It is the most important time of year... Fantasy Football is almost back! It is also arguably the most crucial time of year for dynasty owners to take part in the process in which only the most serious competitors take part in... The time of self-reflection and evaluation. The two of us like to call this time that we spend on each of our teams, going through them, and comparing them to the rest of the league "the State of the Union Time". While the majority of owners across leagues are tweaking their lineups for week 1 and are excited that football is back, this is when you should be really looking to get the jump on the rest of your league. Do you have what it takes to make the playoffs? Should you start selling your older assets now, and jumpstart the tank? Let's figure it out.

A House Divided Cannot Stand:

The first step in the evaluation process is the self-evaluation step. The difference between people who play dynasty for fun, and are actual competitors that play to win are those who can remain as unbiased as possible, and face reality. Be completely honest with yourself. If your team is a championship contender if players A,B,C,D and E break out and player F stays healthy, then you are most likely not a championship contender. It should also be said that your goal every year should be to make the playoffs and ideally get the BYE week. Championships are obviously the best outcome, however, don't bet on them. It takes hard work and skill to make it to the playoffs consistently. After that, the playoffs are a gambling crap shoot.

What is the biggest liability on your roster? The biggest holes? If you need a certain player or two to carry your team and stay healthy (because you have no depth behind them) then identify that and be prepared to pivot if one of those guys goes down and you have yet to acquire depth.

Bounce your rosters off of a friend, send them into us. It is best to get another look at your roster from someone other than yourself to prevent owner biases. People's biggest hurdles to creating dynasty super teams are their own egos and a lack of patience. It is perfectly okay to be wrong, and it is even more okay to wait.

Know Your Enemy:

With that being said, you should also pay attention to where the rest of your league is at. Do you have 3 teams that are already actively tanking? If so, your best bet in a tank may be pick 1.04. On the other hand, if you have 5 teams obviously stacking older assets who will put up points, and nobody has underwent a fire sale, maybe it is time to start acquiring some extra draft capital. The most important thing to do is to avoid the treadmill of mediocrity that so many people fall into.

In one of our 12 team Start 11 Superflex leagues last year, we felt pretty good going into the year with our team. It was solid, yet unspectacular. However, right before the season we really looked at it and realized that even if everything broke right, it was a long shot to make the playoffs, and it REALLY could not compete with the power house teams. So we SOLD, and sold heavy. Nobody else had dedicated themselves to the tank in that league and we cornered the market on first round picks and young talent. That team now has 12 picks in the first 2 rounds of rookie drafts the next 2 years (5 1sts) after having 10 picks this past offseason in the first 2 rounds. Combined with a core of the following players:

QB:

Kyler Murray, Brock Purdy, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye

RB:

Breece Hall, Kyren Williams

WR:

Devante Adams, Brandon Aiyuk, Jayden Reed, Ladd McConkey, Keon Coleman, Xavier Legette, Ja'lynn Polk, Diontae Johnson

TE:

Trey McBride, George Kittle, TJ Hockenson

Fading the market is important. Even if you think that you can squeeze a playoff run out of your team, it may be best to maximize the value of your assets, liquidate them, and build. In the 12 team start 11 leagues we were in last year, it took an average of 158.95 points to make it to the playoffs or roughly 2,225.30 in the aggregate. Meanwhile, champions, if they have a really good week and everything hits right will put up 200+ points in a championship matchup. Of course, this all depends on what the rest of your league looks like and is league/format variant.

The Enemy of the Enemy (Is Your Primary Trading Partner)

No matter which way you take your team, start trade dialogues now and always. Some leagues are great with communication, and others may not be so much. It is vital that you yourself always stay as active as possible. Say someone reaches out to buy James Conner this week, but you decide that your competing. Be respectful, and keep the dialogue open. Remember, unless you have 5 star players deep on your bench you could just be one (Insert Star Player Name Here) injury away from needing to liquidate Conner for a 2nd. Never take the first offer unless it is a smash accept, and be willing to spam out offers if you have to.

One particular trade we made last year, got accused of collusion. It was a bad trade, however, the other owner felt they had to make the trade because they received no other offers, and desperately needed to shed points. Remember, if there is a piece out there that goes incredibly under market value, then it turns out that market value in that particular league wasn't very high, or the rest of the league is just lazy. Take advantage of that as best as you can. This is especially important when you ARE on your way to the playoffs and someone else in your league has not self-evaluated correctly. Once a few weeks go by, you want to be the first to be able to buy their aging assets putting up points for pennies on the dollar as they decide to liquidate and try to claw their way back into the points battle for 1.01.

Win Wars; Not Battles:

Another way of putting this is, dynasty is a marathon, not a sprint. Do not mortgage your future for the now. With that being said, we are in it to win it. If we are competing, it is okay to go out and buy points. Just remember that WRs and QBs are longer term assets, meanwhile buying a RB is like buying a car, the used ones are always cheaper and you lose less value when you drive a used one off of the lot. (Jerome Ford for a 3rd is way better value than Kyren Williams for a 1st if we predict they will have the same amount of points).

The main thing to take into consideration when purchasing a competing asset is how many points per week that player will put up for you. If you have a net gain of 0, then the trade obviously is not worth making. However, if player A is putting up 16 PPG and will replace player B (12 PPG) in your lineup, and you really feel like you need those average 4 points to feel better, then pull the trigger. The less points you add to the lineup should mean the less future value you will be willing to give up.

Final Thoughts:

While everyone else gets caught up in who they should be starting this week, and whether or not they need to slot that Thursday guy into their lineup, now is the best time to take a 300 foot view of our dynasty teams. The best way to set yourself up for future success is being able to properly identify where everyone is at in the now, (including yourself). But most importantly...

Are you ready for some football??