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Getting a fantasy football keeper league started is no trivial matter. For the most part, you’re going to have to live with the decisions you make before the first season for as long as the league lasts – which, if you do things right, could be an epically long time. The last thing you want is to be hearing the same old gripes from your league’s peanut gallery twenty years from now. Here’s a collection of resources from around the Web to help you get started the right way.
- KFFL: What is a keeper league and why play? – Very detailed overview, covers the difference between keeper and dynasty leagues.
- Here’s a nice collection of keeper league rules used by various leagues.
- Our suggested ruleset for a standard keeper league. This is the setup that Brandon and I use in the league I commish. It’s a conservative, fair setup which rewards smart keeper decisions while still preventing any one team from achieving permanent crushing dominance. We allow each owner to keep up to three players from the previous season, as long as they were drafted after round 3.
- Great Lakes Fantasy Football’s Guru Dynasty League – At the opposite end of the spectrum from the conservative keeper setup we prefer are dynasty leagues like this one, where you can keep your entire roster if you so choose.
- Another dynasty option is going with an auction-based format like this one.
- Looking for a fantasy football website that has built-in support for keeper leagues and will carry your data over from year to year? This is a good option if you’re willing to give up some flexibility in exchange for low maintenance. Sites that offer keeper support: CBS Sportsline, FleaFlicker, FanBall, FanStar, FantasyBowl, Homegrown Sports. I’ve tried the first two; the rest look OK to me. There are a lot more out there, but some of them look a little sketchy so I didn’t include them.
- The Fantasy Football Times has a detailed article on starting a keeper league.
- And then there’s Football Jabber’s obscenely detailed, twenty-step process for creating a dynasty league. And here I thought we were the geeks.
Weekly Haze « The Hazean 10:42 am on 6/04/2008 Permalink |
[...] Playing in a keeper league? Check this out. [The Fantasy Football Geek Blog] [...]
Mikes 8:53 pm on 8/08/2010 Permalink |
question for you guys. If i have 3 potential keepers in a 2 keeper league do i have the right to trade the rights to one of my keepers to someone else in my league for some changes in draft positions. My league is argueing about this right now what are your thoughts?
Matt 9:58 pm on 8/08/2010 Permalink
My feeling on this is that your jurisdiction over the players on your roster from last year applies only to the players you select as your keepers. The rest of your former players are no longer yours in any sense.
I think the fairest way to handle it is to declare these trades illegal this season and then decide now how you want to handle it next year.
Jason 10:34 am on 6/06/2008 Permalink |
Anyone have any suiggestions on expanding your keeper league. We have a pretty successful one going on (10 teams) and have a bunch of guys who want to join. We’re thinking of expanding the league to 12 teams but aren’t sure how to do the draft.
Some background if it helps:
As it stands, teams are allowed to keep two players, and they must forfeit the pick that the player was originally drafted. Each successive year you keep him, the cpmpensation moves up one round (so I drafted Joe Addai in the 7th round his rookie year, the first time I kept him, it cost me a 7th pick, keep him again and it costs a 6th).
Also, we have the draft order ste up so that the teams that missed the playoffs go into a lottery for the top pick and then the rest of the order is filled out by W-L record.
Any thought on how to add two teams and give them quality players without screwing over the current owners?
Matt 10:58 am on 6/06/2008 Permalink |
Jason,
That’s an interesting problem. I’d probably just have them draft normally, without trying to do anything fancy with the keepers. They’ll be at a disadvantage, obviously, but only for one season, and since you just do two keepers, it’s not like they won’t have a shot.
If you feel like it’s still too unbalanced because of situations like yours (getting to take Addai in the 5th round this season is friggin stellar), maybe you can say that they can keep 3 or 4 players in 2009.
Lee 5:48 pm on 6/06/2008 Permalink |
Jason we did this with a Dynasty League last year. One team made it to the playoffs and one ended up at the bottom so it’s possible…I’m thinking that the basics could be used for a Keeper as well, just adjust it to your keeper league. Possibly have the expansion draft before Keepers need to be declared so they have a chance to keep someone…don’t worry, you get a chance to protect your studs and you can tweek it to fit what you want to do.
http://footballjabber.com/2008/03/14/expanding-your-fantasy-football-dynasty-league/
Hope you don’t mind if I drop the link here Matt Feel free to delete if you wish). It’s not as “Geeky” and lengthy as the Dynasty League stuff…lol.
Lee 5:49 pm on 6/06/2008 Permalink |
Looking at it you would want to adjust how many players you can protect to your league size. This is with a 26 man roster.
steve 12:55 pm on 2/10/2009 Permalink |
One year we went from 10 to 12 teams in a keeper league and gave the two new teams an extra pick at the end of rounds 2,4 and 6 in leiu of their 14,15, and 16 picks the team tat picked first after the second round went 2nd after rounds 4 and 6.
They ended up 3rd and 5th in a twelve team league. I would say that’s pretty fair.
Blake Billings 7:22 pm on 8/02/2009 Permalink |
Will those websites you listed be good for a dynasty league also?
Matt 11:33 am on 8/03/2009 Permalink |
Some actually are specifically for dynasty leagues (like the 4th one down).
College Football 8:30 am on 9/26/2009 Permalink |
Thank you for this!
chris franzen 7:04 pm on 11/30/2009 Permalink |
This is my first year as commissioner of a Keeper League. We are using the +2 format (if player is drafted in 3rd round and you keep him you give up your 1st round pick, etc). For players picked up off the waiver wire and kept we are saying they are 13th round picks (15th round is our last round +2).
I have a moral dilemma: What do you guys think about “stashing” or “hoarding” IR players to be kept for next season? People have dropped Bowe because of his suspension and Ronnie Brown because he’s on IR. At what point should I say that they can’t be picked up and kept for next year? Or should I say all’s fair in love and fantasy football if the person that picks them up has the room to stash them on their bench? Please reply here or to christopher.franzen@gmail.com
THANKS!
shane 8:54 pm on 1/13/2010 Permalink |
Do you have any rules for a Basketball version of Dynasty? I have an auction format league which has been around for about 10 years, solid keeper system, and we are evaluating moving towards a dynasty format. We have instituted things like a luxury tax. Any thoughts?
Chris 10:52 am on 5/04/2010 Permalink |
Regarding the original question of adding teams to a keeper league, why not do it like a real league might handle an expansion? That is, you could either award the new teams “extra” (early) draft picks to make up for them not having any “keepers,” or let them draft at the top of each round. Another option might be to let existing teams keep only one player this year instead of two, then resume with two keepers next year.
In another scenario (more complicated, but perhaps more interesting), all players are initially left unprotected. Then, when a player from an existing team is drafted (regardless of whetehr that would have been the existing league member’s keeper), they immediately get to “protect” a player, i.e., elect a keeper, still at the original draft round per your rules. Once that team has been touched, nobody else may select a player from that team until all teams have had a player picked. The exception is teams picking their own players from the previous year. In other words, if Team A had Drew Brees and Chris Johnson and Brees was picked by Team C, Team A could still pick Johnson. This would not count as keeping/protecting a player, but by the same token, if Team A had not had a player picked and chose one of its own players, Team A’s roster would still be exposed.
At the end of round 1, if any existing teams have not had a player selected (unlikely), they could elect a keeper at that point. The 2nd round would proceed in the same manner, at which point all exisitng teams will have gotten their two keepers and the new teams will have at least had a fair shot at the top talents.
Joey 6:37 pm on 6/28/2010 Permalink |
Guys I am starting a keeper league (12 Teams) and I had drawn the 7th overall pick and have now traded my 3rd, 4th and 5th Rd Picks and have aquired the 3rd Overall pick as well. Looking for suggestions on who I should take at 3 and 7 if the draft goes this way….
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Adrian Peterson
3.
4. Chris Johnson
5. Drew Brees
6. Ray Rice
7.
I have a feeling that is how it will go based on our scoring system and my knowledge of the guys I am playing with. QB’s are at most value but only by about a 100 total end of the year point total and WR are about 50 Less than RB. What are your suggestions?
Friday 6:34 pm on 8/18/2010 Permalink |
I would draft a Gore, Mendenhall, Charles, Fitz, Austin, DeSean Jackson with your first two picks then on the way back I would focus on McCoy, Moreno, Romo, White, Williams, Stewart…. just my opinion Gl
Friday 6:31 pm on 8/18/2010 Permalink |
Hey guys, I am in quite a little dilema and I was hoping for some advice if you could….. I am in a 10 person keeper league. I have to chose two keepers and my choices I have are, Fitzy, Austin, Schaub, Rice and Mendanhall. I am def keeping Rice but I am not sure who to keep after that. Also, with me havingthe 8th pick if I keep to backs should I go WR and QB or should I keep Schaub and RIce and draft a wideout and RB for my first two picks. Now mind you the people drafting after me already have QB;s… help I need it