Practice Squad Vote
(And Last Sales Pitch)
Hey guys, I’m going to send out the vote for the practice squad proposal tomorrow. We’ll vote on that first rather than normal roster expansion because I think this concept is more fun and strategic. Here’s the original post again in case you need a refresher: https://medium.com/the-d-league/practice-squads-proposal-32e0d6abc362
We had about 5 people that responded negatively in the survey regarding larger rosters, so let’s please discuss in the group text today about the topic. If you have doubts, please share them and if you have any ideas/suggestions on what would make you more interested, if any. The original proposal was for 3 practice squad spots. Would people prefer to start at 1? 2? and then grow from there?
The main argument I hear is that larger rosters ruin the waiver wire. While there is truth to that, I think that’s clinging to a redraft mindset over dynasty for two reasons. First, as I’ve shared before, is that dynasty is about building through the draft, believing in your players, and watching them develop. I can’t force you to think that way though, so that brings me to my next point.
We’re already at much larger rosters than a redraft league. Our waiver is already bare compared to your usual fantasy league and you’re holding onto something that doesn’t exist in our league. That sounds like I’m proving the point that increasing rosters further would ruin the waiver wire even more, but hear me out. Our waiver wire has never been about grabbing bye week starters like you would in a redraft league. Our waiver wire is panning for those couple specks of gold that come out of nowhere. Those waiver wire gems that have surfaced in our league would still exist with practice squads.
Why? Because those players come from so out of nowhere that they were never selected in our drafts. In the Top 150 of FantasyPros Dynasty Rankings, here are all of the players that are on a different team than the one that drafted them as rookies:
Chris Godwin
James Conner
James Conner was traded by me (fuck), so that leaves Godwin as the only gem that was dropped and claimed through the waiver process. Every other Top 150 player has been held by the team that drafted them.
Now here’s the list of Top 150 dynasty players that came in the league but weren’t picked in our rookie drafts:
Aaron Jones
Phillip Lindsay
Tarik Cohen
Chris Carson
Mitch Trubisky
Matt Breida
Ito Smith
Austin Ekeler
Chris Herndon
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
That doesn’t include players like Thielen, Damien Williams, Tyreek Hill, and James White who weren’t drafted in our 17 Round Startup Draft and presumably would’ve been off the radar in a rookie draft.
All of that to say is, I’d argue that adding a practice squad makes the waiver wire even more competitive. Those gems will still be waiting to be found, everyone just has more space to be aggressive in hunting for them. Last season we had $421 unspent FAAB dollars! As for the practice squad spots, don’t forget the strategy of stealing players, so we’re actually adding more talent out there to be taken, just in a different way.
Anyways, that’s my two cents. Again, let’s please discuss, especially if you’re still hesitant. Vote goes out tomorrow!
TLDR
There will always be waiver gems available because they’re the players that are completely off the radar in our drafts.
