Anyone have some good basic rules for a start up Dynasty League (1 Viewer)

Doing my first startup dynasty draft this year.

We're starting this league with solid owners from our long-standing keep-3 league but none of us has played in a dynasty league before.

Before we start building the rules of the league from scratch (initial draft format, subsequent years' drafts, # roster spots, trading rules, etc) it would be great if I could be pointed to some example rules and league settings as a guide. We're planning on keeper it pretty straight forward in terms of starting rosters and scoring (1 starting, no ppr, no IDP, maybe a flex) so nothing so complex that we need a PhD to figure out.

Also, I've seen mention of myfantasytleague.com as a hosting site. Should I assume they handle things like like trading draft picks, have a good live draft applet, do they keep track of things like future draft pick trades?. Like I said, this is a group of guys from a pretty straight forward keep-3 league, all dedicated owners, and we've gotten by on yahoo with it's very solid draft applet for almost 10 years now without a glitch.

Any thoughts or links would be welcome.

Thx

If you guys are into it decently hardcore, AUCTION would be the best way to do the start-up. Everybody gets a shot at everybody, and you can all build your own team.

MFL is indeed a great site, they pretty much have anything you want AND great customer service.

You'll want some decent sized rosters for bench space in a dynasty, as well as a good starting lineup.

Play around with flex ideas and the lineup requirements...remember that more WRs equalizes positional values better than ppr does, and lots of flex spots will allow for many different ways of building your team.

Instinctive said:

If you guys are into it decently hardcore, AUCTION would be the best way to do the start-up. Everybody gets a shot at everybody, and you can all build your own team.MFL is indeed a great site, they pretty much have anything you want AND great customer service.You'll want some decent sized rosters for bench space in a dynasty, as well as a good starting lineup.Play around with flex ideas and the lineup requirements...remember that more WRs equalizes positional values better than ppr does, and lots of flex spots will allow for many different ways of building your team.

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Thanks for the feedback. A few of us will be pushing for an auction for exactly the reasons you give. I also finally did some digging around MFL's help pages and, man, they can do it all. Really amazing. It looks like, if we do go auction, I'd probably go with yahoo or espn for the auction itself since, according to MFL themselves, their auction draft isn't really meant for a finish-the-whole-auction-in-a-few-hours type auction and they're more setup for a over-a-few-days-or-weeks type auction. Fair enough. They claim to be able to import rosters from yahoo so we could auction there and import to MFL. The starting line up we're all used to is 1QB, 2RB, 3Rec (WR or TE), K, D/ST. We'll discuss either adding a flex position, or changing one of the RB or WR slots to a flex. I think I prefer adding a flex to the above line up but maybe that's just the traditionalist in me that wants teams to have to start at least 2 RBs With the above starting lineup, I was thinking a roster size of 20 would be good. Again, thanks for the feedback. Would love some more if folks rare willing...

Flex, IDP, auction/draft, scoring, and the like are not directly affected by the dynasty format; do what you find enjoyable in these regards.

My non-IDP dynasty league has a 20-man roster. We have a 6-round rookie draft, after which each team has to make cuts to get back down to 20. Incidentally, a huge point of contention has been whether only rookies should be eligible for the draft or if it should be open to other FF FAs as well. Something you'll want to be very clear on to avoid headaches.

We allow the trading of draft picks up to two full drafts away. During this offseason, we allow draft picks to be traded for the 2010 or 2011 season. Once the 2010 draft is over, picks for the 2012 draft can be traded. (Obviously, if you go auction, you lose this as a possibility.)

You don't necessarily lose pick trading if you go auction, you just los einitial pick trading. All fo my leagues do an NFL style rookie draft each year.

The only offensive-only dynasties I am in require 9 startes, and then there's 19 bench spaces.

With only 20 total, you don't have room for prospects that you like, e.g. Miles Austin or Sidney Rice or Robert Meachem. You barely have the space required to cover your bye weeks, and you definitely can't keep 2 defenses or pick up and extra kicker, you gotta swap them out at their byes.

25-30 is the sweet spot for a non IDP dynasty IMO. Enough space to stash players and cover byes.

You gotta go IDP. Trust me, it is MUCH more enjoyable than team defense. Once you start doing it, you will never go back.

Also, if there is 12 or less teams, I would suggest a 2-QB starting lineup. It makes QBs much more valuable, as they should be. In a 12-team, 1 QB start, basically 8 or 9 of the teams have a stud, so it is not very competitive for the position. Starting 2 QBs makes for a much more strategic QB contest.

My non-IDP dynasty league has a 20-man roster. We have a 6-round rookie draft, after which each team has to make cuts to get back down to 20. Incidentally, a huge point of contention has been whether only rookies should be eligible for the draft or if it should be open to other FF FAs as well. Something you'll want to be very clear on to avoid headaches.We allow the trading of draft picks up to two full drafts away. During this offseason, we allow draft picks to be traded for the 2010 or 2011 season. Once the 2010 draft is over, picks for the 2012 draft can be traded. (Obviously, if you go auction, you lose this as a possibility.)

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Both of these paragraphs will be big topics of conversation for the rule book. Thanks for that.

You don't necessarily lose pick trading if you go auction, you just los einitial pick trading. All fo my leagues do an NFL style rookie draft each year.The only offensive-only dynasties I am in require 9 startes, and then there's 19 bench spaces. With only 20 total, you don't have room for prospects that you like, e.g. Miles Austin or Sidney Rice or Robert Meachem. You barely have the space required to cover your bye weeks, and you definitely can't keep 2 defenses or pick up and extra kicker, you gotta swap them out at their byes.

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Great points here. Thanks for that.

You gotta go IDP. Trust me, it is MUCH more enjoyable than team defense. Once you start doing it, you will never go back.Also, if there is 12 or less teams, I would suggest a 2-QB starting lineup. It makes QBs much more valuable, as they should be. In a 12-team, 1 QB start, basically 8 or 9 of the teams have a stud, so it is not very competitive for the position. Starting 2 QBs makes for a much more strategic QB contest.

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I'll definitely want to discuss either a start 2 QB lineup or maybe a QB/RB/WR flex position that I've seen mentioned here a few times before. Thanks for the feedback.

PM me and I can send you our full league constitution. 9 year running dynasty league (jaWs) with top FBG members so we've dealt with a lot of loopholes over the years and have them figured out. Would be a good starting point for you to adjust accordingly as needed.

ETA: If I give one piece of advice for dynasty leagues is to collect entry fees one year in advance.

My non-IDP dynasty league has a 20-man roster. We have a 6-round rookie draft, after which each team has to make cuts to get back down to 20. Incidentally, a huge point of contention has been whether only rookies should be eligible for the draft or if it should be open to other FF FAs as well. Something you'll want to be very clear on to avoid headaches.We allow the trading of draft picks up to two full drafts away. During this offseason, we allow draft picks to be traded for the 2010 or 2011 season. Once the 2010 draft is over, picks for the 2012 draft can be traded. (Obviously, if you go auction, you lose this as a possibility.)

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Both of these paragraphs will be big topics of conversation for the rule book. Thanks for that.

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Actually, one follow up on the rookie draft. 6 rounds seems like a lot but, if you open that draft up to all FF FAs, then that feels better to me. But I don't see our total roster size being up near 30, or our new league going IDP, so I'd guess we'd do less.One question: how much time 'feels right' between rookie draft and roster cut down?I was thinking rookie draft in mid-August then roster cut downs a few days before the first NFL game.Any pros or cons to that type of timing to the draft and cut down that I'm probably not considering?

joey said:

One question: how much time 'feels right' between rookie draft and roster cut down?

I was thinking rookie draft in mid-August then roster cut downs a few days before the first NFL game.

Any pros or cons to that type of timing to the draft and cut down that I'm probably not considering?

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Phenomz Dynasty Yearly Timeline of Events:

~ Trading Period Opens: Wk. #17 of NFL season with $50 deposit towards next Entry Fee (early January)

~ College players officialy considered NFL players: one week after NFL underclassmen declaration deadline (late January)

~ Balance of Entry Fees due: March 31 (approx. one month before our Phenomz Draft)

~ College player drop deadline: Friday before NFL Draft (late April)

~ Draft: Tuesday following the NFL Draft (late April)

~ 1st Waiver Run: July 1 (approx. start of NFL Training Camp)

~ 2nd Waiver Run: August 1 (approx. start of NFL Preseason Games)

~ Roster Cut Down: August 25 (approx. two weeks before start of NFL season)

~ 3rd Waiver Run: September 1 (approx. one week before start of NFL season)

~ First Come, First Serve Free Agent Period: starts 15 mins. after site processes 3rd Waiver Run and continues up until our Wk #1 lineup deadline.

~ Regular Season: starts Wk #1 of NFL season (early September)

~ Trade Deadline: end of Wk. #10 of NFL season (mid November)

~ Free Agent pickup deadline: end of Wk. #13 of NFL season (early December)

~ Playoffs: Wk #14 and Wk #15 of NFL season (mid December)

~ Phenom Bowl: Wk # 16 of NFL season (late December)

Not just for dynasty leagues, but this is one of those keep-in-the-notebook threads that has some great thoughts on league rules.

How are you guys trading future picks in an auction league?

How are you guys trading future picks in an auction league?

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If we do an auction, it will only be for the initial dynasty draft. Every draft thereafter (however many roudns we decide on) will be a 'normal' non-serpentine draft. In this case, MFL seems to have this feature available where the commish sets how many years ahead are draft picks available to be traded. Sounds like MFL just handles this for the league and the commish doesn't have to jump through any hoops to alter draft orders for next year's draft to take into account the trades. But I've only read about this on the MFL site so I'd love to hear from some seasoned MFL users to see if what I said above is actually true

PM me and I am happy to send you my non-IDP, PPR, contract-year limit Dynasty league rules. Just started it last year with an Auction. It works more like an extended Keeper, since there are restrictions with total contract years. Might be worth looking at for ideas even if you don't like the format.

We run a similar league to what you are describing (non-PPR, no IDP, we don't even have team defenses). Start 8 (1QB, 2 RB, 3WR, 1 TE and 1K). During the season we have 21 roster spots.

A week before the rookie draft we cut down to 16 (1 starter and one backup for each "slot") so at the rookie draft, everyone has 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs and 2 Ks on their roster.

For us this format is great - enough roster spots to keep some nice "upside guys" (except at QB and TE - more on that in a second) and just small enough to yield some trading and tough decisions come cut-down.

We have been trting to discuss the idea of a "developmental" slot for a QB or TE (or a "taxi squad"). Basically, the way we've talked about it. You would have the player, but he couldn't be inserted in your lineup this season. Mainly because if you only carry 2 QBs and 2 TEs - well that's what you need just to cover byes. At times, it seems as though the 2 slots for those positions (QBs especially) have forced guys to make tough decisions (most have opted to keep the young, developmnetal player and hope to fill the bye with a WW pickup or make a minor trade that might net them a journeymen QB for another minor player in return). The reason it's tough to add this now, is that we have been playing with this system for 6 years now, and it's tough to get everyone on board for the change (our own rule requires at least 60% of the owner okay it)

Our rookie drafts are in reverse order of finish (for non-playoff teams, it's the standing at week 13) - so the last team has the first pick in each round, the 2nd worst, the 2nd pick in each round, etc. This has been huge in maintaining balance, as weaker teams have turned it around quickly with the addition of an ADP, or Chris Johnson or whoever (well, except for that Reggie Bush thing....) We have wild card teams, so we've never had a problem with teams "tanking" for a better draft pick - it's a very competetive league and many teams have a shot at a wild card berth right up until week 12 or 13.

We run a similar league to what you are describing (non-PPR, no IDP, we don't even have team defenses). Start 8 (1QB, 2 RB, 3WR, 1 TE and 1K). During the season we have 21 roster spots. A week before the rookie draft we cut down to 16 (1 starter and one backup for each "slot") so at the rookie draft, everyone has 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs and 2 Ks on their roster.For us this format is great - enough roster spots to keep some nice "upside guys" (except at QB and TE - more on that in a second) and just small enough to yield some trading and tough decisions come cut-down. We have been trting to discuss the idea of a "developmental" slot for a QB or TE (or a "taxi squad"). Basically, the way we've talked about it. You would have the player, but he couldn't be inserted in your lineup this season. Mainly because if you only carry 2 QBs and 2 TEs - well that's what you need just to cover byes. At times, it seems as though the 2 slots for those positions (QBs especially) have forced guys to make tough decisions (most have opted to keep the young, developmnetal player and hope to fill the bye with a WW pickup or make a minor trade that might net them a journeymen QB for another minor player in return). The reason it's tough to add this now, is that we have been playing with this system for 6 years now, and it's tough to get everyone on board for the change (our own rule requires at least 60% of the owner okay it)Our rookie drafts are in reverse order of finish (for non-playoff teams, it's the standing at week 13) - so the last team has the first pick in each round, the 2nd worst, the 2nd pick in each round, etc. This has been huge in maintaining balance, as weaker teams have turned it around quickly with the addition of an ADP, or Chris Johnson or whoever (well, except for that Reggie Bush thing....) We have wild card teams, so we've never had a problem with teams "tanking" for a better draft pick - it's a very competetive league and many teams have a shot at a wild card berth right up until week 12 or 13.

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Some great ideas in here. Thanks. Lots of great stuff to pass by the other owners as we start to establish our rules. We'll definitely do the rookie drafts non-serpentine for each round. Glad to hear that your experience over 6 year has proven that system to work as I've always thought it should in a dynasty league. Interesting idea of limiting the number of keepers per position. Never thought of that one. So some teams don't hoard a dozen RBs at the end of the season for next year. Thanks again

You can check out my CFL league if you want some ideas, I have been running this league since 1997 and it has salary cap, home field advantage with tons of rules.

http://football.myfantasyleague.com/2010/o...=37477&O=26

joey said:

How are you guys trading future picks in an auction league?

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If we do an auction, it will only be for the initial dynasty draft. Every draft thereafter (however many roudns we decide on) will be a 'normal' non-serpentine draft. In this case, MFL seems to have this feature available where the commish sets how many years ahead are draft picks available to be traded. Sounds like MFL just handles this for the league and the commish doesn't have to jump through any hoops to alter draft orders for next year's draft to take into account the trades. But I've only read about this on the MFL site so I'd love to hear from some seasoned MFL users to see if what I said above is actually true

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Interesting...would this work for dynasty leagues only, or keepers as well? Seems like keepers would probably require you to stick with the auction format, right?

Warrior said:

joey said:

How are you guys trading future picks in an auction league?

Click to expand...

If we do an auction, it will only be for the initial dynasty draft. Every draft thereafter (however many roudns we decide on) will be a 'normal' non-serpentine draft. In this case, MFL seems to have this feature available where the commish sets how many years ahead are draft picks available to be traded. Sounds like MFL just handles this for the league and the commish doesn't have to jump through any hoops to alter draft orders for next year's draft to take into account the trades. But I've only read about this on the MFL site so I'd love to hear from some seasoned MFL users to see if what I said above is actually true

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Interesting...would this work for dynasty leagues only, or keepers as well? Seems like keepers would probably require you to stick with the auction format, right?

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I'd think so. The reason to do non-serpentine in reverse order of finish for dynatsy is the same reason the NFL does it (i.e. maintain parity). In a keeper league (where you only keep 2-5 players), there is enough talent in the draft pool to change things quickly, regardless of pick format, so it really doesn't make sense to base the picks too much on record - especially in head to head leagues where a guy can have a great team and just have a bad break a week or two running up against the high scoring team.

No sleeping with the commish's wife.

Cassius said:

No sleeping with the commish's wife.

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Yet another reason to not be a commisioner. Oh, wait...

Concerning future draft picks being dealt. We require an owner to pay future dues when he trades away a future pick. This sounds fairly obvious once you hear it, but it helps cut down reckless team management in an owner who doesn't plan to be back. It also protects against whatever owner gets recruited to fill the dynasty slot. If you want a tough challenge, try selling a lousy football team that was run into the ground to someone with the only perk being the first overall pick in the rookie draft.

On Auctions, if you've never done it, I would advise against it for an initial only dynasty draft. In all things dynasty there is a learning curve for everyone. While it sounds democratic and equitable for anyone to have a shot at any player, the reality is that rosters are very fluid and not getting Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson isn't the end of the world. However, two rooks entering into a bidding war over a guy and then the winner essentially handcuffing the rest of his squad not only deflates the roster, but artificially inflates the other 11 owners since they essentially pay less for players due to the economy being thrown out of whack.

Its a lot of fun for a yearly re-draft, and if you do it every year so people can learn it and adapt. But as a one-off experiment, its pretty risky and you may find teams that conducted themselves poorly in the startup auction abandoning their teams after a year and then having to recruit new owners for poor rosters.

Concerning future draft picks being dealt. We require an owner to pay future dues when he trades away a future pick. This sounds fairly obvious once you hear it, but it helps cut down reckless team management in an owner who doesn't plan to be back. It also protects against whatever owner gets recruited to fill the dynasty slot. If you want a tough challenge, try selling a lousy football team that was run into the ground to someone with the only perk being the first overall pick in the rookie draft.On Auctions, if you've never done it, I would advise against it for an initial only dynasty draft. In all things dynasty there is a learning curve for everyone. While it sounds democratic and equitable for anyone to have a shot at any player, the reality is that rosters are very fluid and not getting Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson isn't the end of the world. However, two rooks entering into a bidding war over a guy and then the winner essentially handcuffing the rest of his squad not only deflates the roster, but artificially inflates the other 11 owners since they essentially pay less for players due to the economy being thrown out of whack.Its a lot of fun for a yearly re-draft, and if you do it every year so people can learn it and adapt. But as a one-off experiment, its pretty risky and you may find teams that conducted themselves poorly in the startup auction abandoning their teams after a year and then having to recruit new owners for poor rosters.

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Excellent post about the learning curve for an auction draft. This I'd exactly my concern as well that I'll bring up with the other owners. I've done a couple of auctions before (exactly 2) and, even as a novice, I was much more prepared than the 2 or 3 dudes in those auctions who screwed up their teams royally when they spent almost 1/2 their budget on a starting and backup qb, for example. Thankfully that was just a Keep 2 league so they weren't destroying their entire roster for year to come. With an dynasty league, as you said, the effects could and will last years and year.Thanks for that post.

Entry Fee: $80 - 2009 ($30 deposit for 2010)

Structure: Two six-team divisions. Each team will play divisional opponents. Weekly ties will be decided by the highest scoring bench player. Divisional standings are determined by W/L record, divisional record, and cumulative points. Overall standings will omit divisional record, and determine wildcards. Proposed changes during the season must be unanimous; offseason changes must be approved by a majority.

Pay out: Runner-up - $80. Consolation Bracket - $50. The League Champion will receive remaining money collected minus the cost of league management.

Auction: Each owner will have $150 salary cap. The auction will begin by an owner bidding for a player. At no time may a team have fewer dollars than required roster spots, and owners may not bid on players that cannot be kept due to salary or roster limits. When an owner opts not to nominate a player his draft is over.

Contracts: Must be 1-4 years. The salary will increase by 15% per year. If a player is dropped from a roster 50% of his salary will count against the cap, and each future year’s salary will count 10% against that years cap. Future penalties may be paid from the current salary on draft day. One player per team that is on the NFL IR may be placed on IR for a 50% salary credit. All values are rounded up to the nearest dollar.

Rosters: Must include a player for each starting position, and up to 15 additional players.

Line-ups: Must be set before each player’s weekly game: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 DEF/ST, 1 DL, 1 LB, 1 DB, 1 PK, & 1 Flex Player (RB, WR, TE, or IDP). If the web site is down, email the commissioner and opponent.

Transactions: Dropped players will go on the next waiver, which will be decided by blind bid. In case of a tie in amount bid, priority will be given to the owner that is lower in overall standings. He will then be moved to lowest priority. Transactions will be processed at 1:00pm Wednesday after which all players will available until their weekly game begins. Teams may trade only players and salary cap. The drop/add deadline is the end of week 13, and the trade deadline is the end of week 10. Any trade may be over-ruled by the commissioner.

Off Season: The FF season begins on August 1st. Dues must be paid. The salary of all players on rosters is increased by 15%, teams must be below the salary cap, and able to meet roster requirements in the next draft.

Touchdown 6 points

Two Point Conversion 2 points

Yardage

25 Passing Yards 1 point

10 Rushing Yards 1 point

10 Receiving Yards 1 point

Miscues

Fumble Loss -2 points

Interception -2 points

Bonus

300 Passing Yards 3 points

100 Rushing Yards 3 points

100 Receiving Yards 3 points

75 Receiving Yards (TE) 3 points

Kicking

Field Goal 3 points

Extra Point 1 point

IDP Scoring

2 Tackles 1 point

Fumble Recovery 2 points

Sack 2 points

Forced Fumble 3 points

Interception 6 points

Safety 6 points

DEF/ST Scoring

Sack 1 point

Safety 3 points

Interception 2 points

Fumble Recovery 2 points

Can anyone suggest a good amount of rounds for a startup dynasty 16 teamer? No IDPs...I have it set at 18 rounds right now, which is 8 bench spots, 288 players total...is that good? Too shallow? My other dynasty has more bench spots, but is a 12 teamer. Edit: And for future rookie/FA drafts do you guys add bench spots or players need to be dropped? Thanks!

count your starting lineup spots.

Add twice as many bench spots. That's basically the rule of thumb.

e.g.: 9 starters, 18 bench players, 27 total

10 starters, 20 bench spots, 30 total

Instinctive said:

count your starting lineup spots.Add twice as many bench spots. That's basically the rule of thumb.e.g.: 9 starters, 18 bench players, 27 total10 starters, 20 bench spots, 30 total

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That's almost 500 players...wouldn't that make the WW pretty much useless? I thought most leagues had anywhere from 250-350 players rostered

Quick question for the contract auctioners.

Obviously you should have a hard cap IMO, but each year when salaries are increased and people have to get under that, what is the best way to go about? Is there a short period of time where drops won't force a cap hit? Thanks.

Kree said:

Quick question for the contract auctioners. Obviously you should have a hard cap IMO, but each year when salaries are increased and people have to get under that, what is the best way to go about? Is there a short period of time where drops won't force a cap hit? Thanks.

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1) Cap hits should always be required, otherwise managers will sign lots of sleepers/fliers and cut them during this "no cap hit" period to avoid future years salary cap consequences.2) Some players contracts will be up each year so a manager's salary naturally goes down.3) If the cap hit is less than 50% of the salary, it would be difficult for a manager not to be able to cut some players to get under the cap. The team might have to go into rebuild mode and sign cheap free agents but this is just like dead money in the real NFL. We've never seen a NFL franchise be unable to field a team (yeah some teams suck... but they still have 53 players).

Warrior said:

joey said:

How are you guys trading future picks in an auction league?

Click to expand...

If we do an auction, it will only be for the initial dynasty draft. Every draft thereafter (however many roudns we decide on) will be a 'normal' non-serpentine draft. In this case, MFL seems to have this feature available where the commish sets how many years ahead are draft picks available to be traded. Sounds like MFL just handles this for the league and the commish doesn't have to jump through any hoops to alter draft orders for next year's draft to take into account the trades. But I've only read about this on the MFL site so I'd love to hear from some seasoned MFL users to see if what I said above is actually true

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Interesting...would this work for dynasty leagues only, or keepers as well? Seems like keepers would probably require you to stick with the auction format, right?

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Just started thinking about this myself, with an eye toward getting a league going for 2011. Wondering how something like this would work:- Auction for first year with salary cap- Define a % salary increase for kept players from year-to-year- Define off-season roster size and salary cap lower than in-season, thus requiring some players to be cut by each team- Worst-to-first draft for rookies and FAs in subsequent years, with a fixed salary for each round of the draft. Total $ for all draft picks = the reduction in the off-season cap Just for example:- 28-man roster with a $500 cap- Salaries increase by 10% or $1, whichever is more ($1 goes to $2, $5 goes to $6, but $30 goes to $33)- Off-season is a 20-man roster with a $440 cap- 8-round draft, with assigned salaries 20-15-10-5-4-3-2-1 (total $60)I'm just picking these numbers out of, um, the air. Obviously would need to think through to see what values would work best.Thoughts? I'm trying to figure out a way to have an initial auction, but with a draft that helps weaker teams get better, while at the same time preserving some meaning for the salary cap. Would probably also have blind-bidding on FAs.