2026 Dynasty Fantasy Football Strategy: What's Next After a Successful Season?

Your fantasy season is officially over and, at worst, you've made your money back. Perhaps you even secured the championship and took home a nice prize. Enjoy the feeling, soak it in, and relish in the fact that you are better than your leaguemates.

But don't get too comfortable. Let's intentionally look over every aspect of your title and make the necessary adjustments to make another deep playoff run in 2026.

How to Follow Up A Successful Dynasty Fantasy Football Season

Season Reflection

Finishing in the top 3 in any fantasy football leagues is a solid accomplishment, especially if it means you took down the rest of your leaguemates and secured the title.

At the same time, it's important to be honest about how you won the 'ship.

Did you dominate the regular season and roll through the playoffs?
Were you a solid team that just got hot at the right time?
Did you back into the playoffs before going on a 2012-13 Joe Flacco-type run?

All of those add important, necessary context. It certainly doesn't diminish your victory—you are, of course, the champion, and the rest of your league needs to be reminded of that as often as possible. But if you want to make another deep run next season, context always matters.

Once you can honestly and accurately identify the macro-level reasons that culminated in you finishing inside the top 3, ideally with a title, you can move forward with the next step of your offseason analysis.

Roster Analysis

Now that you've got a good handle on the big-picture elements, let's take a closer look at those who actually led your team to a top 3 finish this season.

Ah yes, the roster you initially laid the groundwork for in your initial startup draft and then tweaked, molded and crafted into the lethal squad it is today. But … is it really as good as you think it is?

This is not to say your roster isn't good, per se, but I've seen plenty of rosters finish on the podium that really only made it there because of significant outside circumstances. It's important you go position-by-position and make some quick, honest reflection.

First, the QBs. Assuming you're playing in a SF league (for example), how is that looking? We know it's the most important one to get right, or at least not get wrong, because of the natural scarcity of the position. Yes, there are technically 32 options each week, but the pool feels much shallower than that. Do you have a top-end option, maybe two? Are their jobs in danger from competition? Do you have any depth at all?

Next, the RBs. While the age-cliff can come fast and furious for mere mortals, many top-end finishers this season were graced with the services of King Derrick Henry (turns 32 years on Jan. 4). Are your RBs under contract with clear-cut roles? Do you simply have one stud with a bunch of ancillary pieces?

Then, the WRs. It's the single-deepest position in football, but top-end talent still matters. Guys like Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished in a tier of their own while a total of 15 wideouts crested the 200 PPR threshold. Even "boring" players with high floors could have helped you this year; Zay Flowers topped double digits in 13of 16 games.

Finally, the TEs. You either had Trey McBride … or you didn't. He finished as the TE1 and scored more than 100 PPR more than the TE2. This position has always boiled down to the "haves" and the "have nots,” but this season felt especially disproportionate after McBride. Even so, 15 TEs averaged at least 10 PPG this season.

So, is your roster aging? Is it young and loaded with studs? Do you have layers to your team, a nice blend of aging vets and up-and-coming stars?

Having a solid understanding of the ins and outs of your roster gives you the information you need to move to the next phase in your offseason analysis.

Identifying Next Moves

One recommendation I've given to many people over the years is to create a spreadsheet and input all the rosters from your league. Each team gets a row and then each position filters down vertically in a single column. It helps you get a macro-level sense of which teams are strong at each position and how you can approach trades.

Another layer I've added is to go through and highlight projected starters for each team based on the lineup requirements and scoring settings for the specific league. This gives me another quick visual data point to see who has weak Flex positions, who is missing an elite TE, or who has a volatile QB2 at their SF spot.

Having this key visual in front of you serves as a pseudo-draft board that you can update in real time/whenever a transaction takes place/each week.

Now that you've reflected on your season, analyzed your roster, and identified the moves you need to make, it's time to start preparing for every true dynasty degenerate's favorite time of the year—the dynasty fantasy football rookie draft.

Preparing for the Draft

Take a quick peek at your draft pick cupboard; how's it looking? Regardless of the capital you have (or don't), the direction you need to take your team will influence the choices you make.

Draft picks fluctuate in value throughout the calendar year. Generally speaking, future picks are the cheapest to acquire in the middle of the fantasy season, especially leading up to any trade deadline. That's when competing teams are more likely to ship off future picks for win-now pieces.

On the flip side, future picks increase in value up until the NFL Draft. Even if there's a general consensus about who the top players are, there's that element of "what if" (classic Family Guy mystery box GIF). Once players are attached to teams, values become much more concrete.

Keep those general tenets in mind as you prepare for your upcoming rookie draft.

Final Thoughts

There's nothing like playing dynasty fantasy football, and there's no better feeling than finishing among the top teams in your league.

As you prepare for the weeks and months ahead, make sure to be honest about where your team is at, how you made a deep playoff run this past season, and what needs to happen to make another run at the championship again next year.

Best of luck and reach out if you need anything!

Players Mentioned in this Article

JoeFlacco
QBCIN
PPG
8.11
JaxonSmith-Njigba
WRSEA
PPG
11.78
Proj
15.67
PukaNacua
WRLAR
PPG
15.03
Proj
16.82
DerrickHenry
RBBAL
PPG
10.03