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How to Rebuild in Dynasty
After years of dominating the redraft game, I made the jump to dynasty for the first time in 2017. It reminded me of playing Madden Franchise mode as a kid where I would simulate the games because I just wanted to build the team. I loved the draft, free agency, trading, etc. Now I get to do that with fantasy football? And maybe even win some money doing it? Count me in. I joined two leagues that first year and things went pretty well. I went into year two pretty cocky, thinking I had all the answers. However, the dynasty game is different. It’s complex. All it takes is a few mistakes and you set your team back for years. And let me tell you, I made a lot of mistakes in those early years. With mistakes, though, come lessons learned.
Five years into my dynasty journey, I have gained a ton of knowledge. I have cracked the code for the optimal team structure. Of course, I didn’t get to this point without going through some hard times. I’ve had to rebuild multiple teams because of those early miscues. Coming out of that, though, I have figured out the rebuild process. Not only can I guide you through an effective rebuild, I can help you never have to rebuild again. That’s right. Never again. Let me share.
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Tear it Down
To begin the rebuild process, we have to start with tearing it down. This is scary. You have to fully commit to the process, even if it hurts to give up some talented veterans. You should be dealing any running back worth a damn and any wide receiver or tight end 27 years old or older. In return, you are seeking youth and draft picks. This can be done at anytime during the calendar year that you determine is time to tear it all down. However, ideally your rebuild will begin during the season. It’s easier to trade away your veterans in-season to contending teams while draft picks and young players are at their cheapest.
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Build it the Right Way
Let’s establish the goal here. We want to build a juggernaut. But more importantly, we want a team that can contend every single year. It’s easy to rebuild into a competitive team. But it takes a little more patience and a little more nuance to achieve perennial contender status.
Collect Draft Picks
Draft picks are the currency of dynasty leagues. And like in real life, whoever has the most of it, can pretty much do whatever they want. The key to a successful rebuild is to collect as much of this currency as you can. Now, this doesn’t mean undersell good players just to get picks, you still want to get a fair return in all of your deals. Most of your future picks will be acquired during the initial tear down period. If you’re doing this during the season as I suggested above, your newfound currency is going to sit in your bank and accumulate value from now all the way up to your rookie draft. There is no exception to this rule. Why? Because draft picks can’t lose their value like players can. They don’t change teams. They don’t get benched. They don’t suffer injuries. They are the most insulated asset you’ll ever possess in dynasty. Plus, no matter how good or bad that year’s draft class is, rookie fever eventually takes over and dynasty managers lose control and want to overspend to draft “their guy.”
Most of your picks will come from selling off your veteran players. However, there are other ways to acquire this currency. Keeping a collection of real life backup running backs can help you flip a short-term value spike into draft capital when inevitably a starter goes down. The quarterback position has some similar value-spike potential. Backup quarterbacks in superlex leagues could return as much as a future second round pick if they’re thrust into a starting gig mid-season. Even in single quarterback leagues, an under-appreciated veteran can become trade bait for a leaguemate who loses a starter.
Using your picks
Okay, so you’ve collected a boatload of draft picks during the initial wave of your rebuild. Now what? I cannot stress enough, that you absolutely cannot just sit on the draft board and take rookie after rookie. That’s a dangerous and, frankly, egregious way to spend your picks. Trust me, putting all of your eggs into one basket—whether it be building almost strictly through the draft or going all-in on one class—won’t end well.
Instead, spread your picks across classes and trade a bunch of them (at their peak value) for established (but still young) players.
Load up on Young (but proven) WRs
The first position you should be looking to build up is wide receiver. Wide receivers have a longer shelf life. They’re typically productive up to 30 years old with some continuing that production into their early 30s. Trading for 22-25-year old wideouts who are ascending in value will give you at least 3-5 years of peak fantasy production in a lot of cases. There should be a core of 2-3 that you’re building around. Who are these wide receivers? Look for guys who have a secure quarterback situation, ideally tied to one of the better signal callers in the league. You’ll also want wideouts in pass-heavy offenses to maximize volume. In a perfect world you’ll have a prototypical alpha-type (think D.K. Metcalf, Michael Pittman) who can set the world on fire, a spike-week king (think Tyreek Hill but younger), and some steady producers.
Some wide receivers to target right now:
- CeeDee Lamb
- Tee Higgins
- D.K. Metcalf
- D.J. Moore
- Michael Pittman
- Rashod Bateman
- Courtland Sutton
- Jakobi Meyers
- Russell Gage
- Josh Palmer
Not all of these guys fit the above criteria perfectly (those are hard to find) but all have an excellent chance to ascend in value in the near-term with several years of their prime left.
Quarterback
In single-quarterback leagues, the position doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to necessarily target young guys like at the other positions. A steady veteran with at least 3-5 years of top-end production will do just fine. An excellent example right now is Russell Wilson. He’s not crazy expensive in trade but will provide top-10 numbers for the next few years with top-5 upside.
In superflex leagues, it’s a little different. While going after veterans is still fine, the ideal set up is to have a young konami code (rushing) quarterback with upside paired with a steady (safe) veteran. A fun pairing right now would be Trey Lance and Matthew Stafford. Or Kyler Murray and Derek Carr.
Running Back is the Last Piece
If rebuilding a dynasty team was like baking a cake, running backs would be the cake’s topping. And now that you have a wide receiver corps together and have solidified your quarterback and tight end positions, you can finish off the rebuild with some frosting, or whipped cream, or fruit—whatever your preference. We’ll just call them running backs for the sake of this article, though. While the wide receivers are the core of your team, the running back position is often the difference between being a good team and being a championship team. However, the position is so fragile and has such a short shelf life compared to the other positions, it only makes sense to wait to pursue bellcow backs until you’re ready to contend. Otherwise, by the time you have everything in place to start contending, your running backs are already past the age apex and losing value.
When topping your cake, you want to find running backs who are 24 years old or younger and are still on their rookie contract. We want backs who are bellcows—a 70%+ opportunity share and 10%+ target share.
Cake-topper running backs right now:
- Jonathan Taylor
- D’Andre Swift
- Najee Harris
- Breece Hall
- Cam Akers
- Antonio Gibson
We can also consider:
- Javonte Williams
- J.K. Dobbins
- Travis Etienne
- Kenneth Walker
Be Patient (but aggressive)
A rebuild can take anywhere from one offseason to two years, depending on how bad a shape your team is in to begin with. If your rebuild is on the longer end, it’s hard to not get sick of rebuilding and want to slap together a competitive team quickly. While that’s possible and will make the current season more enjoyable, your chances of building a team strong enough to actually win a title are low. At the same time, you’re also killing your chances of building a squad that can grow into a perennial contender. I know it’s hard, but practice patience to build it the right way and it will pay off in the long run.
With that said, once you’ve collected enough assets and the time has come to start turning them into productive players, you have permission to be aggressive. Pay up for those young stud wide receivers. Go get that cake-topping running back. It’s time to go win.
In Part 2 of this series, I will lay out my formula for never having to descend into a full rebuild ever again.
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