Dynasty League Football Forum

I'm participating in an Auction-style Start-Up draft next week and I wanted to get an idea on what everyone's strategy seems to be in this situation.

I personally see a lot of value in grabbing a few "studs" to build your team around, especially at the TE position. My reasoning is this - RB 2's, WR 3's, TE's 5-10 seem to be a dime-a-dozen. Year to year, these players fluctuate very frequently and don't often hold long-term value - Guys like Eric Decker, DeMarco Murray, Jermaine Gresham can easily be found in a number of ways - drafting well during each rookie-draft, developing long-term talent, or trading for these starters when they are the "missing piece".

I think there are a dozen (maybe 15-20) guys that offer both short-term and long-term elite value.
Just to name a few:
QB's - Rodgers, Kaepernick, Newton, Wilson
RB's - McCoy, Richardson, Spiller, Charles
WR's - Calvin, Julio, A.J. Green
TE's - Graham, Gronk

Is it wise to spend such a large chunk of your budget to acquire a few of these players and hope to build around them? Or is it smarter to round out your roster with a bunch of solid, yet unspectacular players?

Depends on how deep the league is. If it's a shallower league, you might as well just grab studs because the value of the $1 roster fillers is much higher. In a deeper league I'd be a value atheist- aka decide every player's dollar value before the draft, and then only pay attention to who is the biggest bargain.

I think you need to include Luck on your list of QBs and Martin on your list of RBs. I also don't know if I'd have Charles on that list. I know you were just throwing out some names of the top of your head, but these are guys I'd consider in that group as well.

Niceguy wrote:I think you need to include Luck on your list of QBs and Martin on your list of RBs. I also don't know if I'd have Charles on that list. I know you were just throwing out some names of the top of your head, but these are guys I'd consider in that group as well.

Yeah I agree.

Niceguy wrote:I think you need to include Luck on your list of QBs and Martin on your list of RBs. I also don't know if I'd have Charles on that list. I know you were just throwing out some names of the top of your head, but these are guys I'd consider in that group as well.

Yep, would definitely include Luck & Martin had I spent the time to fully develop that list.

As for Charles, I've always been a big fan of his. His last 2 healthy seasons have produced top10 (borderline top5) numbers, and that was with a coaching staff that didn't utilize him. I think Andy Reid will do wonders for his usage numbers - and I firmly believe he will be a top5 RB as long as he is getting the touches. And he's just 25 years old.

Anyways - it is a shallow league - Will only have 10 owners but deep starting requirements, no IDP. QB is deep this year anyway so I imagine I'll try and nab 1 elite RB, WR, and TE (Graham will likely be my #1 target), followed by a solid QB and another #2 WR - and fill the rest of the roster up with affordable value picks.

What are the starting rosters?

TheOracle wrote:What are the starting rosters?

1 QB, 3 RB's, 3 WR's, TE, 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE) - basicaly the same number of starters for a typical 12-team league (besides the QB).

last year I went with the opposite strategy. I skipped on those guys I got D Thomas, Roddy White and Percy Harvin all for around $20 each ($200) budget. the problem with your plan is those guys each cost about 20-25% of your budget. if you grab two of them it doesn't give you a chance to build much depth.

RonW15 wrote:last year I went with the opposite strategy. I skipped on those guys I got D Thomas, Roddy White and Percy Harvin all for around $20 each ($200) budget. the problem with your plan is those guys each cost about 20-25% of your budget. if you grab two of them it doesn't give you a chance to build much depth.

Well you definitely struck gold with Thomas & Harvin, but it's not like top10 WR's can typically be had for just $20.

This is the way I look at it - spending $10-25 ($200 budget) gets you the following players, for example:
-Miles Austin
-Eric Decker
-DeMarco Murray
-Ryan Mathews
-Antonio Brown

My point is - all of those guys are nothing special. Every single one of them was an afterthought 2-3 years ago or will be in another 2-3 years (roughly speaking). They come along a dime-a-dozen, and can easily be found every season. On the contrary, the true STUDS come around much less frequently, and are much harder to come by. I can trade for Miles Austin. I can't trade for Calvin or Julio. I can safely assume that I can draft players like DeMarco Murray and Antonio Brown in rookie drafts, I can't bank on drafting Adrian Peterson or A.J. Green in every rookie draft.

Part of the equation depends on how we all view these players. I think Jimmy Graham will be a top3 TE for the next 5-6 years. And outside of Gronk, I can't safely call any other TE a sure top10 TE for the next 3-5 years - so there's a huge premium in owning Graham/Gronk. Likewise, I think Julio/Green/Calvin are head and shoulders above any other Dynasty WR at this point in time. And while I do think RB's are fairly deep at the top, I think there's a few studs that will be elite for the next 4-6 years (a long time for RB's).

A start-up draft is your one opportunity to definitively acquire these STUDS. You can always fill in the rest later. I'm certainly not suggesting that I want a roster of Rodgers, Calvin, AP, and Graham surrounded by Mohammed Sanu, Willis McGahee, Rashard Mendenhall, Reuben Randle, etc.

But is it worth it to pay the premium to acquire Graham, Julio, and 1 stud RB (McCoy?) if it means that I'm sacrificing my WR/RB 3 a little? I personally think so since I can more-easily upgrade those positions later on down the road. You can't easily bank on upgrading your elite RB/WR 1.

In a tn team league, qbs have low value. Same with tes except for the top few, your aware of this. Your saying that you start 3 rbs per week plus a flex option. This is gonna be where you wana be aggressive. If your gonna spend on a position, this is it. Wrs are your second priority of course cause you can start up to 4 a week also. In an auction its all about value. Dont get your heart set on a certain player cause it can cause you too overpay. This happens early in the auction. Let people overpay for players, even bid them up if possible cause it will lead you to getting good deals later in the draft.

last year in my draft $5 got you Cobb. $11 got you Crabtree $37 got you Julio.... they were separated by less than 1 PPG. I didn't spend more than $22 on anyone and I had the second most points in the league. People paid $37 for Fitz, $38 for Matthews $40 for Mcfadden $29 for Murray.... I wouldn't advocate that strategy, but it's your team