FFPC Dynasty Leagues: All-22 Strategy Update

Editor’s note: This article is by Member Corner writer Norm Cruz. Please welcome back Norm and provide constructive feedback in the comments section.

In 2021 and 2022, I introduced the All-22 dynasty startup strategy in a series of articles on DLF. As the name suggests, the All-22 involves drafting exclusively (or almost exclusively) players 22 years old or younger. I started implementing the strategy in 2020 in the FFPC.

Since then, a $500 All-22 team (FFPC Superflex Best Ball) that I drafted in 2020 won two consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022, finished 2nd in 2023 and is well-positioned to win again this year (won $7,100 in the last three years). Similarly, a $750 All-22 team (FFPC Standard 1QB best ball), drafted in 2021, also achieved back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 and is favored to three-peat in 2024 (won $9,000 in the last two years). Several other All-22s drafted from 2020-2022 in the FFPC (in various formats, best ball and non-best ball) won their first titles in 2023, and a number of others are poised to win their first title in 2024. As gimmicky as the strategy might seem, I think it is fair to say at this point that the All-22 has been a success.

A Different Way to Value Players

Even before implementing the All-22, I have historically weighted my player rankings towards where I think a player will be valued 2-3 years down the road as opposed to where they are valued today. Players 22 years old and younger naturally are favored with this perspective even over, let’s say, 24-year-olds, which are considered by most to be very young in their own right.

Take Malik Nabers and Amon-Ra St. Brown, for example. Two years from today, Nabers will have just turned 23 while St. Brown will be approaching 27. If Nabers meets reasonable expectations early in his career, it would be very unlikely that St. Brown will be more valuable in the Dynasty marketplace than Nabers in 2026. Looking three years out, Nabers will just have turned 24 and St. Brown will be approaching 28, making the value gap even larger, and so on and so on. If that substantial value gap is what I project will occur, why then should I not draft Malik Nabers ahead of Amon-Ra today? This explains why in superflex dynasty startups in the FFPC, I have drafted Malik Nabers as high as the 2.2 as the WR5 (ahead of Amon-Ra St. Brown).

By this reasoning, I may be valuing Malik Nabers in the near future over the likes of Justin Jefferson (who will be almost 27 in 2 years), CeeDee Lamb (who will be 27 in 2 years), and even Jamarr Chase (who will be 26 in 2 years). These elite players are only a few years older than Nabers, but from the lens I use when playing dynasty, that age gap is practically a generation apart. This explains why the All-22 is perfect for my style of dynasty play.

$1250 FFPC RotoViz TriFlex Best Ball Dynasty #381

That brings me to the feature startup draft demonstrating the All-22 in action in 2024 — a $1250 RotoViz TriFlex Best Ball Dynasty League in the FFPC. This format includes a starting lineup consisting of 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1 Superflex, and 2 regular Flex. Because you can start up to 6 of them, WRs are more valuable in this format relative to other Superflex formats in the FFPC (where you can start a maximum of 4).

Here are the highlights:

From the two-hole, I traded out of the first round to the 2.10, acquiring the 7.03 and a 2025 first-rounder. When the 1.10 was on the clock, I traded back into the first round, giving up the 3.02 and 5.02 to draft Marvin Harrison Jr., whom I have drafted as high as the 1.6 in other FFPC Dynasty startups in this format (as the WR1).

I targeted Malik Nabers at the 2.10 but he was taken at the 2.08, so I settled for Puka Nacua (still 22 at the time of the draft). I subsequently traded Puka for the 6.07, 8.07, and 9.06 plus a future 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

I did some trading back from the 2.11 to the 3.12 in a series of trades that netted me the 7.6, a ’25 2nd and a ‘25 3rd. There, I took Rome Odunze.

I then took Xavier Worthy at 4.11 and added Brian Thomas at 5.7.

In the 6th round, I drafted Jordan Addison (pre-arrest, but still just 22) and Ladd McConkey.

At RB, I missed out on Jonathan Brooks (who was taken at the 6.1) and ended up with Trey Benson, Blake Corum, and Kendre Miller. I also took James Cook at the 8.2. Although Cook is almost 25 years old, he was too good of a value there to pass up.

At TE, I planned on taking Ben Sinnott at the 10.10, but he was sniped at the 10.08, so I took a combination of Luke Musgrave and Cole Kmet in the 10th and 12th rounds. In hindsight, I would have liked to have just taken Ja’Tavion Sanders in the 12th round and gone a different direction in the 10th (such as Tyjae Spears, also still 22).

Here is the final team I drafted:

QB:

Spencer Rattler (18.6)

RB:

Trey Benson (7.02)
James Cook (8.02)
Blake Corum (10.11)
Kendre Miller (12.11)

WR:

Marvin Harrison Jr. (1.10)
Rome Odunze (3.12)
Xavier Worthy (4.11)
Brian Thomas Jr. (5.07)
Jordan Addison (6.07)
Ladd McConkey (6.11)
Xavier Legette (9.02)
Adonai Mitchell (9.06)
Jermaine Burton (9.10)
Jacob Cowing (19.02)

TE:

Luke Musgrave (10.10)
Cole Kmet (12.04)

Future Picks (including my own):

3 ’25 1sts
2 ’25 2nds
2 ’25 3rds
2 ’25 4ths

Outlook Assessment

This team is strong where it counts in this Tri-Flex format, at WR. I missed out on QBs, but I have had good results in the past going Zero-QB in Rotoviz Triflex startups using the All-22. Overall, this team has the feel of a multiple-title winner in the first five years.

Then again, what I see as a future powerhouse may not seem so to others. I’ve even heard one of my recent All-22 startup teams dissected on a popular fantasy football podcast as a cautionary example of “what not to do” in a dynasty startup. This leaves me to wonder whether my other league mates view my startup teams that way too. Interestingly, the skepticism only adds to the fun of the strategy!

Although the winning and the money have been great, the fun is why I continue to implement the All-22 (now in its fifth year). There are many other ways to win in dynasty, but because of the All-22, I am having more fun playing dynasty than ever.