Andrew Hall | Thu, Aug 17th 2023, 7:20am EDT

Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Strategy Tips for Deep Dynasty Leagues (2023)

Deep dynasty leagues are a very different world than what I would call standard leagues. For me, deep leagues are 12 teams or more, where each roster has 35 or more slots, including taxi slots. This means that more than 400 players are likely to be rostered.

How do you manage these leagues differently? Here are some of the ways I do it that have helped me over the years.

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Strategy Tips for Deep Dynasty Leagues

Keep Churning the Bottom of Your Roster

In deeper leagues, the waivers are usually pretty much picked clean. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a diamond in the rough still sitting out there, though. I tend to churn the worst few players on my roster every few weeks, trying to stay on top of what might happen. This is especially true of running backs since they have the easiest path to opportunity and are the most injury-prone position.

As injuries occur, I will frequently pick up RB3 and RB4 options on teams’ depth charts. If an RB2 gets hurt, pick up the RB3. If the RB3 gets hurt, pick up the RB4. It sounds obvious, but paying attention to these backup injuries has often helped me in deeper leagues. If nothing else, these players become trade chips to package together to upgrade or for future picks. Best of all, they were free.

Always Try To Get a Piece Added to an Offer

On that topic, I often try to get a little more added whenever I get an offer sent to me, even if it feels fair. I know some people don’t like negotiating, so I don’t do this for every trade, but when I feel like I can, I counter by adding a future third-round pick or bench player. These small additions might not feel worth it at the time, but adding the WR67 to your team allows you to drop or trade away the WR98 from your bench. Boom, your team just got better.

To clarify here, I don’t tend to do this much when offering myself, but just when countering. This is largely because when someone’s offering me a trade, they show their hand and give up some leverage in the process. If I can add a piece and they’re still happy about it, we both win. If they decline the counter or just flat-out tell you that’s their best offer, then don’t be afraid to either accept or go back and send that to them if you feel like is fair. Much like scouring the waivers, adding whatever marginal value you can to your team tends to help in the long run.

Focus on Running Backs Over Other Positions

Running backs are the best place to build your depth in deeper leagues. Wide receivers might feel like they have a higher ceiling, and that’s not wrong, but they also tend to have a lower floor. The RB3 or RB4 on a team’s depth chart is much more likely to become fantasy-relevant than a WR3 or WR4 on a team. It’s just a volume problem with receivers. While more of them are starting, that also means that there are fewer targets for those lower-tier players, barring injury. And due to the receiver position not being quite as fragile, injuries just don’t tend to happen that help WR3 or WR4 players to become relevant.

On the other hand, RB3-type players have won me weeks multiple times down the stretch. Trading away future third-round picks for RB3s before the trade deadline has also saved me multiple times. Running backs break down over time, whether we like it or not, so it’s always best to have as many of them on your roster as possible. It’s the next man up. I believe it was Scott Conner who coined the phrase “Any RB on a 53”. This is largely how I’ve approached my benches in general lately, but even more so in deeper leagues.

Consolidate To Contend, Split Apart To Rebuild

Lastly, in deeper leagues, especially leagues where you might need to start 12 or more players each week, you need to worry more about who you’re putting in your lineup. That being said, if I’m contending, I still want studs in those starting slots whenever possible. It makes my decision-making process easier on Sunday and tends to result in more points. This means I’m more likely to target rebuilding teams and offer them two or three players for a true starter. This also allows me to open up a roster spot to add another RB from the waivers, as mentioned before. That roster spot has a lot of value, too, in deeper leagues.

On the flip side, if I’m the one rebuilding, I want to split up players more often than consolidate them. I want more chances for player values to rise. I’d rather have three ascending assets over one declining one. I don’t want points now; I want points later. I’m looking a year or two ahead and trying to predict what the values will be then, not at the time of the trade. These trades can look lopsided at the time, but when done correctly, you’ll be laughing all the way to the title game down the road.

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