PlayerProfiler is home to award winning dynasty rankings and tools. Our Dynasty Deluxe package includes complete Dynasty Rankings, Rookie Rankings, Trade Analyzer, Draft Planner, Mock Drafts, and more. Check it out. Below, Seth Diewold outlines how to build a dynasty fantasy team the right way – gathering up value and positioning yourself to win now.
How do you go about building a super team in dynasty fantasy football that can compete not just for one year, but for multiple seasons, possibly the duration of the league? Below, we look at how to build a dynasty team the right way.
I made another video that focused on Dynasty Startup Strategy that you should definitely check out.
In that video, I present strategies that I use in dynasty startups to make sure that I get the most possible value in the startup while also focusing on creating a winner right away. Building your team the right way from the get go is the easiest way to succeed in dynasty, and the startup is where everything begins.
Overall, the best dynasty managers are those who can balance the future with the here and now. These individuals can craft rosters that can win right away and in the future. That is the goal of Dynasty, right? We want to win every year, and today, I am going to show you how to craft such a roster.
Which Players Should I Target?
In some ways, this is the wrong question. We need to be focused on making our rosters valuable. Acquiring rookie picks and younger players with upside are ways to fill our rosters with desirable assets that other teams are going to want to trade for. And while some of these assets won’t help us win right away, it is far easier to go from a roster that is full of young players and draft picks to a contending team than it is to go from a team chock full of veterans that don’t have as much value and aren’t producing for your dynasty team, either.
Value Gains
It doesn’t mean that your team has to be full of younger players. There can and should be a balance to this once your roster is complete, but let me give you some examples of why it is wise to target younger players with upside in dynasty.
Sam LaPorta and C.J. Stroud broke out in a major way in 2023. LaPorta finished as the TE1 overall and the TE3 in fantasy points per game last season, and he is just 23 years old. Stroud finished as the QB11 overall and the QB7 in fantasy points per game. Both players increased their dynasty values big time in their rookie seasons. But, it can go the other way, as well. Bryce Young was the No. 1 overall pick last season and he had a terrible time. Young finished as the QB23 overall and the QB29 in fantasy points per game. Kyle Pitts is another example of a young, promising tight end with a lot of potential that hasn’t produced yet on a consistent basis.
However, even if you drafted Young and Pitts on your dynasty team, you are not up the creek without a paddle. These players still have good dynasty value. Pitts’ value shot up when the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins. His situation changed dramatically, therefore his Dynasty value increased as well.
What Adds Value
Mostly, when targeting younger players we want to focus on a couple of things:
- Draft capital – this shows us that the player’s respective NFL team has invested in them, and will likely give them more chances
- Situation – will they have the opportunity to compete for a starting roster spot right away? Or will they be sitting on the bench for a while?
Going back to Sam LaPorta, he was in the ideal situation to succeed right away. The Lions had a good offensive line, a quarterback who wasn’t going to run around a ton and had a history of being able to perform if given time to throw. LaPorta also had limited competition for targets and competition at his position. Even when we get the perfect scenario, it isn’t a guarantee the player is going to perform. LaPorta is a shining example, especially at the tight end position, of a player hitting extremely early.
Some rookies in great situations to succeed right away this season include Keon Coleman, Ladd McConkey, Caleb Williams and Ja’Lynn Polk. Targeting players like these are great ways to strengthen the value of a dynasty roster.
Personally, I would avoid investing heavily in running backs unless we are talking the elite of the elite RBs (Breece Hall, Bijan Robinson, etc). The reason is that RBs tend not to hold their value as well as other positions. It is also very easy to acquire a veteran running back in a trade. Running backs are the the cherry on top of the dynasty sundae. Therefore, when I am trying to acquire a valuable roster, I tend to seek out other positions.
Okay, I Have a Lot of Valuable Assets, Now What?
Once you have built a solid foundation for yourself full of high quality assets, you can carefully go about the offseason seeking out trades that make sense for your team. If your goal is to win now, you can use ADP tools or rankings such as Keep Trade Cut’s Dynasty Rankings, to help you to target players that have been solid producers in the past.
For example, you could probably trade Keon Coleman for Deebo Samuel if you have too much unknown youth and want a receiver who can produce now for your fantasy team. Or, a dynasty manager could trade Ricky Pearsall for Cooper Kupp. It’s way easier to trade for veterans than to trade away veterans in dynasty, so by building a dynasty team that right away can operate from a position of strength.
Draft for Value and Make the Right Moves
It is way easier to build a dynasty team by starting with a valuable roster. This means it is wise to draft youthful players with upside and acquire rookie picks in the startup draft. This does not mean a dynasty gamer has to go full “productive struggle,” but it is much easier to build a dynasty team from a position of strength. That means having assets other dynasty gamers will want over drafting strictly aging veterans that are going to lose value. Once the roster is full of valuable assets, then a dynasty gamer can go about making careful and concise trades to mold their team into both a win-now team and a team that can win in the future. After all, the goal of dynasty is to win every year, so why not build a dynasty team that has the best chance of doing just that?
See Seth Diewold’s Dynasty Draft Pivots here: Dynasty Draft ADP Pivots | Players to Target in Dynasty Fantasy Football Startups
