Dynasty Football Fundamentals Part 1 – Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues

Jeremy Funk

Have you ever constructed the perfect fantasy football roster, only to see it washed away at the end of the typical fantasy football season? I played the redraft format for years in an annual state of frustration for this very reason. But there is a better way. You too can break the chains of the redraft format. Dynasty fantasy football leagues will set you free!

If you are new to or thinking about joining a dynasty fantasy football league, welcome! Dynasty League Football is the original site dedicated to the dynasty fantasy football format. Since 2006, DLF has been helping dynasty league owners build championship teams and win dynasty titles. We cater to dynasty fantasy football owners of all experience levels, so regardless of your skill level, you’ll find something of value here. Between our numerous articles published all year long, our awesome (and free) dynasty community in the DLF Forum, our Player Rankings, Dynasty & Rookie ADP, Podcasts and many other cool tools, we provide all the resources you’ll need to not only compete in your dynasty league, but win.

As stated above, the dynasty leagues are year-round fantasy football leagues that allow players to maintain their league and rosters from year-to-year. Instead of redrafting entire rosters of both rookies and veterans at the beginning of each season, the dynasty format allows each owner to retain whatever veterans they choose and draft in a rookie-only draft each season. If you love a player, you can acquire and hold him on your roster for his entire career, mimicking the experience of a real GM and franchise. Dynasty fantasy football leagues require a wonderful combination of strategy and roster manipulation, all of which increase league activity and trades. It’s the best fantasy football experience you will ever enjoy.

Let’s get started!

The first key to building a true dynasty – knowledge wins championships. In the next few articles, I will work to share what I have learned by outlining the basic mechanics of a dynasty league. I’ll share the major obstacles to avoid, as well as useful strategies and tips used by some of the best dynasty players in the world. We will explore the methodology that has led me to six dynasty championships since 2015. It is my hope this will aid you in creating a successful and competitive dynasty roster for years to come.

In this series of articles, I will be covering the following topics;

Part I: The Basics of Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues
Part II: Dynasty Roster Construction
Part III: Managing Your Team & Trades
Part IV: Dynasty Veterans Give Advice

Before I dive into the content, I would like to extend a helping hand in your dynasty experience. Please feel free to tweet me if there is any way I can help. You can find me at @DLF_Deuce on Twitter.

Part I: The Basics of Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues

Understanding The Rules

One of the easiest ways to gain an edge in your league is surprising in its simplicity. Before doing anything, thoroughly understand the rules of the league. Read the rules from start to finish. Have a hard copy for reference (especially if your commissioner is ethically questionable). This may sound obvious, but too often people fall short or end up penalized because they didn’t understand the details of the fundamental rules of the league.

The most frequent response received from experienced dynasty players I surveyed on Twitter in regards to league success was, “Read the full list of rules and ask the commissioner for any necessary clarifications.” If you note a strange rule, politely ask the commissioner why it is implemented and inquire how they have seen it successfully navigated. You will likely gain some useful insight and ideas as to how to successfully build a team in that format. In dynasty, the league rules can sometimes be complex. They often include more than starting lineup requirements and scoring, but also details necessary to understand how the leagues’ waiver-wire, bench, and drafts operate.

Waivers

For clarification, waiver-wire acquisitions are typically conducted using two methods: priority blind bidding and blind waiver auction. Priority blind bidding is the standard procedure used in redraft leagues, in which acquisitions are made in ascending order based on team record.

Priority blind bidding is the standard procedure used in redraft leagues, in which acquisitions are made in ascending order based on team record. Bids are cast weekly by selecting un-rostered players to add and choosing a rostered player to drop based on the order of team interest. Though this method works well, the priority bidding approach can often become frustrating for the teams performing well, because they are subject to the back of the waiver order each week.

Blind waiver bidding, on the other hand, allows all players an equal opportunity to devote a portion of in-season waiver wire funds to acquire players. If you are considering starting a dynasty league, I would highly recommend using the blind bidding waiver funds approach.

In addition to understanding your league waiver format, it is vital to know the waiver wire schedule. It is very easy to miss out on some incredible off-season additions simply because you did not know when waivers were scheduled to open. Additionally, be sure to understand when the waiver balance is renewed, as there is nothing worse than missing an opportunity to acquire a season winning free agent due to the mismanagement of waiver wire funds.

Rosters

Another consideration when preparing for a dynasty fantasy football league involves understanding roster depth. Unlike the much smaller redraft rosters, a typical dynasty league allows for each team to hold between 25 to 35 players at one time. This can create a large advantage for those who follow the league closely or hold an ability to project breakouts, navigate injuries, and discern the decline in performance independently.

In some dynasty leagues, additional depth is created through the use of 3-5 inactive roster sports known as a Taxi Squad. Scarcity on the waiver wire is typically created in two ways: larger rosters or large leagues. In this instance, Large leagues can be defined as 16 or more teams in a league. When talent is scarce in these deeper leagues, it is critical to identify players with high upside or breakout potential and stash them in hopes that they develop. How I overcome this is through reading articles across multiple sites and actively checking Twitter and the Rotoworld app on my phone. For those in leagues with 25-28 roster spots, the ability to hold several deep stashes is not a luxury that can be afforded. While smaller rosters enrich the wavier-wire pool, roster cuts become more difficult due to the limited space. In more shallow leagues, designate 2-3 bench spots as “lottery ticket stashes” for players who you believe have long-term upside. They may not return value for your team in the coming season or two, but the dynasty format is about the long game. You do not want your roster to become saturated with short-term assets. There is nothing worse than cutting a stash player just to watch him have a coming out party on someone else’s bench. Find those diamonds, and hold on to them.

Take-away Advice 

In deeper leagues, late round picks are worth more than in shallower leagues. Always look to add third, fourth, and fifth round picks on the ends to your trades. I will talk more about this in future features. In next week’s article, I will cover how to value draft picks and how too many new dynasty owners put themselves in a deep hole by not valuing them correctly.

Look out for the next chapter in this series, Dynasty Football Fundamentals Part 2 – Dynasty Roster Construction.

 

For more information on the top dynasty players, check out all of our complete Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings which include positional rankings, IDP rankings and dynasty rookie rankings.  All rankings include sorting and filtering features, comments by rankers, tiers, and more.

Also be sure to check out our industry leading Dynasty ADP as well as our new MFL Rookie ADP with data drawn from real dynasty leagues on MyFantasyLeague.