Keeper League Formats (1 Viewer)

[Cappy_Digital]

Hey all,

I have a question regarding keeper league formats that I was hoping I could get a couple of hits on...

I've been in this one standard redraft league for over 10 years now. It's a blast and we have had 8 of the original 10 still together. Anyway, this year we've been seriously kicking around the idea of changing our format to a keeper league.

I was wondering if the board community could sound off on their different keeper formats, what works for them, or any cool little twists their leagues might incorporate.

I've been a Footballguys.com member since the beginning and I always peruse the boards, just don't post much.

Anyway, any help you gusy could offer would be GREAT!!!!

 

[zanti8]

the keeper league im in we keep 8 out of our 16 roster . and we have an 8 round straight draft with rookies and vets mixed june 1st .

also played a 4 keeper league . that one we did a serpentine draft .

i think a keeper/dynasty format where half a roster or more are protected a straight draft helps the league .

if you just want to keep 4 a serpentine may be best .

 

[Cappy_Digital]

One suggestion was to have us keep 3-4 guys. We would lose a selection 3 rounds prior to whatever round we drafted them in the prior year.

So, last year I drafted:

1. Tomlinson

2. Culpepper

3. S Jackson

4. Boldin

Basically, I can't keep the first 3 per the rules. I would have to give up my #1 to keep Boldin, knowing that guys drafted in the first 3 rounds last year would all be available.

Not sure if I like it or not...

 

[GroveDiesel]

I kind of like the format of the one league I'm in. I didn't at first but have grown to like it.

Each team gets a 6 "keeper points." A player that you drafted for the previous season costs 1 point to keep. If he was drafted 2 seasons ago he costs 2 points to keep, 3 seasons ago, 3 points with that being the max. After a player reaches 3 points he must be dropped the next offseason. A player's points follow him through trades but not drops. So if I drop a 3 point player in the middle of the season and someone else picks him up, it would only cost him 1 point to keep him.

There are no lost draft picks for keeping players. So some seasons someone may keep 2 guys and someone else keep 6 guys. The guy who kept 2 guys will be drafting for 4 more rounds after the guy who kept 6 guys (assuming no draft pick trades).

It's a good mix of being able to keep players and re-seeding the top of the draft with decent talent. It forces you to plan both short and long-term and definitel encourages trades.

 

[thayman]

My favorite league is an IDP keeper. We can keep up to 8 players, with every player you protect costing you a draft pick. If I protect 8 guys I don't get to pick until the 9th round. If you protect 2 players, your first pick would be in the 3rd round. Vet and Rookies in the draft.

I've enjoyed this format, because it adds a bit of uncertainty to the draft. Theoritically you could win the Super Bowl, but still end up with the 1.01.....or you could expose some of your superstars, trying to get a lower pick, and loose your guy......

 

[Cappy_Digital]

Each team gets a 6 "keeper points."  A player that you drafted for the previous season costs 1 point to keep.  If he was drafted 2 seasons ago he costs 2 points to keep, 3 seasons ago, 3 points with that being the max.  After a player reaches 3 points he must be dropped the next offseason.  A player's points follow him through trades but not drops.  So if I drop a 3 point player in the middle of the season and someone else picks him up, it would only cost him 1 point to keep him. 

There are no lost draft picks for keeping players.  So some seasons someone may keep 2 guys and someone else keep 6 guys.  The guy who kept 2 guys will be drafting for 4 more rounds after the guy who kept 6 guys (assuming no draft pick trades).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's pretty interesting. Do you find that there are a lot of players that make it to the 3rd year max? How many years have you been doing it this way?

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Copied from our rules:

5) Draft Value Keeper League:

5a) Each player drafted receives a Draft Value (DV) equal to the round he was selected. (i.e. - a player selected in the first round has a DV of 1, a player selected in the 13 round has DV of 13).

5b) All undrafted free agent pick-ups have a DV of 9.

5c) A free agent pick-up who was selected during the draft and subsequently released/dropped retains his original DV based on his draft round selection.

5d) For each player you decide to keep, you lose a selection in the draft equal to the player's DV. (i.e. - The Pleasures select Robert Smith in the 5th round. His DV is 5 and at the end of the season you subtract 3 leaving him a DV of 2. If the Pleasures decide to keep Robert Smith they will relinquish their 2nd round pick in the next draft.)

5e) If you chose to keep multiple players with the same DV (because of trades and free agent acquisitions) you lose consecutive selections in the draft starting from the lowest DV. (i.e. - The Brownbaggers are going to keep two players with a DV of 4 and one with a DV of 5. The Brownbaggers will have to forfeit their 3rd, 4th, and 5th round selections in the next draft.)

5f) You do not have to retain any players. *The maximum number of players you may retain is 8 which must be consistent with a starting lineup (i.e. - 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 PK and 1 D/ST). Of those six only 1 can be a quarterback.

 

[BigBetz]

In one of my leagues, we can keep one player from the previous year. If you want to keep a second player, it costs you your first round draft choice. Some guys like that second player from their team, while others would rather have the draft pick. Good luck whichever way you go...

 

[vasco75]

In my keeper league, we keep 3 players, but they have to be different positions. For example, you can keep 1 QB, 1 RB and 1 WR. Each players contract is for 3 years. In the third year, either you trade the guy in the contract year, or you lose him to the draft pool.

Just happened this year with Shaun Alexander...

This format has worked pretty well. We're in our 4th year...

 

[glock]

12 team, 15 position auction/keeper league w/$200 auction cap:

The team that wins the championship can protect ONE player for the following year. The second place team can keep 2 players while the other playoff teams can keep up to 3. All the non-playoff squads can keep up to 4 players.Keeper salaries shall increase for the following year as followslayers drafted or kept w/salary between $1 - $19 shall increase by $3.Players drafted or kept w/salary between $20 - $29 shall increase by $4Players drafted or kept w/salary $30 and over shall increase by $5.

We have no limit on how many seasons a player may be kept.

 

[doughboydeluxe]

In our league, we are allowed to keep 2 players for 3 years each. We lose a draft pick for whatever round the player was selected in (you lose a 9th rounder if you keep a player you picked up as a free agent). You can keep a third player if they are a rookie, and you can keep that player for five years.

Side note... if you are going to switch to a keeper league, be sure the rules for the keepers are set forth before you draft. It will most likely have an effect on how people draft.

 

[kbleck]

lots of complicated ones above, ours is simple.

12 man league, keep 4

We draft rounds 1,2,3 in order (1-12,1-12,1-12)

Round 4 we start serpentine (12-1,1-12,12-1)

Most people that have more than 4 potential keepers end up trading the teams that suck for a draft pick here and there.

Evens things up pretty well.

 

[texastyrant]

lots of complicated ones above, ours is simple.

12 man league, keep 4

We draft rounds 1,2,3 in order (1-12,1-12,1-12)

Round 4 we start serpentine (12-1,1-12,12-1)

Most people that have more than 4 potential keepers end up trading the teams that suck for a draft pick here and there.

Evens things up pretty well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Entering our 17th season.8 team league, keep 2 --> although every year 1/2 the teams suggest we expand to keep more, while the other 1/2 petitions to reduce the number of keepers (based of course of the quality of players on their roster).

Straight draft based on reverse order of prior year standings......

In theory, the wining team from the prior year has the "best" protections (including extras to trade for draft picks). Having a straight draft is our way of resetting the playing field.

We do add a fun wrinkle. While the four top teams enter the play-offs for the all the glory of being named FFL champoins, the bottom four teams play for the first pick in the following years draft. This serves to ensure that EVERY team has an incentive to go 2-0 over the final two weeks of the season (no thrown games, all teams stay engaged, etc....).

The off-season is soo much more interesting when you know your draft position (so you can trade picks) and get to agonize over who to keep.... not to mention the oppty to trade extra "keepable" players to other teams for picks.

 

[code]

I've commented on this topic in the past...our league developed in a similar way, from redraft to keeper (and eventually on our way to dynasty)...the system we came up with allowed the transition to be evolutionary, rather than revolutionary...

We introduced a contract system whereby drafted players may be granted contracts of a certain number of years...when those contracts expire the players become free agents and can receive a second contract term from any team...after that contract expires they drop back into the draft pool...

Now, each team has a cap on the number of contract years they may allocate...so what we've done it slowly increase the number of contract years available under the cap each year...which has the effect of slowly increasing the number of kept players...and in the first few years is a little more forgiving for owners that make contract mistakes...

In the first season only two or three players were kept per team...the next year it was five or six...and so on...our roster carries 30 players and starts 14, so you may want to tune these numbers to suite your league format...but our target is to reach 90 total contract years, approximately a dynasty format, where all players are kept, within a few years...

There's more complexity to it in our detailed rulebook, but the basic premise can be used to help ease a league from redraft to keeper...

 

[jetsman]

our keeper league is interesting, its a keeper auction league. we can keep up to 4 players, there is a $200 cap. you assign values by salaries in a bid, if you keep a player he costs $5 more the next season. If you drop a player you get a hometown discount of $5 if you release him and win the bid and get him back......this way if you have an LT at $30, you will have to decide whether he's worth $35 to keep as a proected guy or place him back in the pool, knowing the bid would have to go beyond $40 ($40-$5= $35 keeper price) for somebody to steal them.

all the values of your keepers are subtracted from your hard cap of $200

so there is alot of trading even before the draft of high priced players who wont be protected simply to get that $5 discount on a bid. Last year I had

Peyton Manning at $50 and I couldnt justify paying him $55 to protect him. I figured in an open bid maybe i could let the bid go to $59 and still get him cheaper than if I protected him. The bidding can get fierce. this way you have to plan your roster all year long. It also rewards an owner for finding little known gems.

even pickups are auctioned, so capology is just as important as it is in the NFL

 

[Chaos Commish]

Start of the second season, everyone kept two. 3rd season 3, 4th 4, and so on. We're keeping 7 this year. The idea is much simpler than Code's and we're evolving into a dynasty. It's an IDP league with 21 on the roster this year and the roster grows a spot per season too.

 

[code]

Start of the second season, everyone kept two.  3rd season 3, 4th 4, and so on.  We're keeping 7 this year.  The idea is much simpler than Code's and we're evolving into a dynasty.  It's an IDP league with 21 on the roster this year and the roster grows a spot per season too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is definitely an easier approach...our format has a lot of additional benefits (capology, a free agent period, guaranteed contract minimums, etc.) that we prefer, but its certainly not for the faint of heart...

 

[Dope]

Copied from our rules:

5) Draft Value Keeper League:

5a) Each player drafted receives a Draft Value (DV) equal to the round he was selected. (i.e. - a player selected in the first round has a DV of 1, a player selected in the 13 round has DV of 13).

5b) All undrafted free agent pick-ups have a DV of 9.

5c) A free agent pick-up who was selected during the draft and subsequently released/dropped retains his original DV based on his draft round selection. 

5d) For each player you decide to keep, you lose a selection in the draft equal to the player's DV. (i.e. - The Pleasures select Robert Smith in the 5th round. His DV is 5 and at the end of the season you subtract 3 leaving him a DV of 2. If the Pleasures decide to keep Robert Smith they will relinquish their 2nd round pick in the next draft.)

5e) If you chose to keep multiple players with the same DV (because of trades and free agent acquisitions) you lose consecutive selections in the draft starting from the lowest DV. (i.e. - The Brownbaggers are going to keep two players with a DV of 4 and one with a DV of 5. The Brownbaggers will have to forfeit their 3rd, 4th, and 5th round selections in the next draft.)

5f) You do not have to retain any players. *The maximum number of players you may retain is 8 which must be consistent with a starting lineup (i.e. - 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 PK and 1 D/ST). Of those six only 1 can be a quarterback.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My league is very similar to this one.This way of keepers makes the draft so important year after year...you CAN build up quite a powerhouse...but eventually studs will return to the pool of draftable players.