Whether you are interested in joining a devy league or you just want a leg up on the competition, it is wise to stay up to date on the devy world. If you have any questions about what a devy is, how devys are acquired, and what impact they may have on a league, check out The DFF Devy Manual: Part 1.
A devy league is like being an investor and trying to find the perfect initial public offering (IPO) to invest in. These devy assets are very similar to investing in new companies that are just hitting the market, you can make a small investment in a player and you can see massive gains on that investment by the time they enter the NFL. On the flip side, you can make a rather large investment in a player who never ends up playing in the NFL. The type of league you choose is all based on how risk-averse you would like to be. Let’s look at how to find the perfect devy league and detail what to expect in each.
What Are the Different Types of Devy Leagues and How Can I Find One that Fits Me?
Traditional Devy League
The traditional devy league will by your typical dynasty league with the addition of an annual devy draft separate from the rookie draft. This will be the most linear way for new devy players to get their feet wet, without being in danger of the “fantasy sharks”. The annual separated drafts will allow you to easily value the players at each section of the draft and make decisions based on your player valuations.
In a 12 team traditional devy league, once the college football season is over and all early draft applicants declare, there will be a two-round devy draft, with only current college players in the player pool. Then after the NFL draft, a separate four-round rookie draft will take place. Thus, each offseason there will be 24 new devy players and 48 rookie players acquired in drafts.
Conventional Devy League
The conventional devy league will be similar to the traditional league. The difference being there is only one annual draft with the player pool composed of both NFL rookies and devys. In this league, you will have to weigh the rookies and devy prospects against each other and pick on the spot. These leagues allow for a little more competitive strategy which can end up being much more polarizing, with some contenders and some productive struggle team builds.
In a 12 team conventional devy league, after the NFL draft takes place, there will be a four-round draft. The player pool will include both rookies and devy players. You then decide the ratio at which you select active NFL rookies versus devy players within these 48 total players.
Devy Rights League
The devy rights leagues will be very similar to the conventional league. However, there will be only one annual draft with the player pool composed of both NFL rookies and devys. You will have to use the additional “rights” to draft devy players.
Typically in these leagues one or two devy rights will be awarded to each team, setting a clear limit to the number of devy players available in the league. In these leagues, you will need to weigh the benefits of using your rights on a devy player early to attain a top devy asset but missing out on the top rookie prospects versus waiting until later in the draft where you can use the rights on a devy once the rookie talent pool starts to thin out.
Campus to Canton League
Otherwise referred to as C2C leagues, these will automatically place players from your CFB team roster on your NFL roster once they enter the league. There are many more complexities to be aware of though. Rather than just viewing the players as devy players, you also must consider how productive they will be at the college level, which requires a heavy dose of research.
In campus to Canton leagues, you must be mindful that there is trading allowed between the separate rosters within the league, so you must have an idea of how strongly to value NFL players versus CFB players. These leagues will also have severely devy depleted drafts, along with drafts of the incoming freshman to college football.
Kitchen Sink League
They call it this because everything is being thrown at you but the kitchen sink. These leagues have separate drafts between rookie and devy, however, they are all auction-based rather than the typical snake draft.
Kitchen sink leagues require owners to always be very wary of not only their bankroll for the auctions but the bankroll of other owners. Player values are tied to these bankrolls. If you time it correctly, you can get unbelievably valuable players at extreme discounts. On the flip side, if you do not time it right, you may be paying extreme premiums for players that will not hold much value.
Hybrid League
The hybrid league is currently an exceedingly rare format, but it is my personal favorite for devy beginners along with the most experienced fantasy players. In a hybrid league, you will start with a three-round NFL startup auction. If there are 12 teams there will be 36 players included in the auction. Teams can try to buy top valued players like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey or build a team of many mid-range value players. There is then a one round devy auction with an additional bankroll plus whatever is leftover from the NFL auction. The remainder of the draft is the typical snake draft format. This allows the owners to not be dependent on their team’s randomized draft order while adding a devy component that doesn’t depreciate the rookie pool too significantly.
Thank you for reading my article! This article also could not have been done without the help of my wife KD, who co-authored this article. If you enjoyed it, keep an eye out for my future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter @DynastyDiagnos1 and reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you’d like me to explore for a new article.
