My Dynasty Mentality. (1 Viewer)

[Eminence]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

Rule #2-

Trade early and often. Things change so frequently in the NFL. It's almost hilarious how different people's perspectives will be on some of these players by mid-season. Guys we think are worthy of 1st and 2nd picks will completely flop and leave everyone in gasps, lol. The way people value their team completely changes when their stud RB tears their ACL. Suddenly they need to acquire another starter and will trade that WR depth that they've been sitting on. In dynasty, you need to constantly flip your roster.

A. Everyone who isn't producing at a QB2 / RB2 / WR2 / TE2 is expendable. You're not winning leagues if you're wasting roster spaces on guys like that. Especially if they're fringe talents that eventually will burn you: Torrey Smith, Kendall Wright

B. Don't trade your studs. In relation to point A, you trade anyone who isn't producing at a QB2 / RB2 / WR2 / TE2 level for a chance to acquire a stud. A stud is a player that frequently scores as a #1 or a #2.

The point is, value is always fluctuating in the NFL. The idea is to SELL a player at what you think their ceiling is and BUY a player at what you think their floor is.

Rule #3-

Use the eyeball test.

It doesn't take a genius to evaluate tape. All I do is watch "highlights" on Youtube and it gives me a good enough insight on a players athletic ability. For me, when I examine game film I isolate what the player I am watching does towards the defense. There's a million different ways to succeed and you need to be able to pinpoint them.

Simple things. Ignore 40 times and watch a player play. What do you notice?

"He's fast."
"Nice spin move."
"Bad Defense."

Rule #4-

Acknowledge Opportunity, or the lack of it...

Ok, there are some lousy Quarterbacks in the NFL. Guys who we know are going to fail before they actually do, Blaine Gabbert is a perfect example. What this game essentially boils down to is owning players who are on the highest scoring Offenses.

Generally speaking, if Aaron Rodgers goes off for 40 Touchdowns somebody has to catch them. So he's going to make a lot of players relevant in Green Bay. Nelson, Cobb, and whoever happens to play the most snaps with Aaron Rodgers are going to be significant Fantasy contributors.

Meanwhile, you've got guys on lower scoring Offenses that are limited by their Quarterbacks. Pick your favorite example. I'd like to use Rex Grossman assuming you guys know who he is, lol.

So sometimes, you have to ignore talent and look at situation. Sure situation may change in the future but this is this season. You can sit it out or pinpoint the other guy who also sees this future value. But again, I don't pay $50 to morph my team for the future. I pay $50 to do my best shot of winning the league this year. I'll pull a rabbit out if I have to.

Rule #5-

Things change fast in the NFL.

Opportunities open and close at every position in the NFL. With 32 teams to monitor, there's quite a bit of opportunity to be had. So if your team finished last place last year, you get a chance to rebuild and have some fun. If you're shrewd enough, you will be able to nickel and dime your way to the top.

 

[Khy]

Pretty sure, everyone above the age of like 17 knows who Rex Grossman is...

 

[cstu]

The first rule of dynasty football is not to follow Eminence's first rule.

 

[Dez]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

I did that in 2011 trading away AJ Green for Roddy White who was at the time not a WR2 but a top 5 dynasty WR1. It took all over 1 year for that to make me feel sick every year for next 10-15 years.

 

[Archer]

Trade quantity for quality whenever you can

Never sleep on your waivers

Trade players before they get hurt (if only we all had crystal balls )

 

[Evil G]

All in all, I think Em has some solid strategy there. Let me add, if I can.

Rule #1 - Play to Win. Sometimes, you have to rebuild and play for the long haul. You can sacrifice the now for the future, if the now is mediocre. This means that you sacrifice a few 6th place finishes for a few 11th place finishes and you can tranform sustained mediocrity for a nadar and hopefully, a renewed zenith.

Rule #2 - Trade a lot. In addition to being the key to future value and championship runs, they are also the most fun you can have without watching actual football. So get good at it if you can.

Rule #3 - Eyeball. I pretty much agree. But I've misled myself too. Christine Michael looks super dangerous, yes, but when is his shot? James Starks looked great on many of his carries too, last year. That doesn't mean his stock is going up anytime soon.

Rule #4 - Opportunity over Talent. Okay, but isn't this the opposite of the Eyeball test? Studs are talent PLUS opportunity. Sometimes, the recognition needed is that of the actual opportunity, not the player in it. For example, there is value is remaining conscious that someone will be Green Bay's starting TE in 2014, whether it be Finley, Bostick, Lyerla or someone else. That TE, whomever he is, will have a strong chance to be Fantasy relevant. Acting on that, contextual to your league and your Roster, is key.

Rule #5 - Stay on top of things. Yes, but there are diminishing returns. One, you can over-think stuff, undermining your choices and your fun. And two, your girlfriend, wife, children or family need to see you occasionally, numb-nuts.

Adding my own here:

Rule #6 - Get to know your League mates. If you can come in with offers that meet THEIR perceived needs, or narcissistic and neurotic wants, you can pull off trades less informed Owners cannot. Also, your League mates are guys that love football. Share it, love it.

Rule #7 - Play for the right amount of money. If you play in a League where you perceive the entry fee to be a lot of money, you will be too nervous and not have fun. Or, if you perceive it to be peanuts, your emotional commitment can be low, and you won't care to win, or the wins feel trivial. Play to Win/Love the Game.

Rule #8 - Make your League Special. Whatever you can do to make your League special and different, whether you're the Commish or not, DO IT. Have a BBQ, get a trophy, invite the boys to your man cave, go to a game together, make them laugh on the Boards, make ridiculous side bets. The League is there to have fun. You can have an incredible time if everyone is there adding to it, win or lose.

Rule #9 - Win or Lose with pride. Whatever you're getting up to in that League, do it with some bloody dignity.

 

[squistion]

The first rule of dynasty football is not to follow Eminence's first rule.

Agreed. I have been in dynasty leagues since 2003 and the people who have this "play to win this year" philosophy don't always win this year, and by mortgaging their team's future for the present end up with an old and uncompetitive team in a few years (at which time they usually quit the league leaving the Commissioner with a team that has to be seriously discounted to get anyone to take it over).

Actually I myself take a shorter term view than most in dynasty (looking to win in a 2-3 year time frame) and have been criticized in this forum for having a flawed strategy, being told that "future value is more important than present value".

However, even though my teams are geared with the goal of making the playoffs every year, I don't cash in all my chips on the younger players for a one year championship run. I always have several young developmental players that I am holding for the long term, so I never hit the wall of having to do a complete rebuild.

Final thought: If you are playing just to win this year, you might as well be in a redraft league.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Oof.

 

[Andrew74]

The first rule of dynasty football is not to follow Eminence's first rule.

 

[JohnnyU]

The first rule of dynasty football is not to follow Eminence's first rule.

I agree with the above poster who said, teams that always mortgage their future to win now in dynasty leagues, usually end up with an old crappy team at some point. Then they say I'm leaving the league because I'm in too many leagues, when in reality they know they've run the team into the ground and have no way of winning anytime soon. I despise these types of dynasty owners. They should stay in redraft leagues if that is their mentality.

 

[johnb]

I think its a blend. The guys with a bunch of pretty young prospects on their team and nothing else coming in 7th and 8th every year are fools too. I like to have some youth, don't like to waste away picks, but have no problem with fitz and AJ on my roster. I've done pretty well. I have had plenty of owners tell me fitz is old which is quite silly. If you are constantly building, you will never be built.

 

[One More Rep]

I think its a blend. The guys with a bunch of pretty young prospects on their team and nothing else coming in 7th and 8th every year are fools too. I like to have some youth, don't like to waste away picks, but have no problem with fitz and AJ on my roster. I've done pretty well. I have had plenty of owners tell me fitz is old which is quite silly. If you are constantly building, you will never be built.

 

[JohnnyU]

I think its a blend. The guys with a bunch of pretty young prospects on their team and nothing else coming in 7th and 8th every year are fools too. I like to have some youth, don't like to waste away picks, but have no problem with fitz and AJ on my roster. I've done pretty well. I have had plenty of owners tell me fitz is old which is quite silly. If you are constantly building, you will never be built.

Of course you try to win now and vets are critical, but you don't mortgage your entire future (emphasis on the word entire) for the sake of one year in a dynasty league.

 

[johnb]

Yeah. I didn't really get the complete sell out tone from his post. More of a realization that if you cam make a run that you may have to sell something with mote future value.

 

[amnesiac]

having done dynasty for awhile, i've finally settled on this strategy:

do your research, and swing for the fences on your rookie picks.

only trade when you realize you've messed up and you can find someone else who doesn't.

 

[Zyphros]

These are interesting concepts but hard enough to get a good grasp on when to actually use them. I started dynasty 5 years ago and my team that I drafted was brutal because I had no idea what I was doing. I finally got the hang of dynasty leagues maybe 2 years ago and almost done with my first rebuild and I'm having a hard time changing my mentality to *win now*. I've been building this team for so long I don't know how to exactly find solid production from underrated/appreciated guys to fill out the rest of my roster. It's not about going all in one year to compete, because of the variability of both the NFL and fantasy I've learned sustainability is your best bet to compete and win.

 

[FUBAR]

Trade quantity for quality whenever you can

Never sleep on your waivers

Trade players before they get hurt (if only we all had crystal balls )

Curious to what degree this holds true, especially in deep auctions.

For example - If you can walk away with Rodgers, Charles, Calvin, Graham, and Kuechly in a league where you start 22 players but have nothing but scraps (literally, guys like Collin Mooney and Cory Harkey) after those guys, do you do it?

 

[FUBAR]

The first rule of dynasty football is not to follow Eminence's first rule.

I agree with the above poster who said, teams that always mortgage their future to win now in dynasty leagues, usually end up with an old crappy team at some point. Then they say I'm leaving the league because I'm in too many leagues, when in reality they know they've run the team into the ground and have no way of winning anytime soon. I despise these types of dynasty owners. They should stay in redraft leagues if that is their mentality.

Agreed. It seems this type of owner knows they can take advantage of the vet discount for a couple years but don't want to go through the lumps.

I'd love to see a good format where owners benefit from long-term success. Something like a prize purse going to the franchise that has the most total wins + division + conference + Super Bowl championships since the start of the league. Might be tough to get new owners, but for those who stick it out it could be rewarding.

 

[Concept Coop]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year.

Play to win, period. As much as you can. Sometimes that is making a push, sometimes it isn't.

Rule #2-

Trade early and often.

I'd say: explore potential roster moves early and often. That's all we can control. No need to treat a roster move as though the move itself provides value (outside of the +/- of the assets). That leads to bad trades.

Rule #3-

Use the eyeball test.

I'd say: watch as much football as you can.

Rule #4-

Acknowledge Opportunity, or the lack of it...

Corrected: pay attention to the factors that will lead to a player's situation.

Rule #5-

Things change fast in the NFL.

Not really a rule, and falls under rule 4.

 

[Shutout]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

I did that in 2011 trading away AJ Green for Roddy White who was at the time not a WR2 but a top 5 dynasty WR1. It took all over 1 year for that to make me feel sick every year for next 10-15 years.

That cuts both ways though. It's also the reason why, two years ago, I went all in on Dez Bryant to put me over the top...and he has.

Sure, you may have to give something to get something (imagine the novelty of that thought process) but, at the end of the day, the OP has it exactly right. You play to win the year you are in. Period; end of statement; /thread. It truly is that simple. I know SO MANY guys across leagues that get caught up in Logan's Run Syndrome (everything 30 and older is dead) and all they do, every year, is talk about how good they are going to be NEXT year. Meanwhile, guys who are in it to win it and aren't afraid to go get a Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, trade that 22 year old Zac Stacy for the ancient 28 year old Pierre Garcon are the guys winning leagues.

LOL. I pretty much imagine that every guy I play in a league in is a 50 year old dude going through a mid-life crisis. He's out there looking at all the fast cars and young girls while I'm content to hang out with that crowd when I can but also perfectly content to come home to gramma's cookin' sometimes and you know what? I eat well, I compete well, and I win my share of leagues. And I don't cry when Roddy White or Reggie Wayne slow down or retire. I just reload (which is better than rebuilding....all the time).

 

[Shutout]

I think its a blend. The guys with a bunch of pretty young prospects on their team and nothing else coming in 7th and 8th every year are fools too. I like to have some youth, don't like to waste away picks, but have no problem with fitz and AJ on my roster. I've done pretty well. I have had plenty of owners tell me fitz is old which is quite silly. If you are constantly building, you will never be built.

Of course you try to win now and vets are critical, but you don't mortgage your entire future (emphasis on the word entire) for the sake of one year in a dynasty league.

That's an easy statement and easy to cherry pick an example (like the guy mentioning ROddy and AJ green) but a lot of really comes down to actively participating. If I was a team in it to win it a few years ago and I traded Justin Blackmon and Jahvid Best away to win, then I obviously didn't mortgage or cripple my team. But by being active, there's a good chance I gave myself a chance to win back then, and I remained active going forward. If nothing else, if I traded Aaron Hernandez to get pieces for a final piece, I dodged a bullet and I likely planted the seed in my head that I need to look harder for a TE.

It all washes both ways. We win, we lose, but overall the OP has the right points: Play to win, not build a pyramid for the rest of your life, and stay active.

 

[Shutout]

These are interesting concepts but hard enough to get a good grasp on when to actually use them. I started dynasty 5 years ago and my team that I drafted was brutal because I had no idea what I was doing. I finally got the hang of dynasty leagues maybe 2 years ago and almost done with my first rebuild and I'm having a hard time changing my mentality to *win now*. I've been building this team for so long I don't know how to exactly find solid production from underrated/appreciated guys to fill out the rest of my roster. It's not about going all in one year to compete, because of the variability of both the NFL and fantasy I've learned sustainability is your best bet to compete and win.

You've been playing dynasty long enough now that you should have a good feeling for whether you're in the win now window or not. Of course, if you've been playing 5 years but not in the same league(s) it can be harder to judge but if you've been building a team for 3-4 years, you probably are in the same league and should have a feel for when its time to punch the gas.

 

[Ditka Butkus]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

 

[JohnnyU]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

 

[lod01]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

Man, someone should have told Ralph Wilson and Bud Adams that one.

 

[Ditka Butkus]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

 

[JohnnyU]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

 

[lod01]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

 

[tdmills]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

Sinning should be at the bottom of the list if you have limited time. I would put time into loved ones, reach out to people I care about but may have lost touch with, and dedicated a significant amount of time into the word/Jesus/God.

 

[lod01]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

Sinning should be at the bottom of the list if you have limited time. I would put time into loved ones, reach out to people I care about but may have lost touch with, and dedicated a significant amount of time into the word/Jesus/God.

Good one. Talk about wasting what little time you have left.

 

[tdmills]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

Sinning should be at the bottom of the list if you have limited time. I would put time into loved ones, reach out to people I care about but may have lost touch with, and dedicated a significant amount of time into the word/Jesus/God.

Good one. Talk about wasting what little time you have left.

We obviously have polar opposite morals.

 

[Ditka Butkus]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

Sinning should be at the bottom of the list if you have limited time. I would put time into loved ones, reach out to people I care about but may have lost touch with, and dedicated a significant amount of time into the word/Jesus/God.

If playing Fantasy Football and trying to win your Dynasty league is wrong...then I don't want to be right....I may have to change my team name to THE BEELZEBUB"S

 

[Adam Harstad]

Trade quantity for quality whenever you can

Never sleep on your waivers

Trade players before they get hurt (if only we all had crystal balls )

Curious to what degree this holds true, especially in deep auctions.

For example - If you can walk away with Rodgers, Charles, Calvin, Graham, and Kuechly in a league where you start 22 players but have nothing but scraps (literally, guys like Collin Mooney and Cory Harkey) after those guys, do you do it?

I would, especially if I could replace Charles with, say, Dez or Julio. It might take a year to patch those massive holes well enough to compete, and I wouldn't want to burn a precious season of Charles' limited remaining prime. The nice thing about studs is that if you have to take a year to figure out the rest of your roster, at least you know they'll still be anchoring things when you're done. At the same time, the strong majority of that "depth" you sacrificed to acquire them will turn back into pumpkins.

To put it another way, here are the guys that were drafted in the 6th-9th of a TE-premium startup I did last year: Crabtree, Sproles, Colston, Eifert, Antonio Brown, Olsen, Finley, Blackmon, Cook, Jennings, Shorts, Hopkins, Mathews, Lacy, Ivory, Vereen, Gore, Patterson, Vincent Brown, Gonzo, Welker, JStew, Decker, Mike Williams, Dwayne Allen, Stevie, Pierce, Garcon, Wayne, Wright, Peyton, Franklin, Smiff, Martellus, James Jones, Brady, Bryce Brown, Hilton, Mendenhall, Maclin, Fleener, Britt, Michael Floyd, BJGE, Bradshaw, Desean, Denarius, Miles. There are a few studs hidden in there, but by and large, that "quality depth" is a list of guys I'm not losing any sleep over not owning a year later.

 

[cstu]

As you get older there is more of a sense of urgency. You have to play to win this year because you could be dead next year.

If you feel like you're going to die soon put all your energy into a good redraft league and forget dynasty leagues altogether.

Probably better advise.

On second thought, if you think you're going to die soon, perhaps fantasy football should be at the bottom of your priorities. Maybe spending more time with family and friends should be a the top of your priority list. I don't know about you, but I plan on living forever.

don't forget strippers.

Sinning should be at the bottom of the list if you have limited time. I would put time into loved ones, reach out to people I care about but may have lost touch with, and dedicated a significant amount of time into the word/Jesus/God.

Good one. Talk about wasting what little time you have left.

We obviously have polar opposite morals.

I don't see the point of wasting your time on Earth talking to God when you're going to see him very soon.

 

[FUBAR]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

I did that in 2011 trading away AJ Green for Roddy White who was at the time not a WR2 but a top 5 dynasty WR1. It took all over 1 year for that to make me feel sick every year for next 10-15 years.

That cuts both ways though. It's also the reason why, two years ago, I went all in on Dez Bryant to put me over the top...and he has.

Sure, you may have to give something to get something (imagine the novelty of that thought process) but, at the end of the day, the OP has it exactly right. You play to win the year you are in. Period; end of statement; /thread. It truly is that simple. I know SO MANY guys across leagues that get caught up in Logan's Run Syndrome (everything 30 and older is dead) and all they do, every year, is talk about how good they are going to be NEXT year. Meanwhile, guys who are in it to win it and aren't afraid to go get a Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, trade that 22 year old Zac Stacy for the ancient 28 year old Pierre Garcon are the guys winning leagues.

LOL. I pretty much imagine that every guy I play in a league in is a 50 year old dude going through a mid-life crisis. He's out there looking at all the fast cars and young girls while I'm content to hang out with that crowd when I can but also perfectly content to come home to gramma's cookin' sometimes and you know what? I eat well, I compete well, and I win my share of leagues. And I don't cry when Roddy White or Reggie Wayne slow down or retire. I just reload (which is better than rebuilding....all the time).

There's a time for this and a time to be realistic and rebuild. We can all agree that perennial rebuilding is bad, but I'm not going to trade a young guy I like for Reggie Wayne if the best I can reasonably hope for is to finish .500

When I rebuild, I look to acquire injured or underperforming players I like. the prime example IMO is my trading Peyton Manning and Austin Pettis for Ryan Tannehill and Randall Cobb last year. The guy I traded Peyton to ended the season with the #1 conference seed but lost in the playoffs. I barely won my division (it was a weak division) and got smashed in the playoffs. Peyton wasn't going to help. I think we're both happy with the trade even today.

 

[Shutout]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

I did that in 2011 trading away AJ Green for Roddy White who was at the time not a WR2 but a top 5 dynasty WR1. It took all over 1 year for that to make me feel sick every year for next 10-15 years.

That cuts both ways though. It's also the reason why, two years ago, I went all in on Dez Bryant to put me over the top...and he has.

Sure, you may have to give something to get something (imagine the novelty of that thought process) but, at the end of the day, the OP has it exactly right. You play to win the year you are in. Period; end of statement; /thread. It truly is that simple. I know SO MANY guys across leagues that get caught up in Logan's Run Syndrome (everything 30 and older is dead) and all they do, every year, is talk about how good they are going to be NEXT year. Meanwhile, guys who are in it to win it and aren't afraid to go get a Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, trade that 22 year old Zac Stacy for the ancient 28 year old Pierre Garcon are the guys winning leagues.

LOL. I pretty much imagine that every guy I play in a league in is a 50 year old dude going through a mid-life crisis. He's out there looking at all the fast cars and young girls while I'm content to hang out with that crowd when I can but also perfectly content to come home to gramma's cookin' sometimes and you know what? I eat well, I compete well, and I win my share of leagues. And I don't cry when Roddy White or Reggie Wayne slow down or retire. I just reload (which is better than rebuilding....all the time).

There's a time for this and a time to be realistic and rebuild. We can all agree that perennial rebuilding is bad, but I'm not going to trade a young guy I like for Reggie Wayne if the best I can reasonably hope for is to finish .500

When I rebuild, I look to acquire injured or underperforming players I like. the prime example IMO is my trading Peyton Manning and Austin Pettis for Ryan Tannehill and Randall Cobb last year. The guy I traded Peyton to ended the season with the #1 conference seed but lost in the playoffs. I barely won my division (it was a weak division) and got smashed in the playoffs. Peyton wasn't going to help. I think we're both happy with the trade even today.

Sure. My thoughts are when you're in it with a shot to win it (so I would only go after Wayne in that scenario and he is foreseeably the piece that gets you over the top).

Yeah, I'd say you guys are probably both ok with that trade. He went for it and there wasn't a better piece for a contending team to "go for it" in an upgrade last year than Peyton. I saw that kind of move in a couple of my leagues last year, with guys going from Matt Ryans and Ben Rothlesburgers to Peyton. Funny enough, it didn't pan out for any team I saw do it but if it were me, I would have done the same thing as a playoff team. He gives you that shot.

And you now have an interesting young QB and Cobb which should serve you well for a long time. I love win/win "now and later" trades in ff. Its just a shame that so few teams realize when they are the now and when they are the later.

 

[nirad3]

words... words....

Is your "dynasty mentality" anything like your stock tips?

 

[Spin]

Rule #1-

Play to win this year. That's all. If your team has a CHANCE to make the run, then you must be willing to sacrifice future value to get there. Don't get bent out of shape if you have to trade away that Rookie WR stud you just drafted in order to get an aging WR2. You want players on your team that are producing NOW.

A team in my league tried this about 2 years in a row, always trading future picks/young up and comers, for older, aging stars. Made the playoffs and was 1 and done both times. Now look at his roster, this is for 10 team, start 1,2,3,1,superflex, ppr.... This is a bad 12 team roster, and an atrocious 10 team roster


Brady, Tom NEP QB
Glennon, Mike TBB QB
Keenum, Case HOU QB
Manning, Eli NYG QB
McCown, Josh TBB QB

Bradshaw, Ahmad IND RB
Gore, Frank SFO RB
Jackson, Steven ATL
Thomas, Pierre NOS RB
Williams, DeAngelo CAR RB

Baldwin, Doug SEA WR
Cotchery, Jerricho CAR WR
Douglas, Harry ATL WR
Hartline, Brian MIA WR
LaFell, Brandon NEP WR
Moore, Lance PIT WR
Pettis, Austin STL WR
Simpson, Jerome MIN WR
Wayne, Reggie IND WR

Gresham, Jermaine CIN TE
Myers, Brandon TBB TE
Olsen, Greg CAR TE
I feel bad for the guy who just took over, as the original owner bailed. We gave him a free 1st plus no dues for the first year to help rebuild, but it's going to be awhile.

 

[Adam Harstad]

I have a hypothetical for the "you can only win the year you're currently in" crowd:

Let's say you have the most win-now team in the history of football. We're talking Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Jason Witten, with Frank Gore manning your flex. You've got decent depth at QB, RB, and TE, but your next-best WR is Dexter McCluster. Let's say that there are three or four teams that are neck-and-neck for the "total points" title, and you're right in the thick of that group. Let's say that it's week 10 and you've already clinched your playoff spot, but you're in a dogfight for a first-round bye. Again, basically, you're the most "win now" team ever. Now, let's imagine that one of the other three contenders approaches you and offers you ten (10) first round picks for Andre Johnson. Literally 10 first rounders- five in 2015 and five in 2016. These picks come from a whole host of other teams, and many of them project to be very high picks.

Is there anyone here- anyone- who turns that offer down? Is there anyone here who could imagine a situation where they would NOT trade Andre Johnson for 10 future first round picks?

Obviously 10 first rounders for Andre Johnson is a pretty insane and unreasonable hypothetical, but it's like that old joke. A man asks a woman if she'd sleep with him for $10 million, and she says yes. He then asks if she'd sleep with him for $100 and she says "what kind of woman do you think I am?" The man replies "we've already established what type of woman you are, now we're just haggling about price."

There's not a single guy here who would never be willing to sacrifice their current chances to improve their future chances. If there is, then perhaps Dynasty isn't the system for them. "You can only win the year you're currently playing" sounds good on paper, but in reality, if the only year you're trying to win is the current one, then you're doing it wrong. I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year. And if reducing my chances this year increases my chances in future seasons by an even greater amount, then I'm going to pull the trigger on that, even if it means taking a "win now" squad and compromising its ability to "win now".

 

[Khy]

I have a hypothetical for the "you can only win the year you're currently in" crowd:

Let's say you have the most win-now team in the history of football. We're talking Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Jason Witten, with Frank Gore manning your flex. You've got decent depth at QB, RB, and TE, but your next-best WR is Dexter McCluster. Let's say that there are three or four teams that are neck-and-neck for the "total points" title, and you're right in the thick of that group. Let's say that it's week 10 and you've already clinched your playoff spot, but you're in a dogfight for a first-round bye. Again, basically, you're the most "win now" team ever. Now, let's imagine that one of the other three contenders approaches you and offers you ten (10) first round picks for Andre Johnson. Literally 10 first rounders- five in 2015 and five in 2016. These picks come from a whole host of other teams, and many of them project to be very high picks.

Is there anyone here- anyone- who turns that offer down? Is there anyone here who could imagine a situation where they would NOT trade Andre Johnson for 10 future first round picks?

Obviously 10 first rounders for Andre Johnson is a pretty insane and unreasonable hypothetical, but it's like that old joke. A man asks a woman if she'd sleep with him for $10 million, and she says yes. He then asks if she'd sleep with him for $100 and she says "what kind of woman do you think I am?" The man replies "we've already established what type of woman you are, now we're just haggling about price."

There's not a single guy here who would never be willing to sacrifice their current chances to improve their future chances. If there is, then perhaps Dynasty isn't the system for them. "You can only win the year you're currently playing" sounds good on paper, but in reality, if the only year you're trying to win is the current one, then you're doing it wrong. I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year. And if reducing my chances this year increases my chances in future seasons by an even greater amount, then I'm going to pull the trigger on that, even if it means taking a "win now" squad and compromising its ability to "win now".

I like the concept and get that it's kind of rhetorical. But I think replacing Andre Johnson with Peyton makes this a more compelling concepts. By trading away Peyton you're clearly throwing away your season. You could get lucky after trading away Andre though.

 

[Adam Harstad]

I have a hypothetical for the "you can only win the year you're currently in" crowd:

Let's say you have the most win-now team in the history of football. We're talking Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Jason Witten, with Frank Gore manning your flex. You've got decent depth at QB, RB, and TE, but your next-best WR is Dexter McCluster. Let's say that there are three or four teams that are neck-and-neck for the "total points" title, and you're right in the thick of that group. Let's say that it's week 10 and you've already clinched your playoff spot, but you're in a dogfight for a first-round bye. Again, basically, you're the most "win now" team ever. Now, let's imagine that one of the other three contenders approaches you and offers you ten (10) first round picks for Andre Johnson. Literally 10 first rounders- five in 2015 and five in 2016. These picks come from a whole host of other teams, and many of them project to be very high picks.

Is there anyone here- anyone- who turns that offer down? Is there anyone here who could imagine a situation where they would NOT trade Andre Johnson for 10 future first round picks?

Obviously 10 first rounders for Andre Johnson is a pretty insane and unreasonable hypothetical, but it's like that old joke. A man asks a woman if she'd sleep with him for $10 million, and she says yes. He then asks if she'd sleep with him for $100 and she says "what kind of woman do you think I am?" The man replies "we've already established what type of woman you are, now we're just haggling about price."

There's not a single guy here who would never be willing to sacrifice their current chances to improve their future chances. If there is, then perhaps Dynasty isn't the system for them. "You can only win the year you're currently playing" sounds good on paper, but in reality, if the only year you're trying to win is the current one, then you're doing it wrong. I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year. And if reducing my chances this year increases my chances in future seasons by an even greater amount, then I'm going to pull the trigger on that, even if it means taking a "win now" squad and compromising its ability to "win now".

I like the concept and get that it's kind of rhetorical. But I think replacing Andre Johnson with Peyton makes this a more compelling concepts. By trading away Peyton you're clearly throwing away your season. You could get lucky after trading away Andre though.

Even if you made it Peyton instead of Andre, everyone would still have a price. If there was a move I could make that dropped me from a 100% lead-pipe lock to win the league this year all the way down to a 0% literally-impossible chance to win the league, I would still do it if the price was right. If someone could offer me every 1st round rookie pick for the next ten years (110 picks in total), I would be thrilled to tank my current season.

Again, these are crazy and impossible hypotheticals. As with the joke, the point is merely to establish that it's a possibility before we begin haggling over price.

 

[Nucker101]

I have a hypothetical for the "you can only win the year you're currently in" crowd:

Let's say you have the most win-now team in the history of football. We're talking Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Jason Witten, with Frank Gore manning your flex. You've got decent depth at QB, RB, and TE, but your next-best WR is Dexter McCluster. Let's say that there are three or four teams that are neck-and-neck for the "total points" title, and you're right in the thick of that group. Let's say that it's week 10 and you've already clinched your playoff spot, but you're in a dogfight for a first-round bye. Again, basically, you're the most "win now" team ever. Now, let's imagine that one of the other three contenders approaches you and offers you ten (10) first round picks for Andre Johnson. Literally 10 first rounders- five in 2015 and five in 2016. These picks come from a whole host of other teams, and many of them project to be very high picks.

Is there anyone here- anyone- who turns that offer down? Is there anyone here who could imagine a situation where they would NOT trade Andre Johnson for 10 future first round picks?

Obviously 10 first rounders for Andre Johnson is a pretty insane and unreasonable hypothetical, but it's like that old joke. A man asks a woman if she'd sleep with him for $10 million, and she says yes. He then asks if she'd sleep with him for $100 and she says "what kind of woman do you think I am?" The man replies "we've already established what type of woman you are, now we're just haggling about price."

There's not a single guy here who would never be willing to sacrifice their current chances to improve their future chances. If there is, then perhaps Dynasty isn't the system for them. "You can only win the year you're currently playing" sounds good on paper, but in reality, if the only year you're trying to win is the current one, then you're doing it wrong. I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year. And if reducing my chances this year increases my chances in future seasons by an even greater amount, then I'm going to pull the trigger on that, even if it means taking a "win now" squad and compromising its ability to "win now".

Trick question. You accept it and flip the picks for a better player to help you win now.

 

[KellysHeroes]

By all means, if you feel like your ready then make a couple of moves and load up but don't sell the farm; Yes I have seen it successful but I have also seen the consequences. You'll be begging people to give you their 1sts for Roddy White during the off-season and smart FF owners just won't do it. You'll most likely won't a 1st of your as well but selling out of the draft isn't always a bad thing.

The best way to build is to have a solid foundation of vets with young studs on the bench

 

[PatsWillWin]

#1 rule is doing it wrong.

 

[ZWK]

My two:

1. Every move that you make should add value to your team.

By "value" I mean what players are worth in your league, rather than what they are worth on your roster. Looking only at what you paid and what you got (and ignoring the particulars of your team's needs), is what you got more valuable than what you paid? This is the same approach as BPA drafting, applied to every roster move that you make (drafting, trading, waiver pickups). (There is a further debate about whether to focus on a player's expected VBD value or his future trade value, which I'll set aside for now.)

The rule as phrased is overstated for punchiness; a more accurate way of putting it is "Most of the moves that you make should add value to your team, almost none of them should subtract value, and those that do subtract value should only subtract a small amount of it." Obviously, if you don't have a single healthy TE on your roster then you'll have to trade for one (even if it means "overpaying" in value). If you're rebuilding then you'll want to sell off your old veterans (even if you can't get "full price" for them). Etc.

But with 11 other owners in your league, most of the time you should be able to find one TE who you don't have to overpay for (or at least where you're not overpaying by much). Most of the time you should be able to find one contender who will buy your veterans for what they're worth, or more (or perhaps for just slightly less than they're worth). And most of the time you are not in such a desperate state that you have to buy or sell right now. If the trade market rates aren't favorable, you can usually wait a bit (while continuing to work the emails).

2. Make lots of moves.

Work the trades, work the wire. If you're adding value to your team with every move that you make, and you make a lot of moves, then your team will keep getting better and better.

Some moves will make your roster older, some will make it younger. Some will help you win now, some will help you win later. Some will strengthen your roster's weaknesses, others will strengthen your strengths and weaken your weaknesses. Some will strengthen your depth, others will hollow it out. The construction of your roster will keep shifting as you make more moves, and as players rise and fall.

But as long as you keep making moves that add value (and you keep your roster balance from getting too ridiculously off-kilter), your squad will keep twirling, twirling, twirling towards championships.

 

[nirad3]

My two:

1. Every move that you make should add value to your team.

By "value" I mean what players are worth in your league, rather than what they are worth on your roster. Looking only at what you paid and what you got (and ignoring the particulars of your team's needs), is what you got more valuable than what you paid? This is the same approach as BPA drafting, applied to every roster move that you make (drafting, trading, waiver pickups). (There is a further debate about whether to focus on a player's expected VBD value or his future trade value, which I'll set aside for now.)

The rule as phrased is overstated for punchiness; a more accurate way of putting it is "Most of the moves that you make should add value to your team, almost none of them should subtract value, and those that do subtract value should only subtract a small amount of it." Obviously, if you don't have a single healthy TE on your roster then you'll have to trade for one (even if it means "overpaying" in value). If you're rebuilding then you'll want to sell off your old veterans (even if you can't get "full price" for them). Etc.

But with 11 other owners in your league, most of the time you should be able to find one TE who you don't have to overpay for (or at least where you're not overpaying by much). Most of the time you should be able to find one contender who will buy your veterans for what they're worth, or more (or perhaps for just slightly less than they're worth). And most of the time you are not in such a desperate state that you have to buy or sell right now. If the trade market rates aren't favorable, you can usually wait a bit (while continuing to work the emails).

2. Make lots of moves.

Work the trades, work the wire. If you're adding value to your team with every move that you make, and you make a lot of moves, then your team will keep getting better and better.

Some moves will make your roster older, some will make it younger. Some will help you win now, some will help you win later. Some will strengthen your roster's weaknesses, others will strengthen your strengths and weaken your weaknesses. Some will strengthen your depth, others will hollow it out. The construction of your roster will keep shifting as you make more moves, and as players rise and fall.

But as long as you keep making moves that add value (and you keep your roster balance from getting too ridiculously off-kilter), your squad will keep twirling, twirling, twirling towards championships.

 

[Shutout]

I have a hypothetical for the "you can only win the year you're currently in" crowd:

Let's say you have the most win-now team in the history of football. We're talking Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Jason Witten, with Frank Gore manning your flex. You've got decent depth at QB, RB, and TE, but your next-best WR is Dexter McCluster. Let's say that there are three or four teams that are neck-and-neck for the "total points" title, and you're right in the thick of that group. Let's say that it's week 10 and you've already clinched your playoff spot, but you're in a dogfight for a first-round bye. Again, basically, you're the most "win now" team ever. Now, let's imagine that one of the other three contenders approaches you and offers you ten (10) first round picks for Andre Johnson. Literally 10 first rounders- five in 2015 and five in 2016. These picks come from a whole host of other teams, and many of them project to be very high picks.

Is there anyone here- anyone- who turns that offer down? Is there anyone here who could imagine a situation where they would NOT trade Andre Johnson for 10 future first round picks?

Obviously 10 first rounders for Andre Johnson is a pretty insane and unreasonable hypothetical, but it's like that old joke. A man asks a woman if she'd sleep with him for $10 million, and she says yes. He then asks if she'd sleep with him for $100 and she says "what kind of woman do you think I am?" The man replies "we've already established what type of woman you are, now we're just haggling about price."

There's not a single guy here who would never be willing to sacrifice their current chances to improve their future chances. If there is, then perhaps Dynasty isn't the system for them. "You can only win the year you're currently playing" sounds good on paper, but in reality, if the only year you're trying to win is the current one, then you're doing it wrong. I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year. And if reducing my chances this year increases my chances in future seasons by an even greater amount, then I'm going to pull the trigger on that, even if it means taking a "win now" squad and compromising its ability to "win now".

Ok, I'm going to get sucked right in on this...sigh.

You can't say " I don't want to win this year, I want to win EVERY year." And then do what you propose without already having in mind that you make that trade and then immediately use that value you picked up to go right back out there and replace AJ...which is all pointless because, while it makes the example, we all know that it's a completely implausible scenario. It's like saying "if flies had machine guns, frogs would f&@k with them". But they don't. Just like no one is ever going to offer such a deal that a clear win now team would honestly be forced to say "ok, I'll scrap the foundation of how I run my dynasty team". Sure, every once in a while someone may approach you and offer, let's say, a 1st for frank gore. But let's be real: if that is your team, as was described, you know as soon as you see the offer you can't do that because you ARE in a position to win and you know that 1st does nothing for you when you're entire team is testing positive for geritol.

But with all that being said, if you DO have that team and that offer DOES occur, you can accept it and not compromise either principle because, as stated, you already have qualified for the playoffs so you already have done everything you can do prior to week 14 and once the playoffs start, it's always a crapshoot. So you already have your golden ticket, you haven't compromised a thing, and you improve your team. Did you LESSEN your chances of winning in the year you are in? Who knows because every year I have ever played, there is always a stud who goes dud in the playoffs and there is often a nobody that comes out of nowhere and has a great playoff. That part is out of your control. But you HAVe already done everything you can to win the year by making the playoffs.

 

[Evil G]

So this thread has (for the most part) become a debate on whether Dynasty is a win-now or win-later endeavour.

It's both, obviously.

The OP has his own philosophy/perspective that drives his actions - so be it. I sense that many Dynasty Owners are rebuilding - they can't realistically win now, so their priority or only meaningful task is to instead build future value. Or, they recognize that at a certain price, they would sacrifice current value for future value if that price was/is unmistakably high.

That's fine. To each his own, because in H2H Fantasy, there are no. sure. things.

The strongest Dynasty line-up I have:

Rodgers, Cam, Fitzpat, Bortles

AP, Gio, Rice, Knowshon, Wilson+Williams

Mega, Dez, Antonio, Cobb, Evans

Davis, Olsen, Eifert, Kelce

Despite being unmistakably strong, this team has not won the League in two seasons. This team has four 1st rounders next year (!)

There is a good chance it will not win again this year, just due to factors beyond anyone's control. Coming off a crushing early round defeat in 2012, this team made the final in 2013, and had the last player to go in Week 16, that being Davis and needing 9 pts to win (TE Premium). That game, Dec 23rd against the Falcons, Davis got something in his eye , and was held to a goose-egg.

I also have Dynasty squads not nearly in as good of shape, and it's an immense challenge/joy to work them towards a stronger place.

Win-now, win-later, whatever. Dynasty is win whenever possible.

 

[False Start]

These are the threads I like to see, how people do things. That is good information. I might not agree with Eminence and rarely do, but getting a perspective of how some and I assume many other fantasy owners look at things is a huge advantage into the psyche of an opponent.

 

[nirad3]

So this thread has (for the most part) become a debate on whether Dynasty is a win-now or win-later endeavour.

It's both, obviously.

The OP has his own philosophy/perspective that drives his actions - so be it. I sense that many Dynasty Owners are rebuilding - they can't realistically win now, so their priority or only meaningful task is to instead build future value. Or, they recognize that at a certain price, they would sacrifice current value for future value if that price was/is unmistakably high.

That's fine. To each his own, because in H2H Fantasy, there are no. sure. things.

The strongest Dynasty line-up I have:

Rodgers, Cam, Fitzpat, Bortles

AP, Gio, Rice, Knowshon, Wilson+Williams

Mega, Dez, Antonio, Cobb, Evans

Davis, Olsen, Eifert, Kelce

Despite being unmistakably strong, this team has not won the League in two seasons. This team has four 1st rounders next year (!)

There is a good chance it will not win again this year, just due to factors beyond anyone's control. Coming off a crushing early round defeat in 2012, this team made the final in 2013, and had the last player to go in Week 16, that being Davis and needing 9 pts to win (TE Premium). That game, Dec 23rd against the Falcons, Davis got something in his eye , and was held to a goose-egg.

I also have Dynasty squads not nearly in as good of shape, and it's an immense challenge/joy to work them towards a stronger place.

Win-now, win-later, whatever. Dynasty is win whenever possible.

Good post...

I have a similar situation...

Brees

AP / McCoy / Murray

Marshall / Cobb

Davis

David / Bowman / Ogletree

Hardy / Dunlap

Cyprien / Berry

Looked a whole heck of a lot stronger last year with Megatron in a 3-wide instead of running 3 RBs (scored 13% higher than #2 team and 26% higher than "average" team per week and took the championship as well).... but couldn't afford both him and Brees in RFA.

Obviously will be without Bowman for part of the year but drafted a couple LBs (Hitchens, Smith) that could fill in and grabbed a guy off waivers (Keenan Robinson).

Point being, I'm still in "win now" mode, but made RFA and draft choices that both help now and will likely help in the long run too. Draft for instant value and grab some "lottery tickets".