Dynasty Fantasy Football – Offseason Interactive Advice
Welcome to the offseason! If you’ve been with us for any length of time, you know that our tag line here is “There is NO offseason!”
It was a long, winding, and, certainly interesting, year in fantasy football!
Many of you take advantage of my weekly start-sit advice during the season. That long running article series has always been my favorite as it allows me to interact with our membership on a weekly basis. That interaction is what keeps this game, and DLF, so fun and interesting to me. Two of my organic, who I am, traits have long been statistics and strategy. Naturally, the dynasty format plays into both very well and my years in giving advice has only allowed me to hone those skills to an even higher degree.
When the season grinds to a close, while the ability to rest is nice, I quickly begin missing the interaction with our great community. At this time during the season, I’m also keenly aware that, whether you donned the crown or reside in the cellar, work starts anew. Staying ahead of the competition is required regardless of your level of success.
But first, a story…
I’ve always felt very confident in my value proposition to you and I’m not afraid to assert it. There are dozens of different ways to play this great game of ours and in the end, your coaching style will either yield results or it will not. Your desired results will ultimately determine how successful you are. And here’s an important fact which many may not realize or consider: Winning championships doesn’t necessarily need to be the priority.
What?!?!?
With so many different ways to build a dynasty roster, clearly some strategies will yield more success than others. If your primary goal is simply to enhance your NFL fandom during the season, it may simply be that maximizing “fun” will be your top goal, regardless of whether you win it all or end up in the cellar. Sound impossible? Let me explain a bit further how this could play out. It’s a story I’ve told many times in the past.
When you play in so many different leagues, it’s easy to no longer have a favorite team but, instead, favorite players. Furthermore, with so many leagues, one player winning a game for you in one league may be handing you a loss in another. How is a fantasy coach supposed to participate in multiple leagues given that fact? The answer eluded me for quite some time until about 12 years ago.
In my favorite dynasty league, the one which is also my longest running league and, in fact, the one which ultimately launched DLF, there became a point where I found myself frustrated for a number of reasons. While the number of leagues I was participating in continued to expand, I found it more and more difficult to enjoy Sunday football. Being a competitive individual I had a hard time rooting for my rosters knowing that others were rostering and playing the same players against me in other leagues. For a period of time, I considered leaving the game altogether because I couldn’t find the answer to this great dilemma.
And then it hit me.
Why does winning have to be the primary goal? Obviously, if you participate in leagues with material buy-in amounts, you would like to have a return on that investment. But, at the the same time, sometimes we pay for the opportunity to be entertained. Truly, given my competitive nature and with the understanding that I tend to have very positive results when participating in games of strategy, winning is the ultimate determinant of success. But there was another element which was a strong draw for me. Throughout the NFL, like most enthusiasts, I have my favorite players. Additionally, as a dynasty coach, I also understand my favorite elements of the game: The NFL and Dynasty Rookie Drafts.
When it comes to rookie scouting, research, metrics and projecting success at the next level, it doesn’t get more exciting for me. Everything about rookie scouting and the draft is in my wheelhouse organically. Amassing rookie picks and trying to build my roster through the rookie draft has always been my favorite element of the dynasty game. I don’t believe I’m alone, nor even in the minority with that statement. I’m a firm believer in understanding what you do well, organically, as a dynasty coach and leaning into it. And so I have.
Merging those concepts, I decided to apply my love of all things rookie and the dynasty rookie draft with that of identifying my favorite NFL players to my longest running dynasty league. While over the years I found I could not be as successful (wins and losses) by building primarily through the draft, I could most certainly maximize my enjoyment by focusing one team on, not only amassing my favorite players, but also amassing rookie draft picks to bring further enjoyment to the months of February through May. Through that effort, I now have a team I can watch on Sundays and root for regardless of how those players are performing, for or against, me in other leagues. As we enter the offseason, this team drives my enjoyment for the NFL Combine, NFL Draft and subsequent rookie draft(s). During the regular season, this team receives my focus on game days first before any other leagues.
This little tweak restored the fun I have in my entire dynasty experience. With all other leagues but this single one, my commitment is to winning it all at the end of the year. But when it comes to this single league, my focus on those favorite aspects of the dynasty game culminate to lift up my entire experience and give me a team to provide maximum enjoyment, win or lose. Don’t get me wrong here! There’s nothing I’d like more than for this team to be ultra-successful but that result is purely secondary to that of amassing my favorite players and draft picks, participating in the rookie drafts and then rooting like hell for my squad come the regular season.
I’ve had some who don’t believe not winning could be a focus. I simply explain that while it’s not a focus, it’s still a desire, just not the primary desire. When this team is successful, the rewards are even sweeter.
Give this some thought if you find yourself where I was about a dozen years ago and perhaps, just perhaps, maybe it’s the answer for you too.
Until then, with a long offseason ahead of us, I look forward in helping you in any way I can with your questions, trades, build strategy, rookie scouting, draft pick analysis, start-up, commissioner issues or anything else you have on your mind. I’ve already begun down the rabbit hole for rookie scouting and will be sharing my research and results.
Hit me up with a question below and let’s get to work!
You can find Jeff on Twitter at @dlf_jeff
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