If you’ve been playing in fantasy football redraft leagues for a while but are curious about joining a dynasty league, you might be asking yourself what is involved and if it is right for you. Hopefully this article serves as a primer for you.
For starters, make sure you understand what dynasty fantasy football is. After you get the concept of what makes dynasty fantasy football different from redraft, you can start to grasp how to play the game.
Do you have the time? (“to listen to me whine…”)
To play dynasty fantasy football, the first assessment you need to make is whether you have the time, interest and commitment to make it work. It is not fair to yourself or to your potential league mates if you participate only half-assed in a dynasty league. Unlike redraft leagues, dynasty leagues require a year-round commitment if you hope to get the most out of them.
Can you look beyond the horizon?
If you’re capable of committing year-round to a fantasy league, the next thing you have to ask yourself is if you can play the long game. In redraft leagues, your only goal is to win in the current year. You don’t have to plan beyond this season. But in dynasty leagues, you can’t just live year to year. You must make personnel moves based on whether they can help you now and in the future.
Can you evaluate college players?
You don’t have to become a professional scout, but you must begin to watch college football games or, at the very least, pay attention to which players are the stars and which ones might have a bright future in the NFL. Don’t worry if you get it wrong; all fantasy owners misjudge players at one point or another. Just get familiar with the names of these college players because the main way you build your dynasty team is through your league’s rookie draft.
Can you gauge a player’s talent and his situation on his NFL team?
Lastly, not only do you need to be able to recognize the next big players to enter the NFL, but you must be able to evaluate current veterans, too. A dynasty team is like a stock portfolio. And as we all know, the basic principle of investing is to buy stocks when they are low and to sell them when they are high. In order to build a good dynasty fantasy football team, you must know when to go out and acquire a player whose stock is low and has a good chance to go up. And then you must also know when to get rid of a player whose stock is likely at a peak.
More than anything, you must treat your dynasty team as a business. You can’t get too attached to players who you like. Always look to improve your roster by offering trades to other teams in your league and keep trying to flip talent for better pieces.
If you’ve answered in the affirmative to the above questions, there’s a good chance you are ready to play in a dynasty league.
Get going, and good luck!