I've decided to finally make the transition to dynasty leagues, but I'm not completely sure where to begin. As much as I enjoy my keeper leagues, dynasty just seems like it would be more challenging and enjoyable, but it also looks like I'll need to do quite a bit of learning beforehand.
Are there any general strategy advice/tips people can provide for someone looking to start a dynasty league for the first time? I have plenty of questions...for example: when to schedule the draft? Should the initial draft be rookies only or is it better to combine the player pool with vets? How do you determine roster sizes, taxi squads, etc.? What website is the best for hosting a dynasty league? I've used ESPN and CBS for my redraft and keeper leagues, but I'm not sure how they're equipped for dynasty.
Just so I'm clear...I'm not looking for specific advice about the league I want to create. I'm more interested in knowing what the best practices are for anyone looking to take the plunge into dynasty, and/or rules of thumb that would apply to everyone who wants to start a new league from scratch. Thanks.
The biggest strategy for dynasty is to remember that the NFL stands for "Not For Long". Only the most talented of players are able to sustain production for several years. Those second-tier guys will burst onto the scene and flame out faster than you'd think. If you want to build a stable, long-term core, collect the most talented players you can get regardless of what position they play. Especially as you're learning the ropes, that should be your mantra- collect as much talent as you can. Once you get your feet wet you'll start to develop a feel for more advanced strategies, but that one will serve you well in the meantime.
When to schedule your drafts depends on the owners. Lots of dynasty vets love rookie drafts in May or June to give the league something to get back together for in the middle of the offseason. If you're in a league with a bunch of first-timers, an August draft makes for an easier transition, since they aren't used to paying attention to football that deep into the offseason. My oldest league holds its rookie draft every year after week 3 of the preseason. Those late rookie drafts really start to differ from the early ones as the news is out on sleepers like Latimer or Benjamin, while other previously-hot prospects like Davante Adams and Odell Beckham Jr. aren't making as much noise and are falling out of the national consciousness a bit.
For the initial startup draft, I *STRONGLY* recommend you do not separate out rookies and vets, but rather keep them all lumped together into a single draft. The reason why is because talent drops off in rookie drafts *MUCH* faster than it does in vet drafts. The fall from pick 1 to pick 12 in a startup draft is pretty small. The fall from pick 1 to pick 12 in a rookie draft is MASSIVE. I made that mistake in my first dynasty startup back in 2007- I had the initial rookie draft separate and in reverse order from the vet draft, and made both of them snake drafts. The guys at the end of the veteran draft got Adrian Peterson, Calvin Johnson, and Marshawn Lynch with the first three picks in the rookie draft. The guys at the beginning of the vet draft were taking guys like Robert Meachem at the end of the first round in the rookie draft. Basically, the guys who lucked into top rookie picks essentially had the equivalent of an extra high-round selection in the veteran draft compared to the rest of the league. Lump everyone together into a single draft and let people determine their value.
I generally prefer larger active rosters to smaller active rosters and a taxi squad. If I own a player, I want to be free to use him. I do have IR spots, though, because injuries can make it difficult to fill out your starting lineup later in the year without dropping quality prospects.
For roster size, I would generally consider 240 offensive players rostered to be "shallow", 270 offensive players rostered to be "deep", and 300 offensive players rostered to be "very deep". Most of my leagues are in the 270-player range, and I think that's a really nice, ideal depth. Please note that this just counts offensive players- if your league requires a starting defense and kicker (side note: defenses are fine, but for the love of God, ditch the kickers), you have to account for that in the totals. So, for instance, in a 12-team league with no kickers, 24 roster spots = 288 players rostered. At least 12 of them will be defenses, probably a couple more, so 12 teams x 24 spots ~ 270 offensive players rostered. If you want to use kickers, too, then increase that to 25 roster spots.
The nice thing about thinking about it in terms of "players rostered" is it makes it easy to adjust for league size. 10-team league with defenses and kickers? 30 roster spots! 16-team league with no kickers and no defenses? 17 roster spots! Both leagues are very different, but the waiver wire between the two will look very similar.
For hosting dynasty leagues, I always recommend Fleaflicker. It's free, it's easier to navigate than CBS/ESPN/Yahoo/NFL, and it has by far the best history data I've found. In my old fleaflicker dynasty league, I can tell you within 15 seconds how many teams have owned Buffalo's defense in our 7-year history (five of them- it's been cut three times and traded once), as well as who I started at QB in week 13 of the 2008 season (Matt Schaub. He got me 19.6 points.)
If you want a slightly more off-the-beaten-path league type, go with MFL. Fleaflicker can handle all of your basic snake draft head-to-head leagues, but if you want an auction, or best ball, or All Play, or a 32-team league with two copies of every player, MFL is going to be the only thing that can handle the settings. Not only does it cost money, but it's a lot messier and harder to use than Fleaflicker, so unless you specifically use one of those settings that only MFL can handle, I'd recommend just saving the money and going with Fleaflicker.
