Close your eyes and picture your senior year in high school (if you can remember that long ago). What do you see? I see the hallways littered with different cliques. You had your typical cliques like the goth kids, jocks and nerds. From my experiences, it was highly unlikely that they ever strayed to a different herd. Why? Because they were comfortable in the herd they were already in. So what has changed since high school? Nothing really. Even in something like dynasty fantasy football, we have herds. Is there a right herd to follow? How do we know if we are following the wrong herd? Is it possible to change herds? Those are some questions I will help you answer for yourself with this article.
Typically you have four different herds.
1. The win now herd.
2. The youth herd.
3. The always rebuilding herd.
4. The veteran herd.
Let’s break down the mentalities of each herd to see which one describes you best.
The Win Now Herd
This is the herd that goes gung-ho right out of the gates in your startup drafts. Age is of very little importance to this herd and they are looking for proven assets at every opportunity. They may luck into a solid youngster or two, but that is not their intent. Normally the best chance for this type of owner to win a championship is in year one. After that, they have so many depreciating assets on their team it becomes increasingly difficult to trade them because of the hit their market value takes based on age. Whether you like it or not, the dynasty community has become much more age conscious, making the veteran market a dicey market to deal in.
The Youth Herd
This is where a lot of UTH folks fit in. This is the herd I belong in. I look for somewhat proven assets early and often in my startup drafts and cross players off my list entirely if they do not fit within my age parameters. I also am not afraid to gamble and select players that haven’t even played a real NFL down yet. Don’t get me wrong, we are trying to win now, but are not afraid to punt year one in order to accomplish our long term goal of multiple championships. Typically, year two is when things pick up for this herd member, but it is definitely within reason this team could compete and win it all in year one. I have seen a lot of different examples.
The Always Rebuilding Herd
These herds are typically the owners that are scared to commit to a player. Someone breaks out and they flip them immediately in order to not “miss out” on their current value. This results in never really having a team and becoming obsessed with rookie picks. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE rookie picks, but not to the long term detriment of my teams. There are other ways to position yourself properly in rookie drafts other than giving up the stars of tomorrow for what will end up being pennies on the dollar. There are certain assets you just do not get rid of unless you are receiving a windfall of value.
The Veteran Herd
This is the herd that is constantly trading future or budding assets for “proven” commodities like DeSean Jackson, Vincent Jackson, Jamaal Charles and Adrian Peterson. Losing is something they simply cannot tolerate and they will do whatever is necessary to put together a team with a chance on a yearly basis. These are the guys that hang on to an Arian Foster for two years to long and expect full market value out of him because of the RB1 numbers they are producing in the here and now. They never take into consideration these players are going to fall off a proverbial cliff within a year or two. Eventually this herd runs out of assets to maneuver with and ends up going into a full blown re-build. It is not unusual for this owner to quit the league entirely when that day comes. Like I said, losing is not acceptable. Even if it is their own fault.
Which herd do you belong to and are there any characteristics you would like to incorporate from other herds into your own?
