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You want a fantasy format that provides multiple paths to winning rather than the team that ends up with the No. 1 RB in fantasy wins.
This was such an issue a generation ago that third-round reversal was invented. You had to do something so the team with a 20-touchdown running back didn’t waltz its way to the title. Enter full-point PPR. Then the flex position. Then a third wide receiver along with a flex. Then a SuperFlex to get a second QB into the starting lineup. How far your league goes down that line is how much your league has transformed from one where running backs dominate.
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Of course, the reality league has moved away from bell cows, too. So now people are concerned that these sprawling formats with deep rosters and receiving-centric scoring have actually devalued running backs too much. Enter points-per-carry scoring (usually about 0.25 per carry).
I write here about structure constantly. I tend to be agnostic on players. I’m an area drafter, not a bullseye drafter. If someone takes a guy I’m looking at before I can pick him, or bids a dollar more than I want to spend, I just get the next guy at that position as long as he’s in the same tier. I want the best WR room — but I don’t really care that much who the actual WRs are. I want a QB who is in the second-tier at the position because that’s where many Top 5 scoring QBs have come from in recent years. I want to load up on RBs 25-to-40 because I’ll get serviceable players and maybe/probably even an RB1 (Top 12) from this group, according to recent scoring history.
But these designs are for leagues that are at least Flex10 (mine are multiple Flexes even, so Flex11), score a point per reception and allow waiver wire bidding as opposed to waiver wire drafts. I won’t play any other format. If you have the best running back room, you’ll compete for a championship in any league — that hasn’t changed. But the same holds true if you have the best WR room. I like having multiple paths. What this really does is give everyone a chance to have a top team regardless of their draft slot and without resorting to the ridiculousness of a third-round reversal — there’s no need for gimmicks because the value of the top RB is marginalized and the top WR is unlikely to crush the No. 2 WR or even the Top 5 WRs.
But if your league is still Flex9 (two RBs and a Flex — nine starters), then the best RB room likely wins. Negate any scoring for catches and that’s even more likely.
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I prefer deeper starting lineups. They’re more fun because you can chip away with starting depth at the teams who have managed to land the handful of fantasy superstars in any given year. Those teams are going to the fantasy playoffs still. But having next year’s fantasy football magazine cover boy isn’t guaranteeing anything. It’s not enough to coast to a championship like back in the day.
As for scoring, I’m a big fan of distance scoring. My home league has a set number of points for passing and scoring touchdowns and a point for every yard of distance on top of that. It really maximizes the big plays. The ones you see in your social media feeds (or on TV) are the ones that actually were the biggest plays in your fantasy league, too. All touchdowns are not the same, not even close to the same.
But this is very disruptive and renders many rankings less useful (a feature or a bug?). Of course, there’s a large random element to distance touchdowns, as exciting as they are, and as gut-wrenching it is for a long gain to end near the goal line. If you want some more sizzle in your fantasy fandom and game-watching, you can utilize this type of scoring system through many sites, including Fantrax, which is probably the most customizable on the market.
More commonly, your league needs to decide on points per passing TD vs. the standard six points for a rushing or receiving touchdown. Your options are basically four points or six points for passing scores. I don’t really sweat this difference — six points per passing TD really dings the running QBs, but trying to win your fantasy league at QB with premium picks is a fool’s errand.
I don’t like minus points for interceptions. We want our quarterbacks to be gunslingers. An interception — especially a Pick Six — can be the greatest gift for fantasy QBs when there is no cost for that — they get the ball right back and have more of a need to throw. We also want QBs on teams that are forced to throw excessively due to having bad defenses, which of course leads to picks and sacks and fumbles. I’ve never declined a league that has these taxes — it’s not a deal-breaker. I just prefer no turnover tax, and that goes for fumbles, too. Let’s not be like the lunkhead head coaches and blame the players for fumbles when they’re either getting creamed or stripped, if not downright mugged.
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I prefer not having to play a tight end, instead having the option via tight end premium scoring. About 50% bonuses are good (for example, 1.5 PPR, 0.15 points per yard, 9 points per TD). This gives you an incentive to target top tight ends but doesn’t force you to play a slug every week — you can just play another WR instead and forgo a chance at those bonuses.
Next we have kicker scoring. I don’t like bonuses for field goals under 50 yards. Make 50+ an extra point of scoring and 60+ an extra two points. My home league makes all field goals one point with a point for 40+, another point for 50+ and another point for 60+. Kickers are so marginalized that I don’t even pick one up on waivers when mine is on bye (we have FAAB that’s pretty limited and minimum/non-zero bids that are quite steep).
Your next decision is D/ST scoring. I hate this part of fantasy. You’re really getting points based on game-script/desperation and fluky turnovers and even more fluky returns for touchdowns. And when a player has a return for 70 yards but gets tackled at the five-yard line, you get nothing.
If a D/ST runs back a pick and adds a special team TD, you’re winning a week for reasons mostly outside the realm of forecasting. Sure, we can bet against the offense that allows the most sacks or the defense that gets the most, we can target the defenses whose teams are the biggest favorites, but having a team that is a top actual defense doesn’t mean much. In 2022, the Jets were No. 1 or near it in most defensive stats and 29th in turnovers — again, these are fluky/descriptive (not predictive).
My home leagues have team scoring. No defenses or special teams. If the team wins its real-life game, you get three points. If they lose, you get minus-2. You also get 0.2 points for every point they score. This is significant but not game-breaking. It also makes teams more valuable in a draft than a D/ST. We have a good idea who the 12-win teams are going to be and no idea really who the top D/ST is going to be. Fantrax can also do this team scoring if you want to replace D/ST.
Now you need to determine how to manage your weekly waiver wire. A weekly free-agent draft that rewards the worst teams is pointless and also gives the teams out of contention late in the season the chance at the best players. Why? Free agent bidding (FAAB) is better. I have played where you can do $0 bids/free pickups after waivers run, from mid-week through kickoff of the Sunday games. But I have to say I like only one waiver wire run — with the bids mid-week — and steep minimums of at least 5-to-10% of the total FAAB budget. I like it more when there’s a real cost to being wrong with your waiver pickups.
Your last decision is whether you want some limited keepers. This is very dangerous. My home league is pretty limited in keeper trades. Teams selling keepers are allowed to make just one trade and all keeper trades must be one-for-one. The team building for the next year can only make three keeper trades total since our rules allow for a maximum of three keepers. Keepers also carry a three-round tax from where they were drafted the prior year. And the maximum number of years beyond the year they were drafted that you can keep a player is two. This makes keepers in this league more of a tailwind at best. No one in my home league has ever quit because they felt like they couldn’t win before even drafting their team.
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Read more: Big Board: Top 100 fantasy picks for 2023, from Justin Jefferson to Anthony Richardson
(Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
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