Small league, non-PPR strategy

[anonymously]

My older dynasty league is small roster 19 players, plus IR. This league is also non-PPR. Do any of you play in a league like this and if so how much does it change your strategy?

I listen to podcasts, follow dynasty twitter, check the forums regularly and with some exceptions, WR are always on a pedestal. Whether it's rankings, trade advice, draft advice, etc. WR are always vaulted to the top. This has changed slightly with the DJ/Zeke breakouts but the zero RB movement is still a thing.

I realize most leagues are PPR but I've also noticed plenty of leagues mentioned that are 1 RB or 0 RB mandatory where you can start up to 6 WR. Is this common?

I've won the aforementioned league two times, and my RBs were McCoy and in his prime Rice. They both were ~top 5 both years and every week they set me apart. WR obviously do this as well, but it seems like they aren't as important in this league as they are throughout the community. A team went worst to first last year and did so by acquiring McCoy/Murray. His WR were Crabtree, Garcon, Marvin Jones.

Another team has had AJG/Dez/Demaryius for the last four years and only sniffed the championship (he didn't win) once. He's never had two strong RB.

Of course FF is largely luck but should RB, especially stud RB, be valued more? I realize WR have the long career arc but are they as important in shallow non-PPR leagues? Is the long career arc as important with only 19 roster spots?

The waiver wire is pretty fruitful in this league, especially for WR. I added guys like Thielen and Rishard last year that gave me decent production. Guys like Wallace, DJax, Tyrell and Meredith were to be had as well. With the shallow rosters it makes it harder to stash players for years when they aren't producing. Or sometimes productive veterans are cut to hold on to that year X breakout candidate. However nearly every backup RB is owned so only true dark horses are available through waivers at that position.

tldr: do shallow rosters combined with non-PPR scoring materially change your valuation of positional value, especially with regards to WR and RB?

[skip]

The trend away from 2RB formats is very new. I've only seen that in the last year or two. I suspect it came about because of the decreasing number of 3 down backs. It's an odd trend.

[_yeti]

The smaller the rosters the more I would be willing to pay for top of the line studs. I think we all agree WRs hold value longer. What does that do in a smaller league? Well if your WR core is filled out with studs it should give you time to fill in at RB. I think shallow plus standard scoring does give top RBs more value than deep rosters with PPR.

I also think that there is value outside of league trends. Your league loves RBs (as does mine, as does many). In that situation I am not buying established RBs at peak prices. With small rosters the overlooked breakout players are even easier to find as owners can only go so deep as you said.

It sounds like you may need to be in a rebuild and not realize it. Sounds like your biggest years were some time ago and that is something because two championships is nothing to sneeze at. Sounds like you may have tried to avoid the rebuild stage by staying "competitive" off the waiver wire. Just reading into the post, tear it down and accrue picks and youth. By picking up waiver fodder that produces enough to keep your team in the middle but never truly ascend to the top you are slowly weakening yourself. You say you can't afford to roster "dark horse candidates" or people outside of direct backups because of the small rosters. I'd say if you dont have a chance with your roster of moving into the top tier you should sell off your best players for youth upside and picks and scour the best upside waiver youth and just rebuild.

You aren't likely recouping enough trade value or top of the line production from your ww finds to warrant not rebuilding.

TLDR: Yes, RBs are more valuable in smaller roster +standard scoring but I wouldn't buy them at top price. Secondly, if your team isn't a true contender don't get sucked into a cycle of needing the ww to compete, the ww is deeper in smaller roster and could entice that. Bust it up and rebuild

[_yeti]

The trend away from 2RB formats is very new. I've only seen that in the last year or two. I suspect it came about because of the decreasing number of 3 down backs. It's an odd trend.

I agree. IMO it's almost like fantasy owners who think RBs have no value and preach that then stacking the deck to ensure that. Why force your own thinking to adapt when you can adapt a crucial football position out of relevance with the click of a setting button!

[anonymously]

@_yeti, I pretty much did blow my team up and rebuild. I traded for injured Sammy and Keenan so WR was especially thin last year.

This issue really came front and center for me when I was drafting a few weeks back and was choosing between Davis and Mixon. Going in to the draft I was leaning Davis but once I was on the clock I couldn't resist the upside and immediate impact that Mixon offered. The team I reference is the first in my sig. I think if things break right I have a chance this year, if not I have plenty of draft ammo coming up.

[_yeti]

@_yeti, I pretty much did blow my team up and rebuild. I traded for injured Sammy and Keenan so WR was especially thin last year.

This issue really came front and center for me when I was drafting a few weeks back and was choosing between Davis and Mixon. Going in to the draft I was leaning Davis but once I was on the clock I couldn't resist the upside and immediate impact that Mixon offered. The team I reference is the first in my sig. I think if things break right I have a chance this year, if not I have plenty of draft ammo coming up.

Ok, yeah you're in good shape to not need a rebuild. So then you re-traded Sammy? While I think RB does get a bump in that setting, I don't think I take Mixon over Davis with your wrs. I don't know that Mixon guarantees any more immediate production than Davis and I take Davis as a more sure thing.

Kind of going back to your original question, I think it is still much safer to lean WR than RB in long term construction and all things being equal I would take the WR. At the same time, can't ignore BPA. You have a ton of flexibility now with 4 firsts to use them as trade bait to bolster your roster or just make the picks. If it was me I might trade off one or two firsts to bolster your WR core.

[grooner]

In non Ppr rbs are so much more important, and if it's a 2wr/2rb/flex, again it makes rbs more important. Well wrs have longer shelf lives, if you have zero rbs it's really hard to win non Ppr leagues

[anonymously]

Ok, yeah you're in good shape to not need a rebuild. So then you re-traded Sammy? While I think RB does get a bump in that setting, I don't think I take Mixon over Davis with your wrs. I don't know that Mixon guarantees any more immediate production than Davis and I take Davis as a more sure thing.

Kind of going back to your original question, I think it is still much safer to lean WR than RB in long term construction and all things being equal I would take the WR. At the same time, can't ignore BPA. You have a ton of flexibility now with 4 firsts to use them as trade bait to bolster your roster or just make the picks. If it was me I might trade off one or two firsts to bolster your WR core.

Ya I traded Sammy in a package for Julio and traded Julio in a package for Cooper.

There were some other factors with Mixon/Davis, if things had broken a certain way I could have ended with both.

I'll likely end up trading picks to bolster WR just like you said. I want to see if there's any promise with White/Funchess before making those moves.

[IBall2]

I have been in a very similar situation over the past few years and couldn't get past 3rd place in my league so I decided to blow it up and rebuild. My league is 0.3PPR so close to standard scoring. I had Dez/AB/Arob/Nuk on my roster the past 3 years with usually only 1 boarderline RB1 (I've had Hyde/Ivory over the years with some fill in work between Ray Rice/Vereen/Hightower/stevan Ridley/yeldon and similar players). Between those top 4 WRs they couldn't make up the difference for not having strong RBs in the 0.3PPR league.

Over the past few months I've sold Dez/AB/Nuk for what amounts to 4 2017 1st and 3 2018 1st along with some backend WR2s like Kelvin Benjmain and Devante Parker. Hoping I can grab a few of the top RBs this season and a few more next season and see if the change makes any difference.

[hotrod]

I play in a very similar league, team 1 in sig. RBs are coveted in this league and way over-valued. Over the last several years I have used the zero RB strategy and moved all of my stud RBs for WRs and other positions. I'm so stacked at other positions I can roster 7-8 RBs and roll the dice effectively.

In addition to what's already been mentioned a few things I've noticed about this type of league that tend to differ from traditional leagues:

• It's more like a 10-player league and you need a bunch of studs to win.
• Late 2nd/3rd round draft picks and later have almost no value unless you can trade them. If you can package those picks to upgrade and get something out of them then do it. The WW is full of better value than what you can pick in the 3rd round.
• QBs and TEs have a lot less value than usual except for the studs (unless you have extenuating circumstances.) I generally will not draft TEs or QBs in this league because they take longer to develop/produce and the WW is full of value. It's fairly easy in this type of league to go QBBC and pick up a hot hand at TE during the season. I rather use roster spots on RB/WR.
• Stack up on RBs. I'm constantly punching RB lottery tickets and will flip them when their value spikes. I drafted DJ with a late first in 2015 and was offered Evans + Parker + 2.06 for him straight up after the season. That's excessive but I think that mentality is prevalent in this sort of league. My league has open rosters so I don't have to roster a DST or K in the off season and I generally drop them and roster prospects.
• Potential 3-down RB prospects and handcuffs hold more value than usual. I recently dropped Sproles and grabbed Dmac off the WW hoping I can get 2 or more good starts out of him and maybe even trade him to the Zeke owner. No one has touched Sproles. PPR guys like Sproles, White and Thompson are WW fodder in my league.

[carsoncity]

I play in a very similar league, team 1 in sig. RBs are coveted in this league and way over-valued. Over the last several years I have used the zero RB strategy and moved all of my stud RBs for WRs and other positions. I'm so stacked at other positions I can roster 7-8 RBs and roll the dice effectively.

In addition to what's already been mentioned a few things I've noticed about this type of league that tend to differ from traditional leagues:

• It's more like a 10-player league and you need a bunch of studs to win.
• Late 2nd/3rd round draft picks and later have almost no value unless you can trade them. If you can package those picks to upgrade and get something out of them then do it. The WW is full of better value than what you can pick in the 3rd round.
• QBs and TEs have a lot less value than usual except for the studs (unless you have extenuating circumstances.) I generally will not draft TEs or QBs in this league because they take longer to develop/produce and the WW is full of value. It's fairly easy in this type of league to go QBBC and pick up a hot hand at TE during the season. I rather use roster spots on RB/WR.
• Stack up on RBs. I'm constantly punching RB lottery tickets and will flip them when their value spikes. I drafted DJ with a late first in 2015 and was offered Evans + Parker + 2.06 for him straight up after the season. That's excessive but I think that mentality is prevalent in this sort of league. My league has open rosters so I don't have to roster a DST or K in the off season and I generally drop them and roster prospects.
• Potential 3-down RB prospects and handcuffs hold more value than usual. I recently dropped Sproles and grabbed Dmac off the WW hoping I can get 2 or more good starts out of him and maybe even trade him to the Zeke owner. No one has touched Sproles. PPR guys like Sproles, White and Thompson are WW fodder in my league.

I'm a new dynasty player in a similar league and this all sounds like very good advice. thank you

[DJB]

Hotrod basically explained everything in his post.

I play in many non ppr small rosters. Its sort of old school and also keeps parity in the league. Because of the depth on waivers starters can be picked up once a player becomes injured. Bottom 5 teams can rise and make a playoff run. Helps give everyone a chance to win.

My strategy is to go after as many young studs as possible, using depth on my team to do so and acquire studs. Often its an overpayment in regular leagues but its what has to be done.

Also because it's nonppr, stud RB'S tend to rule. They are highly coveted, difficult to acquire and costly. If you want an RB the only way is to draft them.

[lunchbox12]

I play in a similar league with 20 roster spots... rbs are absolute gold. Yes they have shorter Shelf lives in theory but there are always 3-5 rbs that are picked off waivers that produce top 20 numbers.. the same goes with WRs if not even more. I have found it's best to own 4-5 wrs you can trust and then A TON of rbs... 1 qb and 1 te then just waiver wire qb/te for bye or injury as there's almost always a top 12 te and average qb on WW.

With non ppr rbs seem to outscore WRs overall, any rb that is going to get 12-18 "touches" will probly be a top 20 rb and have more points than the wr with the same ranking for that week. Also in my league like that last year, the top 24 rbs outscored EVERY te except for kelce, topped with only being able to start 1 max... makes them essentially irrelevant.

Hope this helps