Frequently Asked Fantasy Football Questions: Part 1
Below you will find a list of commonly asked questions about the formation and execution of fantasy football leagues. When asking these questions, it helps to keep in mind that in most cases it’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong. There is a reason that there are so many options for how you can set up and design a league. On some of these questions you will find very strong opinions, whereas others are more on the, “whatever floats your boat”, end of the spectrum. Either way, what I can tell you for certain is that these answers come from experts with years of experience and lesson’s learned over that time. Furthermore, they have only one intention, which is to make your league the best and most fun that it can be.
Here is a summation of Episode #358- Frequently Asked Fantasy Questions.
For questions relating to strategy be sure to check out Frequently Asked Fantasy Questions: Part 2.
Where can I find a great league?
Jason Moore: “Here’s what you don’t do. You don’t just go to ESPN, Yahoo, etc and join a random league…you won’t enjoy it the way that you will in one with actual camaraderie.”
If you don’t happen to have 11 close friends or co-workers that want to start a league, as many do not, give FootClan Leagues a try. Gain access by becoming a member of the #FootClan at JoinTheFoot.com. It is one of the best ways to find a great league. This time of year it’s basically the fantasy football version of an online dating site. New singles arriving and meeting daily.
What is your basic setup for Redraft or Keeper Leagues?
12 team, Half PPR, Better to have a smaller league with dedicated/active people than even a 12 team league with a couple inactive owners.
- If you don’t have 12, then its OK to keep the league smaller. It’s better to have a small league with dedicated active people, than a large league with only a few inactive ones. It only takes one bad owner to harm an entire league.
“Ballers Preferred” starting roster: 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1 Flex, 1K(Jason says no kicker), 1D/ST, 5 Bench, 1 or 2IR
- Smaller benches means more strategy, more action, and therefore more fun.
- IR spots: ESPN is a good hosting site for your league if you want to include these. If a player is ruled OUT because of injury that week, you are then able to stash them in your IR spot and pick up an additional player to carry into your match-up that week.
- Check out a full article description of the “Ballers Preferred” League Format
What about a Dynasty startup?
- 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 2 Flex, no Kicker, no Defense, 15 Bench, 2IR
If you were talking with someone from another country (Bonjour!), how would you explain how integrated football is with being an American?
Having to explain football to an international friend, I’d say think of the popularity of Qatar World Cup or futbol, and that’s basically what football (the REAL football) is over here. It’s a game so popular, the Super Bowl is an unofficial holiday and people that haven’t given a second thought to watching a sports game all year will go to a party and watch it. It’s pure hotness my friend.
What scoring system should be used?
Fractional Scoring, also known as Decimal Scoring.
Jason Moore: “I’ve heard a lot of arguments for the non-fractional scoring system….and they’re all really dumb.”
- The reasons are simple. With fractional scoring all yardage gained by a player is counted. 9 yards counts for .9 points as opposed to 0. If one player has 99 yards and another has 100 because he took one more step, the difference in points should be .1 not 1
- Also this scoring system makes ties far less likely to occur. No one likes ties, this isn’t soccer.
What about Keeper leagues? How many should we keep?
Keepers are great because they promote league involvement all throughout the year. Whether your season is going well or down the toilet, if you have keepers in your league there’s always something to keep you engaged, even during the off-season.
- 2 or 3 is the ideal number of keepers. Any more than that and you will diminish the importance of your draft by taking many of the best players off the board. The draft should be one of the most fun and exciting parts of every season. Otherwise you might as well be a dynasty league and just draft rookies and trade picks.
How do you determine which round a Keeper costs you?
There are a couple of ways to do it:
- Same round that they were drafted last year. Mike pointed out that this can sometimes shift the balance of the league a little too much when players like David Johnson and Odell Beckham Jr. go from being waiver wire nobodies, to top 3 at their positions going forward.
- Round restrictions based on this year’s ADP. ADP can be found on FantasyFootballCalculator.com. Whatever round your keeper is being drafted in, that is the pick that you have to give up to keep them.
What days should Waivers process?
Waivers should process daily as opposed to once a week, and staying open after that. (Players that have already played on Sunday, will be locked and unable to be added on Monday)
When the waiver wire stays open all week after claims go through, it becomes a simple matter of who can get to their electronic device fastest to add a player when news breaks. Having waivers process daily, and locking in between, levels the playing field for everyone in the league to get an equal shot at the hot waiver adds of the week.
FAAB system vs. Waiver priority system
- With the waiver priorities system, whoever has the worst record gets first priority to get the player that everyone wants. The person with the highest priority can also choose to not use it and hold it until a player that they feel they must have comes about.
- The FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget) system, in which every league member has the same number of imaginary credits that they can choose to spend however they see fit. Everyone essentially places a bid on players that they want to add, and whoever bids the most on that player, gets them.
- It is the system that works best with daily waiver processing.
- You must turn on $0 bids, which is not automatic when choosing to go with the FAAB system. Otherwise someone that has spent all of their budget will not be able to add anyone else to their team in this system.
What should the playoff rules be?
- What are the best weeks for fantasy playoffs?
- Weeks 14-16. NO WEEK 17
- As good NFL teams clinch their playoff berth, they will rest their best players in the last week of the season. They do it every year. You do not want to go into your championship game without the players that got you there.
- How do you feel about owners, who are NOT in contention for the championship putting in waiver claims for the Top Pickups? Should we lock them out?
- Absolutely not. Everyone in the league should stay as active as possible. As I mentioned earlier, this is an area where having keepers can help make the entire season fun for everyone.
- Also its fun to play the role of spoiler. There should be no freebies in fantasy, especially in the playoffs.
Commissioner Issues
- When is it OK to Veto a trade?
- Don’t leave it up to a league vote.
- Commissioner should only veto a trade if collusion is obvious. By collusion I mean two or more teams ganging up to take down another.
- What’s the best weekend to draft?
- Basic Redraft/Keeper- after Week 3 of Preseason
- Beware of Labor Day- plan the draft early
- Doodle.com is a great way to determine when everyone is available at the same time.
- Beware of Labor Day- plan the draft early
- How about Dynasty Startup and Rookie drafts?
- After NFL Draft
- Basic Redraft/Keeper- after Week 3 of Preseason
Looking for a competitive league for 2017? Check out FootClanLeagues.com where we host a forum to bring fantasy football fans together to join great leagues. If you want to get involved, join up at JoinTheFoot.com.
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