Viva Murillo!
When Minnesota’s Tarvaris Jackson (24) handed the ball off to Adrian Peterson (22), their combined age was just three years older than Vinny Testaverde (43), and it was actually one year younger than Atlanta kicker Morten Andersen (47). The Derek Anderson-Braylon Edwards tandem has just a combined 48 years, while the Jeff Garcia-Joey Galloway combination totals 72 years. Overall, it’s an interesting comparison of how youth and age combine for an exciting week in the NFL.
Blah blah blah. Those are just numbers. It might make a decent fluff piece to fill time on the NFL Network, but who cares? In fantasy football, the scoring is the same regardless of the guy’s birth date. Points are points, so what’s the difference?
Well, here’s the difference: In dynasty leagues, every one of Adrian Peterson’s owners was a winner on Sunday. All of them. When he torched the Bears’ defense for a team-record 224 rushing yards, he just inked contract extensions all across the country. It doesn’t matter if he was starting or not, or if his owner won their game or not, or if they’ll even make the fantasy playoffs or not. They’re all winners.
No matter how many years you play, you always learn something. I’ve played in head-to-head leagues and total points leagues (which I prefer) in both keeper and redraft formats. But I’ve never played in a dynasty league. While age makes a difference in a keeper league, it’s even more pronounced in a dynasty, where you keep everyone year after year. The down side is that a rebuilding project takes some time to complete. Redrafts offer instant gratification, since you can revamp your entire roster every August. Even in a keeper, the role players you select will go a long way in determining your success. But in a dynasty, you have a pretty good idea of what you have heading into the season, and the improvements are usually gradual. That never appealed too much to me; trying to slowly get out of a hole sounds like a boring way to play a fantasy game.
But on Sunday, I realized that the flip side can be pretty satisfying. My dynasty friends with Peterson are excited about their team, and their record doesn’t really matter. They’re looking at perhaps a decade with an explosive player that can make a difference every week. A definite starter, a guy that will win you games you don’t deserve to win and a guy that can make even the smug Tomlinson owner nervous.
Or maybe not. There are no guarantees, of course. Injuries, defensive game plans or a lack of surrounding talent in Minnesota could hurt Peterson’s fantasy prospects in the long-term. You never know. But the Vikings have someone to build around for years, and so do dynasty owners.
That adds a dimension to the game that other formats don’t really offer to the same degree. Is it good to have Marvin Harrison or Terrell Owens on your team? Sure, but what about two years from now? What about five years from now? Who do you have on your team right now to replace them? That’s an extra wrinkle that might be fun to try.
People have talked to me about playing in a dynasty league before, and I got why they liked it. But I didn’t really get it until this weekend, when I saw Adrian Peterson play again. If I try it, I won’t have any chance at getting him (I doubt anybody would trade him) but maybe I’ll get the next phenomenon -- or spend a few happy weeks thinking I did.
Feel free to weigh in on the ups and downs of dynasty play below. You can also reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.
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