Dynasty Checklist - April
What do April Showers bring??? đˇ Zay Flowers đˇ
Week 1
April 3 - Clubs that hired a new Head Coach after the end of the 2022 regular season may begin off-season workout programs.
Carolina, Denver, Houston, Indy, & Arizona all start their year. Football never stops, and neither does dynasty. Possibly weâll see some trades wrapped up by this time for Hopkins and Rodgers, but probably not.
Make sure youâre caught up from the March checklist.
Review any of your draft targets performances from their pro-day. Iâm excited for this Jalen Carter saga to unwind. Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis were able to add (or detract) from their draft stock a little bit here too.
Double check mock progress by your favorite talking heads ahead of the real NFL Draft:
Free agency is mostly wrapped, but there was a lot of movement this year in your bench guys. This is a decent paywall-free spot to review any you may have missed.
Looking through these can be a foolâs game following a GMâs misdirection. But just a quick peak, I see that the Cardinals are hosting a lot of people who are projected to go in the 5-15 range of the Draft. Hendon Hooker could also go anywhere, but feel like he could go to Tennessee or Tampa if heâs lucky enough to go in the 1st round.
Week 2
Commissioner Corner: Planning your Draft Party
This was a nice reddit post about planning a rookie draft party. Here are a few other simple things you can do to prepare for your draft party:
Select a date and location that works for all league members. - Consider who may have more first round picks vs. someone who isnât interested in drafting this year. Sometimes a holiday like Memorial day will actually work best for everyone when you assumed the opposite.
Choose a theme for the draft. - This seems irrelevant, but being able to look back on certain parties years from now because it was the âCinco de Mayoâ draft adds some fun for the boys and convenient for memory recollection down the road.
Prepare snacks and drinks for everyone to enjoy. - I would suggest that if you are hosting and drafting, try to keep it simple, stupid.
Consider incorporating games or challenges to make the event more exciting. - I wish I wouldâve thought of this earlier. Usually at my crib, we have horseshoes, soccer, football, and basketball.
But there are other games you can do: league history trivia, rookie trivia, NFL charades, a mock draft challenge to see who gets the closest to the real results, a Madden tourney, bags, testicle toss, beer pong, flip cup, or even baseball. Maybe the winner gets a comp pick at the end of the 2nd round?
I also would suggest taking a yearly govorner photo.
Make sure everyone has access to the draft board and necessary materials. - This is where I slightly dropped the ball last year, having a draft board and my draft spreadsheet inside while the party was mostly outside. Just want to think some things through, and hopefully make it a great experience for everyone in your league.
Have backup plans in case of any technical difficulties. - This speaks for itself, but this includes food! Sometimes things you make donât turn out, donât fret, send the last place person to get a Party Pack from TB.
Review the March Dynasty Trade Value charts (peakedinhighschool) ahead of draft day trades.
Week 3
April 17 - Clubs with returning Head Coaches may begin off-season workout programs.
Two weeks after the new head coaches. Weâll see who shows up to these! Last year, it was Rodgers missing, and he didnât have the greatest season. Media is saying Rodgers doesnât need to show up because of Hackett, but heâs probably getting anxious not being able to truly work on his new team.
April 19 - Deadline for clubs to time, test, visit, interview, or conduct a physical examination with a draft-eligible player at its club facility.
Again, I wouldnât take too much away from theses visits, but rather who didnât visit where. All of it would be speculation from our POV but god damn do the Panthers seem to love CJ Stroud.
April 21 - Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign Offer Sheets.
Will we see any holdouts this year? Doubtful.
Review any draft material you may have acquired. I am not big on this, but some other writers tend to put out draft and prospect guides. Iâm not sure who is the best, but I would probably want to go with someone who I know watches film and understands data. Sometimes you need to go with the best of each world, find a good data guy and find a good film guy.
Ponder if your home team needs itâs jumbo-tron updated. Poor Commanders.
Week 4
April 26 - Deadline for Prior Club to exercise Right of First Refusal to Restricted Free Agents.
You know what this will be all about this year. LL Cool J. He requested a trade at the beginning of this month and for some reason it doesnât matter to the other 12 or so teams desperate for a franchise qb.
April 27 - Deadline for clubs to time, test, visit, interview (including video and phone calls), or conduct a physical examination with a draft-eligible player at any location.
Evaluate your Team ahead of your Rookie Drafts (ahead of the real Draft).
April 27-29 - Annual Selection Meeting/NFL Draft (Kansas City, MO).
Good luck homies, Iâll see you in May.