crnerblitz
Footballguy
Rebuilding is to me a tactic employed within your own overall strategy. If you make it your strategy you can get locked into the wrong mindset. Our overarching goal in dynasty play should be “To build the perfect dynasty team. One that crushes all your foes for years to come.” Is that even possible? Yes it is, but it’s also not very likely, so our strategy should always focus us on putting the best team we can on the field.
Putting together the very best team possible will require that you employ liberal use of all the roster tools you have at hand; Free Agency, Trades, Drafting, and Player Development.
Free Agency. Once a week scan the waiver wire and pick up the guy who scored 2 touchdowns right? Wrong! I firmly believe that Free agency, waivers or whatever your league may call it is the best and fastest way to impact your team. You can reload your team right here, right now for nothing of value but roster spots. How does a potential free agent fit into your long-term plans? Does he have long term upside or is he just this week’s one hit wonder? Seldom will you be able to acquire a guy the week he breaks out. YOU HAVE TO BE AT LEAST TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF YOUR COMPITITION AT THE WAIVERS GAME. Spending thirty minutes looking at waivers once a week will not cut it. You should spend at least 2 to 3 hours a week scouring the waiver wire and leaning everything about potential breakouts. Identify players who could be given a chance to perform in the next couple of weeks due to minor ailments affecting older veterans. Look for trends that show potential growth within the team. Are His targets, receptions, and yards slowly creeping upwards? Now might be the time to roster the guy.
Trades. People don’t work the trade lines enough. You have to put in the time talking to your league-mates. Send them e-mails just to discuss football games. Always stay in touch with them. You should know them by their first names. They should know you by your first name. Having a report with someone makes it much easier to discuss all kinds of trade possibilities. It also cuts down on hurt feelings. Get out there and talk to your counterparts. You can’t spend too much time. I once had to talk trade with 3 team owners for about two weeks before I was able to make a deal that helped my team. That leads me into keeping your options open. Once you can talk in a relaxed manner with these guys your able to let them know that your keeping your options open, working several trades at once in order to help your team. Avoid openly playing them off of one another. Someone is sure to be put-off by a bidding war, and he is a future trading partner. This is especially true if the trade is less than a blockbuster. There are lots of ways to make distinctly different trade offers while improving your team in different ways. Let them know that you have two or three other deals being negotiated and that you intend to close a deal in the near future. They will appreciate the honesty.
Drafting. It’s all about the rookies’ boys! Everyone loves the new toys. Do your research and evaluate your prospects. Study your opponents’ rosters and past drafting history. Break down the league’s past tendencies. In one dynasty league I know it is a given that the first round will be eight RB’s, three QB’s, four WR’s, and one TE. Five of those RB’s will go before pick nine. This is based on data from over eight years of draft history. Mock draft your league. Place players on some rosters. See who’s left at your spot. Who might be coveting and who might be tempted to reach for need. Would He be wanting to move up but is playing it cool right now. Go find out by asking him. All these things can help put you in position to clean up on draft day.
Player development. This is important. Know how many roster spots you can allocate to rookies and developing players. Only have 6 roster spots but 9 rookie picks? That’s sure to get your league-mates circling you like a wounded tuna. Just be sure you have a plan to deal with pick overload. Don’t give up on players too soon though, but also don’t wait too long a player to develop. I have been on the wrong side of both of these. It’s very hard to know when is too long and when is not long enough. Make a decision about a player going into the season and then stick with that decision as long as reasonable.
Rebuilding. Sounds simple, eh? But even that word is loaded. What if you only need to rebuild your runningbacks corps? Is that a rebuild? Should we scrap our team because we have no starting runningbacks? We could reclassify this situation as a remodel and not a rebuild. I certainly wouldn’t gut my team to add runningbacks. Instead I might employ some short-term fixes. I won’t tell you to trade depth for a stud because that is obvious. I will tell you that I have used some methods that have met with mixed results. Tactics that are sure to be mocked as inefficient and counter productive.
Roster clearing, stuck with junk, bad football, chuck it all rebuilding is what we are talking about. Employ the tools listed above, but try to develop specific tactics based on your leagues rules and roster requirements. In a sixteen-team dynasty league that requires two starting RB’s a strategy of “Every draft pick for runningbacks and hope we get lucky.” can work well, though slowly. This is not a quick fix and can take many long years. But if you manage to get two starters and some young upside talent then you can leverage that talent to stock the rest of your roster. In a 12-team flex that spreads out scoring evenly, you might draft for need. Luckily, every position is a need. Drafting for need can be useful, but needs change and most rookies are 2-3 years away from helping you in any significant way. That brings me to “Best Player Available.” I believe in it and tend to follow that guideline when possible. I loosely prescribe to the “BPA” theory when drafting but I modify it for wide receivers. WR’s are a poor use of draft picks and roster spots. Wide receivers tend to take at least 2-3 years to develop, sometimes even longer than that. Many times, guys that are drafted this year are given up on in the winter and are on the waiver wire in the spring. Jason Hill, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Mike Walker were all picked up by me from the waiver wire this spring. Someone else spent the draft pick and rostered them for a year. My cost was nadda. And I got a year knocked off of Their development time, that is the time I have to roster them before determining if the will be part of my teams future.
Well, that covers quite a bit. Remember rebuilding is a tactical phase. Many folks get mired in it as a strategy and are locked into perpetual rebuild, always seeking younger players, more draft picks and never end up in the Championship game. Keep your cool and I’ll see you there.
Putting together the very best team possible will require that you employ liberal use of all the roster tools you have at hand; Free Agency, Trades, Drafting, and Player Development.
Free Agency. Once a week scan the waiver wire and pick up the guy who scored 2 touchdowns right? Wrong! I firmly believe that Free agency, waivers or whatever your league may call it is the best and fastest way to impact your team. You can reload your team right here, right now for nothing of value but roster spots. How does a potential free agent fit into your long-term plans? Does he have long term upside or is he just this week’s one hit wonder? Seldom will you be able to acquire a guy the week he breaks out. YOU HAVE TO BE AT LEAST TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF YOUR COMPITITION AT THE WAIVERS GAME. Spending thirty minutes looking at waivers once a week will not cut it. You should spend at least 2 to 3 hours a week scouring the waiver wire and leaning everything about potential breakouts. Identify players who could be given a chance to perform in the next couple of weeks due to minor ailments affecting older veterans. Look for trends that show potential growth within the team. Are His targets, receptions, and yards slowly creeping upwards? Now might be the time to roster the guy.
Trades. People don’t work the trade lines enough. You have to put in the time talking to your league-mates. Send them e-mails just to discuss football games. Always stay in touch with them. You should know them by their first names. They should know you by your first name. Having a report with someone makes it much easier to discuss all kinds of trade possibilities. It also cuts down on hurt feelings. Get out there and talk to your counterparts. You can’t spend too much time. I once had to talk trade with 3 team owners for about two weeks before I was able to make a deal that helped my team. That leads me into keeping your options open. Once you can talk in a relaxed manner with these guys your able to let them know that your keeping your options open, working several trades at once in order to help your team. Avoid openly playing them off of one another. Someone is sure to be put-off by a bidding war, and he is a future trading partner. This is especially true if the trade is less than a blockbuster. There are lots of ways to make distinctly different trade offers while improving your team in different ways. Let them know that you have two or three other deals being negotiated and that you intend to close a deal in the near future. They will appreciate the honesty.
Drafting. It’s all about the rookies’ boys! Everyone loves the new toys. Do your research and evaluate your prospects. Study your opponents’ rosters and past drafting history. Break down the league’s past tendencies. In one dynasty league I know it is a given that the first round will be eight RB’s, three QB’s, four WR’s, and one TE. Five of those RB’s will go before pick nine. This is based on data from over eight years of draft history. Mock draft your league. Place players on some rosters. See who’s left at your spot. Who might be coveting and who might be tempted to reach for need. Would He be wanting to move up but is playing it cool right now. Go find out by asking him. All these things can help put you in position to clean up on draft day.
Player development. This is important. Know how many roster spots you can allocate to rookies and developing players. Only have 6 roster spots but 9 rookie picks? That’s sure to get your league-mates circling you like a wounded tuna. Just be sure you have a plan to deal with pick overload. Don’t give up on players too soon though, but also don’t wait too long a player to develop. I have been on the wrong side of both of these. It’s very hard to know when is too long and when is not long enough. Make a decision about a player going into the season and then stick with that decision as long as reasonable.
Rebuilding. Sounds simple, eh? But even that word is loaded. What if you only need to rebuild your runningbacks corps? Is that a rebuild? Should we scrap our team because we have no starting runningbacks? We could reclassify this situation as a remodel and not a rebuild. I certainly wouldn’t gut my team to add runningbacks. Instead I might employ some short-term fixes. I won’t tell you to trade depth for a stud because that is obvious. I will tell you that I have used some methods that have met with mixed results. Tactics that are sure to be mocked as inefficient and counter productive.
Roster clearing, stuck with junk, bad football, chuck it all rebuilding is what we are talking about. Employ the tools listed above, but try to develop specific tactics based on your leagues rules and roster requirements. In a sixteen-team dynasty league that requires two starting RB’s a strategy of “Every draft pick for runningbacks and hope we get lucky.” can work well, though slowly. This is not a quick fix and can take many long years. But if you manage to get two starters and some young upside talent then you can leverage that talent to stock the rest of your roster. In a 12-team flex that spreads out scoring evenly, you might draft for need. Luckily, every position is a need. Drafting for need can be useful, but needs change and most rookies are 2-3 years away from helping you in any significant way. That brings me to “Best Player Available.” I believe in it and tend to follow that guideline when possible. I loosely prescribe to the “BPA” theory when drafting but I modify it for wide receivers. WR’s are a poor use of draft picks and roster spots. Wide receivers tend to take at least 2-3 years to develop, sometimes even longer than that. Many times, guys that are drafted this year are given up on in the winter and are on the waiver wire in the spring. Jason Hill, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Mike Walker were all picked up by me from the waiver wire this spring. Someone else spent the draft pick and rostered them for a year. My cost was nadda. And I got a year knocked off of Their development time, that is the time I have to roster them before determining if the will be part of my teams future.
Well, that covers quite a bit. Remember rebuilding is a tactical phase. Many folks get mired in it as a strategy and are locked into perpetual rebuild, always seeking younger players, more draft picks and never end up in the Championship game. Keep your cool and I’ll see you there.
while it's very hard to achieve, i agree that the main goal in a dynasty league is to try to build a team that can dominate for years. You have to take chances in the rookie draft to achieve this so i don't agree with people that always trade their rookie picks.Otherwise you'll miss out on guys like Steven Jackson/larry Fitz/AJ/Braylon Edwards/etc. If you don't get those types out of the rookie draft the only way you'll get those types is by trading through the kazoo.Sure some rookie picks will be misses, but you have no shot to hit on huge value otherwise.I love the teams that trade their picks for older vets and then a few years down the line run into a wall with a team full of complete garbage.
The bolded part is very true. Don't be afraid to "overpay" for a stud. I have seen and made many trades that look like an owner overpaid for a stud at the time of the trade. He did overpay...at the time. But in a short period of time, HE was the one who made out like a bandit. Trades look a lot different a few months later.
Best advice in the thread when it comes to trading.Grandma had some trading abilities. You gotta give people something they really want in a trade.
I could not of said it any better
