Bringing Balance to the Force, i.e.: Dynasty Roster Management

Wow, Andy, can you pick a more exciting topic to use a Star Wars theme?

Of course I can, however managing your roster is extremely important in the off-season of your dynasty league. Since I am @realanakin on twitter, most of you readers out there had to have a clue that a Star Wars theme would happen one day.

Let’s break down dynasty roster management down into four simple steps. Take care of your starters. Decide on how much and what kind of depth to have. Use the rookie draft to your advantage. Scan the waiver wire and always look for potential trades.

Lock Down Your Starters: Dynasty just like any other league is played to have the best starters possible every single week. Players that excel in your leagues scoring system are key. For example, if you are playing a points per reception league RBs like Jamal Charles and DeAngelo Williams are more valuable than Cedric Benson and Michael Turner, because Charles and Williams will catch a lot more passes. When playing in an IDP (individual defensive player) league, scoring either favors big plays or tackles. Elvis Dumervil is a better LB for a big play league and Jon Beason is better to have in a tackle-heavy league. Make sure you have enough starters to play each week, that means watching bye weeks and making sure you have those covered well ahead of time, if it is a position that is scarce on the waiver wire. Don’t get caught not starting a kicker or defense because you weren’t paying attention to bye weeks and then lose your game by 2 points! Make sure you read the injury reports and get daily information on all your players, so you aren’t surprised at game time that a player isn’t playing. Keep your starters strong every single week!

Stay at Proper Depth: Teams usually go into two different directions of depth either a starship full of depth or little depth. Depth can be a huge factor. It is tricky as you don’t want too much depth and you need some depth to protect the team in case of injury. In league with 8 to 12 teams with limited rosters (20 players or less), there is usually sufficient free agents to handle depth issues that you can pick up and drop when needed. Players like Jerricho Cotchery can be found and used in shallower leagues. The trouble a team has with too much depth is that it will also not have a great deal of separation between the amount of points scored by the starters and the non-starters. These points are sitting on your bench week in and week out. This team with great depth will play the wonderful “who should I start?” every single game of the year. Chances are that after playing that “WDIS” game, you will be wrong a couple of times and every game counts! This is why it is better to convert your team with to one with a better starting lineup and limited depth. Positions with the greater chance of injury like RBs are the ones to have several backups, but other positions such as TE will do just fine with a starter like Antonio Gates and a backup like Dustin Keller. Maximize your starting lineup by limited depth.

Advantage Rookie Draft: The rookie draft is the best way for a team to stay young. In an earlier article, it was discussed that looking for talent above opportunity or position is key. Don’t try to fill your starting positions using the rookie draft unless your team is rebuilding. Take the best available rookie and hold onto them for the year with no expectation of playing them unless you need bye week help. When you have some starters that are getting older, select players to backfill their position in a year or two. Be careful not to reach for them. This year I selected Marty Gilyard and Eric Decker later in a rookie draft, because I have Hines Ward and TJ Houshmandzadeh. I don’t expect anything whatsoever this year out of Gilyard and Decker, so I could afford to trade out of the first round and get them on my 25 man roster. Use the roster space to grow young players. Make sure you have strong starters so you can let your rookie picks develop.

Waiver Wire and Potential Trades: Every year there is someone who was not drafted in your draft make a huge impact. Last year players such as Jermichael Finley and Pierre Garcon came off the waiver wire to teams starting lineups. Reading up in the summer and watching the waiver while everyone else is watching baseball or LeBron’s whereabouts can have a positive effect on your team. There are a lot of missteps that can be taken on the waiver wire as well. Keeping your eye open to injuries can help make trades to improve your team’s starters. I traded two 3^rd round rookie picks and Earl Bennett for Wes Welker. That trade took my starting WRs from Larry Fitzgerald, Dwayne Bowe, and Pierre Garcon to Fitz, Welker, and Bowe/Garcon. Don’t stop trying to improve our team. Ever.

It worked out ok, not much Star Wars at all. The keys to dynasty roster management are very simple if you keep up with the work. Lock down your starters. Keep the proper depth. Use the rookie draft to get young. Make sure you troll the waiver wire and look for trades. You can always follow me on twitter @realanakin or just ask me a question.

Good luck.