If you’re on Twitter for fantasy football, then you might find yourself asking what are dynasty fantasy football leagues? If you are asking that, answer these questions. Do you love fantasy football? Have you ever wanted to feel like a real NFL General Manager? Do you get bored in your normal redraft fantasy football leagues? Well, then I have a league for you.
What are Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues: The Basics
Most people play in fantasy football leagues that start in late august with their draft and then end in December/January with the end of the NFL regular season. Those are called redraft leagues because managers draft an entirely new team EVERY YEAR. However, there are fantasy football leagues that last year round and these are called dynasty leagues. That is a really simple answer to what are dynasty fantasy football leagues, so let me explain more.
Why do they last all year long? Because in dynasty fantasy football leagues you keep your team for as long as the league lasts after the initial startup draft. This means every year instead of doing a full startup draft where every player is available, your league holds a rookie draft. Typically in those drafts, it is rookies only but some leagues will allow you to draft veterans that are free agents. The rookie draft and lack of annual roster turnover create the ability to create a dynasty in your fantasy football leagues.
What are Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues?: The Differentiators
There are three main differences in answering what are dynasty fantasy football leagues and how they differ from redraft leagues. Dynasty leagues will have rookie picks, more trades, and an emphasis on younger players. These diferentiators allow managers to use their knowledge of players to win.
As mentioned before, in dynasty leagues you keep you’re entire roster year after year, so your annual draft is just incoming rookies. This means, like an NFL team, each team has draft picks for the rookie draft each year. These draft picks are more covered than currency, especially if the incoming draft class is special.
This adds another element to fantasy football which is scouting. Like NFL teams, managers in dynasty leagues have to scout the incoming rookies. Usually, this comes down to two methods, film and analytics. To get the best results, you should do both or find resources for both. Who are you scouting? College football players are typically who dynasty managers will scout so they know who to draft in the rookie draft. You can scout current players as well to see who you would like to target in trades.
Another impact of dynasty fantasy football being year-long and more permanent with less roster turnover is more trades. Trades should be more prominent and frequent in dynasty leagues because if you want a player who is on another roster you can’t just wait for him to become available in the draft next year due to the nature of dynasty.
The rookie draft also gives a cause for more trading. Why? Because managers are allowed to trade draft picks. Draft pick trading allows teams to rebuild who don’t think they can compete in the fantasy football playoffs and allows teams who think they can compete to buy players with their draft picks. This can end up creating top heavy leagues or can create parity based on the experience and knowledge of the managers in the league.
Dynasty leagues create an emphasis on youth because teams always want the new hotness when it comes to players. Teams also want their dynasties to last. So some managers will hyper-focus on acquiring draft picks or young players, while other players will focus on winning the championship. This does end up creating risk though for those managers because managers have to hit on their draft picks.
In conclusion, Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues offer a unique and exciting experience for fantasy football enthusiasts. Unlike traditional redraft leagues, dynasty leagues last year-round and require managers to keep their entire roster from year to year. With a focus on rookie picks, frequent trades, and younger players, dynasty leagues bring a new level of strategy and scouting to the game. The rookie draft, in particular, adds another element of excitement with the ability to trade draft picks. Whether you’re a seasoned fantasy football manager or new to the game, dynasty leagues offer a chance to build a dynasty of your own and experience the thrill of being a real NFL General Manager
