Building a dynasty fantasy football team requires strategic thinking and football acumen similar to planning a long military campaign. You must intimately understand your leaguemates’ rosters and tendencies, diligently prepare for the rookie draft and waiver wire, and thoughtfully craft a balanced yet versatile roster aligned to your vision. Knowing when to push all chips to the table for a title run or temporarily rebuild for sustained excellence is equally critical. The finest dynasty owners combine sharp situational analysis with statistical rigor and old-fashioned football study to construct juggernauts that dominate their leagues for years.
This guide outlines core tenets to help you architect a formidable roster poised for both immediate and enduring success. By internalizing essential dynasty strategies around planning, preparation, roster construction, and pivoting between competing goals, you too can rule over your leaguemates year after year like a battle-tested emperor of old.
If you executed the Startup Supreme strategy or loaded up the Iron Bank, then you likely face a roster crunch.
A roster crunch is simply when you have too many players and picks to fit onto your roster. For example, you may have rosters set at 26 players and have 10 picks in the current draft class. This leaves you with a situation where you need to drop at least 10 players from your team to make the rookies fit. I’ve talked about leverage often and in these situations, you undoubtedly lack the advantage and sharp leaguemates will notice.
Trade Up
This is the most basic trick in the book. Packaging multiple picks to move up to nab the best in the rookie class. This works best if the rebuilding teams lack draft picks and have several areas of need. The selling point to them is that you are helping them fill holes. Pitch this as an opportunity for them to move back and gain draft capital.
Target the Weak
There’s always going to be teams in your league that are bottom feeders, lacking any semblance of a competitive squad. Those are your first targets. Look at their rosters and which productive players you can pick off using mid round draft capital. If you can package a few 2nd and 3rd round picks for RB2 or WR2 veterans, then that’s an easy move to make. If you have several 1sts and play in a Superflex league, then target elite QB options by tossing out offers that include 2-3 1sts plus some 2nds.
Get Ahead of the Cliff
Look at your own roster and see if you have players, particularly RBs, who are nearing the age cliff. It might be worth packaging some of your older players and sending them off to contenders (if you’re not very competitive). If you can move these aging players for younger options and/or future picks, then you can create space for this year’s rookies.
Unclog the Roster
It is very rare for a dynasty team to not have any roster cloggers. Take a hard look at your team and be honest with evaluation of the players you don’t want to drop in fear of missing out. Chances are that WR5 option you’ve been holding out hope for or the RB bench warmer you hope will find a way onto the field will never amount to anything. Let go of those pipe dreams and let someone else waste their FAB to pick them up off waivers. This will let you make room for rookies who have much more upside.
Lie In Wait
Every league has stagnant periods before rookie drafts but things tend to pick up dramatically after the NFL Draft and draft capital is settled. Stay patient and capitalize on the rookie fever when picks go on the clock. Often times, you are able to move a current year’s draft picks for future picks which help you stockpile into the future without losing value. You should look to add a kicker like an additional 3rd or 4th round pick, or even a 2nd, depending on the pick you’re sending away.
If the above options aren’t working out, then you smash the best players available during the rookie draft. Make a push to swap late 3rds and 4ths for picks next year. There’s usually a few teams that will want them. Patience is key. Hopefully, the league allows you some time during camp to watch the dust settle so you can decide who to keep. Regardless, there’s probably a decent chance you will have a few players to drop. Scrutinize players at the end of your bench. When you will ever play them?
Having a roster crunch is one of my favorite problems to have in dynasty. It means you’ve been building the right way so don’t change your approach and keep stacking value.
