Press Coverage - How to Navigate a New Dynasty Fantasy Football League
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
39 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 15, 2026
Published
Wed, July 15, 2026
3
Player insights
3
Players mentioned
Topics
Christian McCaffreyDerrick HenryTerry McLaurin
Player analysis
Player insights
Christian McCaffrey
NegativeValue0:12
Christian McCaffrey being drafted in the second or third round of a startup draft is considered a poor value decision, as 26-28 year old running backs do not gain value over time.
Insight pageDerrick Henry
NegativeValue0:12
Derrick Henry being drafted in the fourth, fifth, or sixth round of a startup draft is considered a poor value decision, as older running backs do not gain value over time.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
PositiveRole0:18
Terry McLaurin is used as an example of a player whose value depends on a manager's team-building strategy and whether they are competing now or rebuilding.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:54Welcome on into Press Coverage. We help you gain an edge in fantasy football.
0:59I'm your host as always, Wyatt Berlund. With me today, Ryan McDowell from Dynasty Football because today we're talking about how to navigate a new Dynasty startup league.
1:08Ryan, how are you? Man, I'm doing well. It's kind of the doldrums of summer, of the offseason.
1:15We've had a few good distractions with the World Cup and that's nearing an end, but we need some football.
1:21We need some football back in our life. Yeah, we're in the part of the offseason where like the biggest news, you
1:29know, that we're getting is like random reporter says like this person looked good in practice and it's like, we just have
1:36like nothing, you know, like you're right, like the World Cup at least breaks some of that up, gives you something else
1:44to hang on to for a little bit. But football season needs to be here.
1:49Yeah, on the DLF Dynasty podcast, we do every week we we start out our first segment is called the startup and
1:56it's really just kind of the top news story of the week.
2:00And yeah, you can imagine that it's difficult to find some of you know, to find those in these months.
2:07Our top story this past week was really that there has been no news.
2:12And we talked about Stefan Diggs and Tyreek Hill and some of those guys who are still hanging out there and seemingly no news about that.
2:20those guys. So yeah, it's it's tough right now.
2:23But the good news is we always have a dynasty startup, you know, no matter when, you know, no matter what time
2:31of the year it is, what else is going on in the league or in the world, you can always jump into dynasty startup.
2:39That's right. Scratch that itch a little bit. So we're talking about joining a new dynasty league.
2:45This could be useful for new players can be useful for current players who've been in a bunch because I think this
2:52is something where we're learning more and more as the more leagues we play in even today, I think the nature of leagues has changed.
3:00And the length of dynasty leagues has changed a little bit.
3:04You could it changes the way that you can approach some of these leagues.
3:09So the first question is, Ryan, what's the first thing you do when you're joining a dynasty league?
3:15You're playing fantasy football is kind of like you're saying, kind of like saying you're playing poker, right?
3:21Like there's so many versions, variety, so many ways to change the game.
3:25And when you add those little wrinkles, when you add those changes, it can impact everything.
3:31And if you don't understand those rules, if you don't understand the settings, you really have no chance at long-term success.
3:38So read those bylaws. And, you know, that starts obviously with, with the real basics, the scoring, the starting lineup.
3:45What does that look like? Those, those are the things from kind of the top level down that can really impact player value.
3:52And obviously, again, some of the basics, super flex versus one quarterback, full PPR, half PPR.
3:58What's the tight end bonus look like if there is one?
4:01Obviously, what are your lineups? Do you have to start two running backs?
4:06I hate those leagues, by the way, but, you know, do you have to start two running backs or what are, what
4:13are the other lineup, lineup settings and requirements? You've got to know those things very first thing.
4:19I don't think this can be stressed enough. Like, I can't tell you how many times I'm in a startup draft and
4:26someone in the chat is like, oh, this is a point per carry league.
4:31You know, like you really, really need to go through and make sure you check every box dot, every I cross every T as you go through.
4:40And, you know, there are changes that happen to the dynamics of a league based on roster size, how many players you're starting.
4:48It's just a start three wide receivers and two flex.
4:51Now, you know, every team in the league can start five wide receivers.
4:56You know, this changes at which point you reach a wide receiver and say this wide receiver doesn't matter that much to my dynasty team.
5:04It changes when people start to become roster cloggers based on the starting lineups.
5:09It's just so vital. Yeah. And those dynasty rules, I mean, really, almost all of them are are so, so important because they do impact player value.
5:18And, you know, if you're if you're a dynasty veteran, you can go into that and, you know, you hear super flex
5:25or one quarterback and you can kind of take off from there.
5:29But there's there's a lot of other things that that impact that player value.
5:34Right. Like how many IR spots do you get?
5:37Is there a taxi squad? If so, how many spots?
5:41What is the rookie rookie draft look like? That's I think that's really important and sometimes overlooked because especially this time of year, you're doing a dynasty startup.
5:50Those 2026 rookies are just going to be included in the startup.
5:54You get to 2027 and, you know, you've got guys, guys or girls wondering how to how are we doing the rookie draft?
6:02Right. Like how do you determine the order? Those are things you need to understand going into the league, because, again, it's going to impact player value.
6:11It's going to impact your strategy and the way you you build your team and play this game.
6:17It can even get more granular than that, too.
6:20It's like not only is there how many taxi spots are there, it's how long can a player be on a taxi squad?
6:28What year do they have to come? You know, like that changes at the end of a draft.
6:34Am I taking this player, this player? Well, this player is going to be on my taxi squad.
6:40But if I take this one, they can only be on there for one year.
6:45Like maybe I'm going to go in this other direction.
6:48Like all those little things matter so much to having success in the dynasty league right off the bat.
6:55All right. So we talked about what we're doing when we're getting into these startups and these into these dynasty leagues.
7:02The draft is starting. Do you have any like rules or tenants that you follow when you're going into a startup draft
7:09or like a loose ideology that you go into it with anything?
7:13Yeah, I mean, I think it kind of it's kind of adjusted and shifted for me over the years.
7:20You know, I used to be the, you know, the productive struggle guy.
7:24That was the article that I wrote. Jeez, a decade ago now, which is wild to think about.
7:30But I think the dynasty game, you kind of alluded to it at the beginning.
7:35The dynasty game has changed. Dynasty leagues have changed.
7:38And the NFL has changed as well. So you don't have to, you don't have to, rostering young players, rostering rookies doesn't mean that you're tanking.
7:47It doesn't mean that you're not trying to win in year one anymore or try to win early on.
7:53You can still build your team around young players and still have a plan to win now.
7:59Again, dynasty leagues have changed. It's pretty rare that you're going to see a league, especially one, you know, formed on Twitter
8:07or on social media or whatever last five, ten years.
8:10That used to be relatively common. And unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to be the norm anymore.
8:16So I think we're really seeing the redraft game and the dynasty game kind of meld and not quite become one.
8:23But, you know, the two circles are certainly overlapping a little bit more than they used to.
8:29So, you know, again, it goes back to knowing the format.
8:32If it's that super flex format, which has obviously become pretty common with the dynasty regulars, that's adjusting your strategy.
8:39I think you have to, I mean, you've got to have a strategy going in, right?
8:44Whether you want to go productive struggle and tank for a couple years before you really load up or if you're trying
8:52to win now, you've got to have some plan.
8:55And as the draft unfolds, you know, you miss players, you miss targets that you wanted.
9:00Your plan could slightly adjust. But, I mean, just winging it is probably not going to be a successful plan going into that dynasty startup.
9:09Yeah, I think it's funny that you bring up the productive struggle, Ryan, because it really has proliferated through the dynasty world so much over the years.
9:18And I think especially the last few years that I started to notice more and more you get into a startup draft.
9:25And, like, the moment the startup draft starts, there's five people that say my first round pick is on the block.
9:32And they're all trying to move back and accumulate, you know, future picks, which is, you know, a great strategy if you're able to pull it off.
9:41But I found that you can almost start to gain an edge by being the opposite of that.
9:47When you start to see that there's that much of your league all trying to trade back, that means the price to
9:55move up is now going to be less because there's less people trying to do it.
10:00You're competing with less people for those picks. So, well, that's one reason that it worked well.
10:06You know, again, we're talking a decade ago that I wrote this article and coined that term.
10:12It worked well at that point because it was contrarian.
10:15There were so many redraft players coming over, you know, so many fantasy players coming over, playing dynasty for the first time.
10:23And they were playing it like a redraft league, right?
10:26They were drafting, you know, 27-year-old running backs in the first round.
10:30They were throwing those future rookie picks around like they didn't matter.
10:34So it was a strategy that was honestly pretty easy to pull off back in the day.
10:40Not so much anymore. So, you know, I agree with you that, you know, it's still fun.
10:45You can still do it. But you've got half the league going into the startup with some of the same goals.
10:53They want young players. They want future picks. They want to trade down and add extra picks.
10:58So, you know, it just has become more challenging in that way.
11:02Yeah, and to add on this, one thing I try to tell newer players to dynasty is you have to think about
11:10the startup draft like it's just asset acquisition. Absolutely.
11:13Even when you're trading back, say you move out of the first round, you pick up extra draft capital in the future.
11:20That doesn't mean now you are forced to be in a productive struggle.
11:25All that means is you just picked up these assets instead of those assets.
11:29And now you can do whatever you want with these ones.
11:33And so they're actually even more flexible. You know, maybe you find out you trade out the first round, but it looks
11:40like, oh, this is actually a league who's not valuing some of these veteran players.
11:45And I can find them at a discount cost.
11:49I'm actually using that pick that I trade for to come back in maybe and pick up this value I'm seeing in
11:56the draft and see, well, maybe I can actually just compete.
12:00And I can do it easier than I thought I could at the beginning of the draft.
12:05Yeah, you know, I really do. I like that you referred to it as asset acquisition.
12:11And especially early on in the draft, I really am trying to focus on drafting players, acquiring players that have a good chance to gain value.
12:20And obviously that doesn't always work, right? It doesn't always go the way we think it will.
12:25But again, that 26, 27, 28-year-old running back is not going to gain value.
12:30It's tough to draft Christian McCaffrey in the second or third round of a startup draft.
12:35But we still see it happening, right? It's tough to draft Derrick Henry in the fourth or fifth or sixth round.
12:42It's still happening. So again, I think you can kind of find that middle ground of drafting young players who can gain
12:50value, but also setting yourself up to win in the short term as well.
12:55Yeah, and that even applies to after the startup draft is over when you're making trades just in general.
13:01Like people think of second round picks like, well, I'm taking on this risk of the rookie pick.
13:07I know it will go up in value over time, but when it actually comes time to make that pick, it drops down value.
13:15Well, you don't have to hold on to it and use it as a rookie pick.
13:21It is just another asset on your team. You can do a lot of things with it.
13:26And speaking of trading, I'm going to jump into this next point I have here because it's a nice little transition.
13:33But how do you approach trading with someone you've never traded with before?
13:38Yeah, it's a challenge, right? Right. And it takes me back really to our first question.
13:43We didn't talk about this, but one of the first things you do when you get into that new league after you've
13:51learned the rules and prepared yourself that way, you've got to start building some relationships.
13:56And, you know, you're probably in that league going to have a mix of people you're familiar with and people that are brand new to you.
14:04So whatever that looks like for you in your league, it might be as simple as communicating on the league chat.
14:12Or trading messages, but really kind of getting to know these people.
14:16And obviously there can be multiple benefits of that.
14:19I mean, we're all kind of in the same hobby, right?
14:22So we've got some common ground already. So you're not only building relationships, but you're laying the groundwork for some future trades to get done, hopefully as well.
14:32So back to your current question, though, when you've got that new trade partner, I do.
14:37You know, this is something I've heard before, but I do like it.
14:42I like the overpay in the first deal. You know, really, really bringing not only a strong offer, but be willing to,
14:49at least according to the market, whether you're looking at, you know, whatever trade tools you might be looking at or ADP
14:56rankings, whatever you might be using to help you form that trade offer, be willing to overpay a little bit to get that first deal done.
15:05And I think that can be a good way to obviously get the trade done, but also hopefully lead to some future deals happening as well.
15:14Yeah, I agree with you. That is how I try to approach every new trade partner is I'm going to give you
15:21what I think is a very fair offer right off the bat.
15:25If it isn't to that person, hey, you can let me know.
15:29And now I know, like, that's how you feel about that player or that pick or whatever.
15:35And like, we can start to find some common ground, but I'm going to at least do you the solid of sending
15:43you something I think is fair, because I do want us to be able to work out trades in the future.
15:50I don't want to turn someone off from trading.
15:53I don't want to, you know, send them something that might offend them.
15:57And I might offend them anyways with what I think is a fair offer because we have different values.
16:03But I think starting off in that way is always a good step.
16:08And another thing is with someone that I'm trading with for the first time, a lot of times, you know, I want to do one.
16:16This goes along with making a fair trade offer, but make sure I look at their team to know that I'm not
16:24just making them a fair value wise trade, but a fair trade in that I think where I'm actually helping pull for bus.
16:31I'm going to go that extra step to get that on that first time.
16:36But I'm also going to talk to them and say like, hey, you know, it like based on the startup draft, it
16:44looks like you're playing for the next season. Is that like, can I help work towards that?
16:49You know, or you looked at like, it looks like you plan on competing this year, or it looks like you need this.
16:57Does that make sense? How do you feel about that?
17:00Totally agree. You've got to consider the other managers strategy, their team build.
17:05There's really a fine line, right? Because when you're just sending those offers of, you know, future pick for this veteran that
17:12you might not need, I think in general, we're assuming that we're all on kind of the same page that we know you might be rebuilding.
17:21I'm trying to win now or vice versa, whatever the situation might be.
17:25But it's a fine line with the like overselling or over explaining.
17:29You know, you definitely don't want to bring in like, you know, DLF ADP or trade tool says this is a great, great deal for you.
17:38This is why you should do this deal. You know, you don't want to go into like used car salesman mode as
17:46you're trying to get a deal done. So, yeah, you definitely got to be careful with that.
17:51But I think it's fine to have those conversations.
17:54I really like just to ask them questions. And I think you were kind of getting into it there a little bit.
18:02It looks like you're playing for the future. You know, how do you value Terry McLaurin?
18:07And does he help you or is he a guy that you would rather get rid of?
18:13Those kind of conversations, those kind of questions can potentially lead to getting a trade done that helps both teams.
18:20Those car salesman tactics are always so funny. They try to tell you why your player is bad, but they're trying to
18:27acquire them so you can sell them for less.
18:30That kind of thing. Exactly. Everyone out there, like everyone can see through it.
18:35Just like those kinds of tactics never really work.
18:38I think like honesty is the best policy. I mean, when it comes to training, like if someone asks me how I
18:45value a player, I'm going to be pretty honest about it because I want to get the trade.
18:51If you know, if I theoretically I want to get this trade done to some.
18:56Yeah, this is what it's going to cost. You know, this is what I want for that player.
19:03I might not be exact. I might not say this is what I want you to send me because I don't want
19:10to do all the work for you if you're if you're coming to me, you know, but I'm going to tell you
19:17a general idea of what I would expect in return for this player.
19:22And I would, you know, that's what I'm asking of my league mates sometimes.
19:26And it's not necessarily me trying to do the, you know, have you do the work.
19:32It's I want to make sure I come correct the first time.
19:36So so I don't offend you. How much how do you value this player?
19:41You don't have to tell me this is what you want.
19:44Just tell me, oh, I think, you know, like I really like this player.
19:49Like it would take a lot for me to move off.
19:53OK, I know if I want this player, I need to give you a real trade.
19:58I really need to pay up for him. Do things trade or do things change for you when you're trading with a
20:06player that you've played in leagues with before, but you're in this new new league?
20:11Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, a dynasty legend, our buddy Leo Pesiga talks about this a lot.
20:16Right. Like scout the scout, the scout, the managers in your league.
20:20Yeah. Keep that notebook. Take note of not only just what what does their team look like now?
20:27Like anybody can do that and kind of make some assumptions based on that.
20:31But what has what have their tendencies been in the past?
20:35Do they overvalue draft picks? Do they always think they can win no matter what their team looks like?
20:41Right. Like you should have, even if it's not literally like written down notes, you've got these experiences in your past that
20:49you can you can take advantage of. And again, get not just get a good deal for you for yourself and your
20:56team, but make a fair trade that makes sense for both managers.
21:00So, yeah, if you've already got that relationship, honestly, obviously, it makes things a lot easier.
21:06You can kind of skip the riffraff. Right. You know, you know, the other manager, they know you.
21:12And it usually ends up not only getting leading to a trade getting done, but sometimes a large trade.
21:18Right. That's where you get your, you know, your three for three, four for four type trades getting done.
21:25Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to relate this back to something you said before, which is getting those trade calculator screenshots or anything like that.
21:33Yeah. Not necessarily getting that. But when I play with players, something I like to do when I first gain trade trade
21:40offers from them is to then go take that trade and plug it into different trade calculators and see if any of
21:47them line up to what I was just given.
21:50And just kind of take a little note like, OK, I think this person uses this, which there's nothing wrong with, you know, like I use them, too.
22:00It's I don't use them like a Bible, but I want to know like and what I is what I'm thinking close
22:07to what the dynasty community would do, because I again, I don't want to offend the person on the other end of this trade.
22:15I want them to think that it's a good offer.
22:19So I just want to know, like, am I going to be short or too much on something I'm thinking about?
22:26But take that little note about your league mate that they may be using this because in the future, if you're thinking
22:33about trading with them again and you see the player you want to trade for, go check out that that where that
22:41website was, whichever one they used and see where they are.
22:44And you can start to craft your trade around that and hopefully find one that thing you think benefits you more than them.
22:52Oh, that is so smart. And, you know, you can take that even a step further.
22:58It used to be, you know, we all know that that Twitter is a little different now than than it used to be even a few years ago.
23:07But this probably used to be easier now. But, you know, if you know that the manager you're playing with is a
23:14DLF subscriber or if they are a player profiler subscriber, you can take advantage of that as well.
23:21Right. Like whatever whatever the latest article that's out that's pushing a certain player or certain team, a certain strategy, whatever it might be.
23:29Those are those are other things that factor into the the big picture and the puzzle of each manager.
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25:48For free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details. Back here on press coverage with Ryan McDowell.
25:54Ryan, before we move on to our next point, what have you been working on lately?
25:59Oh, man. Well, it's been a big summer for me.
26:02I, for the past 27 years, have been an elementary school teacher.
26:06And just a couple months ago as the school year ended, I retired from that and took a full-time job at Dynasty League Football.
26:15So I've been with DLF, of course, for over a decade now.
26:19And now I get to work with those guys and folks over there on a full-time basis.
26:24So it's been a big change for me. I'm getting to do, you know, more content, more shows like this and working
26:32behind the scenes as well with our team over there.
26:35Honestly, one thing I've really been using like so many others lately is a lot of these AI tools.
26:42And it's been really interesting that I've been able to, you know, kind of create a couple of different stat databases, things
26:49like that, and see some things that I might not have seen with my own eyes.
26:54All right. I've been looking at some age curve data that has been pretty interesting.
26:59I also, you know, putting the commish hat back on, I run some weird leagues that, you know, there's vampire stuff.
27:06We're stealing players. It's pretty crazy for Dynasty format.
27:10But those leagues have a lot of decisions that need to be made every week as far as protecting players, stealing players.
27:17You even get to choose your own opponent every single week.
27:21Those are things that we've done basically on Google Docs and on Slack.
27:25And I was able to create a tool to kind of help, hopefully at least, make that entire process easier.
27:32So, yeah, like a lot of the world, I've been using a lot of AI this summer and trying to find ways
27:39that it can help me be a better fantasy manager.
27:43Yeah, that is very cool stuff there. It is getting kind of crazy what we can do with that.
27:49It's taking over. All right. A little scary, but also pretty cool at times.
27:54Just got to be careful with it for sure.
27:57All right. Next question. What are some common mistakes you see people make when they get into a new Dynasty League?
28:04So many. I mean, we kind of hinted at them.
28:07And, I mean, you know, we've all made these, right?
28:11I mean, they're mistakes that I have at least.
28:14I won't speak for you, Wyatt. Well, I'm sure I got them.
28:18You know, I've gone into these leagues. And even though at the beginning of the discussion I said, read your rules.
28:25I remember joining a new league and I went in with my strategy of productive struggle and we're ignoring running backs and all that.
28:33Well, I didn't realize this is one of those leagues or was one of those leagues that you do have to start two running backs every week.
28:42And finding those starter-worthy running backs was a challenge.
28:45And that league, it was not a productive struggle.
28:48It was an unproductive struggle for multiple years. So, yeah, we've all made these mistakes that we've talked about already.
28:55But there's others. Going back to productive struggle, I think that's one of them.
28:59We hear that term thrown around a lot. Sometimes your team is not a productive struggle.
29:05It's just a bad team, right? You're not making – You're just struggling.
29:09Yeah, you're just struggling. You're not making any moves.
29:12You don't have necessarily a long-term strategy or roadmap to improve and build that team.
29:17You just don't have a plan. And not every bad dynasty team is a productive struggle.
29:23So, you know, the mistake there is probably just not really having a good plan or maybe not having any plan at all.
29:30You're just kind of treading water. I think draft picks are really interesting here because I think you can make mistakes both ways, right?
29:39I think you can overvalue draft picks where you're assuming that those rookies are always going to save the day and become elite assets.
29:47And, again, we, of course, know that that's not the reality.
29:50I think we've seen – I've seen plenty of examples go the other way where managers are just not valuing draft picks at all.
29:58And, right, like we've probably had experiences both ways that have skewed our viewpoint of those draft picks, right?
30:05Like maybe you hit on – you hit on that late-round rookie and now you love making draft picks or you –
30:12you know, you were burned by, you know, Trent Richardson or Laquan Treadwell or whoever it may be.
30:18And you never want to make another rookie pick again.
30:22But, obviously, like so many things, the answer is somewhere in the middle.
30:26So, yeah, those are a couple that come to mind.
30:29One that comes to mind for me when you're talking about draft picks is another thing that I have made this mistake
30:37on more than one occasion in multiple leagues. And it's, you know, you're doing some trading throughout the year and you're getting a little nickel and diamond.
30:46You pick up a third here, fourth there. The rookie draft comes around and you realize I have way too many picks for this draft.
30:54I'm not even going to be able to roster all these players if I make all these draft picks.
31:01And I got to the rookie draft with all of them without doing anything about it.
31:06And now I'm in the rookie draft like, will you take four first round – or four fourth rounders in this year
31:14so I can have a future one fourth rounder?
31:17Just because like I would just be playing these players.
31:20Like, you know, like I have definitely made that mistake too many times.
31:24And it kind of circles back all about what we were talking about with these draft picks where like they're just an
31:32asset and you can do a lot of things with them.
31:36So, like when you get these added in, like realize that you have all these additional assets at the bottom of your bench and use them for something.
31:45Because you could get to this point where like you actually have lost the value of them because you can't use them.
31:52You know, I think there's – it really comes down to timing, right?
31:57I mean there is like – there's a season for all things, right?
32:01There's a good time to acquire those rookie picks at a discount.
32:05And there's a good time to sell those picks.
32:08The closer you get to the draft, obviously in most cases those rookie picks are going to gain value.
32:15Flip that on the total other side. The closer we get to the regular season, veterans are gaining value.
32:21If you've got a win now team and you want to bolster that lineup, make some trade offers in February, March, April.
32:29Like you'll probably end up making a bad deal and buying a player that doesn't end up helping you.
32:35But the veterans at that point in the year are just so, so cheap.
32:40The closer – like I said, the closer we get, the more costly they get.
32:45So I think, yeah, you can make mistakes there.
32:48Selling – you know, selling draft picks is not a mistake.
32:51Selling them too early might be a mistake. Yeah.
32:54Also, this is one that it gets a little bit niche.
32:58But I think it's something that I see a lot of people do wrong with their taxi squads in that they put
33:06the wrong positions on their taxi squad. Something like a backup running back might be someone that you want to use in that season very easily.
33:14You know, it happens and they're instantly someone you're thinking about playing and now you've kind of lost that taxi squad spot.
33:22So I tend to use those taxi squads for like the late round tight ends, the ones I don't expect to produce right away.
33:30Maybe some – if I've got, you know, day three wide receivers, ones I don't expect to play or backup QBs.
33:37You know, like that's where I want those to be.
33:40But I see too many running backs on taxi squads, I'll say.
33:44Yeah. You're right. That is niche, but I think it's good advice for those that are in, you know, in a league with a taxi squad.
33:53So many times we see it. I mean, we saw it last year with a guy like Kyle Manungay who ends up
34:01being, you know, a decent producer and, you know, maybe you want to start him late in the season and you're either
34:08burning that taxi squad spot by moving him up or, you know, some leagues don't even allow you to move those players
34:15up and down from the taxi squad. So now you're just looking at fantasy points on your, you know, not even on
34:23your bench but on your taxi squad that you don't even have access to.
34:28So I totally agree with that one when it comes to the running backs.
34:32One more I want to run by you, Ryan, before we get out of here.
34:37And it relates again to something we talked about in the very beginning of the show and that's understanding your league rules,
34:45understanding roster sizes, understanding when a player becomes a roster clogger.
34:48Where I see people valuing wide receivers or running backs on their team when you realistically, they're never going to matter.
34:56And I think it really comes down to wide receivers the most.
35:00Like if you're in a dynasty league where you start two wide receivers, one flex, you know, you get to a point
35:07where the running backs just are wide receivers just never going to make your lineup.
35:12So there's almost no point in holding. Like if it's a league like that, like Jalen Naylor.
35:18I mean, what are we doing? You know, like, is he ever actually going to make your lineup in a league?
35:25If you're in a really deep dynasty league, yeah, that player may have some value because he might be in a tough
35:32spot where you could use someone like Jalen Naylor.
35:35But understanding where that line is of where in a roster clogger begins, I think is so important.
35:41Yep. Yep. Very, very true. Yeah. Roster cloggers, yet another article I wrote about a decade ago, probably chimed to refresh that.
35:49And I think what you kind of hinted at there is totally correct, that it's pretty difficult for, assuming we're talking super
35:56flex, it's pretty difficult for a quarterback to become a roster clogger.
36:00Right? Like, I mean, we've even seen, you know, Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston.
36:05We've seen those kind of, you know, backup quarterbacks become pretty valuable.
36:09Jacoby Brissett, obviously a great example from last year.
36:12And I would say the same thing with running backs in almost any league format.
36:17You know, our buddy Scott Connor has a theory, you know, any RB2, any quarterback or any QB2, any RB on a 53, right?
36:25Like, any of these active running backs, any first, obviously starter, but any second string quarterback has a chance to matter at some point.
36:33So if you're talking roster cloggers, you're most likely talking about the wide receiver position.
36:38And, you know, we're just looking at these players that you're never going to start them.
36:44And honestly, if you do have to start them, your team's in a bad spot.
36:49You probably want to lose anyway, right? Going back to that tanking idea or productive struggle.
36:54They're never going to have trade value. And there's really no path for them to gain any value.
37:00So those are players you want to get off your roster.
37:04Go ahead and drop them. Obviously try to trade them first.
37:08But once you've exhausted that, get them off your roster.
37:11Let somebody else pick them up. That becomes kind of a, you know, hot potato situation for that manager.
37:18Let them hold that player that has no value and no upside.
37:22I always love the landmine roster drop that you let someone else pick up so they can hurt their own team.
37:29Ryan, loved having you here. This is really great.
37:32Really appreciate you. Before we get out of here, remind everyone where they can find you and find all your work.
37:39Yeah, find me on socials at RyanMC23. And check out my work at DynastyLeagueFootball.com.
37:44Awesome. On this side of things, you can follow me on Twitter at YB underscore FF.
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