Fantasy Football Today: Your complete guide to setting up your Dynasty Fantasy football league

So you want to start a Dynasty Fantasy Football league, huh? My first advice? Do it! This is by far my favorite way to play Fantasy Football. From the startup draft to rookie drafts to trading future picks, it is so much fun as a game. But even outside of that, I think it is the best version of the game for building community. Having fun and building community. What else is this game about?

I say all this realizing it can be difficult to dip your toes into new water, particularly if you are the guy tasked with being the commissioner. It is a lot. So I want to walk you through it. We'll start with some musts for new leagues and finish with some of my personal preferences.

First and foremost, write up a league constitution and put it where everyone can find it. This should include every rule, including lineups, waivers, playoff settings, scoring rules, trade deadlines, etc. You want to cover when which transactions are available, how the league will handle tanking, when the rookie draft will be held each year, when payment is required, and payout structure. Most of these are personal preferences, but I will give my preferences below. I know this seems like a lot, but it will save you so many headaches in the future if it is all laid out in one place. Anything you can think of should go in this document.

Second, every analyst I have on FFT Dynasty says they prefer Superflex leagues over one-QB when it comes to Dynasty. Unless your league is more than 14 teams, I agree. Quarterback is the most important position in football, and one-QB leagues minimize that value because the position is so deep. Strongly consider making your league a Superflex league.

Third, collect the money before the rookie draft each year. The one exception to this should be any team that trades a first-round pick should have to pay that future year's entry fee when they make the trade. Why? Because if a team leaves a league and has traded away all of their future picks, you will have a much easier time replacing them if their entry fee is already paid.

I recently had John Bosch, from Fantasy Cares, on Fantasy Football Today Dynasty. John is the best commissioner I have ever played with, and we talked about how to be a good commissioner, mistakes to avoid, setting up a new league, and more. Check it out:

As for my preferences:

• Assuming it is a 12-team league, my preferred lineup setting is: QB-RB-RB-WR-WR-TE-FLEX-FLEX-SF. If you have fewer teams, add at least one more flex. If you have more teams, remove a flex or a running back. Again, I would not do Superflex with more than 14 teams.
• As for scoring, I like half-PPR, half-point per first down. .05 per pass yard, .1 per rush receiving yard, all TDs worth six points, all two-point conversions worth two points. I also like return yardage leagues, especially with the new rules, put those at .05 per yard if you don't want returners to be too valuable. I also prefer TE premium leagues where they get a full point per catch and first down.
• I do not monitor tanking. If teams want to lose for better draft position, let them. That is a genuine strategy. Bonus, you don't have to police lineups, that is the worst.
• In a 12-team league, six teams should make the playoffs; in smaller leagues, only four. In 14-team leagues, I like having seven playoff teams with only the one seed getting a bye. One great way to balance points and wins is a league-median setting, where you play one opponent each week like head-to-head, and you also get a bonus win if you are one of the top six teams that week. If you don't like that, I would suggest giving at least one playoff spot to the highest scoring team that isn't in yet.
• I do not believe in reversing trades unless you think there is collusion, in which case you should kick the colluders out of the league. Put this in the constitution. As for trade deadlines, my preferred setting is to make the trade deadline the day the playoffs start. As soon as the playoffs are over, trading should be back open again. I allow teams to trade rookie picks up to three years in advance.

Have other questions about setting up a new league? Send me an email at fftdynasty@paramount.com.