Dynasty Football Startup Draft Strategies

April 20, 2020

Your guide on how to approach your initial startup draft in a dynasty fantasy football league. Scott Engel lays out key strategies and roster-building approaches for 2020.

Soon the NFL Draft will pass, and it will be time for dynasty owners to convene and execute their own drafts. If this will be your first time in a new dynasty startup league, you are in for some excitement. At its core, fantasy football is supposed to be a replication of a general manager/coach hybrid experience. No other format represents and reflects those roles better than a dynasty league.

You will get to build your team from a new foundation, much like it is an expansion franchise. But so will all of your opponents. That means you won’t be left to take scraps from other rosters. But there will also be more pressure on you to make a solid choice with your first-round pick. That player is not only going to be the focal point of your virtual franchise not just for this season, but for many years going forward.

Like in any fantasy football league, there is no one set singular path to executing a successful draft. Combining a few angles to drafting should work out best for you.

Dynasty Startup General Strategies

Of course, just as in any other league, you should make sure you customize your strategy based on your scoring system. Obviously, if it’s a SuperFlex league, you will have to emphasize QBs early. If you have two flex positions where you cannot use a QB, you will have to wait on that position. If there is additional scoring for tight ends, you will have to push many of those up your overall board. Dynasty leagues tend to be for the most intense players, so many of them will have some unique scoring items that make them a bit more distinctive than your average league.

Once you find out where you are picking, do not try to speculate on what is going to happen ahead of you. That is often a wasted exercise because other owners don’t think exactly as you do, they may be unwilling to share who they are considering, and they might even lie about and could change their minds in an instant based on the flow of the draft.

If you are picking at No. 9, for instance, start by queuing up or listing your top-nine players of choice, and when it is your turn, simply take the top player remaining on that list. Then start queuing up players for the next round in the same manner. Don’t stress about who gets taken right before you. That is something you cannot control. You are simply going with the best available player to fit your needs at the time. Don’t get ticked off if someone “snipes” a pick you really want, keep it moving.

Before the draft even begins, you may start being contacted with trade offers. In a new dynasty league, this is less appealing than if the league already exists and you can acquire an impact player for a rookie draft pick. In some existing leagues, contracts may come into play as well when dealing with players. But in a new league, you should simply make sure you are well prepared and then you can draft effectively from any spot.

Foundational Building Blocks

The first pick gets most of the speculation and buzz in yearly drafts and deserves it even more in a dynasty league. This player should be viewed as a possible fantasy MVP for years to come. He will be the most important player you will select in terms of being a contender now and in the future.

While youth and upside obviously are highly-alluring traits in a dynasty format, they should not take center stage early in the draft. Your first choice and most important early selections should ideally be based on factors such as proven success and dependability with not a lot of wear and tear, future promise, and durability.

After Christian McCaffrey goes off the board, Saquon Barkley becomes highly appealing because of his youth, versatility, and upside. Barkley did miss three games last season but it was just his second pro season, and he has already proven he has a very high ceiling. After he is off the board, some may want to consider Dalvin Cook, but he is three years into his career and has yet to play a full season. You may want to opt for a safer selection.

You might be tempted to go with the top RB available because many of them will fly off the board early, but there may be no safer selection than Michael Thomas. He has finished as a top-six fantasy WR in each of the past four seasons and it’s hard to beat him in terms of consistent high-level excellence and reliability. If you start three WRs you can get weekly peace of mind at a very important WR1 slot.

Key 2019 metrics on Michael Thomas via playerprofiler.com. This is a player to start your dynasty build with. 

DeAndre Hopkins has been a top-five WR in four of the past five seasons and should not miss a beat moving to Arizona, where he has a promising young QB on the rise and a deeper supporting cast around him. Plus, he has regularly and admirably played through injuries.

Ezekiel Elliott is a terrific dynasty core player. He is only 24 years old and has finished as a top-five fantasy RB in three of four seasons so far and has improved as a pass-catcher over the past two seasons. Alvin Kamara was a disappointment last season but there is a lot of conjecture he played through an ankle issue. If you have the confidence he can rebound, then he can be your RB1, but if not, Davante Adams is a rather safe alternative. Other top wideouts such as Tyreek Hill and Julio Jones are proven high-level playmakers who should be top targets in the mid to late first round. Not every player will check all the boxes of the items we are looking for but will satisfy most of our superstar needs.

Cook, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs have question marks of durability (Cook) and lack of a major track record of success (Henry and Jacobs). But all three are capable of playing at RB1 levels and may have their best years ahead of them.  In Henry’s case, he is coming off his best season and even if he regresses a bit this year, he should still be one of the top players at his position. All three are young and can be the crux of your fantasy team for years to come.

Julio Jones is 31 years old, but he best represents the dual approach you want to take to dynasty drafting. Yes, you want to think about the future, but you also want to win this season. Jones may be considered old for a WR, but you should still get at least two more high-level seasons out of him for your first-round pick. Don’t pass on a superstar with too much of a focus on the future in mind. Your team is going to look much different a year from now than it does on startup draft day.

Lamar Jackson could be the wild card pick of the first round if you choose to be so daring in a single-QB league. There never has been another player like him in the history of fantasy football, and he could help you stay in championship contention for years to come. He gives you the rushing stats of an RB1 along with quality QB production. No other player on the draft board can provide such unique production and output.

The 2019 rushing leaders via NFL.com Fantasy. A QB who led the league in TD passes was sixth in rushing yards too.

Roster Construction Tips

Once you land your anchor player, the focus should be on filling out your starting skill positions with a dual focus on winning this season and building for the future. You want to contend right away, and if you overemphasize youth, you may suffer through some growing pains, and there are no guarantees any of the younger players you tab will surely work out for you in the long term. RBs who don’t have a lot of years in the league yet should be prioritized. You want fresh legs at the position because the average life span of an NFL RB is short. But don’t pass on a WR at age 30 or 31 or a QB who might be in his early to mid-30s. Those types of players could have two to three quality seasons left for you.

RBs will zoom off the board in any format, so if you go with a WR first, you will have to likely follow up with a running back in round two. If you go for a Jackson in the first round or a Travis Kelce in the second round, you will be forced to go exclusively RB/WR for a few rounds afterward. You cannot take both a QB and TE in the early rounds, because that will severely weaken the outlook of your RB and WR positions.

We had a great WR rookie class last season, and if you focus on RB early, you can still nab some very promising wideouts thereafter, such as DK Metcalf, A.J. Brown, and Terry McLaurin. Other owners may also pass on veterans who could be helpful and fill out lineup slots for at least a year or two, such as T.Y. Hilton and Golden Tate.

If you can nab a top 7-8 TE before you land your QB1 that is fine. The position will certainly dry up quickly in terms of proven performers. I have seen many of the better TEs regarded as hot trading commodities during the season.

Once you fill out your starting WRs and RBs and get that TE in a one QB league, then you should go for a steady and reliable above-average starter at QB. Many owners will wait too long for a QB and draft reserves who may not even start for them over their passers. It is better to stabilize the QB position with a Russell Wilson or Matt Ryan, who likely has at least two to three more quality seasons left. Don’t get caught trying to stream Baker Mayfield and Tom Brady. You will never feel comfortable with what you had to settle for on startup draft day.

Once the starting lineup is filled out, then you should start projecting for the future and nab some of those upside plays but do not forget about depth and bye weeks. Go for a mix of youth and proven players. Marquise Brown could be a WR2 for you in a few years, but Robert Woods will be a better starter for you this season. Devin Singletary could be a better fantasy starter by 2021, but I would be betting on a better season from Melvin Gordon III this year as he is much more proven.

Also, do not hesitate to draft at least two defenses. I have seen many owners stockpile and hoard units throughout the season in an effort to control streaming as much as they can.

Once the NFL Draft is over, we will have a better picture of where rookies will fit into your first-year plans. The best RBs will go quickly, and then you will likely be battling for the better WR prospects. This year’s class appears to be another deep one, and the incoming QBs also appear to be much more appealing than last season. If you draft a Ryan, for instance, the future won’t be far away if you can land Joe Burrow, too. You can use veteran players to bridge gaps to the eventual hopeful breakouts of your rookies.

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