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The FFPC (Fantasy Football Players Championship) is the place for serious fantasy players to compete in dynasty leagues for high-stakes action. Scott Engel tells you how to prepare for upcoming dynasty startup drafts in existing and new leagues.
While NFL teams are readying for the upcoming draft and continue to monitor free agency, fantasy football dynasty players also have much work to do. Whether you play in a returning dynasty league or are planning to join a new one, the time for important offseason decisions is already here.
The level of dynasty competition is most compelling in the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC), where you can compete against the best at various levels of pricing. There is great competition and lucrative prizes to contend for no matter what your level of intended league fee may be.
Playing in these sort of high stakes formats ensure serious levels of competition and highly satisfying rewards for your success. You are guaranteed the best fantasy football experience. It’s no nonsense, streamlined and you don’t experience many of the frustrations you may endure in leagues run by your friends or in a public format. Dynasty players are looking for a professionally operated experience, and the FFPC is where you find it.
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FFPC Dynasty Leagues
RotoBaller readers receive an automatic and direct $35 discount on their first new FFPC team when they visit the site here. The discount will automatically be applied during your checkout process when you go to the FFPC site from RotoBaller.com. New dynasty leagues are forming now in the lobby.
To get you set up for both a new season in a returning league, or with a maiden dynasty team, we prep you for dynasty success here, with primers on how to approach existing and first-time leagues. Many of these recommendations can be applied to all dynasty formats, including your own personal leagues.
FFPC Returning Dynasty League Tasks and Prep
The first order of dynasty business is to make your initial round of offseason roster cuts, due by 11:59 PT on March 31. You must trim your roster to 16 players or the FFPC team will make the cuts for you. This really should not be a very challenging task. But it is very unique by team and must be done carefully to prepare for your upcoming rookie draft.
To make the ideal roster cuts, you simply must project roles for the upcoming season as best you can and also review roster depth. In my FFPC Superflex Dynasty league, where I won the 2020 championship, it was easy to make my first five roster cuts. They were mostly fringe players who I may have added for DFS type of upside in a given week. Then my final two were Wayne Gallman and Rashard Higgins. Gallman was a valuable pickup last year as a desperation starter for the Giants, but he may only land a backup or complementary job with a new team this season.
Recent FFPC Dynasty roster cuts in my league
Higgins does have some appeal if Odell Beckham Jr. is traded, but I cannot wait for that to become a reality, and it may never happen. As of now, he is projected to return to a third WR role with the Browns, and I had five other WRs ahead of him on my depth chart. If a guy is a longshot to crack my projected 2021 lineup, he visits the FFPC Turk now, as I can simply get those types back in free agency during the season. Higgins is on my personal watch list but no longer a roster consideration.
You can’t second-guess yourself too much in these sorts of situations. We can’t keep everyone and must make firm decisions, not waffle over “what if” scenarios. Project your pre-rookie draft FFPC lineup as best you can, make a depth chart and cut the guys from the bottom. They will be effectively replaced in the upcoming rookie and free-agent draft, anyway. Also, don’t cut kickers and defenses as a reflex, either. If your kicker is more likely to be productive than a sixth WR, it may be better to keep the kicker, especially in a Best Ball format. Kickers can boost your teams to wins in weeks when some other players underperform.
Once cutdown day has passed, you can start preparing for your rookie draft. While it’s often folly to try to guess how the draft may play out ahead of your pick, you can start identifying what positions need to be addressed first and compile your own rankings. At this point, I already know that I won’t be prioritizing WRs, as my depth is excellent there. I have three terrific starting RBs in Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry and James Robinson. But my second Superflex QB is Cam Newton, and in the TE-friendly FFPC, I would prefer to improve from Rob Gronkowski and Hayden Hurst. So I may have a sharper eye on quarterbacks and tight ends in my rookie/free agent draft.
You have to not only be ready to take on the incoming rookies, but review the roster cuts and available free agents in your FFPC dynasty league. Andy Dalton, Quintez Cephus and Zach Ertz are all names that will be considered by me at some later points of the draft and are currently available in my league. Dalton is a depth piece in a Superflex league, Cephus might play a bigger role for the Lions in 2021 and Ertz could try to revive his career elsewhere this upcoming season. We can’t just scout the rookies.
Readying for a New Dynasty Draft
Once you visit the FFPC Lobby, you can pick your preferred level and style of dynasty play. You can choose seasonal or Best Ball play in standard or superflex formats. Drafts are already open for the upcoming season and many will start in the next few days. No matter what format you pick, there are some approaches that apply to all types of dynasty play.
First, you should not always emphasize youth over proven and experienced performers. This can especially be true at quarterback. Last season, I drafted Russell Wilson as my Superflex QB1 in the second round. Joe Burrow went directly ahead of me, and there was no way I would have taken him over Wilson. The Seahawks QB was 31 years old heading into last year, and that is just not “old” for a quarterback. He was an easy Top 5 pick for me at the position heading last season.
The first five rounds of my 2020 FFPC Superflex Draft
If you are well prepared, you can land some values, even against the likes of the tough FFPC field. Derrick Henry fell to me in the third round last season, and there was no way I was passing on an RB1 at that point even though Matt Ryan would have been an optimum Superflex pick as a QB2, but I passed on him and ended up with the best RB duo in the league.
In both cases, what I kept in mind was wanting to win now, not just in the future. Some dynasty players prioritize youth a bit too much. There was a lot of hype on Clyde Edwards-Helaire at this time of year in 2020, but I would have not recommended taking an unproven NFL RB at No. 8 overall. Jonathan Taylor went almost a full round ahead of Henry. That was too much of a gap to me. It’s best to keep a combination of a “win now” and “win later” mentality heading into the draft. You should just simply take the best player available to fill your needs in the earlier rounds in most instances, without passing on a key player because of perceived age concerns. Every player and situation you will be faced with is unique, though. No one would question you for taking CeeDee Lamb over Julio Jones at his point. But that example is more extreme, obviously.
Many fantasy players consider age 30 to be the marker for when a guy becomes “old”. That has only proven to be true at running back in many cases. You should not shy away from a quality 29-year old WR or a 31 year-old QB. Players at those positions and at those age targets could give you three to four years of high-quality play.
In FFPC maiden dynasty drafts, get ready for a lot of trading. If you love to deal, the dynasty format is definitely for you. Other players are constantly attempting to move up, and if you are savvy and confident enough, you can be very aggressive. Last season, I ended up with two picks each in the fifth and sixth rounds, and none in the seventh through ninth rounds. The trade offers kept flying right through the rounds in the 20s. You will have to be ready to truly build your team on the go, and you can always improve your draft positioning at any time.
Of course, there are other key points to remember, such as making sure you fill out your projected starting lineup first if you can and remembering that TE scoring has a higher emphasis in the FFPC. Take an aggressive approach if you believe in a player, as being unique could be the way to beat out the higher levels of competition in the FFPC.
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