I’ve been putting this Top 20 list together for the last few years, and now that we have guest access to all of the FFPC Dynasty Leagues, here it is again for 2014.

Here are the top 20 teams in scoring through the regular season. With there now being 38 Dynasty Leagues in the FFPC, it has become increasingly more difficult to make this top 20 list. A number of these teams did not end up winning the title this year, and there are many more league champions that did not make it onto this list.

Here they are:

1. XXX $1250 #4 2337
2. Boise $750 #6 2278
3. Coltsfan $750 #4 2225
4. Wyverns $500 #3 2189
5. Pattons Third Army $750#5 2129
6. Nimrods $750 #1 2108
7. Taco Hunters $750 #12 2113
8. Impaired Physicians 5 $500 #15 2087
9. Atom Bombs $750 #9 2085
10. Cavalier King Charles $750 #4 2075

11. Dead Cracker Babies $750 #2 2072
12. Barracudas $500 #10 2062
13. GOAT500 $500 #14 2059
14. American Mullet $500 #1 2052
15. I Like TDs $750 #11 2043
16. Redshirted Seniors $750 #5 2041
17. Atom Bombs $1250 #2 2040
18. Three Arch Bay Bandits $1250#1 2029
19. Mad Genius of FB $500#2 2026
20. Dynastic $750#7 2026

XXX put up a ridiculous 2,337 points in the regular season, a FFPC Dynasty record.

Coltsfan, Atom Bombs, Atom Bombs, Cavalier King Charles and Dead Cracker Babies were on this list last year as well. Adam Grossman (Atom Bombs) and the duo of Henry Muto and Tim Noch (individually for Boise and with Henry Muto for Wyverns) each have two teams on the list. Atom Bombs from $1250#2 and Cavalier King Charles from $750#4 have made it onto this list for 3 consecutive years.

My teams went into the final 2 weeks with a lot of promise and the potential for a gigantic payday. I expected 3-5 titles (but was hoping for more).

Unfortunately, most of my teams went into the tank after Week 15. With so many of my teams relying on Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones and AJ Green, as great as they are, the downside is when it goes bad, it goes bad for my teams as a whole. Suffice it to say, none of those three pulled their weight when it counted most, and after Week 15, all but a few of my teams were out of the running for first place. This makes a good case for diversifying when you have multiple teams, but that’s a subject for another time.

The poor Week 15 performances resulted in a very restless week leading up to Week 16 while I waited to see if my last few remaining chances would bring home a title. I am really not a fan of Thursday night games (or Saturday games) when it comes to fantasy football. It prolongs the pain I go through each week, which is especially excruciating in Week 16. To help alleviate the pain, I instituted a moratorium in my household on all football related activities, which included, to the dismay of my older sons, watching any of the Thursday or Saturday games or even checking out the final box scores. The moratorium continued through Sunday night, at which point I just had to look.

When it was all over, I came out of 2014 with only two titles, one in the DFWC and the other in the FFPC. I am disappointed about the final wins total (considering the number of teams I had in the final 4), but any bitterness was offset by the fact that one of those two titles came in the $2500 FFPC Dynasty League #2, my highest stakes league for a prize of $13,000!

Despite the championship losses, 2014 was still a decent year. I ended up with 2nd place finishes in $750 Dynasty League #2, $750 Dynasty League #4, $750 Dynasty League #7 and $750 Dynasty League #10 and a 4th place finish in $750 Dynasty League #3, which should put me comfortably ahead at #1 in the FFPC for total lifetime cashes in Dynasty. Those finishes brought my annual total for 2014 to over $20,000 gross ($12,500 net of entry fees) in the FFPC alone.

In the DFWC, I came away with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finish in my three non-startup teams. Considering the firepower I had on those teams, that is not all that good, but at least my team in DFWC League #5 is going into 2015 as the favorite to win the 2016 Dynasty King prize. I’d love to win the overall championship one of these years, but my main goal has been winning the Dynasty King award in 2016 and each year thereafter (for an extra $2,000 per year in addition to league earnings). Since the Dynasty King award is a running total of the last three years, winning the title year after year is a distinct possibility, and that is my goal.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Merry Christmas everyone!

Playoff Week 1 Update: I play in 17 dynasty leagues, 3 of them startups. Out of the remaining 14, I made the playoffs in 13, so there is the potential for a big year this year with a little luck.

FFPC: Starting with my highest stakes leagues, I play in 7 FFPC leagues. Unfortunately, the one non-startup team that didn’t make the playoffs was one of these high stakes teams. However, that still leaves 6 that made it in. Two teams received week 14 byes ($750 FFPC Dynasty League #2 and $750 FFPC Dynasty League #3), while the remaining four had to battle it out with 3 other teams for the right of 2 of the 4 teams to make it into the final 4 for a two-week championship playoff.

One of those teams is Piano Man in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #10. This is the team where I traded two first round picks (one of which could be no worse than the 1.4) for Peyton Manning and Jamaal Charles. This team now has a top player at each starting position with Manning, Charles, CJ Anderson, Calvin, Julio, Alshon, Cobb and Graham. With that lineup, this team has a decent shot at winning the title but it first had to make it past Week 14. It doesn’t help when your star QB puts up 6 points and your super stud TE puts up 7, but the rest of the gang pulled their weight for a cool 189 and a Final 4 berth. In the Championship, If Julio is out, my replacement would be Dwayne Bowe....OUCH!

Another powerhouse team looking to make it into the final four is possibly my best Dynasty team out of all of my teams in any competition, the team in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #4. This team has Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan at QB, CJ Anderson and a crew of mediocre options at RB led by Denard Robinson and Rashad Jennings, a stud WR core of Calvin, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas and Alshon Jeffery (and Patterson in development) and TE stud Rob Gronkowski. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, this team did not get one of the 2 byes despite again being in the top 2 during the regular season in total points (last year was #1). Last year, the team unceremoniously got knocked out in Week 14. This year, in Week 14, the team scored 241 points! That’s after sitting Alshon Jeffery’s 21 points for Demaryius’ 3. The Julio injury will hurt of course, but at least Alshon Jeffery and his elite projected numbers can finally crack the lineup. Of course, a gimpy Demaryius Thomas to go with Julio being out could spell doom for this team's chances against the toughest final 4 out of all my FFPC leagues.

The stakes are at their highest in the $2500 FFPC Dynasty League #2. In this league, my young team was possibly the hottest team in the league going into the playoffs but due to a slow start to the season, the team did not secure a Week 14 bye (just missed it). This team has Big Ben, CJ Anderson, Justin Forsett, Gio Bernard, Doug Martin, Bishop Sankey, Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, Deandre Hopkins, Jeremy Maclin and Jordan Reed (along with 3 1sts next year). I could really use Julio in the Championship rounds, but for now, this team and its 199 points in Week 14 easily advanced into the final 4.

Last but not least (well, possibly least) is my team in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #7. Like most of my teams, this one has a crazy good set of WRs in AJ Green, Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffery and Mike Evans along with more than capable back ups of Vincent Jackson, Brandon LaFell and Roddy White. At RB, this team has CJ Anderson, Gio Bernard and Christine Michael. TE is weak with Jared Cook who now may have a concussion, so I’ll have to dig up a waiver wire TE. Russell Wilson is at QB. This team scored 225 points in Week 14 and is Final 4 bound.

To recap, that leaves me with 6 teams in the FFPC in the Final 4 and a decent shot at winning a league, two or three.

DFWC:

It has been a bittersweet last few weeks and season in the DFWC. On the sweet side, my team in League #5 took down #1 overall in the regular season, and my team in League #8 finished 7 overall. My team in League #1, which I thought would be my best team in 2014, finished 15th overall. 3 out of 3 second-year teams finishing in the top 20 out of 288. Pretty good. These overall finishes will help one of these teams (probably the team in League 5) win the Dynasty King $2,000 prize in 2016 - my main goal in this competition from day 1.

But going into week 14, my focus was on the overall championship for 2014 and the $7,500 prize, and that’s where the bitter comes in. Unlike my FFPC teams, my DFWC teams flopped at the worst possible time. In fact, they were outscored by most of my FFPC teams despite an extra position player in the lineup.

First in League #5: An issue with having 6 top flight WRs (Calvin, Dez, Julio, Gordon, Jeffery, Brown) is that I will inevitably choose the wrong WR to sit at the worst possible time - its just what I do. That was the case this week when I opted to start Josh Gordon over Alshon Jeffery. To be fair, Alshon was “reportedly” coming off of an injury. I was concerned that he would pull a Calvin and serve as a decoy for Marshall against Dallas. Gordon had issues of his own, but Cleveland was starving for pass catchers and Gordon was the most targeted receiver in the NFL over the last two weeks. It may have been the percentage play call at the time, but regardless, the call cost me 18 points that I could not afford. My team in League 5 ended up with an average week (which took Julio’s heroics to even get there) while many of the other top teams put up 200+ points. I’ve got a tough road ahead to climb back into contention, but you never know in a 3-week playoff and a team that could put up 230+ points in any given week. Julio’s injury of course does not help. For now, I’m just hoping I can secure the league championship and the additional $1,500 prize with it (on top of the $500 that the team has already secured by its regular season performance).

My teams in Leagues 1 and 8 were even worse, thanks to dud performances from Demaryius Thomas, Jimmy Graham and Denard Robinson. Those teams are likely out of the running for their league championship as a result and are near the bottom in the overall playoffs. Very bitter.

Other Leagues:
Starting with Legends of Dynasty ($200), my first Dynasty league ever and where my team is looking to win its fourth title in a row, my team received a bye in Week 14 and is in the final 4. The Brandon Marshall injury makes things tough, but Brandon LaFell is an adequate fill in.

I was getting hammered in Badlands ($250) in the wild card round until Monday night and you guessed it, Julio Jones. This team advances, but is not likely to win it all if Julio misses games.

In The Dynasty League ($500), with the 6-team 3-week playoff format, my team is mathematically still in the race but after a poor Week 14, it will take a miracle to win it all. My team in that league is a perennial 3rd or 4th place type of team and just doesn’t have the health or firepower to make it any higher.

In Monster League ($250), my team received a bye and is in the final 4. If I recall correctly, this team has received a bye every year since this league’s inception, which makes 5 years in a row. I don’t draft startups this way often, but I drafted this team to win now and win later, and I’ve been fortunate that it has worked out that way. Thanks to that bye, I was able to survive Peyton Manning’s, Demaryius Thomas’ and Josh Gordon’s combined 12!

Final Score Card:

Going into Week 15, I now have 10 teams left with a legitimate chance to win a league title (a number of which are the favorites to do so, possibly even with the Julio injury) and 3 others that are shooting for 2nd or 3rd for a little extra dough. The ten chances gives me hope that I can bring home the title in 3-5 leagues which would be a pretty good year. A lot will depend on which 3-5 in determining just how good.

Good luck in Weeks 15 and 16 to everyone reading this! Feel free to chime in with your success (or heartbreak) stories!

Week 10 is here and my teams are fairly well positioned to make playoff runs. While it won’t likely end up this way come Week 14, 12 out of my 13 non-startup teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. The other 3 startup teams by design will not make it this year.

Unfortunately, none of the teams are looking particularly dominant from a redraft perspective. I think at least a few will end up winning their leagues (just by the numbers alone), but which ones will not be obvious. A number of them look awesome for dynasty, but for this year, there are other teams in those leagues that look just as good with flashes in the pan types like Emmanuel Sanders and Brandon Lafell and oldies but goodies like Peyton Manning, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Forte and the like. Teams with those players are matching up well with my typical Calvin Johnson, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas lineups this year. It will be interesting how it all shakes out.

Last Minute Trades:

With the deadline in the FFPC now here and the DFWC deadline approaching, contenders are doing what they can to improve their playoff lineups via trade. I made a few myself in the FFPC $750 League #10 that I usually would not make.

This team is positioned nicely for the playoffs with Calvin Johnson, Alshon Jeffery, Julio Jones and Randall Cobb at WR and Jimmy Graham at TE (1.5 PPR TE), but the team was weak at QB (Eli Manning) and even weaker at RB (Ahmad Bradshaw and Chris Johnson). With Calvin being out for so long and with Graham having his own injury woes as well, this team fell out of the running for the Week 14 bye weeks ago, so it will need some luck in Week 13 to get into the final 4 for the 2-week total points playoff. I felt like the team needed a little more firepower to make a title run.

Accordingly, I traded away what will be a top 4 pick in 2015 (in the FFPC, it could be anywhere from the 1.1 to the 1.4 depending on the results of the draft pick consolation round playoffs) plus Roddy White for Jamaal Charles. With a backfield of Bradshaw and Charles, I am feeling a little more comfortable about this team’s chances, but there was still that weakness at QB.

To shore that up, I traded my last remaining 1st rounder (my own which could be anywhere from 1.7 to 1.12) along with Eli Manning for Peyton Manning! As far as dynasty value, its not a good trade. Peyton may not even play after this year for all we know. But Peyton Manning is one of the few QBs this year (along with Andrew Luck and one or two others) that are true difference makers at a not so difference making position. This team was very well set up for the future with those two 1sts and already a pretty good playoff team this year even without Charles and Manning, but I thought I’d try something new and actually “go for broke” in a league. Besides, although the 1st used to obtain Manning will be a total loss as soon as next year, with a little luck, it is quite possible that I’ll be able to trade Charles next year for an early 1st for a wash.

My 2013 startup DFWC teams have had a promising start to 2014. After 5 weeks in the books, the team I’ve previously dubbed as having the “potential” to be the best dynasty team ever (my DFWC League 5 Team) is sitting at #1 overall. My team in DFWC League 8 is sitting nicely in 7th overall. Finally, my team in DFWC League 1 is at #10 overall. Three teams in the Top 10 out of 288 teams feels pretty good.

Still, its early in the season, and the overall standings are sure to fluctuate week to week. Besides, these overall point totals won’t really come into play until the end of Year 3 (for my DFWC League 8 team) and Years 4 and beyond for the other two, when the 3-year Dynasty King titles (and $2,000 per year) start getting awarded.

Here’s a status check on each of these teams, all of which are very good. Read More...

We all remember our first dynasty league experience. Legends of Dynasty was mine back in 2005. At a $200 entry fee, this league was the highest stakes dynasty at the time (as far as I know).

This league was comprised of mostly seasoned redraft players (including several prominent high stakes players) and a mix of experienced and newbie dynasty players like myself. Having no clue as to how to form a good dynasty team, I was lost from the beginning.

I started off in the 12 spot and took Clinton Portis and Deuce McAllister at the turn for the foundation of my team. Unfortunately, Deuce tore his ACL that year and was never the same again. In the third round, I made what in hindsight was my best pick - a young Andre Johnson. In the fourth, I made what was my worst in an aging Curtis Martin. If I knew then what I know now, I could have killed that draft! Instead, although I managed to squeak into the playoffs in that inaugural year, I dug a hole for myself of which I would not crawl out for many years.

Following the inaugural year I decided to clean house and shipped out Clinton Portis and any other player of value not named Johnson for the 1.1 rookie (Reggie Bush) and a few later 1st rounders, the beginning of a long rebuild process. At some point, even Andre Johnson had to go in the interest of getting younger and stronger.

My team wallowed in the mud for four years before it again made a playoff appearance in 2010. The team didn’t make it far, but it was clearly on the rise. All the years of trial and error and rebuilding for the future would make winning a title all the more rewarding.

I had built over the years a strong core of Tom Brady at QB (in a QB-heavy scoring league), Lesean McCoy, Jamaal Charles and CJ Spiller at RB, Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall at WR and Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski at TE.

With that core and a few other nice supporting pieces, my team finally took home a title in 2011 with the highest scoring team that year. In 2012, my team repeated as high scoring team and league champion. In 2013, the team barely lost out on the high scoring team award (and a few hundred extra dollars), but won the title for a third time!

Alas, the last two years defending my title has taken its toll on the team. Rather than continuing to build and grow the team as I had been previously doing, I kept the core intact to maximize its chances to repeat and threepeat. All good things must come to an end, and this year could be it for this team. Tom Brady and Larry Fitzgerald have gotten old and Jamaal Charles and Brandon Marshall will soon follow. This year may be the team’s last chance, but a four-peat would be glorious!

Win or lose in 2014, this team reminds me that as strong as a dynasty team may be at any point in time, playing for the now will eventually bring that team back down to Earth. Playing to win has its cost. It just so happens that three titles in a row, maybe four, is worth that cost, but lesson learned nonetheless.

At least as far as the DFWC goes, despite the loss of Josh Gordon in 2014, I am comfortable saying that I have put together the two strongest dynasty teams in the competition (out of 144 teams going up to 218 teams). Here they are:

League #1

Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler, Ben Roethlisberger
Trent Richardson, Shane Vereen, Alfred Morris, Mark Ingram
AJ Green, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas, Alshon Jeffery, Josh Gordon, Cordarrelle Patterson
Jimmy Graham


League #5

Ryan Tannehill
Christine Michael, Bishop Sankey
Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, Josh Gordon, Percy Harvin, Antonio Brown, Cordarrelle Patterson, Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans
Jimmy Graham
Read More...

A lot has happened since my last update.

First off, I acquired Antonio Brown for the 1.6, Ladarius Green and Markus Wheaton.

Then, tragedy struck with Josh Gordon, whom I had acquired for both of my powerhouse teams in the DFWC. Its only one guy, but losing Gordon changes the whole look and feel of both teams and really dampers their outlook. Read More...

What is the value of a future 1st in 12-team startup draft? How much should you pay if you want one, and how much should you get in return if you decide to sell?

In the 2014 DFWC May startup leagues, the following trades for 1st rounders have been made thus far. With all of the various combinations making comparisons difficult, I have attempted to distill the value attributed to the 1st rounder(s) alone (using an unscientific eyeball approach). Given that a quarter of the trades below involved my own team, the results may be somewhat skewed to how I personally view 1sts. Still, I think this information will be useful for this year’s startups and for others down the road (including the next waive of DFWC startups in the summer!). No one wants to be the owner that draws the ire of his or her league (or in the DFWC’s case, that of 18+ leagues) for paying too much or selling for too little.
Read More...

With my League #1 team now looking very good, the question now is, what I am I going to do with my team in League #5, the team that had the 11 1sts, the team that could become the best team ever. On its current path, it could look very similar to this one.

I recently acquired Doug Martin for Donald Brown (pre-SD signing), the 1.7, 1.12 and the 2.04. I then flipped Doug Martin along with the 1.11 for Josh Gordon.

After those trades, the team looks like this:
Read More...

I wasn’t a huge fan of this team at first, but I’m really starting to like it now. After acquiring Josh Gordon and Jimmy Graham, I made the following trades:

I gave: 1.01, Michael Floyd and a 2015 4th rounder
I got: Calvin Johnson

I gave: Calvin Johnson, Randall Cobb and Tyler Eifert
I got: AJ Green and Demaryius Thomas

My team now:
Philip Rivers
Jay Cutler
Ben Roethlisberger

Shane Vereen
Trent Richardson
Mark Ingram

AJ Green
Julio Jones
Demaryius Thomas
Josh Gordon
Alshon Jeffery
Cordarrelle Patterson

Jimmy Graham

In this format, being able to start 5 of these elite WRs rather than just 4 is going to make a big difference. I now think that this team is the favorite to be the highest scoring team in 2014 in the DFWC and quite possibly the highest scoring team for the next 3 years (to win the 2016 Dynasty King award).

Trading opened a few weeks ago and I took it slow at first, but I just made two giant trades this afternoon for my team in League #1. This is the team that began 2013 with 7 future 1st rounders. It’s a great team, but it is likely to be outdone at every turn by my other team in League #5 (which could ultimately turn out to be the best dynasty team ever, we’ll see).

Going into the offseason, the team only had the 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.10 left (having burned 3 1st rounders in a disastrous mid-season Trent Richardson trade).

Last week, I used the 1.10 and Zach Ertz to land Shane Vereen. I also traded a 2015 2nd rounder for Marques Colston for additional WR depth (you can never have enough in a format that allows you to start 5 WR).

Then came the big trades:

Trade 1: I gave 1.2, 1.3, Ladarius Green and a 2015 3rd rounder for Jimmy Graham.

Ten seconds later, I clicked accept to the following:

Trade 2: I gave Gio Bernard, Justin Blackmon and Marques Colston for Josh Gordon.

Both trades I think were slightly excessive, even for superstars like Graham and Gordon, but I was intrigued at what both trades together did for my team. I am not certain if I would have accepted one without the other, and I probably would have ended up agonizing over each one had I not had both at my disposal.

The Gordon trade in particular is interesting since it highlights my belief that in the DFWC format, WR is king. In most formats, I rate Gio Bernard very close to Gordon. Adding anything substantial to Gio (much less Justin Blackmon, whom I like a lot) would be difficult. But here, in the DFWC, I added Justin Blackmon and a very capable starter in Marques Colston.

In any case, I am glad to have them on board. Here is the team now with the two monster additions: QB: Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler and Ben Roethlisberger

RB: Shane Vereen, Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram.

WR: Julio Jones, Josh Gordon, Alshon Jeffery, Randall Cobb, Michael Floyd, Cordarrelle Patterson and Sammy Watkins (1.1).

TE: Jimmy Graham and Tyler Eifert

RB is a little thin without Gio, but I can address that on the wire or by trade. Graham and the WRs, however, make this team a top 5 team in the DFWC in 2014 imo.

The DFWC is expanding to 18 leagues total (216 teams) with the overall prizes increasing by 41%. The grand prize is now up to $7,500! That’s in addition to another potential $2,000 in league prizes PLUS the potential annual $2,000 for Dynasty King. That’s $11,500 as a maximum prize each year for a $299 investment. Good times!

2014 will be my year in the DFWC. I’ve got three teams that are legitimate threats to take down the overall grand prize, two of which may be the top 2 overall preseason favorites (out of the 144, soon to be 216, teams).

Let the games begin!

If you want jump into the competition (something I would highly recommend), here is the link:

http://www.fftoolbox.com/ffwc/dynasty.cfm

I’m entering a new team myself. New team, new strategy?