Tue Jan 16th 2024

10 Things To Do When The Season Ends

It's officially the dynasty offseason. For Dynasty Freeks, this is one of the favorite times of the year, as we enjoy the NFL playoffs and begin evaluating the rookie class. Before diving deep into the rookie class, considering this past season and learning from your hits and misses is wise. It's wise to evaluate your teams, tweak your roster, and plan for the year ahead. I go through a particular process every year after the season ends before I begin studying the rookie class. I recommend that you do the same. Here are the ten steps I take this time of year with each of my dynasty teams.

Re-rank The Rookie Class

• At the end of every season, I re-rank the class and compare my rankings with how I ranked the rookies last May during rookie drafts. I pay special attention to the players I was wrong about to determine if I need to change my process in the years to come. If players surprised me by playing better or worse than I thought, I try to determine why I was wrong in my evaluation. No one is perfect in their rookie rankings because sometimes players surprise even the best analysts. Still, sometimes, we can learn from our mistakes, even if they seem random. This year, I may need to reconsider discounting players with smaller stature. Devon Achane and Tank Dell were two players that moved up my end-of-season rookie rankings. I doubted their ability to stand out in the NFL at their size, but they were two of the best rookies in the class. I will let a player's size be less of a factor in my rookie rankings process next year. That said, they missed time with injuries. Achane battled injuries throughout the season, whereas Dell's was a fluke injury that ended his season. At the quarterback position, I was right about size making a difference. I had C.J. Stroud ranked ahead of Bryce Young, and I was proved right this season. One year does not make a trend, but it's a valuable exercise to re-rank the rookie class each season so that you can notice trends and improve as a rookie evaluator. I'll write about my end-of-season rookie rankings next week.

Grade Your Trades

• The next thing I do is to grade all of the trades I made during the season. It can be a brutal task, but improving as a dynasty manager and trader is essential. I look back at the trades, and the time of the season I made each trade to remember what I was thinking and grade the trades from worst to first. This process helps me discover if the players I acquired or traded away helped or hurt my teams that season and if the players' dynasty value has gone up or down after the season ended. It's a humbling process sometimes, but looking back at all the trades you won can be rewarding. Trading is a huge part of building dynasty teams, so you must evaluate your trades at the end of the year to improve as a dynasty manager. This year, I made more trades than ever, especially on rebuilding teams. In two weeks, I'll write about every trade I made last year and give my honest grade on each trade.

Grade Your Teams

• The next step is to grade your teams. To do so, you need to assess your roster and the rest of the rosters in the league. Look at your starting roster, depth, and upcoming draft picks, and compare them with others to determine if you're a top contender, a rebuilder, or a middle-of-the-pack team. Look to see at which position you're strong, weak, or average. If you're a contender, think about what one or two moves you need to make to get to the top. If you're a rebuilder, think about what one or two moves you need to make to rebuild faster. If you're in the middle of the pack, decide if you're content there or need to make a few moves to contend or rebuild. I'm a contender in five leagues and a rebuilder in four leagues. Last season, I was decisive with my rebuilding teams and sold players for draft picks in three leagues while making two-for-one trades in the other to rebuild faster. When I graded my teams a year ago at this time, I committed to be more aggressive with my rebuilding teams, and I was this season.

Study The Free Agent Class

• A critical step in grading your team is to be aware of the contract status of your players, especially making a note of those who are free agents. The easiest way to do this is to go to Spotrac.com, where you can quickly pull up the free agents and sort them by position. You can also see PFF's list of the top 100 free agents here. You need to know which players on your team could benefit or get hurt by free agency. You also need to know all the players who will be free agents because you may have players on your team who are under contract and will benefit from a free agent leaving their NFL team. Sometimes, players benefit from signing with a new team, the player that signs, and the player with less competition now that he signed with another team. Sometimes, the opposite happens, and a free agent gets buried on a depth chart. They are free agents for a reason, after all. Most dynasty managers don't think to do this, but this time of year, it's a must. Additionally, it's good to know the contract status of every player on your roster. If you're in many leagues, this may be too much to do, but if you only have one or two dynasty teams, check the contract status of all of the players on your roster.

Churn The Back Of Your Roster

• Some of my leagues close the waiver wire after the dynasty Super Bowl, but many do not. In leagues that don't, I consistently churn the back of my roster by adding back-end players who may benefit from moves that teams make in free agency and the draft. I always drop my kicker in leagues with kickers, and I look to drop older players or free agents that I suspect will not improve with the new team that signs them. I look to add rookies dropped during the season, younger players, and players I think will benefit from free agency (either signing with a new team or getting more opportunities when a free agent on their team leaves). These are back-of-the-roster guys, but I'd rather hold one or two young guys during the offseason than a kicker or older guys. In a few weeks, I'll write an article about the back-of-the-roster players I am targeting as I churn my rosters this offseason.

Clean Up Your Watch List

• One of the essential things dynasty managers can do is keep an active watch list or scout team to remember players they like and be more efficient on the waiver wire. It's wise to clean up your watch list at this time of year. Start by "unwatching" the guys you no longer want to add to your team or have already been added to other teams. Then, go through the entire list of players available at every position and add the players you want to watch, especially rookies. This process makes churning your roster's back end easier throughout the rest of the offseason.

Study The Rookie Class

• Then, the fun begins when you start studying the rookie class. Most Dynasty analysts have full-time jobs and, thus, limited time. I cannot watch film ten hours a day, but I commit myself to a few things that help me study the rookie class and determine my rookie rankings. I start by doing three things. I watch highlights on YouTube, look up their college stats on Sports Reference, and look up their recruiting profile on 247 Sports. Doing these three things for each player will give you an idea of how to rank the rookie class. Knowing how each player was ranked when recruited is essential because it can often help break ties between players. It's important to understand their college stats, whether they improved each year, had an early breakout year, and which critical statistical thresholds they pass that compare with future NFL success. It's essential to form your own opinion on players by watching their highlight videos with your own eyes. I do this every year to help me create my early dynasty rankings. I post my first rookie rankings each year on Super Bowl Sunday, so look for them this year on February 11th.

Adapt Your Podcasts & Websites

• After that, I tweak and improve my rankings by listening to and reading from people with full-time jobs as scouts. I'm more of a listener than a reader because I can multitask while listening to podcasts. So, I subscribe to podcasts like Move The Sticks, First Draft, The College Draft, Dynasty League Football, and Matt Waldman. I also mix in a few more Dynasty Podcasts, which I don't have time to listen to during the season. It's good to hear various opinions from professionals who watch way more film than I can and have done so for many more years than I have. Additionally, some of these professionals are insiders, so they can tell what NFL teams and scouts think about the rookie class and help me better understand rookies' likely draft capital.

Analyze Mock Drafts

• Speaking of draft capital, one thing I do through the offseason leading up to the NFL draft and subsequent rookie drafts is to follow mock drafts. I follow NFL mock drafts and dynasty rookie mock drafts to understand better where players will get drafted in both. NFL draft capital is one of the most critical factors in my rookie rankings, so I follow the mock drafts to learn which players are likely to get drafted ahead of others, primarily focusing on the players projected to get drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL draft. There's no better site to check out mock drafts than Grinding The Mocks. I also listen to enough dynasty podcasts with rookie mock drafts to see how other analysts value the rookie class. I don't let their opinions shape mine as much as the guys who grade rookies professionally, but it's another factor in finalizing my rookie rankings.

Be A Dynasty Freek

• The last thing I'll say is, "Be a dynasty Freek!" That means staying active 365 days a year. Make a habit of looking over your rosters at least once a week. Look at your watch list every week and consider churching your roster. Offer trades and respond to trades. Keep the conversations going on your various platforms. Have fun, stay active, and be a Dynasty Freek. If you follow these ten steps, your team will improve this time of year, and you'll be prepared to make your team even better in your rookie drafts.

 

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