Jeff Hill has been playing fantasy football for more than a decade but decided to get into dynasty in 2013. He’s been listening to UTH since before the launch of the site, and has written for UTH and Global Football Today. Follow him at @hill_jeffrey.
This series is geared towards the redraft player who is transitioning to dynasty for the first time. Suddenly, there is a whole new level of depth to the strategy, and making a few critical mistakes in the first year or two can set a team back several years. Read on for some tips on how to avoid those mistakes.
Know the Community
If you’ve read through the first three parts and are feeling discouraged about how challenging it can be to be an expert in dynasty, fear not. The fantasy football community, and the dynasty community specifically, is incredibly active and available on Twitter. If you have a question, you can get it answered – it’s just about knowing where to look and who to ask. The key is to identify experts for specific aspects of fantasy.
If you’re joining a devy league for the first time, reach out to Katie Flower (@FF_Skyler399), Nick Whalen (@_NickWhalen), and Matt Caraccio (@Matty_OS) for advice.
If you need start/sit advice, Fantasy Pros ranks several analysts for their accuracy, and Mike Clay (@mikeclayNFL) and John Paulsen (@4for4_John) routinely rank highly on their lists.
As a financial professional who spends most of his day working in MS Excel, I would love to be able to get my hands on Chad Parsons’ projection model – it’s one of the best dynasty player value models I’ve seen.
I could give a lot of other examples of niches within dynasty where there are experts – salary cap leagues, 2 QB, DFS, WR specialists – but the point has been made. If you’re a fantasy football enthusiast and you’re not on Twitter, go out and make an account today. Start following some of the people I’ve referenced above, and see who they’re interacting with. Then go follow those folks. It’s incredible what you can learn just by observing a conversation between two analysts who have differing opinions. And don’t be afraid to get involved.
Most of these analysts are just like you and me – they love playing fantasy, and want to talk about it. More often than not you’ll get a response to your question, and you may be able to generate a discussion that will benefit a whole group of people.
I hope this series has been insightful for you – if you’re new to dynasty the rabbit hole seems to go on forever. It can be incredibly overwhelming – redraft can consume your life for four months, but dynasty can occupy you all year. The strategy is much deeper as your horizon changes from one year to all years. But the payoff is worth it, and you’ll be a little more prepared to leverage your knowledge, and the knowledge of those around you, to be a more successful dynasty owner.
