It never hurts to plan, right? Hopefully none of this ends up being of any consequence with the exception of the IR eligibility part as that’s applicable regardless of how the season turns out. Still, I think it’s important to have a plan in place for your leagues should the season go awry. After all, it’s better to have a plan and not need it than to need a plan and not have it. With that in mind, I present to you my COVID plan for dynasty leagues.
1) Playoffs
a. All 17 weeks of the 2020 regular season are played and no adjustments are necessary.
b. NFL season gets shortened with enough time to hold emergency playoffs.
c. NFL season gets shortened without enough time to hold emergency playoffs.
2) Payouts
a. We are able to hold playoffs (with or without a shortened season): prizes are awarded as usual.
b. 2020 season lasts at least 6 weeks (with no time left to schedule playoffs): prorated prizes will be awarded based on final 2020 standings and per week all-play records.
c. 2020 season lasts 5 or less weeks: no prizes will be awarded, all dues will rollover to 2021, and MFL fee should be rolled over to 2021.
3) 2021 Draft Order
a. 2020 season lasts at least 6 weeks (with or without playoffs): draft order is determined by a combination of final 2020 standings / all play records.
b. 2020 season lasts 1-5 weeks: draft order is determined by tiered lottery using available 2020 standings and all play.
c. 2020 season is cancelled with 0 games played: draft order is determined by a random draw
4) IR Eligibility
-Both opt-out players (H) and COVID-IR players (C-IR) are IR eligible
-There is a hard limit on the IR to be determined by the league, but no hard limit on a given designation
Examples of how “emergency playoffs” scenarios could play out:
i. If the season is shortened to 12 games in week 8: we have our playoffs in weeks 9, 10, and 11.
ii. If the season is shortened to 12 games in week 8: we have one more regular season game, and playoffs in weeks 10, 11, and 12.
iii. If the season is shortened to 12 games in week 9: we have our playoffs in weeks 10, 11, 12.
iv. If the season is shortened to 12 games in week 10: we have less playoff teams, and playoffs in weeks 11 and 12.
v. If the season is shortened to 12 games in week 11 or later: we do not have playoffs.
Note: Each of the above scenarios (i, ii, iii, iv, v) would change depending on how much the NFL regular season is potentially shortened. A 12-week season is just used as an example.