Post by Washington Imperials GM on Jan 18, 2009 23:32:31 GMT -5
For those who are new here are a few tips and pointers to help you out. If you are wondering who I am... I am Chad "Samgenius" Samuels. I am a staff writer for a fantasy football website fantasyfootballmaniaxs.com I have been playing fantasy football since 1993 and playing in this format for two years (which I believe was the inception of this format). There are other salary cap games out there but this one is unique with the dynasty format and IDPs and multiple startup drafts. What I have assembled here is some general advice or primer to help guide you through this experience so that you can compete with those of us who have played in this format before. Even the playing field, if you will. Getting a good start is important in this format as it is in most dynasty formats because some poor decisions while learning can set you back for years. Charles and I want you to enjoy this experience and remain with us for many years to come.
How you build your team is important, but you can build a successful team with a strong defense and a mediocre offense or a strong offense with a mediocre defense and still win in this league. IF you draft smart and pick up free agents that do well you will go far. I will not pretend that there is just one way to build a good team. There are many. What I prefer might not work for your personality. For Example I know one GM that will add six Running backs through the first eight rounds of an offensive draft and be successful because he trades alot. Where I am successfull while not drafting as many running backs. I won't say follow this formula to win, but Managing Your Salary Cap and Roster are Key to being competative annualy. Your elite playes will cost you alot of money against your cap. You do not immediately want to sign them to the longest contracts possible consider thier age and how many years that player will be productive (ie. age 30 for a RB). Keep your contracts near that time frame, maybe a year longer at most. The when thier production begins to drop you can release them and not overpay for thier lower production.
Do Not overpay for risky breakout players Use the rookie price scale to help determine max cost on players you think might break out and emerge. Overpaying them means if you wish to buy them out later it will cost more money. That will cost against your salary cap later. Remember not all of your sleepers will emerge into good players some will bust.
If you overpay for a contract keep the contract you sign him to a one or two year deal. You want the length enough so that you can determine if the player will break out or not. If they don't you can release them without buying them out saving you some cap money. That means more money to bid on more free agents or take on a less than good contract from someone else in a trade so that you can the player you want.
If you do have a player who has a cheap contract you think will break out. Consider signing him to a long term contract. Not all breakout contracts should be long. Some that are less risky are worth it. If you have a one or two dollar player signed to a five year deal and he breaks out into the next Brandon Marshal or Tony Romo you will have extra dollars to spend in other areas. Also it means after you resign them to a normal salary deal you will have held him on your roster for most of thier productive years. Remember some of your sleepers will bust so don't sign them all to long term deals. Otherwise when it is time to recycle your roster you will have to buy ou some contracts.
Following the above advice Use your practice squad wisely. Unless you need help now, save your practice squad signings to offseason. Then you can sign them to a longer term contract. You should also try to keep people on practice squd you will be willing to sign to yor regualr roster the following season. If you keep resigning them to your practice squad until they break out you could be paying $3 or $4 for a player that you could be paying $1 or $2 for. Do not be afraid to recycle your practice squad players since it does not count against your cap to drop and add them. Try to manipulate your PS to cover your weakest position.
One strategy for building your roster the first year is to allocate a number of roster spots to each position including IDPs. After that allocate a $ amount you are willing to spend on each position. Do this before any drafts start. It helps focus your team and keeps you from overspending at a certain position. You might have to go through several trial runs to get the breakdown and the dollar amounts correct but your roster will be in better shape because of it. if you intend to buyout players throughout the season you might want to allocate money to that as well so you wont overspend early. Feel free to use a reply post to keep track of information like this and notes to yourself. It will be public so you might want to balence what you want to remind yourself of and what you want others to know but it is an easy way to keep track of things.
Trading if fun and a good tool to improve your team. There are no vetos of trades. Trades can get lopsided. It is for you to decide how you wish to handle trading. The rules allow for you to be swindled and taken advantage of. While I encourage participants to be fair in thier dealings with each other this will not always happen. When you trade make sure you know that you want to make the trade because after both teams post that they agree, there will be no going back. Do not be afraid to ask opinions of the trade with other owners on this board as well as other fantasy football websites. This will help you avoid some of the bad trade blues Here is the Fantasy Football Maniaxs messageboard if you want some trade help.
fantasydrx.proboards92.com/index.cgi?
There is a rookie draft every year and the rookie picks are valuable comodities. if you need a piece to make you a contender now or a chance at the championship do not be afraid to trade them away. If you are honest with yourself and believe you will not contend for playoffs it is better to keep your first round pick primarily. Your second will be benificial too. Keep them through the regular season then after your pick position is determined you can decide better to trade it away for secure players to restock your team or draft a rookie that will help your team. It is hard to trade for RB talent unless you have running back talent. The only way to get new RB talent is if you develop it through the rookie draft. Expect RBs to be drafted early after year one. Usually durring the startup rookie draft after the elite Rbs are gone owners tend to draft by need for thier team to build a roster. Do not underestimate the value of early 3rd round rookie picks. They can be added to the practice squad to develop for a year and they only cost $1. This frees up your roster space for other players. You can still find good talent early third round.
If you intend to draft rookies onto your roster make sure you have a plan that includes enough space to add them. You need to anticipate how many expired contracts you willl resign and players you wont make sure hat number including the rookies does not exceed 35 players do not forget to anticipate who you will be sending to the practice squad. For the first year if you use all of your 35 man roster, make sure that there are at least 2-4 1 year contracts. That will assure room for your rookies. The other solution is to trade your rookie picks away for players. in two for one deals that improves player quality.
Keep in mind how many Rookie Contracts you have. You can stock up on rookie picks but you might be forced to sign some to a one year deal. The practice squad makes it less likely but if you want to keep a third of fourth rounder on your roster you need to account for them. Assigning the one year deals when you are out of contracts can be a little tricky. Since it takes three years to develop a rookie WR I highly suggest you sign your rookie WRs to no less than a three year contract. This way you have more information to decide weather or not you should resign that player. Consider four year contracts for cheap running backs who will be burried on the depth chart. It might take them to free agency to develop into a starter. DE rarely develop in one year as well so a two year contract is advisable as well. This is based on your tolerance for how long you can keep an unproductive player everyone has different tolerance levels.
If you are unfamiliar to IDPs this format is great for you because you do not have to figure out when and where to start drafting them just how good they are to each other. For standard IDP drafting people concentrate on LBs early in the draft then they sprinkle in DBs and DL. Do not spend too much on LBs in the draft early though because there are alot of LBs that put up decent points and with this format thier $ value will be lower. Last year in another league someone got Karlos Dansby for $1 and he was a top 10 scoring LB. You might want some top LBs in your lineup If you are unfamiliar with IDPs, but do not add more than 2 before you start to adress the other positions. This is not a hard and fast rule that should be followed (who am I to tell you how to draft) but a standard draft strategy that people in this format of league follow often.
I also suggest do not add too many DL spots early in the draft or through the draft . There is turnover in top scorers and it is likely by midseason there will be a top IDP in free agency you can get. They also could be start worthy on your squad. But if you have 3 DE already you might not want to add a 4th DE to your roster.
a typical IDP draft starts with LB early for the first two rounds with a couple of DE sprinkled in maybe a S or two. In rounds 3 and 4 you see a majority of DBs taken both S and CB. After that people tend to fill out thier starting lineup and sprinkle in some backup LBs. I am not suggesting you follow any formula here because there are several ways you can build a defense. I just want to give you an idea of how these drafts commonly go down a who will most likely be taken. Just like the stock market though past performance does not guarentee future gains. Anything can happen in a draft so be ready.
Do not ignore players that will be returning punts and kicks. as it adds some extra points to the player. Our scoring rules for that yardage is not that high but it does add a little extra value to those players. Especailly on defense.
CB tend to be more inconsistant than Safties. a CB does not get an INT a game. Not even the good ones. and the great CBs might not be thrown to in a game. This limits his points scored from game to game and season to season. Safeties usually get more tackles and are more consistant in points scored. Also do not be afraid to draft an average or bad cornerback. If they give up more catches they have more chances to make a tackle. Just remember a bad CB is more likely to be benched by poor play so there is some risk. (Think DeAngelo Hall last season)
Know the system a defense plays. a 3-4 defense is very different than a 4-3 defense. In a 4-3 defense the DEs get more sacks and the DTs have some vale. Also the LB you want from that team is primarily the MLB. In a 3-4 defense the linemen tend to hold up the OL and make less plays that 4-3 DL. Also in a 3-4 defense it is the OLB that you want because they are the ones who will usually rush the passer and get sacks as well as alot of tackles.
I hope this Primer helps you be competative this year. As with all information it is for you to decide how you wish to apply it. I do not wish to tell you what to do but help guide you to the correct decisions for your team. I am willing to any answer strategy questions to help get you ready for this league, but I will not give player rankings as rankings are subjective and there is a greater chance these rankings will be inacurate as opposed to advice I give. Feel free to PM me and I will answer to the best of my ability. Good Luck
How you build your team is important, but you can build a successful team with a strong defense and a mediocre offense or a strong offense with a mediocre defense and still win in this league. IF you draft smart and pick up free agents that do well you will go far. I will not pretend that there is just one way to build a good team. There are many. What I prefer might not work for your personality. For Example I know one GM that will add six Running backs through the first eight rounds of an offensive draft and be successful because he trades alot. Where I am successfull while not drafting as many running backs. I won't say follow this formula to win, but Managing Your Salary Cap and Roster are Key to being competative annualy. Your elite playes will cost you alot of money against your cap. You do not immediately want to sign them to the longest contracts possible consider thier age and how many years that player will be productive (ie. age 30 for a RB). Keep your contracts near that time frame, maybe a year longer at most. The when thier production begins to drop you can release them and not overpay for thier lower production.
Do Not overpay for risky breakout players Use the rookie price scale to help determine max cost on players you think might break out and emerge. Overpaying them means if you wish to buy them out later it will cost more money. That will cost against your salary cap later. Remember not all of your sleepers will emerge into good players some will bust.
If you overpay for a contract keep the contract you sign him to a one or two year deal. You want the length enough so that you can determine if the player will break out or not. If they don't you can release them without buying them out saving you some cap money. That means more money to bid on more free agents or take on a less than good contract from someone else in a trade so that you can the player you want.
If you do have a player who has a cheap contract you think will break out. Consider signing him to a long term contract. Not all breakout contracts should be long. Some that are less risky are worth it. If you have a one or two dollar player signed to a five year deal and he breaks out into the next Brandon Marshal or Tony Romo you will have extra dollars to spend in other areas. Also it means after you resign them to a normal salary deal you will have held him on your roster for most of thier productive years. Remember some of your sleepers will bust so don't sign them all to long term deals. Otherwise when it is time to recycle your roster you will have to buy ou some contracts.
Following the above advice Use your practice squad wisely. Unless you need help now, save your practice squad signings to offseason. Then you can sign them to a longer term contract. You should also try to keep people on practice squd you will be willing to sign to yor regualr roster the following season. If you keep resigning them to your practice squad until they break out you could be paying $3 or $4 for a player that you could be paying $1 or $2 for. Do not be afraid to recycle your practice squad players since it does not count against your cap to drop and add them. Try to manipulate your PS to cover your weakest position.
One strategy for building your roster the first year is to allocate a number of roster spots to each position including IDPs. After that allocate a $ amount you are willing to spend on each position. Do this before any drafts start. It helps focus your team and keeps you from overspending at a certain position. You might have to go through several trial runs to get the breakdown and the dollar amounts correct but your roster will be in better shape because of it. if you intend to buyout players throughout the season you might want to allocate money to that as well so you wont overspend early. Feel free to use a reply post to keep track of information like this and notes to yourself. It will be public so you might want to balence what you want to remind yourself of and what you want others to know but it is an easy way to keep track of things.
Trading if fun and a good tool to improve your team. There are no vetos of trades. Trades can get lopsided. It is for you to decide how you wish to handle trading. The rules allow for you to be swindled and taken advantage of. While I encourage participants to be fair in thier dealings with each other this will not always happen. When you trade make sure you know that you want to make the trade because after both teams post that they agree, there will be no going back. Do not be afraid to ask opinions of the trade with other owners on this board as well as other fantasy football websites. This will help you avoid some of the bad trade blues Here is the Fantasy Football Maniaxs messageboard if you want some trade help.
fantasydrx.proboards92.com/index.cgi?
There is a rookie draft every year and the rookie picks are valuable comodities. if you need a piece to make you a contender now or a chance at the championship do not be afraid to trade them away. If you are honest with yourself and believe you will not contend for playoffs it is better to keep your first round pick primarily. Your second will be benificial too. Keep them through the regular season then after your pick position is determined you can decide better to trade it away for secure players to restock your team or draft a rookie that will help your team. It is hard to trade for RB talent unless you have running back talent. The only way to get new RB talent is if you develop it through the rookie draft. Expect RBs to be drafted early after year one. Usually durring the startup rookie draft after the elite Rbs are gone owners tend to draft by need for thier team to build a roster. Do not underestimate the value of early 3rd round rookie picks. They can be added to the practice squad to develop for a year and they only cost $1. This frees up your roster space for other players. You can still find good talent early third round.
If you intend to draft rookies onto your roster make sure you have a plan that includes enough space to add them. You need to anticipate how many expired contracts you willl resign and players you wont make sure hat number including the rookies does not exceed 35 players do not forget to anticipate who you will be sending to the practice squad. For the first year if you use all of your 35 man roster, make sure that there are at least 2-4 1 year contracts. That will assure room for your rookies. The other solution is to trade your rookie picks away for players. in two for one deals that improves player quality.
Keep in mind how many Rookie Contracts you have. You can stock up on rookie picks but you might be forced to sign some to a one year deal. The practice squad makes it less likely but if you want to keep a third of fourth rounder on your roster you need to account for them. Assigning the one year deals when you are out of contracts can be a little tricky. Since it takes three years to develop a rookie WR I highly suggest you sign your rookie WRs to no less than a three year contract. This way you have more information to decide weather or not you should resign that player. Consider four year contracts for cheap running backs who will be burried on the depth chart. It might take them to free agency to develop into a starter. DE rarely develop in one year as well so a two year contract is advisable as well. This is based on your tolerance for how long you can keep an unproductive player everyone has different tolerance levels.
If you are unfamiliar to IDPs this format is great for you because you do not have to figure out when and where to start drafting them just how good they are to each other. For standard IDP drafting people concentrate on LBs early in the draft then they sprinkle in DBs and DL. Do not spend too much on LBs in the draft early though because there are alot of LBs that put up decent points and with this format thier $ value will be lower. Last year in another league someone got Karlos Dansby for $1 and he was a top 10 scoring LB. You might want some top LBs in your lineup If you are unfamiliar with IDPs, but do not add more than 2 before you start to adress the other positions. This is not a hard and fast rule that should be followed (who am I to tell you how to draft) but a standard draft strategy that people in this format of league follow often.
I also suggest do not add too many DL spots early in the draft or through the draft . There is turnover in top scorers and it is likely by midseason there will be a top IDP in free agency you can get. They also could be start worthy on your squad. But if you have 3 DE already you might not want to add a 4th DE to your roster.
a typical IDP draft starts with LB early for the first two rounds with a couple of DE sprinkled in maybe a S or two. In rounds 3 and 4 you see a majority of DBs taken both S and CB. After that people tend to fill out thier starting lineup and sprinkle in some backup LBs. I am not suggesting you follow any formula here because there are several ways you can build a defense. I just want to give you an idea of how these drafts commonly go down a who will most likely be taken. Just like the stock market though past performance does not guarentee future gains. Anything can happen in a draft so be ready.
Do not ignore players that will be returning punts and kicks. as it adds some extra points to the player. Our scoring rules for that yardage is not that high but it does add a little extra value to those players. Especailly on defense.
CB tend to be more inconsistant than Safties. a CB does not get an INT a game. Not even the good ones. and the great CBs might not be thrown to in a game. This limits his points scored from game to game and season to season. Safeties usually get more tackles and are more consistant in points scored. Also do not be afraid to draft an average or bad cornerback. If they give up more catches they have more chances to make a tackle. Just remember a bad CB is more likely to be benched by poor play so there is some risk. (Think DeAngelo Hall last season)
Know the system a defense plays. a 3-4 defense is very different than a 4-3 defense. In a 4-3 defense the DEs get more sacks and the DTs have some vale. Also the LB you want from that team is primarily the MLB. In a 3-4 defense the linemen tend to hold up the OL and make less plays that 4-3 DL. Also in a 3-4 defense it is the OLB that you want because they are the ones who will usually rush the passer and get sacks as well as alot of tackles.
I hope this Primer helps you be competative this year. As with all information it is for you to decide how you wish to apply it. I do not wish to tell you what to do but help guide you to the correct decisions for your team. I am willing to any answer strategy questions to help get you ready for this league, but I will not give player rankings as rankings are subjective and there is a greater chance these rankings will be inacurate as opposed to advice I give. Feel free to PM me and I will answer to the best of my ability. Good Luck