Fixing Your Dynasty Team, Finish the Marathon

Photo: Joseph Maiorana, USA Today Sports

Running a marathon is a massive undertaking. It can take months of preparation. The training can take hours of running each week and a proper dietary commitment. There is also the cost of shoes, clothing, and travel to your marathon. You may even suffer injuries in the process that require you to stop training.

The 26.2-mile journey of a marathon can be mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. Given the commitment, it would be odd to see a marathon runner turn their attention from running to doing pushups at the 25-mile mark of the race. The act of doing pushups would not further the immediate and ultimate goal of completing a marathon and would actually hinder the runner’s progress. The pushups would halt the momentum and rhythm the run spent the first 25 miles establishing. The pushups might help the runner’s future Crossfit competition, but it would conflict with the present goal of completing the present marathon.

This example may seem absurd; because it is.

But it is exactly what is happening to dynasty GMs right now, by turning to the offseason during the dynasty playoffs.

The dynasty season is a marathon that begins in the offseason and ends with the ultimate goal of the championship.

Yet, at Week 15, dynasty GMs are turning their attention to the NFL Draft. They are scouring the news for early declares, watching tape, or checking into the stats of college players who are entering the draft.

There is a lot of enthusiasm for the NFL Draft each season. The NFL Draft and the ensuing dynasty rookie drafts are a lot of fun because they breathe new life into dynasty teams. Each year, the dynasty rookie draft is the biggest single event of the year.

But dynasty GMs who are in the playoffs, who turn their attention to the offseason, are doing pushups at the 25-mile mark of the marathon.

If you are in the playoffs, now is the time to optimize your playoff teams and finish off the marathon.

First, look for any running backs who have potential injury-away roles. In the championship week of 2022, Darrel Williams and Boston Scott were top-four running backs. In Week 14, the week before the playoffs, Darrel Williams had 11 touches. Scott had 0 touches in Week 13, Philadelphia’s last game before the fantasy playoffs (Week 14 bye).

Second, optimize your quarterback position. In just the past week, Tyler Huntley, Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson, and Kyler Murray suffered injuries that will or may cost them Week 15. Injury-away running backs are the players who can make the biggest impact in a single game, while backup quarterbacks are the second.

Third, focus on your lineup decisions. Think about the types of outcomes your need from your teams to win. Understand if you are the better team or you are playing the superior team. You need this to optimize your odds of winning and make sure to use our League Dominator to help you make the decisions.

You are in the final stretches of the dynasty marathon. Get to the finish line. Don’t stop to do pushups.