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End-of-inaugural-year thoughts for experimental rookies-only dynasty league: thread (1/?)
Start 2 league. We knew it would be random and it was.
Team drafted James Rob for $1 (0.1% budget) at top of league all season.
Team drafted cheap (in hindsight) Herbert + Claypool looked unbeatable for most of season.
My team started well, dropped to middle of league after mid-season, then when nuts when Hurts gets job...champ
Team drafted cheap (in hindsight) Herbert + Claypool looked unbeatable for most of season.
My team started well, dropped to middle of league after mid-season, then when nuts when Hurts gets job...champ
Guess which week Herbert + Claypool blow up together @DTMComputers
Hitting on cheap performers is hugely important and strongly shapes the league. See: James Rob
But it is almost better to lose in Y1 so you can accumulate more talent.
Lots of teams went for tanking strat for this reason. Led to league shallower than a normal league.
Lots of teams went for tanking strat for this reason. Led to league shallower than a normal league.
Tanking teams didn't want to roster players who might score points (bestball determines next year draft capital for non-playoff teams). And sometimes teams trying to win had to cut useful players, e.g. cut Ahmed prior to big Week 15 game.
28th best rookie (~worst starter) scored 62.9 points weeks 1-16. You'd think anyone who scores a few points per game should be rostered. But as mentioned above, this was not always the case.
Devy added another layer to all this. With 14 devy included in startup pool, price of other players pushed down.
R1 WRs all went for <30% budget except Jeudy and Lamb, which was about as much as a mid-late devy pick.
R1 WRs all went for <30% budget except Jeudy and Lamb, which was about as much as a mid-late devy pick.
I'd be shocked if 2021 R1 WRs go for less than 50% budget. This is driven by devy-depleted player pool and lack of incentive to spend on mediocre prospects (not a deep league yet).
Another example of price inflation from Y1 to Y2:
Any 2021 R1 QBs not already rostered via devy (e.g. Mac Jones, Wilson, Trask) should go for >70% budget in 2021. But you could get Burrow, Tua, Trevor (devy) or Fields (devy) for 75% this year. Trey Lance was about 35% of budget.
Any 2021 R1 QBs not already rostered via devy (e.g. Mac Jones, Wilson, Trask) should go for >70% budget in 2021. But you could get Burrow, Tua, Trevor (devy) or Fields (devy) for 75% this year. Trey Lance was about 35% of budget.
We'll expand rosters from 5 to 10 and starting lineups from 2 to 4 for 2021. This should make league a bit deeper by getting us one step closer to final format of roster 30 start 12.
Despite relative lack of demand for depth compared to eventual format, as well as constraining 5 roster spots, we had decent volume of trades this year. 23 during startup and another 8 since start of year.
This is 100% a credit to the owners for being active. Thanks so much
This is 100% a credit to the owners for being active. Thanks so much
Last discussion points: using auction format for annual rookie draft rather than traditional draft.
Took approach of assigning a $ value to placeholder "draft picks." Now that year is over, we add up the $ for picks you hold and that's your 2021 budget.
Method of assigning $ seems arbitrary and it was difficult to find resources on how to do this. Most important thing was to have buy-in: determine them in advance and everyone agree they are reasonable enough.
This rookie draft format feels more fun compared to traditional rookie draft where teams are incentivized to stay "on the clock" and hope someone will pay a lot for their draft selection.
It also creates a freer market for players since owners can theoretically bid on anyone.
During startup, this revealed owners don't want to spend on mediocre prospects. Only 2 players picked outside top 100 of NFL draft went for close to 10% of budget (McFarland, Trautman)
During startup, this revealed owners don't want to spend on mediocre prospects. Only 2 players picked outside top 100 of NFL draft went for close to 10% of budget (McFarland, Trautman)
This should continue in future years. There likely aren't more than 40 assets people will want (14 devy plus a couple dozen rookies who weren't acquired via devy). These 35-40 assets should go for around 40% of budget, on average. Any devy pick should cost at least 40%.
