Bjorn Yang-Vaernet goes over his round-by-round strategy and picks for Rounds 1 through 5 in a post-NFL draft RotoViz TriFlex Dynasty league.
I recently completed a RotoViz TriFlex dynasty league startup draft on FFPC. Although I have completed startup drafts on other platforms, this league type appealed to me for its emphasis on skill rather than luck. For example, instead of multiple head-to-head playoff rounds, in the RV TriFlex league, there are two rounds of most total points between the playoff teams. No longer can any team gripe that they would have won if they played any other playoff team.
The dynasty startup draft is one of my favorite parts of dynasty. However, with any startup, it’s challenging to know how to value various assets — draft picks and players. In addition to the RotoViz rankings, I primarily leaned on two pieces of content during the duration of the draft:
- Monty Phan: 20 Rounds From A RotoViz TriFlex Dynasty Startup
- Monty Phan: Three Big (RotoViz TriFlex Dynasty Startup) Trends to Know in 2022
I thought getting into the head of Monty as he (and Shawn Siegele) went through the drafts was immensely valuable and useful. In this article, I wanted to recreate Monty’s round-by-round draft breakdown of his 2021 draft for 2022. With dynasty startups going all summer, hopefully, managers can use this article as a reference point.
Pre-Draft Strategy
After learning from my decisions in previous dynasty startup drafts, my draft preferences for this draft were:
- Take quarterbacks early, preferably young and dual-threats
- Load up on young wide receivers that are already elite or could breakout
- Be age-sensitive about the entire roster
The rationale behind the QB strategy is that the startup draft is the easiest and cheapest avenue to rostering good QBs. Especially in superflex leagues, just like this one, getting a young QB from another manager costs an arm and a leg — both in terms of trading for one straight up or through the rookie draft. The reason I want young WRs is that the starting roster requirements allow managers to play up to five WRs. Additionally, the dynasty-relevant life of talented WRs generally lasts longer than a comparable RB. I also want to be age-sensitive in a startup in order to keep more optionality. If the young players do not perform as expected, they hold value much better than older ones. This was the topic of conversation in a recent Stealing Bananas episode: The Stealing Bananas Blueprint for Building a Dynasty (May 27).
My co-manager and I drew the 1.09 pick in the draft, which is pretty much the worst possible position. Not only do we potentially miss out on the consensus top-six QBs, but we also may miss out on the consensus top-two WRs. Going into the draft, I was fairly certain that we would shop the pick around and see what we could get.
Round 1
The big surprise of Round 1 was Deshaun Watson going at 1.05, amid his possible suspension. This allowed Kyler Murray to slide to pick 1.09. Naturally, the trade offers started rolling in for the 1.09. My co-manager and I agreed that Murray was a great selection and any offer that we accepted needed to blow us away. Unfortunately, although we could not convince any prospective traders to part with a 2023 1st, we accepted this offer:
