding my 22 players. As I predicted, there were multiple options at the quarterback position and the situation was similar at tight end, though the scraps were almost completely veterans. You’re probably wondering just how bad my roster looked, so here we go.

QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jimmy Garoppolo, Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith

RB: Shane Vereen, Ronnie Hillman, CJ Spiller, Khiry Robinson, Lance Dunbar

WR: Ted Ginn, Kenny Stills, Kenny Britt, Justin Hardy, Marqise Lee, Chris Moore, Roger Lewis, DJ Foster, Trevor Davis, Moritz Boehringer

TE: Kyle Rudolph, Cameron Brate, Ben Watson

As I said, the quarterback and tight end positions look good enough, but the rest of the team is shameful. I will need to make some very wise trades and/or hit on a large number of those top 12 picks in order to compete by 2017 or even 2018.

Over the next year, there will be a lot to learn through this unique league. I will be watching closely how the other five owners in my same situation build their team, which can give some perspective into how different strategies can work when starting from the same spot. Also, the importance of the waiver wire and the rookie draft will clearly be huge, providing a clear picture of a typical success rate for each subset of players. This exercise can also give some insight into how long it takes to rebuild a team from the ground up. Fortunately, most orphaned teams are not as bad as mine, but they also don’t feature the top 12 picks from the upcoming draft class.

Finally, not only will be strategy be in the limelight, but this format can affect the strategy of the other 11 owners as well. Every pick they made in the startup draft was more valuable than typical draft pick since there were only 11 drafters involved and if some had an inclination to use a Productive Struggle strategy, the loss of their first round rookie might be enough to change that plan.

As always with my unique league ideas, feel free to borrow this for your own use if you’re intrigued. Here’s the league site if you’d like to take an extended look.

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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.