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New Type of Dynasty Leagues 

FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 09: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during a NFL game between Detroit Lions and New England Patriots on October 9, 2022, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire)

We are in the final part of my dynasty league series. We went over how to build a perfect dynasty league then we found ways to spice up your dynasty leagues. Now it’s time to explore different ways to play dynasty than the typical style we all come to love today. We will venture into some leagues I’ve successfully set up that have been exciting to play. 

The Coordinator Leagues 

This league was inspired by another one I created, which I will discuss later. The Coordinator league is looking at fantasy similar to the NFL. Most NFL teams have an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator, which rely on each other to produce in the game. Setting up this type of dynasty league, you’ll need two separate leagues; you can do one, but it’s not the same. One league will be offensive players, and the other will be defensive players. You’ll need to partner up with a buddy to play while each of you controls one of the two leagues.  

During the season, you play your match-up like any regular dynasty league but to determine playoffs and draft orders, you will use your combined record to see who gets in and who misses out. You could have gone 6-8 and usually miss the playoffs, but your partner goes 12-2, and that combined record gets you into the playoffs. Once the playoffs begin, your combined scores determine if you advance. That part could become more manual, but it was a very successful experience in my first season. 

32 Man League

This one is intense, but it can be a very exciting type of league. As its name suggests, you have 32 managers, starting with the original team rosters. For example, if you selected the Chiefs, you’d have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jerick Mckinnon, etc. To keep the league more balanced, adding IDP players to the team because having offense can give someone a significant advantage. 

In the league I’m currently in, having IDP knowledge is necessary and then having offensive players is a luxury. We have it now set up for eight divisions, but someone gets screwed out of the playoffs with a good team. I recommend having it be free for all, and the best eight teams make the playoffs. It’s hard to keep 32 owners in a league, but keeping the league fee to a minimum and adjusting the league to fit everyone’s likes is critical. 

The Something Different

The Something Different League is a new experimental league I’ll be starting this year. This type of league’s main component is that instead of drafting individual players, you’ll draft full positions. What I mean is that instead of drafting Nick Chubb, you’ll take the entire Browns’ backfield. So you’ll own Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, D’Ernest Johnson, and others. You won’t have to deal with injuries because you already have their backups. The same will go with quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends.  

The catch is that you will own that backfield, but if the Browns decide to trade Nick Chubb away, he’ll no longer be in the backfield. So you’ll have to release him or deal him to the team that now owns him. While this makes the league look bad, it also works the reverse way, as in if you own the Dolphins backfield and they draft Bijan Robinson, then Robinson would automatically join your team. Every owner will have two of each position to surround your team, so we have replacements and starters always. 

The way the draft works, instead of having rookie picks and drafting rookies, you’ll have the ability to draft a new team’s position. If you had the Raiders quarterback group and no longer feel great owning them, you can swap them out in the draft. The draft is three rounds. Each time you are on the clock, you’ll be able to swap out a position on your team for another that may be a free agent. There are no waivers, but you can make trades as long as it is for the same positions. 

Contract style

Contract-style dynasty leagues are quickly becoming popular, and many fantasy owners want to play them. Contract leagues are only on some platforms, so getting more folks to play is challenging, depending on which platform they enjoy. The concept of contract leagues is that every player has a year and dollar amount attached. There will be a salary cap, so you’ll need to be able to stay within your cap space with any transactions. 

There are plenty of ways to handle this type of league, but I’ve successfully done it by having expiring contracts and free agents go into one big draft. The draft is auction-style, with each team’s remaining balance in their salary cap. The rookie draft has a fixed year and dollar amount, depending on which round you drafted them. This type of league can be fun because it’s like a keeper league because your team changes yearly. Be sure to check out Dynasty Nerds for contract league content! 

Marvel Style Themes

I discovered two Marvel theme dynasty leagues that I tried in 2022, which were very successful. The first was “The Race for the Infinity Gauntlet” and “My Multiverse of Madness,” which were my favorite league types. 

The Infinity Gauntlet league concept is the ability to acquire the infinity stones. If you don’t know what that means, Marvel movies had these stones that had certain powers, and when you had all six of them, you had unbelievable power. I set up different ways to acquire the stones, whether it was scoring so many points or winning the league etc. Also, when you receive a stone, they give you certain powers like adjusting lineups or switching your opponent. You should think of this league as an Empire league. It ends if you collect all six stones and win the league in the same year. 

The Multiverse of Madness league could be suitable for those who like to try different types of scoring and roster settings. Multiverse worlds are all slightly different. One year you could play in a SuperFlex league, then next could be a one QB league with four wide receivers. You could also have six divisions then it switches to free for all. Even the draft is a standard rookie draft to a potential auction rookie draft. It allows trying new settings, which will change every year, so you’re not stuck in something you don’t like. This was one of my favorite types of leagues. 

Real NFL Coach

This league is mellow compared to the recent ones I talked about, but it’s supposed to be very competitive. Like real NFL coaches, they only get a little time to be successful, as we’ve seen so many one to two-year firings. The way the league works is that you have to make the playoffs once every two years and make the final once every six years. Suppose you can’t, then you get fired from the league. It’s a more competitive league where you need to be on your A-game every year and don’t have time to “tank.” 

I hope everyone enjoyed these three articles that I’ve done. Getting these types of articles out now as dynasty start-ups begin is essential. If you have questions about these leagues, please feel free to reach out on Twitter @coachstevenp or find me on the Dynasty Nerds Discord! 

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