PlayerProfiler is home to award-winning dynasty rankings and tools. Our Dynasty Deluxe package includes complete Dynasty Rankings, Rookie Rankings, Trade Analyzer, Draft Planner, and more. Check it out. Aaron St. Denis presents Dynasty Football Startup Strategy |Protect Draft Picks. This three-part series will discuss tips and tricks for various draft strategies.
Also, check out our Build For the Future and Win-Now Edition.
This strategy is perhaps the most difficult of the three discussed and should not be attempted by an inexperienced manager. It will involve a solid understanding of the values of both players and picks. The most important tool for this approach is the aforementioned Trade Analyzer which can help you as you maneuver in and out of draft picks. Be warned, this approach is meant for an active manager who knows their league mates and is willing to move up or down in the draft at a moment’s notice.
This strategy works very well in slow drafts where you have extra time to negotiate trades with managers during the draft. It’s much thought to execute in a standard draft with only minutes between picks. This strategy is an active manager’s delight.
One Opening Thought
Regardless of which dynasty build you choose to go with, there is one rule that should be adhered to. That rule is to draft for value and trade for need. Many times, managers can panic in a startup draft and overpay for a player because they are lacking in this position. This is commonly seen with tight ends and quarterbacks (in superflex). Instead of falling into this trap, simply draft the best player available. After the draft, fill the holes in your roster later from a position of immense strength.
Dynasty Startup Strategy (Protect Draft Picks)
Trade Back Opportunities
Early in the draft, move down from high picks to later rounds while securing future rookie picks from other managers. As mentioned above, the key to this is knowing how you value all players and picks and knowing when to pivot. Fantasy managers can quickly get wrapped up in a big name still on the board in the early rounds and will overpay to trade up.
It’s incredible how many times you can trade away a second or third-round pick for two picks that are only a few rounds later. So managers are even willing to add in a mid-round pick simply to move up a few draft slots.
This is the key to this approach. Before making any selections, field offers. When you are on the clock, there is always someone interested in trading up for the pick. If you are above consensus on the best player on the board, simply draft that player. If you are below consensus and don’t love that range of players, trade down to someone who wants the pick.
A great place to do this is in the middle of a positional run where you have already secured that spot on your roster. A lengthy tight-end run with only one or two big names left on the board is a prime spot to trade down and double up on draft capital.
If you want to take this a step further, try flipping mid-round picks for the future year’s rookie picks. Often, managers will give up a future first-round pick for a fifth-round startup pick because they assume that the first-rounder will be a late pick if they win. You can then double down even further and flip those late first-round picks when you are on the clock for earlier picks the following year.
Stick to Your Values and Don’t Overpay
This one goes without saying, but if you want to protect draft capital and build for the future, don’t make short-sighted trades. Steer clear of aggressive trades that send future picks for aging veterans like
Derrick Henry (age 31) or
Davante Adams (age 32). Instead, let others deplete their draft capital while you hold steady. Veterans will only go down in value, while draft picks will only go up in value, so why waste that draft capital on players with a limited shelf life?
This point also piggybacks on the first point about trading back. When the player you value most is likely to be available several picks, or even a round later, why not trade back to acquire draft capital while drafting the player you wanted anyway? Your favorite breakout in the fourth round is nice, but your favorite sleeper in the fifth round with an extra pick is even nicer. Once again, read the draft room and the board and try to anticipate the next players likely to come off the board. This is where the
Player Profiler Mock Draft Database comes in handy.
Draft For Depth and Trade Chips
Select players with upside who could become valuable trade assets, like second-year breakout candidates or rookies with draft capital. This allows you to flip them for picks or upgrades later without touching your stash. The win-now builds in your league are always willing to overpay for players they can slot into their starting lineups, so this approach relies on quantity over quality.
Trading down in the above scenarios allows you to accumulate a surplus of players that you can stash for trade deadline time. The key here is to be active yet patient. Don’t hold players on your benches and taxi squads for the sake of holding them. Keep an eye out for players on the waiver wire who could see an increase in value. Many of the contending teams won’t be able to burn a bench spot on a speculative add, and this is something you can use to your advantage.
Typically, my long-term builds are light on aging running backs and are populated by young receivers and running backs. Use every single bench and taxi squad spot that your league allows to stash young players for as long as possible. You can stash players dropped due to injuries in some leagues and wait for their return on your injured reserve. This is truly one of the more enjoyable and strategic approaches to dynasty league football. It allows you to be playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
Build Around Stable Positions
Focus on quarterbacks and wide receivers, which tend to have longer careers than running backs. In Superflex leagues, snag a young player under the age of 25 to anchor your roster without needing to trade picks later. This is yet another example where we see that running backs are a luxury that only contending teams need. Their careers remain too short and unstable to rely on them across multiple seasons, so you should avoid them at all costs.
Young wide receivers are typically the players you want to build around, with the obvious exception being Superflex leagues, where you should ensure you have a path to startable quarterbacks when you are ready to contend. A young fantasy team that is suddenly a contender can acquire a wide receiver through trade and rookie drafts that will produce instantly, but finding a starting quarterback in a superflex league that will produce immediately is a tall task. Build around receivers, but plan for quarterbacks in Superflex.
I do not avoid tight ends entirely, but I prefer not to waste early rookie picks on them. For every
Sam LaPorta and
Brock Bowers, we will see ten “can’t miss” tight end prospects who end up being busts. Not to mention that the ones who do end up being fantasy assets can often take several years to bear fruit. Add tight ends off waivers or trade for them later instead of burning valuable draft capital.
Running backs are the obvious avoid. That’s not to say you can’t ever draft or trade for a running back. The key is that you need to be looking for undervalued, young running backs. Get young running backs late in rookie drafts or as a throw-in of a trade. Don’t invest early in them.
One Final Thought
It’s worth noting that the most important part of managing a dynasty roster is honest self-evaluation. Only you can decide when it’s time to push your chips all in and go for a championship. With that in mind, this build features lots of young players early on in the build. As you approach the point where you are ready to contend, it is important to layer your roster. A roster full of “high upside” rookie players can be mesmerizing, but most championship rosters feature a mix of veterans and youth. Keep the youthful players that you like best, and trade away some of the other youngsters for proven veterans once it’s time to go for it. That’s the key thing to remember from Dynasty Football Startup Strategy | Protect Draft Picks.
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Aaron St. Denis is a fantasy football contributor for PlayerProfiler. Find him on Twitter @FFMadScientist for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
