Dynasty Mind: Succession Planning
The Dynasty Mind Series returns in 2024, with six brand new thought-provoking articles, designed to give you a new perspective and get you thinking differently about how to approach your dynasty leagues. The series will aid you with understanding the optimal philosophy, process, and game theory to help you implement an effective dynasty plan.
In the third article of the series I highlighted the concept of embracing risk, outlining the reasons why this is an important dynasty strategy, how to identify and classify risk, how to change the risk profile of a position, and the types of good and bad risk in dynasty.
In this article I’ll be focusing on the concept of succession planning - thinking proactively to stay ahead of the competition, making moves at the right time to protect the overall value of your dynasty rosters, and the various options available to bring these plans into action in the future.
Succession Planning
The concept of succession planning is all about making proactive moves ahead of a certain event, to set your team up for future success. This idea is most easily understood through the acquiring of a rookie or young dynasty asset as the succession plan to an aging veteran, preparing for the future and taking a long-term view in dynasty, allowing for a young player to replace the veteran at the stage of production decline. An alternative view on succession planning would be making a move for a younger veteran player, as the successor to the older veteran, a similar theme to acquiring the younger asset, but not seen as a traditional method of planning for the future.
Contenders holding Derrick Henry heading into 2024 could have pivoted to Jonathon Brooks - a move which looks a mistake at the current time (Credit: DLF ADP Over Time App)
The options for succession planning are simple - pivot from the veteran asset at a point before the production decline, or acquire an additional asset to the veteran before the decline - with a view to riding out the veteran into the sunset. The direct pivot would be crucial from a timing perspective, where the young asset has to be ready to deliver replacement fantasy production. The additional trade is a solid move in the sense you are less time-restricted, however, the loss of a roster spot negatively impacts flexibility.
