Redraft season may be in full swing, but for those brave enough to take it a step further, dynasty startup drafts are coming fast and furious as well. Whether you're looking to join a dynasty league for the first time or you're a seasoned veteran, here are some pitfalls to avoid during your initial startup drafts.

Tip No. 1—Format & Scoring

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when drafting your startup team is not recognizing or remembering both the league format and scoring settings. It sounds easy and simple, but you'd be surprised how different your draft choices will be based on those nuances.

Does your league require you to start two or three WRs? How about Flex spots? Is there premium scoring for TEs? What about other unique scoring bonuses?

In fact, Fantasy Life has an amazing League Sync function that allows you to import your specific league and its scoring settings. Our rankings and tools will then update to reflect the format of that league to give you the most accurate, up-to-date information.

The deeper you get in your draft, the more important those decisions are to help set you apart from the rest of your league. As a general rule, I tend to push WRs up the board the more WR/Flex starting positions I have. Also, if I only have to start two RBs, my RB2 gets pushed down the board quite a bit.

There are many ways to build a successful roster, but you won't be able to do that if you don't have a firm grasp of the different format and scoring settings.

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Tip No. 2—Long-Term Horizon

Whenever someone joins a dynasty league for the first time, they immediately picture themselves drafting a juggernaut team that rules the league for several years. They also imagine keeping the same players for multiple years at a time.

While it is important to keep a long-term perspective when constructing your roster, if you only think through that long-term lens, you'll always have a good, young team that is solid but likely never great.

Anecdotally, the more I've played dynasty, the more I think in terms of 2-3 year windows. Yes, having players like Patrick Mahomes or Ja'Marr Chase gives you that feeling of long-term security, but things can change so quickly in the NFL that it's important to stay flexible as a dynasty manager.

Don't be overly tied to young players. More on that type of thinking in the next tip.

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Tip No. 3—Layered Teams

Remember how I just talked about not falling in love with only young players? The same is true for the other end of the spectrum. Let me explain.

While dynasty managers often gravitate toward younger players, it's important to not entirely go in the other direction and only roster or draft older players. The perk of drafting veterans is they are established within their respective offenses and QBs. You know what you're getting and there's likely a more predictable path to success.

However, it's important to have what I call a layered team. This is a dynasty team that includes rookies or young players who still have that tantalizing upside as well as established veterans with clearly defined roles in their offenses. As the veterans age out, the young players start to develop into consistent contributors. You then draft more rookies with your annual rookie picks.

In a perfect world, you're keeping your win-now window open for as long as you can.

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Tip No. 4—Stuck in the Middle

This tip continues to build off the aforementioned suggestions and might be the best (worst) one yet. If there is one place you absolutely do not want to be as a dynasty manager, it's in the middle of the pack.

Think about your favorite NFL team. I'll use the Green Bay Packers as a reference (being a local Wisconsinite and all). For years, the Packers have been a perennially solid, competitive NFL team. They make the playoffs but never the Super Bowl and then land a draft pick somewhere in the mid-to-late 20s.

The pick is nice but it's not early enough to land a true superstar. The same is true of your dynasty roster. If you are not a playoff team, but you're also not getting an early draft pick, you will likely find yourself in the same situation next year.

Don't get caught in the middle. Either make the moves you need to be a competing team or sell off veteran players for picks and rebuild that way. Just do something.

Tip No. 5—Personal Biases

This could honestly be a great tip for life in general, but in fantasy we often have to let go of our personal biases and preconceived notions about teams and players.

I mentioned it before but so much can and does change in the NFL from season to season that we can't get locked into our takes and preferences. The phrase "stay water" means being willing to adjust and adapt to new information, trends, or ideas that might be useful in making you a more well-informed, competitive dynasty manager.

Maybe a specific coach has been known for having a committee approach to his running game but then gets a new offensive coordinator who assumes play-calling duties. That shift in responsibility could result in a shift in offensive philosophy for that team.

Yes, it's awesome to have your preferred way of building a roster and managing a team— like punting my RB2 as often as I can—but you should always be willing to adapt and learn new things. Try out a new draft strategy, punt your TE to the last round, or go all-in on the top waiver option after Week 1. You'll never know how far your fantasy acumen can take you until you stretch that muscle and work in different strategies.

Talk with our experts or chop it up with other fantasy football junkies, join the Fantasy Life Discord Community today.