0:00

Dynasty

0:06

twenty twenty three is in the books,

0:08

and so is the Fantasy season that

0:11

went along with it.

0:12

But because this is Dynasty, it's

0:14

not the end of the story. It's just the start

0:16

of another chapter. Twenty twenty four is around

0:18

the corner, and really, just

0:20

like we started the season in the illustrious

0:23

company of mister Michael Smith, who is back in studio

0:25

with Dylan and I were kind of kicking off

0:27

the new year, but also preparing for hiatus.

0:29

This is the last episode before the

0:31

show takes a break and we plan

0:34

on new content coming into the Dynasty

0:36

year. But guys, a year in review, Dylan,

0:38

always great to see you, lifelong friends, Mike, it's been

0:40

a minute since you've been on the pod.

0:41

Thanks for joining us.

0:42

Man, Hey, my pleasure, first

0:44

time, longtime.

0:48

Dylan, you and I were talking a little bit before

0:50

the show. This was probably

0:52

the most hectic year, not

0:54

just for Fantasy but for me in my personal life. It was a year

0:56

of giving birth to both a brand

0:58

new business venture. You did that with

1:00

Fantasy, and I will have

1:02

you know I caught my own child. Okay, I was very involved

1:05

in the birthing process. Actually liked

1:08

no for real, for really like, dude, my wife,

1:11

My wife is a superstar. I don't mind telling you guys

1:13

this her pain tolerance. She

1:16

was so positive about the whole birthing experience

1:18

that literally she gaslighted me

1:21

and everyone. She said, I'm not in labor. These are like what's

1:23

like? These are fake contractions. If I had

1:25

not left when I did, it would have been a car baby.

1:28

Like.

1:28

We got to the birthing center. We

1:30

did like a midwife thing. It was cool, cool set

1:33

up, medical professionals involved. Thirty

1:35

minutes later, caught the baby like

1:37

she pushed it out.

1:40

It was nuts.

1:40

It was just did you watch everything?

1:44

The whole nine? The whole nine? She was like, yeah,

1:47

yeah, yeah.

1:47

So I was a home birth, so I kind of grew up in that culture

1:49

of like we got this, you know. And and then she

1:51

did a lot of research. So we wanted

1:53

the backstop of like medical professionals

1:56

and a hospital nearby, but we wanted

1:58

to be home birth if health and all that was possible.

2:00

So we were advised, had a great shout out baby

2:02

moon in in Phoenix, Arizona.

2:04

They're an awesome set up, an awesome situation. So

2:07

we go to a birthing center where their midwives around

2:09

the clock, who are there to coach you have all your medical stuff,

2:12

and they're as involved as you want

2:14

them to be. There's uninvolved as yeah,

2:16

fantasy football catching baby.

2:19

That's awesome because because like

2:23

a friend of mine had kids before me,

2:25

I got three now seventeen fifteen eleven.

2:28

I never went below

2:31

my wife's shoulders because I was told

2:33

there are certain things you cannot unsee,

2:37

and that just stuck with me. And I remember my first

2:39

child. Hopefully my wife don't mind

2:41

me sharing this. Let's just say it was a mess down

2:43

there. They had a lot of they had a lot of repairing

2:46

to do. So thankfully I didn't

2:48

see all of that because I get kind

2:50

of squeamish, So props

2:53

to you. But I guess I'll say to get

2:55

us back on track, I'll say it's

2:58

been babies all around. Babies have been born all

3:01

around. You gave birth to an actual baby, or your

3:03

wife gave birth to an actual baby.

3:06

You guys birth this podcast,

3:09

yeah, and uh more.

3:11

So you know we'll get to this, Lady Josh,

3:13

I'll get it back to you. But you know, my first

3:15

year, my first season playing Dynasty, and

3:19

I like to say my dog Stokely is my fourth

3:21

child, my fifth child. It

3:23

has been Dynasty. Dynasty is

3:25

like a baby. It is like a child.

3:28

It requires round the clock care. So

3:32

I'll look at that.

3:33

I totally forgot, Mike that this was

3:35

your first time playing Dynasty, like this season

3:37

is it seemed like forever, Like it didn't seem

3:39

like you were new to it at all.

3:40

Like I completely forgot about that. It doesn't seem much.

3:43

It flew by at the same time, like

3:46

we've known you for a year. We've been playing Dynasty

3:48

with you for a year. If you go back to the expansion

3:50

and that whole, it's like, holy cow, I feel

3:52

like you just had joined the yacht club league

3:54

and obviously we do another league, and just

3:56

like it flew by.

3:57

Man No. I mean, but I think when we

4:00

him a lot in the year, it's like, you

4:02

know, Dylan, when we first lolled one, I

4:04

said, Hey, Dylan, it's been for ever since I talked to

4:06

you. It's probably been like a week,

4:08

but a

4:11

week was not talking. It

4:13

was likeever. Because over the course

4:15

of the last year, I would venture to say,

4:17

what are both of you? I've

4:19

talked to y'all? Probably, I

4:23

mean I said, say three and sixty

4:25

five days. If it was less than three

4:27

hundred and twenty days, I'd be shocked. That's

4:30

about it. Sayum, minimum

4:32

three twenty. I probably talked to you at least once a

4:34

day, or I'm counting text as well. And

4:37

as we may or may not get deep into

4:39

Josh. You know, me and Dylan

4:41

talked so much that it blew up an entire league our

4:49

relationship. Would you know it would be such a problem

4:51

for some people, But I

4:54

digress, Lord

4:57

Almighty, No was

4:59

gonna take it, mister No.

5:01

I was simply gonna say, I mean the big

5:03

you know, I was sorry about birth. Like you

5:06

know, other business real estate

5:08

business launched with my friend. We both been in real estate for quite

5:10

some time. You know, you have to get

5:12

the culture right from the start. And I

5:14

think the story with Yacht Club and one of the lessons,

5:16

because the question really is, what's the biggest lesson

5:19

you learned from twenty twenty three. I've been playing Dynasty

5:21

coming up on my fifth year now, and I

5:23

think the biggest lesson I learned this season

5:26

was not as a player, but was as a commissioner, which

5:28

is, you have to have a consistent culture because

5:30

we had some catalysts break off. We already addressed

5:33

some of the YA Club drama here and there, and there's a lot

5:35

of great guys in that league.

5:36

You know, a lot of love.

5:37

But I think the reality is looking back

5:39

as a commissioner, how it started and

5:41

then where it was going. We were there was a couple

5:44

guys only two or three percent off

5:46

as to what the league should look like. But you

5:48

give enough time, you give enough

5:51

personalities and enough like unresolved

5:53

things, things can just stack upon

5:55

themselves and people can get very frustrated.

5:58

So but that's part of it, that's part of dnacy,

6:00

and that's you know, managing those personalities you're

6:02

a commissioner is a huge part of the game. And

6:04

so I know I learned a lot of lessons choosing

6:07

to take those as positives. Dylan, I love your thoughts

6:09

on what you learned in twenty twenty three

6:11

as both the player league mate

6:13

whatever.

6:14

Yeah, I mean to just kind of add on to the

6:16

Yacht Club personalities and at the same time,

6:18

it's kind of like a it's a necessary

6:21

evil that you kind of have to deal with because personalities

6:23

kind of make a league, right, Like if you don't have personalities

6:26

because I'm in leagues too where there's just no personality.

6:29

The chat's not very active, people

6:31

aren't really engaged, where like in Yacht Club,

6:33

there was so many personalities and that's what made

6:35

it so fun and we had it blast

6:37

doing it, like I mean, the personalities

6:39

that we had and it made it. But at the same time, when they

6:42

go a little bit too far and you don't have the boundaries

6:44

in place, that's when it goes overboard. But one

6:46

of the things that I learned in twenty twenty three was, uh,

6:50

don't go.

6:50

Where you're not wanted.

6:52

And I think for me in leagues,

6:54

and this is this is league specific as well.

6:57

You can kind of tell that there's

6:59

a bye where you're not wanted in the league,

7:01

if you're excluded from trades, if

7:03

people aren't trading with you, if people aren't if

7:05

you don't get the inside the jokes in the chat,

7:08

whatever it may be. Don't go where you're not

7:10

wanted because it just makes for a piss poor

7:12

experience whenever you go to build a team,

7:14

because it's miserable. You get stuck dealing

7:17

with two managers or three

7:19

managers, and that's about it. In a twelve team, fourteen

7:21

team, sixteen team, whatever league it is, if

7:23

you go down to only working

7:25

with three to four managers, it doesn't make it fun.

7:28

And so if you're not wanted there, don't

7:30

be there. And so that's kind of what I learned.

7:32

And Mike, I see you now in your head. I'm

7:34

sure you kind of look out of that. I mean, I'll

7:36

need some space here.

7:37

So first of all, it's just my

7:40

instinct, my host instincts for anybody

7:42

that may be tuning into this episode, into

7:44

and into the last episodes, like, what the hell are these guys

7:46

talking about?

7:47

Yeah, very true, very true.

7:49

The league that Josh,

7:53

Dylan and the

7:55

ten other franchises a year ago

7:58

expanded to make room for me a

8:00

year ago. The Yacht Club League, the

8:03

league that introduced me to these guys, the

8:05

league that introduced me to Dynasty, the league

8:07

that was the inspiration for this here podcast.

8:10

Think Me and Dylan out and

8:12

Josh left, long

8:15

and short, Me and Dylan got kicked out the league,

8:17

We kicked out the club. Josh decided

8:20

he didn't want to be a part of it anymore for

8:22

a lot of reasons. It was a long time coming.

8:24

Yeah, simplification.

8:29

I want to be I want to I want to be fair

8:31

to all all things. How

8:34

everything bubbled over. I don't think there was a single

8:36

agenda. There was multiple things going on. The league

8:38

grew apart. The catalyst was me going,

8:40

I'm done with all of this. I kicked everyone out and almost

8:43

deleted it. Clear it

8:45

was like yo, that being said, no

8:48

one. I gave the people back,

8:50

the troublemakers in my opinion,

8:52

who like were like yo, like I gave people who

8:55

wanted to keep the league going back. But you

8:57

and Dylan never received an invite back, and that was

8:59

one of the There was some clear personality

9:01

issues of like hey, Dylan already making

9:03

reference to it, don't go, or you're not wanted. There were some

9:05

people that were closer than others, and the league had gotten

9:07

so big you're going to have people you're closer

9:10

to. That's okay, Like that should

9:12

never have been a problem in my mind going into

9:14

it. But like I said, agendas,

9:16

everyone has a different opinion on what something should

9:19

be.

9:20

Well, let me if I could jump

9:22

in here, because I think chronological is the best

9:24

way to kind of look at things.

9:27

Yeah, again, just to look

9:29

back before we look forward. I'll never

9:31

forget being in advant

9:34

in Seattle with you, Josh

9:36

and being like this league sounds

9:38

incredible, and wanting

9:42

to purchase a team, wanting

9:45

to expand. But the

9:47

expansion process was so difficult

9:51

for a variety of reasons, whether it was

9:54

you know, certain people

9:57

wanted to protect a certain number of players.

10:01

Just to add context there when you

10:03

say difficult, because you weren't even in the chat yet.

10:05

All hell was breaking loose because we were trying

10:07

to do this and this. So I'm glad

10:10

you brought that up because even

10:12

knew, Josh, you can you can attest

10:14

to that.

10:15

I did know absolutely behind

10:17

the scenes.

10:18

Was Mike joined

10:20

halfway through the discussion, and I

10:22

think he did see some of it, and I had never seen.

10:24

The expansion process was incredibly

10:26

painful, and I thought once we got through it, okay,

10:29

all those issues are gone. During the closet,

10:31

it was just a difficult like season.

10:34

But just speaking to like things growing differently,

10:36

Dylan and I are passionate about

10:38

fantasy, Like we were already

10:41

like super ambitious fantasy guys were always going

10:43

to be that and bring that to a league.

10:45

I think for some owners who are kind of like in the

10:47

middle, so to speak. This

10:49

really was for them a I want

10:51

to play with the guys I've always played with, but played dynasty,

10:54

which I totally respect. I don't

10:56

What was frustrating, I should say, is

10:58

the manner in which you expressed that, Like, if

11:00

that's a problem, handle that, I

11:03

would say more maturely. And there were some imature things.

11:05

I did some inmature things as well.

11:08

But Luke Warren, stay Luke Warren. We're

11:10

hot over here. We want to stay hot. So that's

11:12

what was kind of making an issue and so and so

11:15

it was difficult. But then okay, once

11:17

we got the expansion process done, I

11:21

am so grateful for

11:24

Like, dude, I

11:26

will take the Pepsi challenge against any of y'all

11:29

about how much time if we go to our

11:31

iPhones and be like time spent on an app?

11:33

No way, No. When I

11:36

was all sleeper, non

11:38

stop, it was crack. I was addicted

11:40

to it, and I was addicted to all

11:43

aspects of the yacht club. It was everything it

11:45

was cracked up to being advand in Seattle, Josh,

11:48

it was the banter, the energy,

11:50

the competitiveness, the cutthroat

11:53

nature of it all a lot of smart

11:55

dudes, And it was fun

11:57

and I enjoyed, you know, reinventing

11:59

my team half a dozen times

12:02

minimum and making

12:04

the playoffs. You know, Josh said, they

12:06

know when you're making the playoffs a year one. I was like, watch me

12:08

hold my beer whatever, And it's like it

12:10

was it was a fun process. So then toward

12:12

the end, it sounds

12:15

like, and just in the interest of efficiency,

12:18

we'll try to wrap this portion of the program up,

12:20

this this therapy session up because

12:23

it's talking

12:28

about it. It's the first time we've talked about it. Because I'm

12:30

still hurt because that team was loaded

12:33

that I left behind

12:38

takedown. I could go on and on loaded.

12:43

Toward the end, it just seemed like the tension

12:46

was just kind of bruined for whatever

12:48

reason. And you

12:50

know, I'll own my part

12:53

in it. Like I got into it with a guy

12:55

I never met on the chat and and and

12:57

like the ugly side of me came

12:59

out, you know what I'm saying, And it just

13:02

was like it felt like that was like kind

13:04

of like it wasn't the straw that broke the

13:06

camel's back. It was like kicking the camel when

13:08

he's already down. It was like all right, man, Like,

13:10

it's just if this all tell us everything we need to know

13:12

about the culture of this league has crumbled,

13:15

and he wrote it nothing else will.

13:17

And so one minute, one

13:19

minute, I'm losing a playoff game.

13:21

The next minute it's

13:24

showing the twenty twenty two season on

13:28

Josh.

13:28

Said,

13:30

Jude, I was so, here's

13:33

here's what here's what I was saying, Dude,

13:35

I did.

13:36

I did.

13:37

I literally clicked the lete and it was like, you can't delete

13:39

it. There's people annoying guys like I kicked him all out, and then when

13:41

it was and then when it was picked, I was like, I

13:43

need to take a beat, like I'm being a bit of a jerk here, But

13:46

all it was for me. I was at my I was at

13:48

my wife's grandmother's

13:51

funeral in California, and I had no time

13:53

to respond to all the drama. And

13:56

you mentioned it earlier, Dylan, Can you can speak to this we've

13:58

had and this is before you ever got here, Mike. Part

14:02

of competitiveness is guys are strongly opinionated.

14:04

There's no problem with that. The amount of time

14:06

it took to come to resolutions

14:09

with just twelve guys that had known each other a

14:11

long time with just a few different personalities

14:13

was like pulling teeth. I had

14:15

already said and promised myself and promised my wife,

14:17

I'm not doing this again. If there's another league

14:19

controversy, I'm out.

14:21

I'm done.

14:21

And so when it was all happening and when

14:24

and where it was going down, I was like, I'm done. There's

14:26

no I'm not going to put in the work to fix this. This is not we're

14:28

not playing fantasy anymore. We're playing politics,

14:31

and commissioners shouldn't.

14:33

Do that just because I think this is a good

14:35

general conversation fantasy also

14:37

for commissioners out there. For sure, every league deals

14:39

with that because there's so many league the leagues that I'm in,

14:41

that have any sort of personalities. You can

14:43

have just two people that have strong personalities.

14:46

There's always going to be that. So I mean,

14:48

for you, Josh, what would be your advice, because you're drawing

14:50

that line, what would you like lead to other commissioners?

14:53

No?

14:53

No, two things one another

14:56

stroll that broke the camel's back is I had been really laxed

14:58

on certain rules and like, no, man, like we've

15:00

known each other a long time, no worries I

15:03

hadn't collected everyone's due yet. That's on me first

15:05

and foremost, like that's not on anyone else for like enforcing

15:07

that. But when I found out people

15:09

are yelling at each other dudes aren't collected, I was

15:11

like, Okay, we're in big trouble. So number one, I

15:13

think you have to start out. If you're a commissioner, you have to

15:15

be a dictator. You have to have a standard and make sure

15:17

everyone understandards, understands what the

15:19

standard is coming into that league. And that's not

15:21

a mistake I'm gonna make moving forward. I

15:24

was way too much like, hey, this is all of our thing. You

15:26

know, we're all going to do this together, like I made. I

15:28

wrote the league contract to help with that. I wanted

15:30

everyone to have equal buy in. And the reality

15:33

is that just never happens in life.

15:34

And that's okay.

15:35

Yeah, but you're listening to podcast

15:37

in taking notes, he said, have a backbone as a

15:39

commission.

15:41

Why Dylan Dylan

15:43

was always mad when I was like, because Dylan knows me, like

15:46

I have a temper. But I was always very political,

15:48

and I feel like I need to because there's a lot of personalities and

15:50

that's Okay, Like I don't regret trying to be gracious,

15:52

but at the same time, yeah, I

15:54

think I let things go unchecked too long.

15:56

No, you did a great job. Well, we

15:58

all got edges to it. I know, I learned that.

16:01

What do we learned in twenty twenty four? Dylan is

16:03

the sweetest guy, but like, and

16:05

we talked about David versus Davis,

16:08

like dealing in the chet. I'm like, damn

16:10

dog, Like, I mean wanted

16:13

to slow from the chat. I

16:16

had had enough. I was like, listen,

16:19

all right, you know what, no holds barred. You're right. There

16:21

was a there was a little bit of oh my gosh,

16:24

Yeah, okay, Devin, here you go.

16:26

But I say this though, for me, like just to just

16:28

to put a ball on this, and I hope, I hope

16:30

there's somebody out there you get this. One person. It's

16:32

like a church if we need just such one person.

16:36

Someone in here today needs to hear this.

16:38

Yeah, say because because I mean, like, if you

16:40

listen to this podcast, you're a degenerate just like

16:42

us. And there are some people out there who wouldn't

16:44

leaves that are as hardcore and as emotional

16:47

and as competitive and as personal

16:49

as y'all. Club was I

16:51

love the phrase everything ends badly, otherwise

16:54

it wouldn't end. Yeah. Club,

16:56

for the three of us, it was fun. It

16:58

ended, but we did learn so from

17:00

it. We learned how to be better commissioners. We

17:02

learnt how to be better league made. Hopefully we're moving

17:04

forward. We already have a twelve team league called a Dynasty

17:07

Cartel that had its first season last

17:09

year. We're starting up a sixteen team league

17:12

named after this year program, called a Dynasty

17:14

Exchange. It's going to go hard, but

17:16

I do want to answer your question, though, about

17:19

what I learned. I

17:22

learned first, I'll start

17:24

with dynasty

17:27

strategy. I

17:30

learned that you

17:33

should be acquiring

17:37

more draft picks than you send out as

17:40

a rule of thumb. If you could hold

17:43

draft picks and just be diligent and disciplined

17:45

about not trading draft picks if you can help

17:48

it, but more so acquiring picks,

17:51

it puts you in such a phenomenal

17:54

position to win now and later. I

17:57

don't I think when I first started, I

17:59

was a little loose with picks. I didn't realize

18:02

just how like how

18:04

valuable that currency is.

18:06

They don't get injured, man, you.

18:07

Know and so as time went on,

18:09

I got smarter about it, and

18:12

I feel like by the end of it, which I

18:14

got one more parting shot, they wanted

18:16

me out the league because they knew I was gonna run that motherfucker

18:19

for a while. Then

18:23

they're a wolf in the henhouse.

18:24

It was like, oh, ship, this dude got c

18:27

Richard of Poker, the cool tank down, Like I

18:30

mean, I was locked and loaded. I

18:32

mean spears, Dak Prescott,

18:34

I'm sure I missing somebody, Sam the Porter.

18:37

I was like it was about to go. It was about

18:39

to be on if I if I may say so

18:41

myself. But all seriousness, all seriousness,

18:43

like if you can say

18:47

more picks than you spend, you're in good

18:49

shape. The second thing I learned was

18:53

especially in Dynasty, and I think you guys have spoken

18:55

to us. I won't spend too much time on That is

19:00

how important relationships are in Dynasty.

19:02

Like you can play redraft or season

19:05

long, you know, and obviously

19:07

best Ball with total strangers. Dynasty,

19:10

it really is all about the people in the relationships.

19:12

It's not fun. And not

19:14

to say everybody I like one another. It's like the NFL,

19:17

like every owner doesn't like one another. How many people

19:19

you think like David right now? No, but

19:21

you don't have to like them. They just has to be at least

19:23

some respect. Yes, it have to be some respect

19:25

and at least seems to be forge and

19:28

friendly enough to be able to discuss a

19:30

deal and move

19:33

on or get a deal done or not. But

19:35

it can't be it can't be personal.

19:37

And it got personal. It can't be contentious.

19:40

The third thing, and this is this is way

19:42

more macro. And that's how I want to kick it back to the two of

19:44

you guys as I sit here and just

19:47

look at y'all. Thirty six thirty seven

19:49

episodes in so

19:53

you know, I started an Inflection Point Entertainment

19:55

in August of twenty twenty. We

19:58

launched the Inflection Network on

20:00

August third, in partnership with iHeart

20:06

on August third of twenty twenty three, in

20:08

partnership with I Hear You guys, with the

20:10

second show that we that

20:12

we launched. It

20:15

started with three people. It started with you

20:17

know, Davis with Yacht Club member Davis

20:19

Nuaimi, who I want

20:21

to take this opportunity. I don't know if he's listening or not,

20:23

but I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank

20:25

him for his contribution and

20:28

the work that he put in and helping Tom get this podcast

20:30

started. But he's no longer

20:33

with us. Life be life in and

20:35

even prior to the yacht Club disintegrating,

20:37

at least for the three of us, Davis

20:40

had to prioritize other things in his life, and

20:43

so along the way, this podcast became

20:46

a duo instead of a trio. And

20:48

I just want to say how proud I am in you guys, all

20:51

three of you, but specifically you two, and

20:53

for that matter, you know, Chris

20:55

and Parker, our producers who

20:58

have put in so much

21:00

time in so many hours,

21:03

as as you two have to make

21:05

this podcast better and

21:08

better and better. I told you guys

21:10

early on when it was really hard, that

21:12

you don't know what you have in a podcast

21:14

until you like fifty episodes in. We still don't even fifty

21:17

episodes in that. But

21:19

you, guys, the commitment that the four

21:21

of you I'm talking about, Josh, Dylan,

21:24

Parker, Chris have

21:26

shown to keep

21:28

this train rolling on time without fail

21:33

and just to get better. And

21:35

you have gotten better, like you guys have

21:37

come such a long way. I always saw potential

21:40

but not as productivity, not as production,

21:43

you know, like sometimes Free's Company

21:45

three could be a crowd and it's nothing personal. But like

21:47

Dylan, we talked about this privately, so I'll

21:50

say it all Mike, like you've found

21:52

your voice now that it's just you and

21:54

your friend of the last how many years have you guys known

21:56

each other? Years?

22:00

Years? It's like so it's like, you

22:02

know, the two of you have brought out the best

22:04

in each other, and it's been really fun to see this

22:06

thing grow. And

22:09

so I'm proud of y'all. So I learned a lot about management.

22:12

I say that to say the third thing is I learned a lot about

22:14

management. I learned a lot about

22:17

adjustments. I learned a lot

22:19

about you know, letting things

22:21

or people go if they don't want to, if they

22:23

don't want to stay. You talked about, you

22:26

know, don't go you're out wanting, don't keep nobody

22:28

around it. Don't I don't want to stay either, you know.

22:30

And and that's okay, I mean, that's

22:32

that's fine. It's not it's it's business.

22:35

It's life. It's like everything ain't for everybody.

22:37

Everything's not a you can't force everything.

22:39

You know, what I mean, and so I

22:41

just for you guys persevering, but not only persevering,

22:44

but but but growing and developing.

22:47

It's just been really really fun to see.

22:49

I mean, it's gotten to a point now where like on

22:52

the Inflection Network list of concerns

22:54

of Michael Smith's y'all at the bottom of the list,

22:57

like y'all, y'all at the least of my worries. And

22:59

I really shape both of you for

23:01

all you've done this season for this network, for this

23:04

show, and I'm excited about what we're gonna

23:06

pick up with in March.

23:08

Well that

23:11

was that was unexpected and I

23:13

really appreciated. But a loss

23:15

for words, but we appreciate it. No, I

23:17

think I think you nailed it with the relationship part.

23:19

And something I learned that

23:22

in relation to fantasy football as well throughout

23:25

this entire process, being forced to

23:27

create and you pushing us to like grow

23:29

as podcasters and we don't even want to

23:31

call ourselves analysts because that's just not the vibe

23:33

we're going with. We're players first. But

23:36

I have so much more respect and grace for anyone

23:38

who is attempting to do anything creative and put themselves

23:40

out there because I'm a very critical person,

23:43

self critical first, and getting

23:45

to do this for the past season, you know, Dylan

23:47

and I kind of treated it like house money, Like hey, we were doing

23:49

this in private when no one was looking for kicks and

23:51

giggles, and now we have Mike Smith coaching us,

23:53

like that's awesome. It made you

23:56

It made me like very like just

23:59

like, holy cow, this there's way much, like

24:01

so much more that goes into this than you

24:03

think, and especially on like making takes

24:06

like that was one of the hardest things of like, holy col I'm

24:08

about to say this publicly, like I believe in this player or

24:10

I think this player is bad, and so Dylan,

24:12

I want to pass to you if you want to continue to answer, but like, what

24:14

was the take you're the most proud of this year?

24:16

Because I know we had some missa sure everyone

24:19

does, but what take were you, Like I was right

24:21

about this, no one listened to me, or you were

24:23

just one of the only guys like waving a banner for this because

24:25

we've had some missus, But I know you've had a couple of hits

24:27

too.

24:28

Yeah, I mean I just want to kind of piggyback

24:30

up a little bit. What you were saying about the takes, because that

24:32

was one of the things I learned as well, was like man,

24:35

getting a podcast, getting any kind of platform,

24:37

social media, whatever it is, you open yourself

24:39

up to scrutiny the second you say something. The

24:41

second I made an audacious claim about

24:44

this guy not being a top twelve

24:46

Dynasty quarterbacks.

24:48

You said to ten, you said, okay.

24:50

Sorry, top ten, top ten.

24:52

Yeah, exactly what about this?

24:55

None of my book, He's not talked twelve. You already

24:57

know.

24:57

I'm going to take this time to do my victory lap on

24:59

mister Justin Fields. He is

25:01

a top twelve

25:04

quarterback. I told you guys at the beginning of the season.

25:06

You drafted him over Lamar Jackson in one of

25:08

our startup drafts. Everyone was like, oh, he's

25:10

top five this year. No, absolutely

25:13

not. And I got I can't tell you how many d

25:15

ms, how many text messages, how

25:17

many text messages from you

25:19

that I got about man specific name

25:22

feels just Fields, So I mean that

25:24

one. It feels good when you get one, right, because

25:27

that's that's the thing, is, like you have to have a conviction, you

25:29

have to have a background, and there's something that you're gonna roll with that

25:31

you get wrong, Like, I mean, I'm not say

25:33

to admit, but pukakua.

25:36

Minute for a couple a little

25:38

bit, he's okay about to say to

25:40

be the receiver

25:43

and thank you for that. That was very

25:45

funny before Josh, before you get

25:47

your tripper was probably I do want to follow

25:49

up Dylan on your justin

25:51

the Fields because I reacted that way for

25:54

you know, if you're watching on YouTube,

25:56

by to see my face and how it reacted when you said

25:58

justin Fields. Okay, so justin

26:01

Fields. He struggled earlier early

26:03

in the season, clark Fire, got

26:05

hurt, has come back, and

26:08

if you started him in the last few weeks in the Fantasy

26:10

playoffs, he may have delivered to a championship.

26:13

Like I'm curious about your

26:15

timing of said victory lap because

26:18

it seems like DJ Moore wants Justin Fields

26:21

to remain in Chicago. The fans

26:23

seem to be, you know, backing Justin Fields

26:25

as of late and saying, hey, trade the pick and it's

26:27

a gift that keeps on getting or take marmin

26:30

asison to keep Justin Fields. Do you

26:32

think you are right in perpetuity

26:35

about Justin Fields? Or are you getting

26:37

Are you right at this moment? And Justin Fields

26:40

is on the ascent the way Josh has always believed

26:42

him to be.

26:44

I take a victory lap when I have

26:46

the slightest window.

26:49

Is closing. The windows closing.

26:52

But okay, this moment, in this moment in time,

26:54

I'm right because right now he's not valued

26:56

as that top ten.

27:00

And you you said, you said specifically

27:03

because he was QB six or seven at the time.

27:05

He was fluctuating at the start of the season. On

27:07

Keep Trade Cut, And that's the crazy thing about Dynasty.

27:09

It's all perceived value. No one gives a crap

27:11

about production. Trevor Lawren said, a horrible year. He's

27:13

not falling out of the top ten. It's crazy, like

27:16

but Dylan said, like the cra like it's gonna go bad.

27:18

It's gonna go bad. And the start of the season definitely did.

27:20

And he hasn't broken back at any point

27:22

throughout the season on Keep Trade Cut to a top

27:24

ten, which tells you to me, he's a Dynasty buy.

27:27

But that's separate, which is a conversation.

27:29

But I'll give you flowers up they're doing.

27:30

You were right, Thank you, and Mike to your point, you're right,

27:33

like just a little fantasy nugget. He I

27:35

would probably go and by Justin Field right now.

27:37

And I know that sounds like I'm oh,

27:41

please him. That would

27:43

all be so fitting. Bro.

27:45

It just complete role reversal

27:47

going into next season. It's like Dylan

27:50

as the Justin fieldser is I have pounded

27:52

the table for this player for you?

27:54

Right? Well, no, but to your point, I'm sorry to cut you off.

27:56

Doing is like the value is there though you're not me,

27:58

but you know if the guy's have been for whatever

28:00

the QB fourteen might go for. And

28:03

it says the conversation right exactly

28:05

exactly, do.

28:07

You guys remember not to just stay on this too

28:09

long? You were so Dylan always said it was like

28:11

it was the coaching.

28:12

It was the coaching. And I remember that week too.

28:14

There was that pick six and that they

28:16

showed what happened. They called the same

28:18

screenplay three times in a row.

28:21

Week two. That was like week twelve. They were doing that.

28:24

They did that to the bubble screens.

28:25

They kept doing it, but specifically it was a screen passed

28:28

to Khalil Herbert and I remember talking to Dylan being

28:30

like, I hate that like this is horrible,

28:32

Like you're right, like, yes.

28:35

Oh you know what? And one more one more

28:37

thing and Josh promise you could to you could take your victory

28:39

lap.

28:39

All good, But the other part that.

28:41

We shouldn't leave out of Dylan's preseason

28:43

take because we were like, so, Dylan,

28:46

why do you why are you so down with Justin

28:48

Fields? But how on Anthony Richardson?

28:50

Aren't they two peas in a pie? He

28:52

said coaching day one? He said, the system,

28:55

the coaching, the circumstances. And

28:57

even though we got a small sample size, right know,

29:00

we got a small sample size with Anthony Richardson, we

29:02

saw enough to see that Dylan was right on that front. All

29:04

right, Josh your turn.

29:06

Gosh, man, I don't know.

29:08

Oh, I know what it is. I could tell I know it's

29:11

only one.

29:14

Here's the thing.

29:14

I got a couple. I'm like, you

29:17

can't choose, You can't choose. I got you can't choose.

29:19

There's three that come to mind.

29:21

Can pick the first one and if it's not that one, give

29:23

us a second, give second, and the third one to

29:26

me, No,

29:28

it's not George Pickens because it's been too inconsistent.

29:30

Although flash she's flashed

29:32

quite brightly. It's to

29:34

me. To me, it's hands down Jordan

29:37

Loves to QB five ye in fantasy.

29:39

This is Jordan Love. Yeah,

29:41

Jordan Love right now is such

29:43

a like cornerstone quarterback.

29:46

And you not only did you call it day

29:48

one and by day one, I mean like

29:51

when Anne Rodgers was still in the Packers, on the

29:53

Packers roster, you never wavered.

29:57

Jordan Love. It's easy to Jordan Love. It's

29:58

my favorite Josh Josh Carl of

30:01

the year.

30:02

And that has to be the because you play

30:04

in super Flex and the quarterback is the position. There was a

30:06

couple I was really proud of, the DJ Moore one that was

30:08

like the my guy Georgia Pickens obviously,

30:10

and then a couple. There's a couple others. I was like, ooh, I

30:12

want to pick those, but there's also some

30:14

misses. But Jordan Love. The reason it was so sweet

30:17

was the risk reward because the

30:19

purchase price ended up being

30:21

an early twenty twenty four first when

30:24

I was in Yacht Club, and then I had to spend a pretty

30:26

early startup draft pick for him, and at

30:28

the time it was a complete unknown and it

30:30

was one of those takes, and it was you know, where you put

30:32

your money where your mouth is, and it could really

30:35

go either way because he hadn't played consistently

30:37

as a starter ever, and so when it hits, that's

30:39

when it feels special. It's not like, you know, like

30:41

if you were if you loved Brandon, I you two

30:44

seasons ago and then he took the leap, It's like, okay, great,

30:46

Yeah, he'd been playing and he progressed on the field. Jordan

30:49

Love not coming completely out of

30:51

nowhere by any means, but never

30:53

having gotten a chance to start, and

30:55

just kind of trusting the process and trusting that the

30:57

Packers and the NFL

30:59

media. I think the biggest part of the take that I Love was like

31:01

the NFL media is going to hype up his value, Like everywhere

31:04

you look, if he throws a single touchdown, you'll see Brett Farr

31:06

photos and Aaron Rodgers photos, and that has

31:08

happened. I'm like, yes, so yeah, Jordan

31:11

Love better.

31:12

He got went on his

31:15

weapons too.

31:16

I mean, like you can't deny with that young core.

31:18

It's just it wheels up for him.

31:21

Well, one of the misses, though, Dylan kind of going to one

31:23

of your guys, though I thought Christian Watson would

31:25

be. If you told me Christian Watson would have as

31:27

disappointing as a season as he has had,

31:29

I would have thought my take on Jordan Love would be completely

31:31

incorrect. But the fact that Jaden Reid

31:34

has stepped up who you believed in from the start,

31:36

it's one of those things that makes me trust it even more. It's

31:39

like he's using any any

31:41

weapon he can find right now to be Fantasy relevant.

31:43

So Milton Melton,

31:48

we talk about this with Stroud. Yeah,

31:51

we talked about Stroud.

31:52

Him being one to carry a team and elevate

31:54

the receivers around him. Jordan Love is

31:57

kind of turning into that, like he really is with these

31:59

young, unproved guys. It's Jordan Love

32:01

that's getting Melie Keith the ball, like you said,

32:03

getting bow melts in the ball. Jayde reads

32:05

the certified stuff, but we don't know what Bow Melton and maliek

32:07

Keith are.

32:08

And this is without this is without Luke miss Grave

32:10

for a chunk of the season, I mean, and has

32:13

been the guy. Christian Watson and Aaron

32:15

Jones has been out a lot, Like I mean, it's

32:18

definitely wheels up I mean, and he gives

32:20

you rushing upside, like we's got a handful of Russian

32:22

touchdowns this year.

32:23

I think you've got two or three.

32:24

Yeah, yeah, it's fine,

32:26

bro. I think I looked at the other day. I was because jealousy,

32:29

jealousy, I looked at it. I could

32:32

you all, but I was like, damn it. I

32:34

was like, damn you, Josh, you had Jordan

32:36

Love and you're right about Jordan Love.

32:39

Let me go look at this because I'm actually like

32:41

trying to see if I okay raptor

32:45

Jordan Love? Am I

32:47

right?

32:51

The difference?

32:52

Yeah? So thirty touchdowns, eleven picks,

32:55

almost four thousand yards QB five

32:57

on the season, four Russian touchdowns

33:00

to go with it. I mean five

33:02

is crazy, That's true. I did not realize that. Jeez.

33:05

You know what's crazy? Is he maybe now a sell?

33:07

Because that's how dynasty works, Like do

33:10

you go, okay, hey, is he at this peak value?

33:13

I really don't think so, though, if he

33:15

gets a contract, because that's the biggest question, right

33:17

is on that contract to come through.

33:19

If he gets that, why.

33:20

Would you sell because then you have you have

33:22

a quarterback, like especially what we saw this

33:24

year with quarterbacks.

33:25

I'm not selling a quarterback that has a contract.

33:27

No, that's true.

33:28

So you know what's funny about that? And Johnson, I

33:30

think you have another question. You say you had three questions, right,

33:32

you have another?

33:33

I do, but I want to I want to get your take though, Mike.

33:35

I mean, I know that you weren't necessarily on your week to week

33:37

given takes. You came on to correct a few ones

33:39

that you disagreed with, which was always a blast.

33:41

But god, I mean, honestly, I can't.

33:44

I can't even I couldn't. I

33:46

mean, dude, they all run together for me about

33:48

to do this for a living. So I mean, I I

33:51

just be, just be. I don't know what the hell I'm saying.

33:54

I don't know. And I'm old too. I mean, I

33:57

mean, I guess for me. Okay, here's

33:59

one, and it actually dovetails

34:02

into something I want to say. I will I will say

34:04

I told you soul on this one. I

34:07

mean, and in the off season

34:09

I had different debates with all

34:11

of you, Dylan, Josh

34:14

Davis, and I was like, guys,

34:17

I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling

34:19

you what I know. Now. Did I

34:22

know he'd be the MVP conversation. No,

34:25

but like once upon a time, brock

34:27

Purty was like, is

34:30

he going to be the starter? It's going

34:32

to be Trey Lance. They signed

34:34

Sam Darnam My guys, it's brock

34:36

Purty. Trust me. I

34:38

would not steer you wrong. Now

34:41

having said that, it

34:43

takes me to where I want to go. In

34:48

the Dynasty Cartel startup, I

34:50

drafted brock Party. This is

34:52

do's to give it and Dynasty take it away, take it,

34:55

take it away. I drafted him in the late rounds of the startup

34:57

Draft, the twelve team startup Draft. I

35:00

flipped him to you, Josh in that league. You later

35:02

traded him again, but I flipped him to you for

35:05

Sam Howell and AJ

35:07

Dillon at the time, and

35:10

somebody else said to me, oh, you got a free AJ

35:12

Dillon. No I didn't. No,

35:14

I didn't because.

35:16

Who said that?

35:18

Yeah, okay, Sam Howe. Sam Howell

35:20

is going to be somebody's back up indefinitely,

35:23

Like he has no future as a starter

35:25

the way it looked like he did at various points to

35:27

see that breaks my mind. No, right,

35:30

I was the first person I traded for for with you

35:32

in your club. Then that was

35:35

our first trading with Sam Hall, so

35:38

I putty, and then so that leads me

35:40

to like, I tried this in Cartel,

35:43

and and this is what I don't know whether I've learned

35:45

it or not, trying to figure I'm still trying to figure

35:48

this out, because at one point looked like it might

35:50

work for me. I made the playoffs in Cartel, but I made

35:52

it with a streaming quarterback approach. Because

35:54

in a four point touchdown pass league, even

35:57

when in super Flex, quarterback

35:59

was the new running back at least this year. So

36:02

to your point doing the second that goes out like yet,

36:04

but to your point the second ago Dylan about like if you got a

36:06

quarterback with a contract, why would you trade

36:08

him in a four point touchdown pass

36:10

league. I'm trying to figure out

36:13

whether you need stud quarterbacks

36:17

or whether you

36:19

just wait for it. In short,

36:21

like, there's gonna be so many guys that are

36:23

going to emerge, Guys are gonna get

36:25

hurt. Black

36:28

Proty even though he came out of nowhere last year,

36:31

what was his value in terms of ADP

36:34

this year? Because you know you're getting MVP wherever

36:36

you picked him this year. You know what I'm saying,

36:38

it's like, so it's like, do you absolutely Again,

36:40

I'm rambling here, I'm I'm trying to focus this. Do

36:43

you have to have an

36:46

elite quarterback in superflex, especially

36:48

in a four point touchdown pass league? I'm

36:51

not sure I figured out the answer yet.

36:53

When Joe Flacco was winning people games

36:56

down the end of the down the strutch this year, you

36:58

know, I don't know.

37:00

I don't I think if I could jump

37:02

in just real quick, because I kind of have a

37:04

response to it, because we had this conversation a

37:06

while back and you convinced me. I was

37:08

like, you know, or not fully convinced me, but

37:10

you've got the wheels turned to my head of like,

37:12

you know what, like maybe it is the new running back. But

37:14

I think where I've landed is I

37:17

think you need to have at least one solid quarterback,

37:19

at least one because you don't want to roll in with

37:21

Joe Flacco and Jake Browning. That's just that's

37:24

not an ideal situation, right. You don't want

37:26

to be playing the guessing game of you have

37:28

let's say you have three quarterbacks on your team, Jake Browning,

37:31

Joe Flacco, in Garner Minshew right,

37:33

or even.

37:33

Like a trade I traded. I

37:35

traded Josh Dobbs. I traded you four Josh Dobbs

37:38

how to work exactly?

37:43

Want to play with.

37:46

A backup, hey or sorry, with a

37:49

lesser QB of like a Josh dobb one

37:51

of those guys if you want to kind of play the rolette

37:53

in your super flex, Absolutely for me,

37:55

I think I would feel better doing that if I have a

37:58

quote unquote stud. But as

38:00

I'm speaking, I'm like, well, what if you had trumfor Lawrence

38:02

this year as your quote un.

38:04

You have petsck mahomes of that league, and I had

38:07

like maybe this year he is an outlier, I mean, but

38:09

still it's like, you know, if you if

38:12

you have this, if you had to Sean Watson

38:14

like quarterback for quarterback for me,

38:16

Josh quarterback for me goes like this. There

38:20

are guys that So

38:23

unless you're talking about Jalen Hurts, Lamar

38:26

Jackson, Josh Allen,

38:29

Josh Allen, presumably healthy

38:31

Anthony Richardson, somebody of that ilk,

38:34

I don't know that the rest of them matter.

38:37

For example, in Dynasty

38:41

Cartel. In Dynasty Cartel, I

38:44

traded both trembor Lawrence and to a tongue a

38:46

b lower this year, and I

38:48

feel great about it. And here's why. Just

38:51

as Tour will have the occasional thirty

38:53

point week far

38:55

more frequently than people maybe realize,

38:58

he's good for twelve, good

39:00

for he's good for eleven, Trelor Lawrence,

39:02

same thing. Trevor Lawrence may never be a good fantasy

39:04

quarterback. He's a prototypical reality

39:06

quarterback. He may be a good fantasy quarterback, and

39:09

then here comes the world elevens. I guess what I'm saying

39:11

is, if you are active enough

39:14

in terms of transactions and

39:17

and you can forecast well enough, Dylan,

39:19

you may have hit the sweet spot. It might be like, get you

39:21

a guy like almost like hero running back instead

39:24

of zero running back. Get you a guy that you're

39:26

comfortable starting every week, and you'll live with the

39:28

ebbs and flows, and then play

39:30

roulette with that second spot, because whereas

39:33

now in a six point touchdown pass league, maybe it's

39:35

maybe it's a story. Yeah you get

39:38

yeah, but it's just like you know, when

39:41

I first got into Dynasty with you guys quarterbacks,

39:43

it was like, do whatever you gotta do to get a quarterback.

39:46

But the guy who won yach Club.

39:49

Not that I'm paying attention, but the guy who won Yach

39:51

Club had Baker Mayfield.

39:54

That's his cute He Baker Mayfield Rock Party, and

39:57

so it's like.

39:58

We can get miss Flowers in this send off.

40:00

Good for him, you know, but it's just

40:02

but I guess my point is it's like there there's

40:05

such a revolving door at that

40:07

position, and then there's and then he'll come

40:09

on another class of workie quarterbacks.

40:11

Josh uh No, I tend

40:14

to disagree.

40:14

I think the problem is is a little bit of recency

40:17

bias based on your sample size. Right, this year

40:19

was historic with the amount of quarterbacks.

40:21

Sixty sixty

40:25

ye, yeah, no, totally wasn't a.

40:26

Historic though, like we're seeing a trend

40:28

like last year. I'm pretty sure it was also historic with the amount

40:30

of backups.

40:31

Right.

40:31

We also play eighteen or eighteen games, seventeen

40:34

games of eighteen weeks of the regular season. So I

40:36

don't think you're wrong about the hero

40:38

quarterback. And I think this is an entirely different conversation,

40:41

Like you mentioned, you know, playing in two leagues. Obviously,

40:43

Yacht Club was the focus. It was the league of record six

40:46

point touchdown having played in it for four years.

40:48

If you had two great qbs playing

40:50

to the level you expected them to because Mahomes

40:52

had an off year, I would know if you Jalen Hurts didn't

40:55

have an off of your fantasy wise, but his future isn't

40:57

his bright you know, the office has looked good.

40:58

I had Out and Dak

41:00

Prescott when they were cooking, and that carried

41:02

me to the playoffs exactly.

41:04

So in four point I think you

41:06

have to at least see it hero. I think it's

41:09

a good observation of like, Okay, rushing

41:11

guys are much much more valuable. But the

41:14

reality is it's not

41:16

sustainable to win as many trades as

41:19

you do, Like it's not good advice for most

41:21

people. Like that much is super clear you are

41:23

the transaction king. And then the

41:25

other argument I would make, I mean, look at Sam Howell, like

41:28

yeah, like he looked like an absolute

41:30

not just a good streamer.

41:32

He's worthless to me now unless

41:34

you want him

41:35

to do it.

41:37

If you want you know what, No,

41:39

but now he's workless. But he was a top five

41:41

quarterback a lot of the season and finished as QB Elemon,

41:44

So.

41:45

I know what what I'm saying is imagine

41:47

the fool's gold of investing future

41:49

long term assets to get a guy like that,

41:52

a second tier, third tier guy, because you're constantly

41:55

you can make it work at one position. I'll admit, like if you

41:57

run with Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O'Connell, Zach Wills

41:59

like I did that, I was like, okay, that there's levels

42:02

that you can do that with. And heck, we don't

42:04

talk about this enough in super Flex. Don't

42:06

start a QB.

42:08

Go get a higher you know what I mean, especially in.

42:10

The startup draft.

42:10

And this kind of leads me to my third question

42:13

with where the show is going, and specifically

42:15

where the three of us want to go, because ultimately the show

42:18

is about a super competitive fantasy

42:20

league. What do you guys want

42:22

the new league of record to look like? The Dynasty Exchange

42:24

to look like. Because we've talked about sixteen

42:26

team super Flex League. I was just talking

42:29

to Dom before the show. I have been in my bag with

42:31

research a couple facts.

42:33

I was really concerned if we did super Flex with sixteen

42:35

teen it was gonna be awful. But if we did sixteen

42:38

teams start nine, it is the exact

42:40

same playerpool.

42:41

Size of stars of Stars.

42:43

I'm gonna saying, do this eight.

42:46

I seek eight.

42:47

It's good based off bench size. But here's what I'm this

42:49

is just a fact for you. It kind of blows your mind.

42:51

Sixteen start nine,

42:54

same exact player pool that is starting as

42:57

twelve start twelve, which is exactly

42:59

what we had when we started the

43:02

Yacht Club. So all I'm saying

43:04

is is that there's this concern I had

43:06

that, Okay, not only in a

43:08

sixteen team is quarterback going to be valuable.

43:11

It's going to be rare, like the playoff teams

43:13

are in my head, the teams that

43:15

are going to have two healthy qbs because people

43:17

are going to lose them throughout the season. But the more

43:19

I think about it, I am excited to learn

43:22

about whether or not you can build a team

43:25

with just a hero quarterback, because there's gonna be several

43:27

teams I'm already betting, and I'm excited to see it

43:29

happen and how they do it win

43:31

with mostly one quarterback and truly treating the super

43:34

flex as just an additional flex spot.

43:36

So here's the foundation of the league for those that are

43:38

curious. Sixteen teams, we're

43:40

going on four divisions. Seven

43:42

teams make the playoffs one by four

43:45

division winners, three wildcards. It's going to be just

43:47

like an NFL conference. It's like an AFC or

43:49

NFC, So

43:52

it's not that we go go eight. So we're going to start quarterback,

43:55

two un batch, two receivers, one tight end,

43:57

one flex, one super flex. Right,

44:00

We're going back and forth on bench size, no taxi

44:03

squad, two irs. All

44:05

I want for this league. I wanted to be hard,

44:09

so I want to be difficult. So

44:12

thank you for the compliment earlier about you know you

44:14

didn't you couldn't tell that was my first year playing Dynasty.

44:16

When I played Fantasy for a long time. Obviously,

44:18

everybody knows what I do for a living or done

44:20

for a living for a long time, so I kind

44:22

of know football a little bit. But

44:25

more than anything, my Dynasty training came

44:27

from years and years

44:30

and years and years of franchise

44:32

Mode Madden. I've always been fascinated

44:34

by the team building process. It's why

44:36

I'm relentless when it comes to transactions.

44:39

So when I played Madden, I

44:41

never franchised or

44:43

did franchise mode with a ready made team.

44:46

I always wanted a team that was

44:48

the farthest away from winning, had the

44:50

worst cap situation, the oldest roster,

44:52

the fewest draft picks, because what's the

44:54

fun in taking the Cowboys and

44:57

franchising the Cowboys? Like, all right, I mean they

44:59

got all this talent, what's the point?

45:01

I mean a Cowboy fan and knowing that maybe

45:03

the only time you see a championship. But yes, I get I

45:05

get you to.

45:08

Ship. Yes,

45:10

all right, he managed to get properly right winning

45:15

a playoff game or NFC title game. Sorry,

45:17

right, right, right, No, But I

45:20

mean I want the sixteen team league

45:22

to challenge us. I want to. I want to

45:24

because I played in the twenty team league, which was a

45:26

lot it's probably too much. The best

45:28

league I ever played in, and

45:30

the best two championships ever won was

45:32

a sixteen team war room league at ESPN.

45:35

That was the one that had Schefter and Mooret, Matthew

45:37

Berry and me and Phil Yates

45:39

and you know, Tim Hasselbeck so

45:41

on and so forth, and

45:46

it was the it was the It was how fin it was

45:48

because it challenged you to look

45:51

beyond the obvious. So people, it's funny

45:53

on Fantasy Football pre game on

45:55

on Sunday mornings, they laugh at me because I'm

45:58

always coming up with Amaro de

46:00

Marcado two weeks before anybody else.

46:02

It's because I'm looking for that dude that

46:05

has six carries, you know

46:07

what I mean, That like who else

46:09

that you know what I mean? You know, I'm I'm

46:12

always going deeper because I'm

46:14

used to playing in those deep leagues where you have

46:17

to challenge yourself to know the rosters

46:19

on that deeper level. And so I'm

46:22

looking for a league that challenges

46:25

me and that challenges all of us to

46:27

really scout. And

46:29

Dylan, I know that's your that's

46:32

your ministry is scouting, you know what I mean. So like

46:34

now you got to now you gotta draft against fifteen

46:36

other teams you know, well,

46:41

you know, like in Yacht

46:43

Club, Dylan. You

46:45

know a lot of people around around Fantasy

46:48

and Dynasty. Your boy pook in the coop was

46:51

a waiver wire pickup at some

46:53

point in the off season. He was the

46:55

four eight for me in Yacht Club because the

46:57

fourteen team league, you know.

47:00

And so I'm looking forward

47:02

to drafting in the fourth round of a sixteen

47:04

team league like this. It

47:07

gives me tangles to just find that diamond

47:09

in the rough.

47:09

You know what I mean totally, And that's one

47:12

of the things I'm most excited for too, is the challenge

47:14

of it. But also I think for me, what I when

47:17

I saw this question, the first thing I thought of was I'm

47:19

ready to put these fantasy philosophies

47:21

to the test. We just talked about hero RB

47:24

or this QB philosophy. Because any analysts

47:26

that you tap into anytime you're on Twitter, you see.

47:28

All these we figured it out. Go zero RB, we

47:31

figured it out. Just load up on wide receivers.

47:33

You know, there's so many different strategies that people have figured

47:35

out fantasy football for a twelve team and even

47:37

sometimes fourteen, but not very

47:39

many strategies have been nailed down for a sixteen

47:41

team super flex league like we're doing. And so I'm

47:44

really excited to get in there and really put to test,

47:46

like, Okay, what is the best strategy for this? And

47:48

obviously that also varies with your

47:51

league mates, right, And that's another thing I'm

47:53

excited for is to see, Okay, let's get in

47:55

with some other people that enjoy like

47:57

the three of us that are super super degenerate

48:00

know when to go pick up pou off the waiver

48:02

wire when he's available, or not even pick him off. The waiver

48:05

dropped him in the fourth round as needed. So

48:07

I'm excited for that. And I just want to nail down

48:09

the strategy and I want to see Okay in the sixteen

48:11

team super Flex. We were talking about it earlier, Josh.

48:14

We don't know what to expect. Is it going to be the first two rounds

48:16

just full of quarterbacks? I think so going

48:19

to go in the first two rounds are going to from

48:21

that, and so I'm super excited.

48:24

I might not. I saw Mike, I

48:26

saw your face. I was like, one's

48:30

all right because going back to the startup in Cartel.

48:34

So I took Trevor Lawrence and again you

48:36

know he's, oh, here's another lesson.

48:38

Can I go back to the lessons. Here's what I'm gonna

48:40

try to do. This is this is on the podcast.

48:42

I think that's true. It's

48:44

like it's a lesson. It's also a new Year's

48:47

resolution, as best I can, as

48:49

best I can, I'm going to try

48:52

not to be as

48:54

active in the off

48:56

season as I was last

48:58

year. What I'm gonna try

49:01

And I said try, I didn't promise anything,

49:03

but the reason is this is like, think

49:06

about all the decisions that we're making based

49:08

off just off season hype that

49:10

once we get into the season, it's like, why

49:13

did I do that? Because we're bored,

49:15

and not just bored, We're addicted to this thing.

49:18

And it's like, so going back to startup, I

49:20

drafted Trevor Lawrens with the one O seven because

49:23

in the offseason he was going to be an MVP. This year they

49:25

got Calvin Ridley. Is like, cancel Christmas.

49:29

I traded my twenty four first for

49:32

the one eleven so that I could draft

49:34

the wide receiver one we

49:37

didn't know that would be Citie Lamb. And

49:40

looking back, I'm like, and

49:42

this is me still kind of like pushing this whole

49:44

quarterback hero maybe even zero quarterback

49:47

approach to superflex. I

49:49

think I want to build my team around

49:52

depending on where I'm at in the draft, I

49:54

think I want to build around Jamar

49:57

Chase. I want to build around City Lamb.

50:00

I want to build around Poking the Core.

50:03

I want to build around guys that Because

50:05

it's like, and this is where dynasty gets really

50:07

tricky, Josh, I passed to you with this, It's like

50:11

it is the journey or the

50:13

destination more fun because like

50:16

say Cartel for example, now you now

50:19

that you guys made the playoffs. I lost in the

50:21

second round. After that,

50:23

be Davis, I lost in the second round,

50:26

and it's like, oh

50:28

wait, I made playoffs in that league.

50:29

By the way,

50:35

I traded back and.

50:36

Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so disrespectful

50:39

the playoffs. Yeah, matter

50:42

of fact, you are higher seed than me with a three seed. Yeah

50:45

no, but we

50:48

just crowned a champion on

50:52

Sunday. And

50:55

did I'm gonna just use his name. Did

50:57

Jeremy Lundblad even get a chance

51:00

to celebrate before we were talking about the

51:02

lottery, like can't we care?

51:04

And dynasty? We care so much about the

51:06

off season and the

51:09

value and building a portfolio,

51:11

and then in a moment's notice, it

51:14

becomes when now, and it becomes redraft

51:16

and season long just

51:18

for a split second to win. Because Matthew

51:21

Berry came on the show, that was a highlight for us this year.

51:23

He talked about he talked about flags

51:25

flying forever. Yeah,

51:27

but man, I want the draft picks. I

51:30

want, I want. I

51:32

like the process. I like the startup draft. I like the

51:34

process of constructing these rosters.

51:36

So I think I'm going to build my team

51:38

just to kind of wrap this up and combine everything

51:41

I'm saying, Josh, startup. I'm leaning

51:43

toward building my team around guys who

51:46

are more likely to go for twenty five or

51:48

thirty and win me a week. And

51:51

because this sixteen team league is a four

51:53

point touchdown pass league, is it not, I

51:55

think I want to go receivers early and maybe and maybe

51:58

wait on quarterback. Believe it or not.

52:00

I mean, you got to let the draft fall to you, so

52:02

we'll see how that plays out. I think the big

52:04

thing for me is understanding

52:06

the culture we want to create from the start, and

52:09

part of that is active owners. And I don't think

52:11

that you can guarantee that you don't want to ever

52:13

force people to make trades. But I want to create

52:15

an environment, and we've talked at length about this where you're

52:17

forced to have to work with other owners

52:20

at some level to get all

52:22

that you need. And so having a sixteen team

52:24

league is great, but limiting the bench sizes

52:26

where transactions are going to be the way

52:28

you push yourself over the top if a championship

52:30

window does open up, because

52:33

I think it wasn't a mistake. Part

52:35

of the tension that was always there in yacht club was

52:37

there was guys that were very active and wanted to trade

52:39

more, and then there were guys that knew what they were doing and you shouldn't

52:41

punish them for being smart. But in the first two years

52:44

of this thing would tank, and when there wasn't the same

52:46

tanking rules, when there wasn't the same guardrails against

52:48

certain things, they built up a ton of wealth. And like, the worst

52:50

thing I can do is messed with a good

52:52

thing. And so they just kind of sat back on their haunches

52:55

and we're good for years to come. And that's part of the fun of dynasty.

52:57

I think for me, the goal

52:59

has always been and I've never even achieved it,

53:02

you know, step one of this, which is winning a single championship

53:04

because I haven't played in fifteen dynasty leagues.

53:06

I've played in two and only I just started one

53:08

last year with this league, I want to win

53:11

three championships in a row. I think if you do that,

53:13

by the way, you will reset the league. If we do

53:15

that, If any owner in the sixteen team league wins

53:17

three in a row, we immediately redraft

53:19

like we start from scratch, because that to me is a dynasty.

53:21

You know, team is ninety But.

53:24

Why why is why is it? Why

53:26

do we have to trigger that? Like? What if you win

53:28

three in a row, because okay, I'm

53:31

an evoke ye club again, yeah

53:35

club. The two teams that

53:37

look like they were poised to compete

53:40

for three in a row, neither of them made the

53:42

final. Yeah yeah,

53:45

these juggernaut teams now they made the final. In

53:48

Dynasty Cartel, the league we started last

53:50

year, the number

53:52

two seed won it and he had a really good team, Like

53:54

you know.

53:55

I called him for I will say shout out to Lumba,

53:57

but I literally said from day one, that is the team

53:59

A most worried about.

54:00

He nailed the startup draft and

54:02

the draft, and he's just

54:05

and and he set up, he's set up for the long

54:07

term. And

54:08

still you

54:10

win, right exactly. But what if

54:12

you win and it's not because your

54:15

team is just so head

54:17

and shoulders above everybody. What if you win because

54:20

your teammate look different year to year and you still find

54:22

a way to win. And I think personally,

54:24

if somebody wins three in a row, that just makes

54:26

me want to beat him more. I don't want to reset. I

54:28

want to take you down.

54:30

Yeah, I think it's

54:33

easy to say that. No, No, it is, and

54:35

I think it's one. I think it's when the league can't have

54:37

I'm not saying it's like a hard like we.

54:39

Have to do it right, like it should be

54:43

question because you can't just say

54:45

someone that's been rebuilding, you know.

54:47

You kid, No, no exactly, I

54:49

don't think you can make when you started. I'm gonna be confident

54:52

about this. You can't say, hey, any

54:54

any year we can vote to reset it. No,

54:57

only if this thing happens,

54:59

is this option on the table, and just

55:02

being clear about that. Correct,

55:05

correct, And I think I think the reason why

55:07

one, if you're that owner, that's that's an incredible achievement.

55:09

But like to your argument, using your argument against

55:11

you, Mike, the two Juggernaut teams didn't even win

55:13

it this year, they didn't even make the finals. So if you win three

55:16

in a row, that's an incredible accomplishment

55:18

that you have built a dynasty team. Because what do we say

55:20

in sports all the time, this dynasty,

55:22

that dynasty. They always have one thing in common, it's three

55:25

championships. You know, I don't think we talk about

55:27

the Detroit Pistons of the nineties having a dynasty team.

55:29

They were a championship team, but I wouldn't call

55:31

that a dynasty. Yeah, the Cowboys winning three

55:34

two dynasties, you know, Like I just think I.

55:36

Just think three championships in a row for one

55:38

team is not necessarily reflective

55:41

of an unhealthy league. I think you can.

55:43

Still I hear that.

55:45

No that I think it's I think it's the

55:47

fun of if you've been a middling team

55:49

and I think the league will get there where

55:51

Oh hey, wouldn't it be cool now

55:53

that I've known you guys all for X number

55:55

of years, if we did reset the table and

55:57

we have an excuse to do it, to start

56:00

square one, start draft fun.

56:03

That's actually the point is like.

56:06

Yeah, that context makes makes way more sense

56:09

because I think, to me, this is

56:11

my general philosophy is it takes

56:13

skill to draft a good team, to manage

56:15

it during the regular season and have a good matchup

56:17

right or sorry and uh and and

56:19

win your matchups to get into playoffs.

56:22

So it is.

56:23

Borderline just luck to actually make it

56:25

to the championship game. It's matchups,

56:27

it's injuries, it's because at that point, your league

56:30

is locked down, right, you can't make it retroact

56:32

unless it's like.

56:34

It's already again.

56:35

Luck in so many respects.

56:36

I think we talk about that, but there is if you make playoffs,

56:39

that is there's a huge amount of skill involved, Dylan,

56:41

does this come from a personal place?

56:42

From a redraft league that you totally should have won the championship

56:45

in?

56:46

Also, my team in that league was

56:48

absolutely.

56:49

Never seen lose a championship, should.

56:51

Have won it and I lost. So that's what I'm saying it is.

56:53

Look, it's all about matchups.

56:56

Yeah, I've

56:58

won a couple of championships with

57:00

teams that I mean, And

57:02

honestly, it's very similar to actual football.

57:05

It's another thing I love about fantasy is it really is

57:07

reflective of reality because the

57:09

best team does not always win the Super

57:11

Bowl. The healthiest team ball

57:14

bounce your way, team gets on a roll.

57:16

It's like that in fantasy. Like you know, you

57:18

could you could have one hundred and

57:20

forty point week, which I did in a semi

57:22

final, and the next week I get ninety nine because

57:25

James James Cook goes from goes

57:28

from Jim Brown to Dalvin

57:31

Cook. You know in a matter of the week. I'm like, damn,

57:33

Like, you know, it's just it's so it's

57:35

so unpredictable. And for me, the

57:38

thing I've loved about and the reason I'll never play redraft

57:40

again is

57:42

because Dynasty

57:45

is just so No,

57:47

No, I don't think so. It's

57:50

just because it's not once you play Dynasty

57:53

to me, you know, it's

57:55

just it's just hard to go back to agree

57:57

that.

57:58

It's the stake. Man, it's the main part of the entre.

58:00

But the ownership, it's theership,

58:03

it's the year round nature of it. It's it's

58:06

the it's the it's the long view,

58:08

it's the long game. It's like, no, this is

58:10

my team, like my team in Dynasty

58:12

Cartel with ten and four. I made

58:14

some moves toward the end of the year with some trades

58:16

with Dylan that kind of you know, positioned me more for the long

58:19

term than the short term, and that

58:21

team, like I want to blow it up

58:23

now, but but it's like, but I'm

58:25

stuck with it though. It's like I like the idea of having

58:27

to dig my way out of it, you know what I mean.

58:29

So, yeah, I prefer Dynasty. I'm all

58:31

in on Dynasty. Right. That's

58:34

why Age Josh not read Draft Exchange.

58:37

I get it.

58:38

I'm simply saying that sports

58:41

drop moment that was I wasn't

58:43

knocking it. Dynasty to me is the is the

58:46

best way to enjoy fantasy and

58:48

we're looking forward, obviously to building

58:50

this league and really using it as a case study. What I

58:52

think it's cool is that the show is going

58:54

to get.

58:54

To go along for the ride.

58:55

Heck, the show will be older than the league itself,

58:58

and so getting to kind of check the

59:00

entire journey with you guys

59:03

is going to be a blast, because it's not you know,

59:05

We've said it multiple times and I'll keep coming back

59:07

to it. I think the best advice we can give is this players

59:09

first, and yeah, we're gonna there's analy

59:12

I'm a nerd. I love analytics. I love some of

59:14

the advanced stuff, But like the journey to win

59:16

a championship, is it a conversation about hanging banners

59:19

or is it a conversation about like forever

59:21

having a contender team and being number

59:23

one on a trade calculator. I think those are the types of

59:25

debates we're gonna get into this offseason. Obviously,

59:28

Dylan, I know you're just salivating

59:30

at the opportunity to just talk rookies

59:32

NonStop. And I'm sure that's going to be happening from

59:35

late February into March. But the show

59:37

is gonna be taking a break. We don't know how long that

59:39

break's gonna be, but we have a general idea of when we're gonna

59:41

come back.

59:42

I think we just we talk it out here

59:44

briefly as I know you're closing the show.

59:46

I think I

59:49

think the start of the league year. Honestly,

59:51

I don't, I don't, I don't need an exact date. Might

59:53

be March fourth or something like that, you know, don't

59:56

quote.

59:56

Me on that, but still under league

59:58

year, not the NFL game.

1:00:00

Yeah, at the start of the NFL calendar, league

1:00:02

year, the start of free agency. I

1:00:04

think we should resume the podcast when player

1:00:07

movement picks up. Yep. And

1:00:09

yeah, that's that's what I would target for us.

1:00:12

What it'll be fun, too, is with this sixteen

1:00:14

team is talking through the draft process

1:00:16

because we have kind of a unique way to balance the draft.

1:00:19

We did it with Cartel worked out great. I'm guys,

1:00:21

I'm hopeful that we're going to be on a show slow

1:00:24

drafting our startup team together and getting people

1:00:26

like an opportunity to see

1:00:28

like what we're thinking as we make some of these picks.

1:00:30

But I can't much.

1:00:32

Though

1:00:35

about you you stealing some of my Like,

1:00:37

Okay, I know Walsh likes this guy.

1:00:38

Hell, let me get on the phone and snake this player. It's gonna

1:00:40

be time each other.

1:00:42

Well enough already,

1:00:43

that's very true.

1:00:46

Well, this has been Season one of

1:00:48

the Dynasty Exchange. We look forward to coming back in

1:00:51

early March. Dylan, any any final

1:00:54

parting thoughts as we leave these wonderful

1:00:56

listeners through the month of February.

1:00:58

Just do your research. Do you research

1:01:00

on the rookies. Get ahead now. Now is the

1:01:02

time to watch the bowl games, watch film, watch

1:01:04

the Senior Bowl. Get plugged in in Dynasty

1:01:06

leagues. You want to know you're going to catch those pook and nakuas,

1:01:09

like we talked about a couple episodes ago, pookin

1:01:11

Akua, Tank Dell. Those guys were bona

1:01:13

fide studs at the Senior Bowl. Look into that stuff

1:01:15

so that you know who to go and get in your rookie drafts.

1:01:19

For me, Congratulations to you guys on

1:01:21

a successful season one. I'm

1:01:24

looking forward to you making

1:01:26

your year two jump. All the analysts are

1:01:29

going to be talking about, you know, the off season

1:01:31

development. You guys are rookies anymore. You guys

1:01:34

are no longer rookies. Congratulations, y'all

1:01:36

are no longer rookie podcasts.

1:01:37

True, very very true.

1:01:39

Appreciate it, Mike as always, super thankful

1:01:41

to the Inflection Network. Proud to call it home. This

1:01:44

has been it for season one of the Dynastic

1:01:46

Shape. We will catch up with you guys in Marching.

1:01:48

Oh yeah,

1:01:57

okay,