According to the official and unofficial Urban Dictionary, the term keeper can be
referring to the following: • Someone who would make better marriage material ...
The Real League‐ Week 10 Keepers
Urban Dictionary According to the official and unofficial Urban Dictionary, the term keeper can be referring to the following: Someone who would make better marriage material than baby momma material. Abbr. of Goalkeeper in European Soccer The Defender of the three rings in a game of Quiddich. They have to block the Quaffle from entering any of the three rings. Someone who you’d likely spend the rest of your life with if you found him or her. I am baffled that these are the actual definitions but for our purposes we will stick with the last definition provided. Keepers are essentially franchise players. These are guys that we want to build a long term relationship with. We are talking about the amazing backup who became a starter that was snagged in the 10th round. We are talking about the rookie QB you snagged in the 8th round. Keepers can make this league amazing if done correctly. Essentially, when done correctly, keepers can add continuity and an added value to any fantasy league. The Case For Keeper Leagues Keeper leagues are the closest thing you will find to feeling like a real NFL owner. One very important thing to remember is that the goal of all keeper leagues is still and always will be to win and to win NOW. The most glaring mistake we see done time after time in keeper leagues is teams load themselves with future talent and bypass proven players that can contribute immediately. While it may be cool to brag you don’t have a player over 24 years of age on roster in a keeper league, it won’t be so cool when the teams loaded with veterans kick your butt. Balance is key! Build to win today while keeping (pun intended) an eye on the future. The Types of Keeper Leagues
Keeper Leagues Also known as carryover or rollover leagues, Keeper Leagues rely on this basic concept: the ability to keep a player or players from one season to the next. It's a simple concept but with plenty of variations. Keeper leagues can be as simple as keeping one player. Some leagues allow a team to keep one player, regardless of position, for the following season. Other leagues allow a team to keep a player from each position or specified positions depending on how many players are allowed to be carried over to the next season. The concept is the same, and the number of players kept from year to year is a matter of preference. The mission is to find the right amount of players teams can retain to provide the right amount of parity. Parity ... sounds similar to the NFL, doesn't it? If you only allow one, then the idea of a keeper league seems almost moot. If you allow seven players to be retained, it will be more difficult for any of the bottom‐feeding teams to get back into contention quickly. Keeper leagues can remain competitive each season by putting limitations on the years a player can be retained. For instance, if a team has the rights to Player A, that owner can only keep Player A for three seasons (or any number of years decided upon by your league) before he has to be returned to the draft pool or traded to another owner. Limitations on the number of keeper players retained per position also can occur. If your league allows three keeper players, perhaps the limitation is no more than one player can be retained from each of a team's quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. However, this would limit a team's ability to continue to benefit each season from a loaded running back squad. Other variations used are allowing that only players drafted after a certain round can be kept. This rewards the value picks you made in the later rounds of your draft. Draft placement can also be limited in the selection of your retained players. For example, if you carry over a 3rd pick, you forfeit this year's 3rd selection. Another variation of this rule is to give up early round selections for steals you made in later rounds of last season's draft. This means if you are keeping a player drafted in Round 10 last season, you must give up your 9th round selection this season. When all of the teams in a league have selected their keepers the rosters are cleared and all of the remaining players are put back into the draft pool. Any player not kept is available in the league's draft. Whatever rules your league uses, they are put in place to create a balance in a keeper league. The best strategy for an owner is to simply know the rules and follow them. Benefits One of the main benefits of having a keeper league is keeping owners involved all season long. All too often, teams that have horrible record go hand‐in‐hand with the disappearance of an owner, or worse yet, a bitter owner who unloads his roster to free agency or another team just to screw up the league. The ability to retain players is usually enough of a carrot for a losing team to keep their good players or get something valuable in a trade with a winning team.
Trades are another likely benefit for keeper leagues. Trades can certainly shake up a league during the season, especially during a playoff run. A losing team with a stud may trade said stud for a couple of holdover players to build for next season. Also, if your league allows player for draft pick trades, this scenario likely will rear its head during the playoff run. Teams making a run at the championship will almost always entertain trading next season's draft picks for the stud that could put them over the top. Trades can also become more important in leagues with limitations on keeper players. One team may be loaded with more keeper potential players than they can actually retain while another team may not have enough worthwhile players to hold over. This can lead to stocked teams trading with lesser quality teams to better their squad while giving the lesser team a better selection of players to retain. For example, a team with three dynamite running backs but no receivers could trade their third back to another team who is loaded with receiver options but lacking in the running back department. Dynasty Leagues A dynasty league takes a keeper league to the fullest extent possible. The idea of a dynasty league is to allow owners to keep the same roster year to year. Owners are expected to manage their team all year long, not just during the season like all other formats. The mission is to create a dynasty team by making the best short‐term and long‐term moves. However, if certain parameters aren't in place, parity is almost impossible. This is why people DON’T do these types of leagues. First of all, the rules of a dynasty league are nearly endless depending upon the complexity of the league. Some leagues can be as simple as just retaining your full roster year to year while others can work in salary caps teams must abide by. The rule books are thick, not like the one or two pager you have now, because of the details that are involved in players' contracts, salaries, roster restrictions, etc. Knowing your league's rules is very important. Once you understand them, you will be looking for loopholes more than Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. In complex dynasty leagues, auctions are an inherited part of dynasty leagues. Since players are under contract, they must have salaries. Each team has a salary cap in which they must sign a roster of players to fall under the cap. This is accomplished during the first draft. For more information on auctions, check out our series of auction league articles throughout the summer. Getting back to dynasty leagues ... Generally, players' salaries will increase each season while under contract. Contract lengths can be bid upon for length, which will cost a team more money. Other variations can include limitations on contract length, players under long‐term deals or require percentage escalations in salaries. The goal is to determine which players are worth keeping under contract, while abiding by your cap rules. In dynasty leagues it is almost impossible to have a squad full of high‐caliber players for a number of years, since you will ultimately bust the roof of your salary cap. A valued part of dynasty leagues can be having an Injured Reserve or practice squad. Leagues tend to mix the two, which allows you to have a limited number of injured players or guys you simply aren't using to sit on a taxi squad. Players stashed away here don't count against your cap or total number of players on roster. This allows some flexibility to stash an injured or slumping player on your taxi squad
with some protection in order to play a hotter player without having to release/trade the other player to make room on your roster. Free agency can be a tricky part of dynasty leagues if you're not savvy enough or simply not up to speed on your league's rulebook. First come, first serve may be the free agency rule, however, the player available will have to be signed to his current salary. That means any team wishing to grab the prized free agent will have to have enough cap space to warrant such a signing. Some leagues use a sealed bid on a free agent, thereby awarding the player to the team with the highest bid. Many leagues also utilize a restricted and unrestricted free agent pool once the contract expires. As with the NFL, the player will be signed by the team that is offering the highest salary. Of course, if the player is a restricted free agent, the right to match any salary goes to the team in which the player is currently under contract. Now you probably understand how this can get a bit confusing for those not up to the task of a dynasty league. As with all free agency systems, the opportunity to grab a player that can help your squad must be balanced with what you are giving up. This is even more relevant in dynasty leagues. While you may be offering a higher salary for a player to help you now, you may be losing youth and the possibility of having a young, quality player at a lower salary. Hey, that's a solid segue to the youth movement in dynasty leagues. Youth is an even more vital component to dynasty leagues than keeper leagues. Youth is what will keep your team from having to spend years rebuilding after some success. If you balance your veterans with some youth, you will likely have some success. A team with veterans likely will help you win now; however, they are getting older and will lose a step to the developing players. Those developing players are necessary pieces to keeping your team in the mix. Youth is so important that a rookie draft is held every season. Players are generally selected via a serpentine draft or a straight draft with the order determined from how teams finished the year before ‐ the worst team would have the highest pick with the league champion having the last pick. Generally, rookies selected are set at a rookie salary. However, there are leagues that weight the salaries according to the selection number and round they were drafted. For instance, a rookie drafted as the first overall pick will have a higher salary than someone selected as the first pick in the third round. Dynasty leagues are an interesting, enjoyable way to stay on top of the NFL and college ball all year long. To effectively manage your team, you must have a course of action. Keeping abreast of other teams, monitoring the waiver wire and scouting college players are all necessary for you to field a winning team both short‐ and long‐term. You will have to make big‐time decisions that can affect your team a couple of years down the road. Dynasty leagues definitely require your attention and aren't for the casual fantasy player. If you aren't willing to put forth this kind of effort or are new to the game, we wouldn't recommend this type of league for you.
How To Make Keeper Leagues Successful There are a few ways to ensure a Keeper League is managed correctly. Probably the single most important component is a commissioner that is involved. Having a Commish that is fair, organized and knows what he is doing goes a long way. The commissioner must stay on top of all transactions, monitor the rosters, make fair, impartial decisions, be an effective communicator and be willing to levy sanctions against even the closest of friends. If you don't have this rolled up in one person, designate two people to act as co‐commissioners. Thankfully we have MEEEERRRRRRR! A league with a dirty commissioner (real or perceived) or someone who is unorganized will ultimately collapse under poor leadership. The second most important factor is the involvement of the owners. Most of us have been in a league where an owner ignores his/her team or drops out completely (AKA MOSHE NEIMAN). There is nothing more frustrating in fantasy football than the uninterested or uncooperative owner. In all leagues there are winners and losers. If it happens to be your unfortunate time to be one of the losers, then do it graciously and continue to be competitive. If you can't be competitive, try to build for the future. Lastly, introduce the keeper idea in advance. Don't be one of those dictator commissioners who noticed his/her team was stacked this season and decided that next season was a five‐player keeper league. Rather, decide on the number of players to be kept, any rules associated with the keepers and how it affects your waiver system (if at all) ahead of time ‐ be sure all owners are informed of the rules. That way, they can prepare their draft accordingly. By introducing the idea in advance or even starting completely fresh, you can eliminate any notion of foul play. If you are one of those fantasy football owners stuck in a year‐to‐year, redraft rut, then a keeper league might be just what the doctor ordered. It will keep you more interested and is simply a more interesting way to play the game. For those really looking to replace the bologna sandwich with prime rib, the dynasty league is probably where you want to feast. Another thing to remember is that keeper leagues only work if the value of players in the league is done fairly. When people overvalue their studs and their keepers, it makes trading almost impossible. If people are unwilling to trade a true stud for a true keeper, the value of the league will get thrown off its axis. We must be honest and try to be fair when proposing and accepting trade offers. Who To Keep? There has been a lot of controversy in the league regarding keepers and ‘keeper trades”. It is very hard to evaluate these trades as it’s hard to place value on both keepers and our studs. We all value teams and players differently. To me the biggest question and the biggest uncertainly is who to keep. Who are the best keepers? Is a great player in the 3rd round more value than a potential star in the 8th? This is what I set out to fix and answer. My search led me to the following conclusion; there is no scientific explanation out there. So I decided to create my own.
The Formula
I decided to create my formula to figure out who are the truly best keepers in our league. Here are the components of the formula that make up the Ultimate Keeper Score.
Keeper Score= (Keeper round*.25)+(Keeper Years*.15)+(Fantasy Ranking*.20)+(Position Importance*.05)+(Future Value*.35)
Keeper Round (25%) o This is the draft pick it will cost you to keep a player. Obviously, the higher the better. This component was given a 25% value of the overall keeper score due to importance and value of what round the player will be kept. SEE GRAPH BELOW Keeper Years (15%) o This is the number of years a player can be kept based on this year’s draft position. The reason for the lower percentage is due to the fact that many of these players would cost a 1st or 2nd rounder in their final keeper season and it is unlikely for most managers to keep these players at such a high cost, yet the option is there. SEE GRAPH BELOW Fantasy Ranking (20%) o This is the player’s fantasy scoring placement by position. A scale was formed to give a higher value to the top 3, 6, 10, 15 etc. scorers. SEE GRAPH BELOW These scores were taken entering week 10 and therefore a value of 20% was applied. Obviously this scoring will change by the end of the season but we have an idea as of this point. Position Importance (5%)
This factor was added simply to help in comparing different positions. Players of the same position were given the same score but QBs were rated higher than other positions so that if you wanted to compare a QB to a RB, you could still look at their overall score and compare them. Hence the 5% value. SEE GRAPH BELOW Future Value (35%) o Obviously there is going to be a factor of uncertainty and individual valuation here. This is where it comes into play. With the help of the Commish I assigned a future value to every major keeper and gave it a 35% valuation. These grades obviously play a major role in the Keeper score and can be changed based on your own personal opinion. See Graph Below o
Draft Round
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
1 2 3
‐ (2) (5) 1 (1) (4) 2 ‐ (3)
(8) (7) (6)
(11) (10) (9)
(14) (13) (12)
4
3 1 (2)
(5)
(8)
(11)
5
4 2 (1)
(4)
(7)
(10)
6
5 3
‐ (3)
(6)
(9)
7
6 4
1
(2)
(5)
(8)
8
7 5
2
(1)
(4)
(7)
9
8 6
3
‐ (3)
(6)
10
9 7
4
1
(2)
(5)
11
10 8
5
2
(1)
(4)
12 13 14 15 16
11 12 13 14 15
6 7 8 9 10
3 4 5 6 7
‐ 1 2 3 4
(3) (2) (1) ‐ 1
9 10 11 12 13
Position Ranking Top 3 10 Top 6 9 Top 10 8 Top 15 7 Top 20 6 Top 25 5 Top 30 4 Greater 2
Rank
Player
Position Round Keeper
Keeper Years
Stat Position Value Ranking Ranking Importance by Pos.
Explanation
Keeper Value
WIDERECEIVERS 1
Randall Cobb
WR
12
11
4
6
9
8.5
2
James Jones
WR
FA
10
4
14
7
8.5
3
Reggie Wayne
WR
6
5
2
5
9
8.5
4
Victor Cruz
WR
4
3
1
3
10
8.5
5
Brian Hartline Demarious Thomas
WR
FA
10
4
25
5
8.5
WR
6
5
2
11
7
8.5
WR
5
4
2
8
8
8.5
8
Vincent Jackson Brandon Marshall
WR
3
2
1
1
10
8.5
9
AJ Green
WR
3
2
1
2
10
8.5
10
Marquis Colston
WR
5
4
2
9
8
8.5
11
Andre Roberts
WR
FA
10
4
19
6
8.5
12
Percy Harvin
WR
3
2
1
4
9
8.5
13
Roddy White
WR
3
2
1
10
8
8.5
14
Eric Decker
WR
4
3
1
7
8
8.5
15
Julio Jones
WR
3
2
1
12
7
8.5
16
Wes Welker
WR
3
2
1
15
7
8.5
17 18
Mike Williams Miles Austin
WR WR
9 6
8 5
3 2
23 18
5 6
8.5 8.5
6 7
6.50 6.50 9.25 9.50 6.00 9.00 9.00 9.50 9.50 8.50 4.00 9.25 9.50 8.50 9.50 9.50 5.50 7.00
Too many weapons
7.85
Too many weapons
7.20
#1 on passing team
7.01
#1 on passing team
6.65
#1 on passing team
6.63
#1.5 on passing team
6.53
#1 on passing team
6.48
#1 on passing team
6.40
#1 on passing team
6.40
#1 on passing team
6.30
Inconsistent and bad team
6.13
#1 on passing team
6.11
#1 on passing team
6.00
#1.5 on passing team
5.90
#1 on passing team
5.80
#1 on passing team
5.80
#2 on decent team #1 on passing team
5.80 5.63
RUNNINGBACKS 1
Alfred Morris
RB
FA
10
4
9
8
9
2
CJ Spiller
RB
10
9
3
8
8
9
3
Doug Martin
RB
4
3
1
1
10
9
4
Steven Ridley
RB
8
7
3
12
7
9
5
Daryl Richardson
RB
FA
10
4
100
2
9
6
Shonne Green
RB
7
6
3
17
6
9
7
RB
5
4
2
14
7
9
8
Reggie Bush Rashard Mendenhall
RB
9
8
3
51
2
9
9
Jamaal Charles
RB
3
2
1
13
7
9
10
Michael Turner
RB
5
4
2
18
6
9
11
Willis McGahee
RB
6
5
2
11 7 QUARTERBACKS
9
1
Andrew Luck
QB
8
7
3
7
8
10
2
RGIII
QB
6
5
2
2
10
10
4
Josh Freeman
QB
FA
10
4
10
8
10
3
Andy Dalton
QB
FA
10
4
14
7
10
5
Big Ben
QB
7
6
3
8
8
10
6
Peyton Manning
QB
6
5
2
5
9
10
7 8
Carson Palmer Matt Ryan
QB QB
FA 5
10 4
4 2
11 6
7 9
10 10
9.00 8.50 10.00 7.50 7.00 7.50 8.00 7.50 9.00 7.50 6.00 10.00 10.00 6.50 7.00 8.50 9.00 5.50 9.00
Starting RB
8.30
Shares Carries
7.73
Franchise Player
6.85
Starter in Passing OF
6.68
Future Starter
6.40
B‐level
6.23
Talented Bad Team
5.95
B‐level, Injured
5.93
Elite status
5.65
Still capable
5.58
Productive but average
5.50
#1 QB
7.80
#1 QB
7.55
Due to Talent
7.48
Just not Elite Yet
7.45
#1 QB
7.03
#1 QB
7.00
Old #1 QB
6.93 6.75
DEFENSES 1
Chicago Defense
DEF
13
12
5
1
10
‐5
2
Houston Defense DEF New York Defense DEF Power Rankings
14
13
5
3
8
‐5
13
12
5
2
7
‐5
3
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
T Bow or Neck?
SomwherOvaDwayneBowe
Lookn fWD 2 RG3in'13
CRUZin' 4 A BREESin'
Premature Emaclin8in
TheBlackUnicornRises
Still Witten My Bed
Coach
Frock
The Pretty Boy
The Bear Jew
The Commish
The Champ
Jay The Wise
The Lady's Man
1.00 By Nature 1.00 By Nature 1.00 By Nature
5.85 5.70 5.25
Points
7-3
6-4
6-4
6-4
7-3
5-5
5-5
1,139.50
A big win for the Legend of the Frock has propelled him to the top of the league. Add in a huge trade to acquire Ray Rice and Brandon Marshall for current bench player CJ Spiller is a huge positive moving forward. The Frock will try to continue this run as he faces off against the Commish in a big week 11 matchup.
1,161.76
The Pretty Boy had a huge win over the Commish partially due to Megatron's big day. This team is stacked and playing that way. With a third win in a row, The Pretty Boy looks to continue his run towards the playoffs against the Lady's Man.
1,122.90
The Bear Jew has now won 2 in a row after a nice win over the Big Balled Doctor. Though it was not a great team performance this week, awesome performances by Dallas D and Tony Gonzalez willed this team to a big win. A week 11 matchup with the thriving champ looms.
1,183.18
After a rough loss to the Pretty Boy, the Champ falls to 6-4. The team actually put up a very nice week except for the duds provided by Cruz and Turner. Still this team constantly puts up points and I would be surprised if they missed the playoffs; thought at this point, they are only 1 game ahead of a big pack of teams.
1,065.04
The Champ moves into a tie for first place with a 7-3 record. It was really a great week for the champ but he still falls to five due to points faced and games scored above 105 points. Still the champ has won 6 ina run ans is clearly on a roll. Once the Champ always the Champ!
1,104.70
Despite the awesomeness of AP, Jay the Wise fell this week to the Frock. AP was a beast and is a physical phenomena. Sadly the poor and inconsistent WR core of Austin, Washington, and Llyod were unable to do anything to help Stafford and AP's effort.
1,086.94
The Lady's Man had a nice win this week to pull to .500. Matt Ryan, Arian Foster, and Fred Jackson are showing why they were drafted early as they combined for over 70 points. This team can score on any week and that could mean the playoffs for this Lady Lover.
The_Real_Jbk
8
DezBeHonest-BallsOut
9
50 shades of Ray
10
JBK
The Doctor
Maximus
5-5
5-5
3-7
981.58
A tough loss to the lowly Writer proved costly to the Voucher as he now sits at the bottom of a bunch of 5-5 teams. This team could be very good but still can’t consistently put up big points and it is starting to really hurt. Hopefully a matchup with Jay the Wise can help in week 11.
983.18
The Doc was unable to pull out the win against the Bear Jew. It truly was a totally mediocre week for all of the Doc's players as he fell to 5-5. Guys like Forte and Johnson need to get better if there is any chance of making the playoffs. The Writer stands in the way on week 11.
1,009.88
After another loss and a fire sale, Maximus sits at 10. With Rice and Marshall headed out of town for Spiller it appears this team has packed it in. With yet another loss and mediocre team performance, the Maximus is looking for answers. Perhaps with Fred Jackson going down, Spiller will be that spark plug they have been looking for.
11
Calvin&theChipmunks
The Writer
4-6
967.12
12
White supremaSmith
The Counselor
1-9
968.68
The Writer has finnally broken his losing streak. With a nice win over JBK the Writer looks to continue the positive momentum. Solid performances all around made up for the poor debut of Bowe and the scary injury to Big Ben. Hopefully Big Ben can recover in time from his injury. A returning Murray and Sproles should also be a big help. The Counselor is setting records as he falls to 1-9. Fire sales, poor performances, and an almost winless record. It has been a rough year.
