I've joined a dynasty league recently and it's the first year. The initial draft should start in a week or so, but I need some advice as this is my first time playing in this type of league. Obviously you avoid the dinosaurs, but who do you draft in the first couple rounds of the draft? Do you generally approach it in the same way loading up with RBs and WRs, or do you snatch up a solid QB early?
Normally I try to get a solid core of backs or receivers, but I'm tempted now more than ever to draft a QB early. We will have a rookie draft after the real NFL draft also, but I don't see any of those QBs thriving in the NFL... at least not with the teams they appear to be going to. Do I go for an elite QB early, or take a younger QB later in the draft?
Dynasties are a lotta fun and people approach them differently - some want to be competitive right away, some focus on future potential and some want to strike a balance between the two. I try to strike a balance, and like redraft leagues the every-down RB's are valuable. A solid young QB means you won't have to worry about that position for the next decade.
Here's a look at a Cafe league dynasty draft last year by round:
ROUND 1 1. Ray Rice 2. Arian Foster 3. Aaron Rodgers 4. Calvin Johnson 5. LeSean McCoy 6. Drew Brees 7. Ryan Mathews 8. Tom Brady 9. Julio Jones 10. Trent Richardson 11. Larry Fitzgerald 12. A.J. Green
ROUND 2 1. Adrian Peterson 2. Jimmy Graham 3. Hakeem Nicks 4. Rob Gronkowski 5. Cam Newton 6. Darren McFadden 7. Maurice Jones-Drew 8. Matthew Stafford 9. Jamaal Charles 10. Chris Johnson 11. Dez Bryant 12. Mike Wallace
ROUND 3 1. Andrew Luck 2. Victor Cruz 3. Jeremy Maclin 4. Greg Jennings 5. Roddy White 6. Brandon Marshall 7. Demarco Murray 8. Percy Harvin 9. Aaron Hernandez 10. Robert Griffin III 11. Doug Martin 12. Wes Welker
ROUND 4 1. Andre Johnson 2. Matt Forte 3. Demaryius Thomas 4. Matt Ryan 5. Marshawn Lynch 6. Jordy Nelson 7. Darren Sproles 8. Dwayne Bowe 9. Johnathan Stewart 10. Randall Cobb 11. Ahmad Bradshaw 12. CJ Spiller
ROUND 5 1. Michael Crabtree 2. Vernon Davis 3. David Wilson 4. Mark Ingram 5. Reggie Bush 6. Stevie Johnson 7. Miles Austin 8. Desean Jackson 9. Justin Blackmon 10. Jeremichael Finley 11. Eli Manning 12. Javid Best
ROUND 6 1. Philip Rivers 2. Marques Colston 3. Michael Turner 4. Torrey Smith 5. Vincent Jackson 6. Tony Romo 7. Michael Vick 8. Kenny Britt 9. Denarious Moore 10. Brandon Lloyd 11. Ben Tate 12. Michael Floyd
ROUND 7 1. Ronnie Hillman 2. Isiah Pead 3. Steve Smith (Car) 4. Mikel Leshoure 5. Eric Decker 6. Antonio Brown 7. Greg Little 8. Kendall Wright 9. Donald Brown 10. Brian Quick 11. Steven Jackson 12. James Starks
ROUND 8 1. Stevan Ridley 2. Brandon Pettigrew 3. Fred Davis 4. Roy Helu 5. Andy Dalton 6. Jason Witten 7. Chris Beanie Wells 8. Sidney Rice 9. Shonn Greene 10. Fred Jackson 11. Titus Young 12. Coby Fleener
ROUND 9 1. Peyton Manning 2. Antonio Gates 3. Ryan Williams 4. Peyton Hillis 5. Jonathan Baldwin 6. Pierre Garcon 7. Jermain Gresham 8. Rashard Mendenhall 9. Shane Vereen 10. Darrious Heyward-Bey 11. Robert Meachem 12. Jacquizz Rodgers
ROUND 10 1. Jacob Tamme 2. Reggie Wayne 3. Sam Bradford 4. Lamar Miller 5. Mike Williams (TB) 6. Rueben Randle 7. Jake Locker 8. Kyle Rudolph 9. LaMichael James 10. Jay Cutler 11. Brent Celek 12. Kendall Hunter
ROUND 11 1. Jared Cook 2. Robert Turbin 3. Leonard Hankerson 4. Brandon Lafell 5. Stephen Hill 6. Vincent Brown 7. Alshon Jeffery 8. Ben Roethlisberger 9. Josh Freeman 10. Josh Gordon 11. Joe Flacco 12. Malcom Floyd
ROUND 12 1. Christian Ponder 2. DeAngelo Williams 3. Isaac Redman 4. Toby Gerhart 5. Frank Gore 6. Austin Collie 7. BenJarvus Green-Ellis 8. Matt Schaub 9. Dustin Keller 10. Felix Jones 11. Santonio Holmes 12. Daniel Thomas
ROUND 13 1. Mohamed Sanu 2. Carson Palmer 3. Kevin Smith 4. Heath Miller 5. Bilal Powell 6. Dexter McCluster 7. Ryan Broyles 8. Anquan Boldin 9. Vick Ballard 10. Rashad Jennings 11. Michael Bush 12. Doug Baldwin
ROUND 14 1. Joe McKnight 2. Alex Green 3. Jerome Simpson 4. Greg Childs 5. Pierre Thomas 6. Mike Goodson 7. Evan Rodriguez 8. Bernard Pierce 9. AJ Jenkins 10. Matt Flynn 11. Ryan Tannehill 12. Colin Kaepernick
ROUND 15 1. Taiwon Jones 2. Chris Givens 3. Evan Royster 4. Randy Moss 5. Golden Tate 6. Dion Lewis 7. Emmanual Sanders 8. Terrance Ganaway 9. Eddie Royal 10. Ryan Fitzpatrick 11. Jacoby Ford 12. Ladarius Green
ROUND 16 1. Lance Kendricks 2. Nick Toon 3. Robert Housler 4. Lestar Jean 5. Laurent Robinson 6. Alex Smith 7. Tony Gonzalez 8. Willis Mcgahee 9. LaGarrett Blount 10. Brandon Weeden 11. Kellen Winslow 12. Devone Bess
ROUND 17 1. Russell Wilson 2. Nate Washington 3. Bernard Scott 4. Braylon Edwards 5. Dwayne Allen 6. Tim Tebow 7. San Francisco D/ST 8. Jonathon Dwyer 9. Chad Johnson 10. Cyrus Gray 11. Juron Criner 12. Martellus Bennett
ROUND 18 1. Green Bay Packers D/ST 2. Greg Olsen 3. Montario Hardesty 4. Jordan Cameron 5. Lance Moore 6. Keshawn Martin 7. Philadelphia Eagles D/ST 8. Lavon Brazil 9. Matt Cassel 10. Tim Hightower 11. Knowshon Moreno 12. Chris Ivory
ROUND 19 1. Brandon Bolden 2. Owen Daniels 3. T.Y. Hilton 4. Santana Moss 5. Mario Maningham 6. Brandon Jacobs 7. Javon Ringer 8. Mike Tolbert 9. Ryan Mallet 10. Michael Smith 11. Steve Smith (STL) 12. Jason Snelling
ROUND 20 1. David Nelson 2. Delone Carter 3. Michael Hayes 4. Travis Benjamin 5. Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST 6. Chris Rainey 7. Danny Amendola 8. Chicago Bears D/ST 9. Dallas Clark 10. Mark Sanchez 11. Marvin McNutt 12. Tony Moeaki
ROUND 21 1. Curtis Brinkley 2. Houston Texans 3. Phillip Tanner 4. Steve Breaston 5. Cedric Benson 6. Ronnie Brown 7. Orson Charles 8. Dan Herron 9. Brock Osweiler 10. Bobby Rainey 11. Bryce Brown 12. Le'Ron McClain
ROUND 22 1. Brandon Jackson 2. Blaine Gabbert 3. Alfred Morris 4. T.J. Graham 5. Earl Bennett 6. Chris Polk 7. Plaxico Burress 8. Andre Roberts 9. Terrell Owens 10. Jamie Harper 11. Taylor Thompson 12. James Jones
ROUND 23 1. Tauron Poole 2. Marvin Jones 3. Jonathan Grimes 4. New York Giants 5. Tommy Streeter 6. Brandon Tate 7. Kyle Orton 8. Joe Adams 9. Danny Coale 10. Daryl Richardson 11. Roberto Wallace 12. Armos Binns
ROUND 24 1. Legedu Naanee 2. Mercedes Lewis 3. Johnny White 4. Brian Hartline 5. DeVier Posey 6. Ed Dickson 7. John Skelton 8. Leon Washington 9. Nate Burleson 10. Andre Holmes 11. Edwin Baker 12. D. Avery
ROUND 25 1. Chris Owusu 2. David Akers 3. Rod Streater 4. Dan Bailey 5. Baron Batch 6. Kellen Davis 7. New England Patriots D/ST 8. Scott Chandler 9. Detroit Lions D/ST 10. Da'Rell Scott 11. New York Jets D/ST 12. Donald Jones
ROUND 26 1. Dennis Pitta 2. Devon Wylie 3. Anthony Allen 4. Buffalo Bills 5. Stephen Gostowksi 6. Seattle Seahawks D/ST 7. Baltimore Ravens D/ST 8.Travaris Cadet 9. Denver Broncos D/ST 10. Austin Pettis 11. Danny Woodhead 12. Luke Stocker
ROUND 27 1. Dallas Cowboys D/ST 2. D. J. Ware 3.Tandon Doss 4. Harry Douglas 5. Louis Murphy 6. Chase Daniel 7. Cole Beasley 8. Ramses Barden 9. San Diego Chargers D/ST 10. Cincinnati Bengals D/ST 11. Tyrell Sutton 12. Kevin Ogletree
ROUND 28 1. Garret Hartley 2. Brian Hoyer 3. Carolina Panthers D/ST 4. Jason Hanson 5. Early Doucet 6. Jarious Wright 7. Mason Crosby 8. Nick Foles 9. Jeff Demps 10. Darious Raynaud 11. Kevin Boss 12. T.J. Yates
ROUND 29 1. Ryan Lindley 2. Jason Avant 3. James Hanna 4. Devery Henderson 5. Joe Morgan 6. Jerrel Jernigan 7. Sebastian Janikowski 8. Vince Young 9. Randy Bullock 10. Alex Henery 11. Matt Bryant 12. Matt Prater
I feel like you should watch out for those young QBs who really dominated through the playoffs. I'm thinking of the Flacco's and Kaepernick's of the world. I can see people being high on them and drafting them waaaay too early. I think both those guys will be decent for years to come but not the QB you build a dynasty around. The one guy I think might still be worth a later round pick is Wilson since I think he will slip past the first 8 rounds or so you can still grab him as a second if you take a stab at a Rodgers/Brees type guy in the early rounds. Overall I think the most important thing is to get a stable of RB talent, proven and developing, that you can build your team around. Guys like Morris, Trich and Martin will obviously have big targets on them in a first year dynasty draft but they are the guys you should be looking for. I wouldn't worry too much about the WR2-4 as there is usually some talent at this position that comes out of nowhere every season a la Miles Austin from back in the day. I guess at the end of the day though drafting the best player available is a sound strategy regardless of the format of the keepers, the 'best' just tends to factor age in a little heavier than usual, that's all.
My approach with an initial dynasty draft (and with evaluating players in general) is to look at probable production for 2-3 years, and all other factors being equal, go with the younger guy.
As for drafting a QB early... I think you can, if you want to, but you have to draft REALLY well before and after that pick. I would advise waiting to see how the draft develops as to when you select your QB, as the position is as deep as it's ever been for potential "cornerstone" QBs.
I am a new Dynasty Leaguer as well, but I know enough about fantasy to say to go with a younger RB OR QB given you can get your hands on the Luck's or RG3's of this world. There is also increased value in a player such as Luck, RG3, or Wilson due to the fact that they also were drafted relatively late in last years drafts, unlike Rodgers, who although bound to have a fruitful next few years, will require the giving up of a high draft pick.
Obviously you'll still want to go after a solid RB early, but this being a 2 TE league I may consider snagging an elite TE in the early rounds as well. Any advice is greatly appreciated
**UPDATE** I have pick 3 in the initial (snaking) draft and 7th in the rookie (non snaking) draft.
As I was saying, would it be crazy to go after say graham or hernandez with that 2.10 pick? I feel like more than any other position this one is key to grab a stud, we haven't seen many break out TE performances lately and the drop off is rather large.
With this zany lineup I think you might be right about the value of TE's but I still think the ability to start 3 RB's keeps them in the discussion. The number 3 pick will be interesting. You could wind up with Doug Martin, a solid young back for the coming future, assuming AP and Foster go at the top. As for the 2.10 pick, I don't think you can take a TE unless Gronk is on the board. Even missing the games he's missed nobody in the league has as many TD's over the last two season than him which is what sets him apart. It all depends what winds up going before you. Drafts often run in phases so if Gronk goes late in round 1 I could see Graham going right after and I don't think Hernadez is worth a second rounder. I guess my advice would be to hope for Gronk but if that fails wait til 3 or 4 to grab TE (or 7 or 8). Stock up on WR and RB instead as you have to potential to start 5 and 3 of them respectively.
Man, that starting lineup will be absurd and with that huge bench free agency will be completely barren! Crazy.
Yeah, the commish said he was hoping to encourage more trade activity by giving us huge rosters.
I agree that Hernandez isn't a great pick in round 2, but with Welker on his way out an injury free Hernandez is a productive TE even with Gronk on the other side (I'm assuming he'll be gone by then but if not I'd snatch him up quick). Looking at the board I'll probably have Martin and Rice to choose from with AP and Foster going 1 and 2 in most leagues, and I'd take Martin. I doubt any of the top 5 WR will be left so I wouldn't mind an elite TE, then taking someone like Cruz early in Rd 3.
wtr23 wrote:As I was saying, would it be crazy to go after say graham or hernandez with that 2.10 pick? I feel like more than any other position this one is key to grab a stud, we haven't seen many break out TE performances lately and the drop off is rather large.
OK so here is my disclosure... I am one of the teams in the draft that Stomperrob posted above. I am the guy that took Graham early in the 2nd round of last year's startup draft. PPR league, and we have a flex that includes TE. I ended up starting 2 TEs quite a bit as I also had Greg Olsen. Another team drafted both Gronk AND Hernandez.
So no, I don't think it would be crazy at all to grab Graham at the 2.10, especially since you HAVE to start 2 TEs.
Cafe Home
Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
by wtr23 » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:11 pm 
