Dynasty Orphans: What to Expect When You're Expecting

Orphan leagues are often the easiest entry into dynasty, and adopting one comes with a learning curve that nobody warns you about. FFToday's Dustin Ludke joins Jeff Blaylock to walk through the full orphan experience: how to evaluate a roster before you commit, what to expect from your new league mates, and how to rebuild from the worst team in the league into a contender. Knowing what's actually coming — from early lowball offers to the energy drain of managing a rebuild — can be the difference between a frustrating experience and a future championship run.

Topics Include:

• How to evaluate an orphan roster before agreeing to take it over
• Red flags that signal a league you should walk away from
• Fee negotiation and how to protect yourself from being a league's ATM machine
• Finding cornerstone players in a bad roster
• How to use a win threshold framework for closing the gap, position by position
• Why new orphan managers underestimate the energy a rebuild requires
• How to read your league mates and match the trading energy of a new league
• The "ask for the throw-in" principle and how lottery tickets compound over time

Chapters/Timestamps:

00:00 — Orphans Are the Gateway Drug to Dynasty
02:05 — Justin's Diary of an Orphan
07:10 — Evaluating an Orphan Before You Commit
12:00 — Red Flags: Turnover, Fees & League Drama
20:00 — Finding Cornerstones in a Disaster Roster
22:48 — What New Orphan Managers Underestimate
28:50 — The First Thing to Do After Adoption
35:25 — Minimal Increases: How Rebuilds Actually Work 
42:50 — What Dustin Wishes He'd Known About Dynasty 
47:10 — Where to Find Dustin

Links Mentioned in the Episode

• Follow Dustin on Twitter/X 
• FFToday 
• Follow Jeff on Twitter/X
• Jeff's Dynasty Rankings
• Footballguys
• LeagueSafe 
• LeagueSafe Find a League
• Dynatyze 

Visit dynastycompass.com to learn more about the show.

Transcript

Jeff: Orphans are the gateway drug into dynasty. There are so many dynasty fantasy football players who got their start there by adopting an orphan, a roster that had been abandoned by its previous manager. Today, my guest, Dustin Ludke from FFToday, and I'll be talking about orphans and adoption strategies and what to expect when you're expecting. On Dynasty Compass.

[Theme music]

Jeff: Welcome to Dynasty Compass. I am your host, Jeff Blaylock, the other Jeff B from Footballguys. And that squeaking noise in the background is my 18 month old — 18 week old puppy who is rather excited. So we will have some puppy sounds throughout the story today. Hi, Baby. Uh, but what, uh, more importantly though, I do have a different special guest who is not my dog. And that is Dustin Ludke from FFToday. Dustin, thanks so much for joining me this evening and, uh, welcome to the show.

Dustin: Ah, thanks for having me. I appreciate, I, I mean, I love dogs. I get it. I have a 6-year-old German Shepherd who thinks he's a big baby and still wants to, he's 70 pounds and wants to sit in your lap, but he just can't fit. So I get it. I get the dog. Dogs are great.

Jeff: Yeah. Bailey's just 30 pounds, but he was 10 when we got him two months ago, so he, he is, he has gotten a lot

Dustin: Little bigger. Yeah.

Jeff: Very, very fast. Uh, we, we did not adopt him because I'm allergic to a lot of dogs. We weren't able to go to a shelter and, and just do that route like a lot of people do. So I always appreciate when people can do that. Um, but we are here to talk about adoptions today, which is one of the weirdest segues I think I've ever done on this show. Um, we are talking about orphans, which is, uh, of course, uh, in the dynasty world. These are teams whose managers have left for whatever reason. Sometimes they're good reasons, sometimes they're bad reasons, but for whatever the reason. Uh, there is a roster that needs a manager. And so that's what we're doing. And Dustin, I know you, uh, have done some work in this and a lot of thinking on this. You're even writing a series called "Diary of an Orphan," a uh, real time or real time adjacent. Look at how you are rebuilding, uh, an orphan that you've picked up. So, uh, tell us a little bit about that.

Dustin: Yeah, it's, uh, article series. We, the second one just released today. As of day we're recording. I got it out just in time for this recording. Uh, trying to, trying to. Do it as real time adjacent as I can. So I made a couple trades in the past two, three weeks, um, made a big one where I traded away the 1.01. Um, and so I traded away 1.01. I got 1.03 and I got 1.10. And then I, with that was also, I gave up Charbonnet, got RJ Harvey and I got Isaiah Bond. Um, and so I break down my theory of how I did it in this whole process. The thought on this article series was do this article series as in real time as possible. Now obviously like June, July, if there's no movement, you're not gonna see an article 'cause there's nothing to write about. But you'll get an article around the rookie draft, kind of how that went. My thought process and really kinda give people a, Hey, this is my thought process on how I rebuilt this dynasty team. Hopefully in a year or two. I'm a contender. Maybe, you know, 2028, 2029 I win a championship and you can see how I got there. So you can go back and go, okay, this is, this is how we got there. 'cause it's great to go, Hey, this is my dynasty team and I won a championship, but how did I get there? And this will be hopefully the chronicle of how I took this orphan team from the worst team I've ever seen in my, in my life to hopefully a contender at some point.

Jeff: I take it, it had the 1.01 because it earned it and not because someone tried it for it in the past.

Dustin: Yes, it had all of its original picks. Um, it just was, it has Jayden Daniels and CeeDee Lamb and that's really it. Um, I mean it has Charbonnet, well it had Charbonnet, Javonte Williams. The problem was, is that one point, it had JSN at the start of last season, and this, the previous owner traded JSN in a way, um,

Jeff: Oh.

Dustin: for Jake Browning. 'cause it's a Superflex league. So when they needed.

Jeff: Oh, well that's why they have the 1.01.

Dustin: And that's why they needed to get replaced. 'cause they kind of got ridiculed and I think left the league 'cause they realized, oh, I'm gonna get ridiculed for this. But it's a great league. So I'm, I'm hoping to, you know, make some changes and, you know, again, trade away. The 1.01 was a big bail move, but I think it works out in my favor, which we'll get into and, and go from there. Definitely earn the 1.01, um, on that level. So,

Jeff: So what prompted you to adopt this particular orphan roster? 'cause obviously there's lots of orphans that are out there, but you, you've got this one. So what was the thought process there?

Dustin: So, first of all, I'm a small number of leagues guy. I'm in, this is my fourth real managed, don't really own my second managed league. So I'm in the dynasty league. I have a redraft league with my family. Obviously I do Scott Fish Bowl, uh, Warrior Bowl, some of these other charity leagues. And I have won at church and won at work. And then Ryan Kennedy reached out to me on Twitter and said, Hey, we're looking for an, or we're looking for someone to take over this team. Um, would you want it? And I, so he is like, Hey, this is the team. This is what they got. Your fee's covered this year, it was week 11. It was like your fee's covered for this year. You know, basically it's $20. It's a great group of people from Twitter. These are the people in, and I knew a couple of 'em and so I said, so I didn't see the message right away, so I eventually got back to him and said, yeah, if it's still available, I'll take it. He goes, yeah. He goes, I only offered it to you. He is like, we were talking about owners. You were the name that came up and we wanted you in the league. He's like, you know, me and Ryan talk quite a bit. So it was really one of those things like if it wasn't for Ryan, I wouldn't have done it. It is a great group of people in the league. Um, very active in terms of message boards, trade offers. Like I said, I've made three trades in the past month, and I think there's been, I think seven or eight other trades in the past month of various forms. So that's really was, it was knowing that Ryan, a, I felt honored that Ryan thought of me, um, and that people in the league. As soon as he told him like, yeah, Dustin's join that. He told me. He's like, yeah, people like messaged me and said, oh, this is gonna be a great addition. A couple of 'em reached out to me on Twitter and on Sleeper and was like, Hey, we're happy to have you in league. This is gonna be so cool. A couple of 'em I talked to on Twitter before, so it was just a. Seemed like a gr a great group of people to join, which I think for me is a big part of fantasy is the community aspect of it.

Jeff: Yeah, I, I know Ryan very well. He's in one of my crazy startup leagues from last year. We tried to stick a bunch of concepts together, like Point per First Down and Best Ball and Managed and, and FAAB and all these things, and sort of made it, made it go through, uh, for year one. He is been a great member of that league, so I, I can certainly understand that. Yeah, I think that's really probably the most ideal way I think of being, uh. Picking up an orphan, right? It's having someone, you know, reach out to you and say, Hey, here's the, here's the situation. This is the group we got here. Um, and I often look at, you know, orphans to me are kind of the, the, that gateway drug that gets you into dynasty. You've got maybe one dynasty league now, and you'll have 10 by three years from now because, uh, that itch, once it starts, uh, it's gonna be difficult to scratch again. I know that's certainly what, what

Dustin: Yeah. And, and for me it's, you know, people say, oh, I like the startup draft. To me, a an orphan is just like a startup draft, just in a different mode. Like you have no affinity to the players on this team. They can all, they're all expendable. You don't like them. Um, you didn't draft 'em, so you have no real ties to 'em. Maybe there's guys you like on, there's guys you don't, but you can trade whatever you want and kind of start over. Right. No one in fantasy football is unattainable. The price might be super high and it might be more than you wanna pay, but they are attainable. It's just a matter of if you wanna get 'em. I mean, there is a flavor, two startup drafts, but I think taking over an orphan is just also a different skillset it's a lot of fun. I'm having a lot of fun with it. Like I said, I took over week 11. I'm enjoying it so far.

Jeff: Oh, good. So, uh, so you did, so you had a little bit last season then You've had this, this whole off season. So you, you actually had to step in and start setting lineups, uh, with whatever you had and, and make those kinds of decisions right off the bat.

Dustin: Yeah, which was really tough. 'cause quarterback wise, it's a Superflex league and it had Jayden

Jeff: Jake Browning.

Dustin: Browning, who wasn't playing at that point. I had Dillon Gabriel, who had gotten benched at that point. Uh, Jalen Milroe, who wasn't starting. Um, it had Spencer Rattler who wasn't playing like, yeah, like Will Levis, Max Brosmer, like I was just. Trying to just cobble together a starting quarterback at some point. It just was, it was bad. And right. That's where I looked at it and go, man, it's, well, if it had Daniels' team probably is not horrible. Um, that's when I was like, well, let me go see what some pieces I'd want. Well, what's JSN doing? Oh, we traded away JSN. Oh, that's a horrible trade. Okay. Okay, now I understand. And so it was just a simple, you know, startup and just, Hey, submit lineups. But like at that point, the 1.01 was pretty much locked in. I was, you know, the playoffs were. Pretty much, you know, week 11, I think the playoffs started in 14. So there was a couple weeks left before the playoffs started.

It was you, hey, you're already getting the 1.01 'cause you're the worst team. You'd have to really, you'd have to really like screw it up to not get the 1.01. Um, so tried to make some moves. I ended up trading Rhamondre Stevenson to the guy who won the championship, like the week of the championship. Uh, he needed to run back. I got a third round pick for him. I traded to him and he'd end up not playing Rhamondre Stevenson in any way, but he still won the championship. So I was like, okay, I got rid of one aging asset. Go from there. And I still have like, you know, I have David Montgomery, I have a couple other guys. So yeah, I started right away with having to set lineups and trying to make trades right away. It was a little harder in season to make trades. It seems like the off season's a little hot. Lot easier for that now.

Jeff: Yeah, that, that is certainly the case, although at least if you know you're rebuilding and you knew that right off the bat, you already have that sort of mindset of, you know, my older veterans, if they're producing. Uh, I need to move them if I can. And I've got a natural group of people to, to buy those, which are the contenders, uh, who may be one piece away. And I may just happen to have it when I myself am like 10 pieces away. So, so you, you traded Rhamondre. Uh, what, what was that? Uh, what was that package? How does that

Dustin: It was just Rhamondre for a third round pick, which ended up being the 3.12. Now. Uh, it was just, he needed to run it back. I thought he needed to run it back for the championship game. Uh, he had someone who got injured. I think he had someone who was like questionable to play. So I was like, oh, I'll give you Rhamondre for a third round pick. You'll help you win the championship. I get Rhamondre off my roster, I get a third rounder. So that was, you know, it was part of that was like that week 11 to the end of the season was just, Hey, let me talk to people about trades and kind of start building relationships. 'cause I didn't have much relationship with a lot of them other than like, you know, talking on Twitter about random stuff. But this was like, Hey, what do you think about this player? Kind of get a feel for where they are. So it was nice to kinda have that little bit of. To do that.

Jeff: I think that's important for folks who are thinking about, uh, an orphan. In a lot of cases, we don't know the people that we're getting into a league with in that situation, especially if, uh, we find this orphan through. LeagueSafe or through Twitter or through, you know, an online forum. We may know people in that online community as we would know people in an online community, but we don't, don't know the people. Uh, you know, I'm one of the dynasty leagues I've been in for several years. I, I know I've gotten to know who these people are, but I couldn't pick a single one of 'em out of police lineup to save my life. There were five people in the lineup. I'd have a 20% chance of hitting the guy that's in the league.

Dustin: oh, there's my, my dynasty league. We've been doing that for six years. There's a guy, we just call him Logo 'cause his team name is like Logo577. I don't know his real name. We just, I know his, he's told me his real name. But we like, we all just call him Logo 'cause that's his team username on Sleeper and that's what he goes by. So it's like, I don't know your, like your real name. Maybe I know your first name but not your last name. 

Um, you know, me and my buddy another, we have like, you know, one guy's like Shermanator, so we call him Shermi, like for short. It's like, ah, did you see what Shermi said there? So it's just like you make nicknames for each other in the league. So, um. Yeah, you don't really know, which is hard. I think you have to know one person usually in the league just to really feel comfortable about the league and know that it's like you go through LeagueSafe. They're, they're reputable, you know, they're not like scamming you. We also wanna like, have some connection in the league, I feel to just have some sort of like sense of like, Hey, what's the lowdown on this league? Like, what's it like? Right. Because you, worst thing you wanna do is get in the league that's like inactive.

Jeff: All right.

Dustin: I saw a post from someone who was like, yeah, we had, you know, got basic. Commissioner league was like, Hey, this league hasn't had any trades this past year. Like, what's going on? We need to pick up our activity. Like it's just, it's dead because that's what's gonna kill a league is that it's just there's no activity and people don't feel that sense of community is gonna kill your league more so than uneven teams. The lack of community will kill a dynasty league faster than anything.

Jeff: Yeah. And, and one of the things I know, I certainly look for a, as I see, you know, dynasty leagues that are out there, they're looking for people. It's like, how many are they looking for? If they're looking for one, that's usually a pretty good sign that the league's pretty stable. If they're looking for three or four in a 12 team league. There, there's, there's some dynamics there that you probably would want to know about. Or this is not gonna be the most pleasant experience, uh, in fantasy football that you're gonna have.

Dustin: Yeah. Right. And why do the people leave? Did they get kicked out or they just, you know, were they inactive so you got kicked out? Or they just get, you know, was there some sort of league drama? Was there, you know, really bad trade, like JSN for Jake Browning that made him, you know, made kind of people leave? Like what's the drama and why do people leave? It is also super important. So. That's why knowing someone is important. 'cause then you can kind of get that backstory. But yeah, you don't wanna see a high turnover in a league you don't want. Yeah. You don't wanna join a league that's looking for four managers in a 12 team league. Like that's just let that league go.

Jeff: Yeah. And, and you should always, because I know I do this, if, if I am, am interested in, in a, in a, an orphan, I always do reach out to that commissioner and just see. If nothing else, you get kind of a sense of how that commissioner's going to communicate, how responsive they are, uh, how honest they might be or might not be. I mean, obviously can't tell exactly how honest they are, but if they go into some detail about what happened, then that's, that's a good sign of openness and transparency. If they say, ah, you know, just stuff happens then, then

Dustin: Yeah. It's like, okay.

Jeff: say, alright, well good luck.

Dustin: Yeah, probably not for you. Right, and and that's the thing, if you're looking for a league and you're like, maybe I do an orphan. I think it's great to take orphans, like LeagueSafe has a huge posting of them. But I do think start adopting an orphan is, it's just a different skillset and making sure you're getting a reputable one is huge. And finding the right commissioner that has good communication and will be front with you at least a little bit about what's happening is good to know. I mean, right. You wanna know all the league idiosyncracies, you know, obviously you're gonna look over the scoring format, the rules, but also like is there any sort of weird quirks in the league that you just don't know, like you know, Hey, this guy's a big. Giants fan. The one thing that's why he has all the giants, like my team I took over had had CeeDee Lamb, Javonte Williams, Jake Ferguson, KaVontae Turpin, and I, I think Cedric like that, like another, he had like five or six Cowboys.

So it's like, okay, was that person just a Cowboys fan? So now it's like, well, how do I. Un consolidate that and get away from having all the cowboys, right, and, and diversify a little bit. So, right. There's some idiosyncrasies you might wanna know and see if someone will tell you that. Like my other dynasty league, guy's a huge Chargers fan. We all know it. So we all know we can kind of charge a little more for Chargers, fan Chargers players when he concentrate with us. 'cause we know he wants them

Jeff: Yeah. We know when we have that draft pick coming up and there's a charger on the board, we should just take him

Dustin: well. And also like you, you're not gonna be able to go get, you know, Ladd McConkey from him. He's just not gonna trade him like that's his guy. So.

Jeff: Yeah, you said a moment ago, anybody's haveable with the right price. No, actually, the, some folks are

Dustin: Some folks it's not.

Jeff: Malik Nabers in the hands of a Giants fan. Uh, or, uh, in a, in a league that I'm in, it's in the hands of an LSU fan. So,

Dustin: Yes,

Jeff: no, there's no getting, there's no prying Malik

Dustin: Yeah. Unless you're like gonna, unless you're gonna super duper overpay. Yeah.

Jeff: He was contending for a league title, and of course Nabers is on the shelf, so I was offering all kinds of assets that are performing now, and he is like, Nope, nope,

Dustin: Nope, nope. Yeah. I.

Jeff: So, uh, so, you know, we, we've, we've kind of danced around this a little bit, but are there any just like, "oh, hell no" factors where you look at a league and you say yourself, this is not, this is not for me.

Dustin: I think if it's got a high turnover rate, so maybe they're only looking for one or two people this year, but like, Hey, did you guys have to look for one or two people last year? And then to combine that with a high entry fee, um, 'cause I find the high entry fees is great. For people to stay active that year. But then it's like, well, do I really wanna be in this 50, a hundred dollars league? And so they're more apt to leave because it's high, it's a high price. Most people aren't gonna rebuild for a hundred dollars a year for three years. They're not gonna just waste $300 to try to hopefully win, you know, a prize pool that's, you know, a in a 12 team league, the prize pool's, what, $700? They're already in the hole, three, 400 bucks before they even win. So like, even if they win, they're basically breaking even. So it's just gonna be harder for 'em. So they're not gonna stick around as long with that price. 

And Ryan, there's some rules that I think need to go into that. You know, I think you have to pay. For any picks that you trade away, like any future years, I think you have to prepay. Uh, and that prevents a lot of this, you know, pump and dump type sales where they're gonna trade all their picks for one year and then dip out and you leave an orphan that's horrible and you can't replace. So I, for me, it's definitely, you know, high turnover with a high vol, high entry fee is, is a red, big red flag.

Jeff: you, you've hit it kind of on the, uh. A couple things on the head there. One, I think is you definitely don't wanna be the ATM machine for the league. If that's what they're looking for, then, then you shouldn't volunteer to be that. And also, I mean, I think you should negotiate if they're not already saying, Hey, your first year's dues are already paid for, or you should negotiate for that because. You don't know exactly what you're getting into. And, and you know, there, there needs to be, especially if it's, you know, if it's $20, whatever, but if it's 50 or a hundred dollars or something and you're willing to just to do that on, on a, on a basis across some leagues, then, then it's, I like having that, that one year of cushion of, you know, kind of a, I wouldn't say a probation period, but a feeling out period to see if this leaves for me before I invest my own cash into it.

Dustin: and I think if you're listening and you are a commissioner or in a dynasty league that's looking for someone to take over an orphan team, like propose that, right? Hey, our buy-in's $50 and we're looking for someone to take over this horrible team. Every owner puts in like five bucks, right? $5, right? It's a $5 fee. And you guys cover that orphans fee for that for 2026, or, hey, everybody puts in $10 and we cover for the next two years, whatever it is, to kind of make it more appealing. And this, you know, you ask me if you came to me and go, Hey, another $5 when we get a good owner to take over this team, okay, cool, I'll do it. You tell me $10, like, okay, cool. Like for 50 bucks. Yeah. It's worth it to get a good owner that's gonna stick around for two years. Because if I'm getting to play for free for two years, I'm in, right?

Jeff: Yeah. And, and, and you also said, you know, the prepayment of, of future draft picks I think is also something that's, I,

Dustin: Yeah. If you, if you trade, uh, 2027 or 2028 pick, you should have to pay for those years. Right? And that's why LeagueSafe is great. 'cause you can set up every year in LeagueSafe and just, you know, my, the dynasty league I got and it had, he's like, Hey, here's the link. No, no rush to pay, but here's the 27 link. Here's the 28 link. Okay, cool. I want my other dynasty. It had money in LeagueSafe. Here you go. Ding Bing. Done. I'm set for two years.

Jeff: Yeah. And, and for those who may not be familiar with it, LeagueSafe is, is a site that also handles, uh. Cash. So that, for example, instead of paying the commissioner directly, you actually put it into an account, uh, with this third party called LeagueSafe. And there's rules into how that's managed. And, and that to me is always a sign of legitimacy.

Dustin: Yeah. LeagueSafe's great. 'cause it has, you know, the league has to, I think majority of the league has to approve any payout, so he can't just pay out whoever he wants, whatever he wants. It's, you know, it's not like the commissioner's just accepting it through PayPal or Venmo and then, you know, sitting on that. They're not just sitting that money, they're spending that money and then they go, I'll just pay it off later. And then you're waiting for payments. This LeagueSafe allows you to pay you right away when league's over. It's, it's just a great reliable source, uh, great asset for, for all dynasty, for all, you know, football leagues, managed, you know, season leagues, dynasty leagues, whatever it is. That's a great resource to have.

Jeff: Yep. Uh, and they have a, they have a classified section for folks who are looking for leagues and, and folks and leagues who are looking for managers both. So I go both.

Dustin: and sometimes they run discounts too. Like, you know, these leagues are, you know, 10% off or 50% off or whatever it is, so,

Jeff: Yeah, so do some shopping on that. 'cause uh, this, this is the time of year when a lot of orphans are, are available and different sites are running different specials on 'em. Just be sure you kind of get a sense of what you're getting into before, before you do that. And, and one of those too, I think is you should be able to see the roster before you take over. If they're not gonna show you that, then that, that to me is, that's a whole hell no for me. I mean, I need. You'll see what I'm getting into. Uh, so when you see that, you're like, so what, what in a bad roster is appealing? Like aside from Ryan asking you to do this in this, this league, which I would say yes to Ryan. I mean, how bad the team is. But what, what about the roster, if anything, was appealing? Was it just purely the challenge or do you see, do you see paths forward with the assets that you have?

Dustin: Yeah. I think there has to be the, the, the challenge. Appeal was something, but for me, I'm always looking for cornerstone players or the ability to acquire cornerstones, right? So. You tell me. I've got, I might not have cornerstones, but I've got three first round picks next year. Okay. That gives me the ability to get them, or I have an abundance of second round picks that I can trade. You know, this team specifically had Jayden Daniels, CeeDee Lamb. I was like, okay, those are cornerstone players that I can bank on for the next three to five years.

Jeff: Yep.

Dustin: I had my first round pick. I have, you know, I had all my picks. I was like, all right, I'm gonna have the 1.01. So it's like, that's three starters right there that I can bank, you know, build my team around. Everyone else I can trade away and get comparable pieces and maybe some lottery tickets, but that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for cornerstone pieces on the roster. Um, that's what really made this team appealing was I had some cornerstone pieces and Daniels and Lamb, even though I don't love CeeDee a, like I'd love, you know, to, I'd love to trade CeeDee for like a comparable piece. It's just, you know, most people aren't gonna just make a trade just because they like a player different than another player, but. You know, that's a cornerstone piece. That's a set it and forget it player on my roster. And it, you just, you have to have, you know, if you're starting 10 players, you have to have three of those on your roster, um, to really make it work.

Jeff: Yep. What do you think, do you think there is a se uh, any ever a point when a roster is just too far gone?

Dustin: I definitely think there's a part where it's too far gone. Again, if they don't have the ability to acquire picks, we have a team in this league that I'm like, I don't know where they're acquiring cornerstone pieces. 'cause they've already traded their first in 2026 and 2027 and they just, for whatever reason, made some bad trades and they didn't work out well, or they just picked the wrong players. I just like it is probably too far gone. That's why I've already talked to people like, Hey, if they drop out after this year, do we just consolidate down to a 10 team and have a supplemental draft between this, you know, if this team and this other team drop out, do we just have a supplemental draft and just go, Hey, we're going 10 teams and you know, if we lose two teams, I'm going, let's just go to 10. We'll do a supplemental draft with those players, you know, their players and picks, you know, in this whatever draft they traded. So we do 27 picks and their players and have a draft and go from there. There are chances where it's too far gone, or you just have to go in the mindset of it's just gonna be a longer rebuild. And I always tell people like, fantasy should be fun and whatever fun is for you. Some people love to trade.

John McGlynn loves to trade. John McGlynn makes a bazillion trades every day just 'cause he likes to trade and that's what's fun for him. So if that's fun for him and he's having fun doing it, then he's having fun. Most people winning is fun, so they wanna win. And that's what they're gonna shoot for. So maybe taking over that. Team's not good, but if you just wanna trade, then trade. If trading's fun, then have fun. If just being part of community is fun and you don't care about winning or losing and you don't care about your team, you just wanna be part of a community and that's fun for you, then that's fine. Just know that your team sucks and it's not gonna be any better anytime soon. But you're, as long as you're having fun, I don't care. As long as you're active. And you're having fun and you're, you're a positive part of the league community and the fantasy community soul, that's fine. Whatever makes fantasy fun for you, go ahead and do it.

Jeff: what, you know what, I think we've hit on it, but what, what do you think that is the one thing that that managers really underestimate about their orphans when they take them on?

Dustin: I think they underestimate. The league that they're going into and that the league is gonna be like, do you favors? Right? Your league is not gonna do you any favors. They're gonna treat you kind of like they treated the old owner as like, you're the, you're the moron of the league for the most part, right? Like they're gonna offer you trades that. Make no sense for you, right? In my league, they were offering me a ton of like older players and I was like, I don't want older. Why would you think I want older players? Like I'm clearly rebuilding. What makes you think I want this older player who's gonna produce this year, maybe next year? I want young picks, you know, young players or picks. Um, they're also gonna test the waters with your football knowledge a little bit. Like, hey, you might get an offer for David Montgomery and he might be worth a second round pick. They're gonna offer you a fourth round pick. Just to see if you take it to see what, where you're at, you know, competitive wise in your evaluations, they're gonna test the waters.

People also underestimate the energy it takes. Like you have to be active, you have to be the guy to go out there and, and offer trades. You have to be the person who's talking to leagues. I think in every league you, you have to send like, Hey, happy. You have to send a message to every owner. Hey, happy to be here. You know, is there someone on my team you're looking for? Or, and start that conversation. Just don't expect your league mates to help. Don't expect them to be like, ah, you're new here. Here's this guy and I'll give it to you for a deal. No, they're gonna try to swindle you left and right because they wanna know what they can get away with with you. It's just, it's just the nature of Dynasty that they wanna see what they can get. So you have to really express how much time there is and Right. Negotiations are gonna be hard because you don't know how they're evaluating players. In a league where I've been in for five years, I know how this guy roughly, you know, these league mates evaluate players. The new league. I have no clue how you evaluate players. Where do you see, you know, where do you see Ashton Jeanty? Is he the third best running back or is he the 10th best running back to you? Who knows, like is Puka the one, is Ja'Marr Chase the one who's, you know, is JSN a top guy? Is he a second tier guy? You know, Jalen Hurts, is he a top tier quarterback? Is he second? Like, who knows where there are values. So you have to feel that out where these guys evaluate these players, especially players with question marks. Um, you know, in terms of future or production. It just takes a lot of energy and I think a lot of people underestimate the energy it takes in. And no one likes losing. I get it. It might not be what drives your fun, but like losing still does suck When you get up every week and you go, I lost again every Monday or Tuesday, you're gonna, I lost again. Uh, and it just, it's, it's draining. So it can be joy sucking, but just the energy it takes to manage an orit team is something I think gets underestimated quite a bit.

Jeff: Yeah. It's like, well, I'm starting Dont'e Thornton in my flex again. Yay!

Dustin: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You're, you're, you're starting the guys that you don't feel great about. Yes.

Jeff: Yeah, I think you, you hit it though. I mean, how active it is to me. One of the things I like to do. Especially if the platform allows it, is go back and look at the trading history of the league, see what these, what these folks have done before, and look at the draft history as well. And that answered some of those kinds of questions because yeah, when you, when you walk into a, a, a tank, uh, of, of 11 fish, they might all be sharks and they hopefully are not, but they might be initially because you're a fresh fish and they need to, if I don't take advantage of you, someone else is going to, so I might as well try. So I, I think, and, and to me, I, it's a good point you make and that it takes time to go through all that and they're gonna test those waters. But if that's your immediate, sort of visceral reaction is this guy's, this guy's a jerk. I don't wanna deal with him. You actually are cutting off a lot of avenues down the road rebuilding. You kind of need to take that, take that first smash, reject offer, uh, at, at what it really is, which is a tip to feel you out not at, not an insult to your intelligence or a, you know, I wanna push you around. It's probably much more closer to, well, let's just see what, what this new guy thinks,

Dustin: There's, it's and, and you, and I'm telling you, all dynasty managers do it in every league. You send an offer that you go, well, this is fair, but I'll add this piece on as well to see if they'll take it. And they go, well, that's too much. Go. What if I took this guy off? You go, oh, I'll take that. Okay. Then you knew that was fair. All along you. You're right, you're gonna go into this pool of 11 other fish. They might not all be sharks, but they're all gonna pretend to be sharks, and they're all gonna wanna use you to boost them up as being sharks. So it is just a tough thing to get in there. You do have to look at the trade history. 

So I, I like using Dynatyze, which is a new a, uh, website that's out there, um, dynatyze.com. It's got all the tools on. It's got all these analytics for your team. You can see the trade history, trade trees gives you a trade grade for every trade. It's got all these insights, you know, where you're at contending. Um, a site like that helps me get organized and kind of look at everything as a whole. Okay. Where am I at? Gives me like, Hey, I've got. These players are, you know, in peak prime performance, I may be lacking running back. I may be lacking tight end. It kinda gives me that overview. I'm a big organization guy. I used to put everything in spreadsheets. All my dynasty teams. I have spreadsheets for all my dynasty teams. Every team's color coded, I have all their players in picks. So as things move, I move around from one team to another. So I go, okay, this guy's. Oh, this guy's only got four running backs. Oh, I've got seven. Okay. Maybe I can, he's the guy I'm looking for. So it's the easy way. And they have that on Dynatyze, your whole depth charts. Uh, so it's a great website to get organizing and kind of get in it and not expend as much energy trying to figure everything out from the get go.

Jeff: Yeah, definitely try some automation tools if you can, because it is a lot to try to keep track of, especially if you do several of these or. If you're in double digit leagues, it becomes very difficult to, to keep track of all of that. So let's talk about, uh, the, this, uh, orphan that you've got now. Um, you know, you, you, you happen to inherit it during a season, which, you know, is, is kind of, you have to jump in. You know, with both feet into the fire. I think the only thing that's harder is if you, if you adopted it the day before the rookie draft, you have to do, you have to make a lot of consequential decisions with no knowledge of, of the surroundings that you're in. At least you got to see a little bit of that with, uh, with a team that you weren't expected to do very well. So you, you took it over. What, what was your, what was your process of figuring out, okay, what do I want to do with this roster?

Dustin: Yeah. So the first thing you know, and this is why my article series is fun because I, I get the lay out. The first thing was like, I just need to get organized and get the lay of the land. What do I have? Where are my strengths for my weaknesses? Again, Dynatyze was great for this. Um, so if you wanna use Dynatyze, dynatyze.com, you can put in code "DUSTIN" when you sign up your 10% off, um, their plan, and you can upload your leagues and sync it. For me, it was just get organized, figure out what my team is, what I have, and then what everybody else has and where, where can I find some other team's deficiencies, right? So I found this guy who's looking for a running back, traded him Rhamondre Stevenson. That's why you have to get organized, figure out what's the, what's the landscape of the league, and then kind of start making some moves on that. And that's the best point. 

And then figure out like, where am I lacking and where can I pick up some pieces? Um, and that's where I started. It was like, what, what do I have? What do they have? What do they need? What do I need? And where's everything at? Because who's the contenders, right? Who's the contender contenders? Who's the playoff teams that aren't contenders that are gonna make playoffs? And who are the other guys in the bottom of the barrel with me? And then, right. 'cause I can't trade an aging veteran to another guy that's not contending, right? Like he doesn't want 'em either there. There's always gonna be two or three teams rebuilding or retooling in your dynasty league, and there's probably gonna be three or four teams that are like heavy favorites and there's always gonna be like four or five teams that are just like. They're playoff teams, but they're never really gonna win. But they're playoff teams and maybe they get lucky. And you gotta really know who's what.

Jeff: So you're, you were kinda less about, let me plan the strategy as much as it's, let me see the lay of the land, what the market's looking like, and then make some first moves and then I can kind of regroup from that point.

Dustin: Yeah, so it was, it was really like, where am I at? And so I have this point dis distribution win threshold metric that I used. So what I did is I looked back and looked back at the previous year's history and said, huh, every, the average winning score for this league is 150 points. How am I getting to 150 points? So that, that's part of how I taught bringing my second article is how do I get to 150 points based on my starting roster. And so I expect my, what? My quarterback to score 15 to 20 points a game. Does the quarterback, I have my roster. Does Daniels score 15, 20 points a game? Yes. Okay, then I'm good. I expect my running back. One to score 15 to 18 points. Running back two to score 12 to 15 points. Right. And break it down. Then figure out where I'm lacking. So my second article, I actually give a whole spreadsheet of this, is, you know, I'm really lacking in Superflex. I expect a Superflex position to score 12 to 15 points. My current Superflex is not even a quarterback, it's a, at that point was Isaiah Likely who's scoring five to seven points. I'm down 10 points.

Jeff: Yeah.

Dustin: In that position alone, there was a couple issues where I was lacking, right? And I have David Montgomery, who's good this year, but next year he starts to trail off and you know, so we're working on just like how do you get to that win threshold and where, where do I need to pick up? Like. Then goes, okay, this is where I'm lacking. I'm lacking a WR2. 'cause I had CeeDee Lamb and then nobody else. I had like Josh Downs. I was like, I just can't, if I'm expecting my WR2 to score me 10 points and I've got guys that are barely scoring eight, I'm missing two points. Yes, you may have someone who scores over.

Maybe my RB1 is scoring more points than I'm expecting and you can make up a little bit. But that's where I'm, I'm not hitting that win threshold. And this league, we get a win win against the median as well. So it's like that's the median scoring. So if I can hit 130 points, I'm at least gonna get the one win against the median every week. And I'm probably gonna pick up more head to head wins than losses. And so just figuring out where that threshold is. That win threshold mark for me is, and what the point distribution, right? Based on scoring right tight end premium. Your tight ends are gonna score more points, so you're expecting more points. PPR, obviously you're gonna score more. Points per first down, maybe it goes to running backs and maybe you have a receiver, WR2 that's, you know, possession guy. So just distributing the points across positions to get to that win threshold number. Is where I started. I was like, okay, this is where I'm at. And then making moves that increase that it's great to pick up lottery tickets, but they're not in your starting lineup. Right. I traded the 1.01, I picked up Isaiah Bond in that trade. He's not projected to be a starting lineup guy for me, he's a lottery ticket. Maybe he's a bye-week fill in, which isn't great. Like I don't count on him, but it's like, Hey, I had no depth. I got, you know, I got a couple depth pieces in some trades, and now I have a slightly better starting roster. It's not there yet, but it's slightly better than what it was.

Jeff: Yeah, at least until draft night Bond is projecting, I'm projecting him to be a starter for Cleveland until they draft a wide receiver, uh, and ruin that. But at least at the moment, I mean, he is a WR3 on a team.

Dustin: and you can, you can only deal, you can only make deals with what you know right now. I mean, we can project, right? I do think Cleveland does take a receiver, so depending on what style, receiver and archetype, maybe that is bad for Bond. Maybe it's good for Bond, who knows? You know, maybe they trade away Jerry Jeudy in a draft, a trade, or Cedric Tillman who knew? I mean, luck can change.

Jeff: change

Dustin: But based on what I know right now, Isaiah Bond's a decent lottery ticket on with limited competition ahead of him who's flashed in a couple games. He was a throwing piece. The guy offered me the trade without Bond and I countered and I threw Bond in, and he said yes. I was like, okay, I get a lottery ticket for free. Sure, why not? Yep.

Jeff: Yeah, it's an important thing right there, man. If you're, if you, whether it's an orphan or just a straight up rebuild of an A roster you won with before and are tearing apart. Ask for that extra throw in, that third round pick, that player that's far enough down their depth chart, but has some upside that if they have to do anything at all, they're going to, they'll pop for you a little bit. Uh, they don't have to be, you don't look, you're not looking for floor when you're asking for an extra asset in a trade. You're looking for something that might become something if the right set of dominoes fall a certain way, and

Dustin: Yep.

Jeff: won't, in which case you'll drop 'em when you need to.

Dustin: Yeah, you but one injury and you know, one or two injuries and they get some extra playing time or you know, they just start all sudden and catch on. Right? You

Jeff: Deshaun Watson turns back into 2018 Deshaun Watson, I mean, you

Dustin: I mean, look at Cordarrelle Patterson. He was horrible for 10 years. All of a sudden he has one really good year and he was a, he was someone, you got off waivers and all of sudden you got a RB2 on your team for one year. That's what you need. And so, right, and mostly it's young guys. Usually it's wide receivers, but I'm looking at depth charts and going, okay, this guy's got opportunity. Maybe you know, Isaiah Bond's. That's why I got him. I was like, you know, it's Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and then nobody. Then it's Bond, right?

Jeff: people,

Dustin: And you got, you know, Fannin as tight end. And we don't who the quarterback is, do they draft guy, but they could go into the draft and not draft a guy. Start Deshaun Watson. Deshaun Watson is back to his previous form and all of a sudden Bond's a flex play most weeks for my team. He's a bye-week fill in, so it's not huge, but at least I'm getting something and maybe he becomes a tradable asset where I basically got 'em for free and then I can trade 'em for a third round pick, because you're probably not getting the third round pick thrown in for free. You probably get a fourth, maybe a fifth, depending on your draft. Maybe you get a third. But maybe Bond becomes a higher third round pick, or maybe he's a third and a a third this year and a third next year. Like you, you just have to decrease.

Jeff: Yeah.

Dustin: Minimal increases is what you need. You don't need big swings. You don't need to take a guy from nothing to get his first round pick. You're taking a guy that's nothing to a third round pick, a third round pick to a second round pick, right? That's where you keep you. You go up from five points to 10 points, or five points to eight points to eight points to 10 points. That's how you win. You don't win with going from five to 10 and one jump. It generally doesn't happen.

Jeff: Yeah, that requires that guy trading JSN to you for, for, uh, backup quarterback Jake Browning. That, that does happen. But, uh,

Dustin: it does happen. Yeah, it

Jeff: with because not many people do something like that. Uh, but you know, I, you do make, uh, you. You make a really good, good point about, you know, you probably won't get a third thrown in, but sometimes you will. And one of the ways I like to think about that is what, what will this guy do with this third round pick? I mean, if he's got a a roster that's already pretty well set, who would he have to cut? In order to take this draft pick on because you, you, it's something, even as a, a rebuild, you have to know where you put, where you would put your draft capital if you were forced to use all of them. And I, I'm not a believer that you should use all of your draft picks or any of them really, if you don't want to. And you, you've already trade 1.01 away. So that is something you could do. But if you were to use all of them, what would that do to your roster? And if you get. Pass the second round and you're like, I don't really wanna cut anybody to take a third round flyer. That's the third round pick to go get from somebody, or the one you throw into another trade as a sweetener because you can't really use it anyway, or they can't really use it anyway. So it doesn't cost anything to move that pick, and you might get something better in return.

Dustin: Yeah, and that's why being organized is super helpful, right? So you go, Hey, this guy's got a good lineup, and they, you know, we can only roster 27 guys or 25 guys, and he's got. 23 guys that are, that he's probably not gonna cut, and he's probably gonna use his first and second round guy. He is not gonna cut that, he's not gonna use his third and fourth round pick. Um, so again, either a spreadsheet or using something like Dynatyze to definitely see the organization and go, yeah, that guy you're gonna throw in. Or if you're doing a two for one trade, it's like, Hey, I'm giving you a, I'm giving you two players. You're giving me one. Well, who are you dropping? Just throw. Maybe you want that guy thrown in or maybe you want someone else thrown.

Jeff: Just throw him in. I do that

Dustin: Yeah.

Jeff: with an Isaiah Bond.

Dustin: You're gonna drop anyway. Yeah. So like why not? Like, and you know, especially in my situation, like I'm just looking for lottery tickets and hoping one of 'em hits. Right. And again, it's minimal increases in value, not big. Increases in value. Yes. I would love for Isaiah Bond all-in to be the WR1 for Cleveland and put up Jerry Jeudy numbers. Sure. Is that gonna happen? Probably not. But if Isaiah Bond, you know, scores. If he could be a bye-week fill-in, I'm okay with that. If he's a bottom end flex player, I'm okay with that. Like that's what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for him to also, to become JSN.

Jeff: If he's a flex player that gets me seven points and every once in a while and gets me 15 because he falls into the end zone, then that's, that's how you make up those two points you're not getting somewhere else, is you have somebody, somebody who can, who can do that from a lower position in,

Dustin: and that's where it comes to like position evaluation. Right. I looked at Bond and said, man, week four he had 8.8 points. Week 15. He had 10.9 other weeks. He's two, three at a seven point game, you know? Yeah, he's probably gonna be at two or three, but if I can, if he can goes from two to three points a week to five to six points a week. With those eight and 10 points being now 10 and 12 points, he's gotten better than he was last year. He was a rookie, you know, highly talented coming out, you know, just off the field issues, made him drop to be undrafted. So there's just that increase in value. That slight increase in value was enough for me to get him thrown in. And again, he was free, so why not?

Jeff: why not? And, and you know, when you're just looking at, and I love the way you approach it, just what do I need to get to that, that median score

Dustin: Yeah. What do I,

Jeff: increase in points, does it? It doesn't matter where it comes from, whether it comes from your QB1 or your bottom of the barrel, flex spot, wherever those points come from. Is, is what makes the difference. It doesn't matter who it actually is.

Dustin: Yeah. And I talked to people on Twitter about that. 'cause they were like, oh, you traded away Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is gonna score 20 points a game. I was like, well, we can start with that premise is probably wrong, but like let's even if, and I said to 'em, I said, here's where I'm projecting it. Jeanty scores 20 points a game. And Charbonnet scores 10, right? That's 30 points. The 1.03 is probably gonna be Makai Lemon. Maybe it's Fernando Mendoza if I'm super lucky, but Makai Lemon or Carnell Tate, whichever wide receiver I want because it's probably gonna go, you know, it's probably gonna go love. And then Mendoza, so I'm getting whatever receiver they're gonna score 15 points a game. 

RJ Harvey to me is equal to Charbonnet, he's gonna score 10 points. I'm at 25 points a game. That means I only need to get five points from the 1.10. To make that trade equal. 'cause that 1.10's gonna slot into my flex spot. If that 1.10 can be a guy who's gonna score 10 points a game. I'm now five points ahead of where I was. Instead of having 30 points between two guys, I now have 34 between three guys because that's an upgrade in my starting lineup. Yes, you don't wanna upgrade your bench, but I wanna upgrade my starting lineup and all those guys that I got were gonna slot into my starting lineup and I laid this out in my article of like. This was my roster before. Here's my roster after, here's where it looks where I increased. I increased my WR2 up a little bit and increased, you know, going from Josh Downs to basically the 1.03. And I took my flex from Charbonnet, RJ Harvey, and I took my Superflex from basically Isaiah Like, from, yeah, from Isaiah Likely to the 1.10. Right? So it's, I went from a tight end, or possibly a wide receiver there to the 1.10 who's probably gonna be a little bit better and also has more years. 

So again, I got five to 10 points more per week in my starting lineup than I did previous trade. So yes, in a vacuum, love is the best player and he might score 20 points. But overall, I'm getting more points. Now if those points were all bench players, it doesn't make sense 'cause I'm not counting Bond in that equation. 'cause Bond's not gonna be a starting lineup for me. But the three guys I got are all going to my starting lineup versus the two guys I gave away, which is my starting lineup. And it makes my starting lineup better and it gets me closer to that win threshold.

Jeff: Yep. Yeah. The closer you get the, the, the more likely things, the more, less luck you would need to break your way, the closer you can get to and get past that median line. If you're below it, then you, you need some combination of your guys doing better than are expected for this week, and your opponent's guys not. And that bell curve, those bell curves don't line up naturally in a way that favors you when that

Dustin: No, they do not. And that's the, that's the big thing, right? Is you can go, this guy averages, you know? I always pick a range that, you know, this guy might average eight to 12 points a week. He's gonna have weeks three scores, 15 to 17. So those have weeks three scores, six, right. But on the average, you're gonna be all right. And so I'm going, again, my, in my league, the win threshold's 130, whatever I need to get to 130 is gonna gimme more wins than losses. And your league, it might be 150, might be 200, whatever it is, you just have to divide those points out your quarterback, you know, quarterbacks in this league generally score 20 to 25 points. You're a quarterback scoring 18 to 20. You're, you're, you're behind the league average to get to that win threshold. So you really wanna get to that win threshold. 

And I think that's the way that people haven't looked at their dynasty leagues. And in general, if you can get to your win threshold, especially in league where you're getting wins against the median, you're gonna get more wins and losses. Yes, there's gonna be the luck of, you know, they're gonna have the guy who's gonna, the Alvin Kamara's gonna have six touchdowns on Christmas day. Can't plan for that on either side, either your team or their team. But generally speaking, if you get to your win threshold number, whatever that is, you will have more wins and losses at the end of the year.

Jeff: What, when you first start playing Dynasty, what did you wish you knew that you know now?

Dustin: Yeah, the weight of first round picks, like just saying it's a first round pick, carries a ton of weight and I just didn't realize that like, oh, people will just, you say first round pick and they're like, oh, it's a first round pick. It can be the, the 1.12. Versus the 2.01. It's a big difference, even though it's just one pick away. The second round pick, or even the 2.01 doesn't sound as good as the 1.12, the 1.whatever. The first round pick weight is crazy in Dynasty. I just didn't realize how sometimes irrational people get with the first round pick and wanting first round picks like that somehow gives them extra points because they're our first round pick. When that's really just, it doesn't happen that way. It's not the way it works. 

I also didn't realize that there are some people who are just, who are irrational, who just want their favorite guys. My best friend, he loves uber athletic quarterbacks and will hoard them like crazy. So you're Justin Fields, you know, he was a big Michael Vick fan thrown up, but Joe Milton, you know Anthony Richardson. These guys that are probably aren't that good, but he's like, but they're so athletic and they're so fun to watch. He's like, I just wanna get my guys, 'cause they're the guys I wanna roof for. And some people are just irrational and they just want their guys. I'm a Bills fan. I try to leave my Bills fans at the door. When I get into my, my leagues like, yes, I am a Bills fan, but that doesn't cloud my judgment on, on players. I'm not gonna 'em just because now it might, if I have them, you know, if I have a Khalil Shakir, I may be less likely to trade 'em, but he's still available for price. 

But there are just some players that are irrational with their fandom, and if fandom bleeds too much into fantasy, and then there's just, I underestimated how much trash people wanted me to take off their rosters. They just like, I've had a guy, I have Quinshon Judkins and he keeps offering me Raheim Sanders and I'm like, I don't want Raheim Sanders. He's like, I thought you would. And I go, why would you think I'd want it? He goes, well, 'cause you have Quinshon Judkins. I go, Raheim Sanders isn't even the backup that's Dylan Sampson. Like, did you just think I was just gonna be like, oh, well it's a handcuff so I'll take your trash. I'm not taking your trash.

And I think people will. Especially in the orphan space, just assume you're gonna take their trash because you have their player or you have their handcuff or whatever it is that you just want their trash. No, like just you, you just want, you just don't wanna drop the guy you're trying to get something for him. 'cause he is trash. I don't want your trash And people will try to give you the trash left and right and they'll try to sell you some reason for it. Um, which I just like, I don't want your trash. I was un. Unexpecting how much, how much of that I'd get like, oh wait, do you, and it's like almost like, do you want this trash buyer? Like, no, but well, you should want this trash buyer. He is better than the trash you have. I'm like, yeah, but there's still trash. Like, yes, he may be the le, the least smelling piece of trash, but he's still trash. I don't like, I, I don't need to trade you for a least smelling trash. I don't want more trash. I have trash already. I don't need more trash.

Jeff: I don't need to be just swapping around the, the, the deck chairs on the, on the boat as it's going down. I

Dustin: Yeah, I don't,

Jeff: need to renovate my house. I don't need to put different cushions on the patio furniture.

Dustin: Yeah, it's like, oh, do you want my waiver pick for your waiver pick? Like, no, I'll just keep the waiver pick. I have like, neither of them are gonna be, neither of them should probably be on a roster anyway, so let's just both drop 'em and move on. Um, so really that, and I think there's just a, again, back to the energy it takes when you're, especially in an active league, you have to be active, you have to match the energy of your league. If you're in an active league, you have to be active. You're in a, dynasty league really takes this kind of time off. There's been very little movement, very little chatter. I wish there was more, but like that's the, and you can go both ways. I'm over energetic and I'm like, Hey, do you guys want me? And they're like, no, I'm good. I'm gonna wait till the draft. Okay. So like I know, I know after six years in my other dynasty league, like don't message 'em until the rookie draft happens. Like NFL draft, the day of the NFL draft, you'll start seeing messages. I just know they take time off. So if I'm too energetic. I am then alienate them. 'cause they're like, oh, you just bother me, or, and they're like, conversely, if they're super energetic and you're just not answering messages, then they're like, well, I tried to message you and try to trade you, make you an offer. And then this guy jumped in and made a swoop. I'm like, okay, sorry, I missed it. So you have to match the energy of your league, both in both ways. Whether they're super active or less active. You have to match that energy.

Jeff: Yeah, I think that's great advice, and, and it's, it's, especially if you're rebuilding, you need to be among the most active, but not to the point that nobody wants to deal with you.

Dustin: Yep.

Jeff: So well, thanks so much for being here, Dustin. This has been a, a lot of fun having you and, and talking about orphans and adoptions and how to turn really crummy rosters into at least mildly competitive ones. And then hopefully from there, uh, that extra three or four, six or 10 points you had your lineup get you from the middle of the pack toward the top. There is really no formula for going from last to first. Uh, if you, if you're 20 points behind everybody else, uh, without someone stupidly sending you, uh, Jacksons or someone sending you Bijan Robinson when they thought they were sending you Brian Robinson, which I'm sure is going to happen at some

Dustin: Uh, it's definitely gonna happen at some point, right? And I think you have to be realistic with your orphans, right? I would say two to three years. That's where you really can, should be able to rebuild if you draft full. And I think the big part with orphans is knowing your skillset. You have to know what you're good at, what you're not good at, and just know that not all draft picks. You have to pick, you don't have to pick with every pick you have, you can trade 'em for players. Um, and you know, if you're not a good drafter, don't draft. Trade 'em. Trade 'em for players. Like if there's people out there that just are not good drafters, trade those picks for players that you know what they are because you know, you're just not a good drafter. Um, or if you're a good drafter, trade your assets and get picks and maybe you can hit on some of these pook and Aku as late. Um, but yeah, it's always great to take over an orphan. Um, love coming on. This has been a lot of fun talking about orphan and adopting orphans and what that's like. So thank you for having me on.

Jeff: Well tell everybody where they can find you and uh, and what you got going on.

Dustin: Yeah, you can find me on Twitter or X @theDunit13, so T-H-E-D-U-N-I-T 13. And you can check out "Diary of an Orphan" or all my articles at fftoday.com or you can hit up Dynatyze, uh, dynatyze.com, use code, uh, DUSTIN for 10% off. Uh, it's a great way to get some analytics. It's like a first to market analytics and research and insights to your league and your teams to help you kind of. Learn some of these in things and some insights on how to make your your team better. Um, so code DUSTIN to get 10% off on Dynatyze or fftoday.com for my articles and Twitter D unit, the D unit 13.

Jeff: All right. Well, thank you Dustin. Thank you also for watching on YouTube or listening on your favorite podcast platform. Please do those things that help podcasters out. Please, like, please subscribe, please share on social media. Please let me know how this show or another episode in the series, uh, has helped you become a better dynasty manager. And we will see you next week with another episode of Dynasty Compass.

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