FFPC Dynasty Startup Strategy for Fantasy Football

As an experienced and dedicated dynasty player, being able to play on a professionally-managed website for dynasty leagues is a must for me. Much like a stock investor on Wall Street who has an investment portfolio at Merrill Lynch, I have my own portfolio of dynasty shares invested in players such as Justin Herbert, D'Andre Swift, Elijah Moore, and Kyle Pitts, to name a few.

One of my favorite websites to play in dynasty leagues is FFPC. Short for the Fantasy Football Players Championship, they were formed in 2008 out of New York City by Alex Kaganovsky and David Gerczak. They also have 24/7 customer support available and a full-time staff to assist players at all times. Any time I have ever needed them for questions, they responded right away. I interviewed Mike Petropoulos from FFPC Compliance & Customer Relations this week as I put this article together and he was very helpful in answering some of the questions that I had for the dynasty community to help them better understand playing on FFPC.

I prefer to play on a professional site like FFPC knowing the prize money is safe and that any winnings will be paid to me at the end of every season. I have heard horror stories of people joining random dynasty leagues from some contact they have on Twitter, only to find out at the end of the season that they've been scammed. FFPC has been running dynasty leagues for 10 years now and they have never had a league fold. As many dynasty players know, one of the biggest challenges to running a private dynasty league is to keep everyone in the league active and involved even when their teams aren't doing well. This poses a challenge to the commissioner and the rest of the league mates, as new players have to be recruited to the league to keep it going, which can create additional league dues for everyone else. FFPC takes care of this for you, as they guarantee active ownership of every team and also have a list of orphan teams available for purchase in the offseason for players to take over. This can provide peace of mind knowing that you will get to reap the rewards of the great team you drafted for years to come.

Annual Dynasty League Buy-ins on FFPC

The following are the yearly buy-ins and deposits of every dynasty league on FFPC:

• $77 Leagues are the most popular ($77 year seasonal dues, but players are required to pay for year 2 upfront, so $144 t0tal)
• $250 Leagues ($100 one-time deposit)
• $500 Leagues (250 one-time deposit)
• $750 Leagues ($350 one-time deposit)
• $1,250 Leagues ($625 one-time deposit)
• $2,500 Leagues ($1,500 one-time deposit)
• $5,000 Leagues $2,000 one-time deposit)

Dynasty startups on FFPC typically begin as early as April and run up until the first week of the NFL regular season. All FFPC leagues are full PPR with TE premium (extra 0.5 for TE receptions) and feature the following formats:

Standard Dynasty League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex, 1 Kicker, 1 Defense, 10 bench & 3 IR)

Standard Best Ball Dynasty League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex, 1 Kicker, 1 Defense, 12 bench & 3 IR)

Standard Superflex Dynasty League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Superflex, 1 Flex, 1 Kicker, 1 Defense, 10 bench & 3 IR)

Standard Best Ball Superflex Dynasty League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Superflex, 1 Flex, 1 Kicker, 1 Defense, 12 bench & 3 IR)

One growing trend in dynasty and fantasy leagues in recent years is getting rid of kickers and defenses altogether. If you are someone who hates having to swap out kickers or defenses, you have come to the right place as FFPC offers Rotoviz Triflex leagues and I will explain more below.

Rotoviz Triflex Dynasty League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Superflex, 2 Flex, 10 bench & 3 IR)

Rotoviz Triflex Dynasty Best Ball League: (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Superflex, 2 Flex, 12 bench & 3 IR)

My draft strategy in the Triflex leagues is to prioritize depth a little bit more than the others. Typically I like to trade back a little bit and try to get as many picks in the top 90-100 players as I can. Since you are starting 10 players every week, finding a handful of consistent performers is more important than having two or three superstars like in the other formats. Triflex is the most challenging of them all and can leave you scrambling in a hurry if you aren't prepared for injuries and bye weeks. Also with the TE premium and full PPR aspect, you must adjust accordingly. Volume is king and elite tight ends can make or break a league. I have seen many successful teams who started two tight ends in the Triflex format, one of them being at flex.

Victory Point System

One difference to playing on FFPC is that they use the victory point system. Head-to-head opponents still exist, but with a twist, and I will explain more below.

Each week you will receive two victory points for defeating your weekly opponent and 0 victory points for a loss. However, how you perform against the rest of the league as a whole comes into play for that week. Teams who finish 1-4 in scoring for the week will receive two victory points, teams who finish 5-8 in scoring will receive one victory point, and teams who finish 9-12 in scoring for that week will receive 0 victory points. In my opinion, this allows for less bad luck to derail good teams in head-to-head. A team in my Yahoo league finished 5-9 in 2020 but was number one overall in total points. They didn't end up making the playoffs and just happened to have terrible luck with who they faced each week. The victory point format is designed to allow for better balance in FFPC leagues.

The three teams who win their divisions and the three remaining reams with the most victory points will make the playoffs. In best ball leagues, victory points don't apply and the team with the most points scored at the end of the season is the winner and no head-to-head takes place. The two teams with the most victory points will secure a first-round bye.

How FAAB Works

All leagues on FFPC do not have a waiver wire or waiver system. Each team is allowed $1,000 of FAAB per season. What is FAAB? If you aren't familiar with it, it is a free agent acquisition budget. Instead of there being a rolling waiver wire like in most leagues, each team will make waiver claims via way of blind bidding.

The waivers on FFPC only take place two days per week: Wednesdays at 10 pm ET and Sundays at 10 am ET. Each team puts in bids for free agents and the highest bid for each player wins. One catch with FAAB on FFPC: they do not allow for $0 bids to be made, so once you run out of your $1,000 FAAB, you cannot pick up any players for the rest of the season. Some dynasty players who are new to FFPC have made this mistake and have gotten burned. Everyone has a differing strategy when it comes to FAAB, but one thing I will say is to use yours wisely.

Future Draft Pick Trading

FFPC only allows dynasty teams to trade future rookie picks one year in advance. While most dynasty leagues tend to allow future picks to be traded 2-3 years out, FFPC only allows them for the following season. You will be able to trade your future picks immediately once you join the league, but you will not be able to trade future picks for the next year until the season ends and you have to pay your renewal for the next year in order to do so. While this may seem strict, in essence, it is good for FFPC leagues to continue going and for FFPC to be able to find new owners for orphaned teams should a team become abandoned. Imagine how much more difficult this would be for FFPC should they need someone to take over an awful roster that doesn't have any draft picks for the next two years.

Offseason Cutdowns

Another unique aspect of FFPC dynasty leagues is that their rosters are smaller than most dynasty leagues. There is no taxi squad and each league has a max of 20 roster spots in standard, Superflex, and Triflex, and 22 in best ball. Each offseason, each team must cut down to 16 players by March 31. (Read Scott "The King" Engel's FFPC Cutdown Day Strategy piece!)

In non-Triflex leagues, each team is required to keep one kicker and one defense at all times, leaving you with only being able to protect 14 players! While this does seem harsh, it does allow for each league to have a more competitive balance and make it easier for new orphan owners to have a chance at improving their rosters.

One of my favorite strategies on FFPC in the offseason is to try and upgrade at a certain position with 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 trades. When you are only able to keep 14 players, you want to have as many of them be impact players as possible. By upgrading at a position, you are capitalizing by trading a player that you might have cut, and this makes it more difficult for other teams in your league to decide who to cut on their end.

I often like to try and trade players who I may cut for future draft picks or include them in deals to upgrade at a position. An example of this would be trading Clyde Edwards-Helaire and JuJu Smith-Schuster for a player like Alvin Kamara. I was also able to trade Jeff Wilson Jr. to a team that already had Elijah Mitchell for a 2023 fifth-round pick. While this may not seem like much, the additional pick gives me added future flexibility and makes it that one additional player will end up getting cut from my opponent's roster. I like to move handcuffs in the offseason if I can.

The Annual Rookie & Free Agent Draft every Offseason

Each offseason FFPC has a linear (non-snake draft) for new rookies and free agents. These typically range from anywhere from seven to 10 rounds. The team who earned the number one pick will choose 1.01, 2.01, 3.01, etc., and so on. This is done to help create more parity and allow the team with the number one pick the best chance at improving their roster with a promising young rookie who will provide an immediate impact.

Typically, what I like to do in my drafts is to acquire rookie players in Rounds 1-3 and then acquire second-year players or as many young running backs as I can who might see the field should the starter be hurt. Typically, the FFPC Rookie Drafts take place one week after the NFL Draft concludes, so it is important to be on your A-Game and to scout the upcoming rookie classes as much as you can.

Prizes

Teams who win their leagues on FFPC can win as much as $350 all the way up to $30,000 per season! Typically, the more expensive the buy-in, the less rake that FFPC takes in order for more money to go to the players. While playing in an annual $5,000 may seem stressful, there are people who do it every year. You can also make money from buying and selling teams on Dynasty Depot. Look for another article from me in the coming weeks on how to expand your dynasty portfolios and sell off for a profit on some of your good teams.

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong way to play dynasty. The most important thing is that you have fun and enjoy yourself. However, there is money to be made if you know what you are doing. My goal here at RotoBaller is to provide as many dynasty players as possible with the insight and tools to cash in on their football knowledge.

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." - James Madison

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