Avoid Dynasty Burnout and Prepare for Next Season

Brian Harr Posted On December 25, 2019

For most of us, the points-scoring season of 2019 is over. Unless you’re in a league that has a week 17 championship, your championships have been won and you’re either celebrating or lamenting the season that could have been.

As we turn our attention towards non-points-scoring-season (you know, because there is no “off-season” in dynasty), I’m going to suggest a few things for dynasty players to do to avoid burnout and prepare for next season. “Burnout?”, you say…yes, burnout. Even if we won’t outwardly admit it, some of us get taxed this time of year. It’s a long stretch of evaluating draft prospects, assessing landing spots, and building rosters we hope will deliver a championship in December. Throw in the ups and downs of team performance throughout the season, and you might be feeling exhausted, disheartened, or drained this time of year.

Instead of letting those feelings fester, let’s look at a couple of things you can do to refresh, regroup, and be ready to jump into another dynasty non-points-scoring-season.

Take a few…

The NFL Combine is less than two months out, and the NFL Draft is within four months, but before we turn our attention towards those two huge dates on the NFL calendar, may I make a suggestion? This one will trigger some people in the dynasty community, but it is also something that I believe is vitally important. Take a few… days, weeks.

Take a few days or weeks to relax and get fantasy football out of the mind. It’s true that there is no off-season in dynasty, only a non-points-scoring season, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get away for a few and refresh our minds. Focus on other activities that bring enjoyment and aren’t fantasy football related. I promise that DLF will be here when you’re ready to jump back in.

Take some time to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends. Playing fantasy football can be a grind and our relationships with spouses, kids, families, and friends can sometimes be strained as we spread our focus over all of those folks and fantasy football all fall.

If you won a championship, take time to savor the victory. It is hard to win fantasy football championships, despite what some experts will tell you. Enjoy making the right calls, getting a little bit lucky, and beating your league mates. Enjoy the look of that trophy, belt, or ring that is now on your mantle, your waist, or your finger. That is what the majority of us play for…the satisfaction of earning the title of “CHAMP” for a year…and maybe a little payday as well. Take the time to enjoy it!

…and then assess…

If you didn’t win a championship, I’m sorry, but you still need to take some time to do a couple of things. First, take a look at your leagues and take time to decide what your game plan is as far as cutting leagues or joining additional leagues. If you are cutting leagues, it is courteous to let your commissioners know as soon as you can so they can find replacement managers. The quicker you move on from leagues you no longer wish to compete in, the better you’ll feel as well, and you’ll be able to assess if you have the time, money, energy, and desire to join additional leagues over the next several months.

Next, assess what went wrong with your roster this season, and what you can do to improve it. Are you a competing team heading into the non-points-scoring season, or are you in a rebuild? What assets can you capitalize on coming out of the 2019 season by trading them at the peak of their value, or which players can you acquire for less than what they might demand closer to or during the 2020 season? What in the world should we do with all of these draft picks, and is this class really as good as everyone says and thinks it is?

Examine your weaknesses. Where can you improve your process? Do you need work on evaluating incoming rookies? Is there room for improvement in your understanding of player values and trading? Are you someone who struggles with lineup decisions? Knowing your weaknesses will help you focus your attention on the things that will make you a better dynasty player, and may very well lead you to a championship down the road, maybe even next season!

We will be addressing many of these topics at DLF over the next several months, and we hope you’ll use our analysis, but it’s a good start to assess your own teams and your weaknesses as a manager to get a general opinion about some of these things before the experts weigh in. Then you can add new information to your own assessment and make more confident decisions to build and manage your teams in 2020.