With the fantasy season complete, most are shifting their focus back to the NFL and away from their redraft teams in the season's closing weeks. For dynasty GMs, it is time to get back to business - improving their roster through trades, rookie draft strategy, and proper player valuations for next season and beyond. Here are some lessons learned from 2025 and strategies for 2026:
2025 Lessons
Contend Until You Are Eliminated
One of the bigger mistakes by dynasty GMs is throwing in the towel too early. Some lose in September and are already looking for the exit on the season. Others double down on not contending in the offseason, viewing being stuck in the middle of the standings as the worst potential outcome and avoiding it even at the expense of contending seasons.
My take: Contend until you are officially eliminated. This is a very NFL-type take. Two games to play and need two wins? Try to win the first one and go from there. Need some wins and some help with a month to go? Take it week by week. Do things look rough in July? Wait until October to assess things, at the minimum.
The best team in a dynasty league does not always win the title. Fellow Footballguys staffer Adam Harstad has broken down the math of winning a title in a variety of circumstances in previous articles. In short, the 'field' has a better chance than any singular team, even once the playoffs start.
The 2025 season was yet another example, specifically a co-owned team with Jordan McNamara. At various points in the season, we were 2-2, 3-3, and 5-5. Through 10 weeks at 5-5, our all-play was 45%. We were a weak team with a myriad of injuries. We ended up with James Conner, Joe Mixon, and Tucker Kraft on injured reserve (2TE with premium scoring, and we were thin at running back). We also lost David Njoku in the closing weeks, miring through Tony Pollard's slow start despite Tyjae Spears missing time. Midseason, we traded for a then-injured Joe Burrow, giving Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, both healthy at the time, in this 2QB format. At that time, we made a macro-view dynasty trade, which we assumed would prevent us from sneaking into the playoffs (our best-case scenario).
One thing to remember about being in the middle of the power rankings of a dynasty league is that there will invariably be 2-3-4 teams actively trying to miss the playoffs and secure a better draft position, thinking, "This is not my year." With that in full effect, being 5-5 gave us a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. Joe Burrow returned, surprisingly, to the lineup. So did Brock Purdy. Tony Pollard had his two best games of the season in the final month. Tyrone Tracy Jr. added a 24-point outing. Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, and Chris Godwin Jr. returned from injuries.
We slipped into the playoffs as the No.5 seed. Our opponent had a house of horrors week with Patrick Mahomes II's dud (plus leaving late with an injury). Isaiah Likely put up a goose egg. No player hit even 20 points for their lineup. We advanced to the semifinals by drawing the right matchup. We were throttled by the No.2 seed in the semifinals, but won the third-place game against a strong team. They had just one player hit 20+ points and had down games from Jahmyr Gibbs and TreVeyon Henderson.
We scraped together a third-place finish despite being middling for a huge chunk of the season simply by continuing to compete. We did not sell off older pieces or try to improve our draft position by a spot or two. In the past seven years, we have had first, second, and third-place finishes in the money.
Seek Elite
Continue reading this content with a ELITE subscription.
An ELITE subscription is required to access content for Dynasty leagues. If this league is not a Dynasty league, you can edit your leagues here.
_(4)_png)