Building the Perfect Fantasy Football League - Part 1 (1 Viewer)

[Keith R]

This is the first of a few posts I will conduct in order to determine the "perfect" FFL experience. The results of these polls will help guide future polls. Please vote as to how your perfect league would look.

Also feel free to post suggestions for future poll questions. (It is obvious what some of the future questions will be but there may be other issues that should be noted).

ETA - Now that voting here is over, you can find the next thread at http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=681632#entry15568388

 

[Donsmith753]

"Salary Cap Auction"

 

[Keith R]

"Salary Cap Auction"

Aren't all auctions Salary Cap Auction?

 

[Rhythmdoctor]

No H2H

 

[wodahSShadow]

Free Agent/Waivers Auctioning

 

[donkshow]

14 Teams

1/2 PPR

Team DEF / ST

Traditional Draft

BONUS: Rotisserie. H2H is too flukey IMO.

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

Is this for a league you are starting or we speaking generally? Makeup of the league is critical IMO to figure out what perfect might look like. Perfect for one is not perfect for all.

 

[Kree]

I think auction is the 'best' way to draft teams, but you need the right owners for it to be a success. Unless you have the right combination, traditional is the way to go.

And IDP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Team defense. By a mile.

 

[Keith R]

Is this for a league you are starting or we speaking generally? Makeup of the league is critical IMO to figure out what perfect might look like. Perfect for one is not perfect for all.

Speaking generally / abstractly.

 

[Adam Harstad]

My "ideal" scoring system is yardage-heavy. Everyone acknowledges that touchdowns are the least predictive metric, and that their binary nature and small sample size leaves them most prone to week-to-week fluctuations, so why not minimize the impact they have? Almost all of my leagues award 1 point per 5 yards rushing/receiving and 1 point per 10 yards passing, and I remain adamant that the system is just inherently superior.

 

[bucsbaby]

I would also add that my perfect fantasy league would incorporate some version of all-play/power rankings/etc., including for playoffs somehow, since H2H regular season and 1-and-done H2H playoffs leaves too much to chance with only a 13 week season and 3 week playoffs (for example). While H2H creates rivalries, the fact that you can't do anything to mitigate the points your opponent puts up -- i.e., you have to just outscore them -- means H2H leaves a lot to chance. I think incorporating some version of all play more consistently leads to the best teams making the playoffs. If all play was somehow incorporated in the playoffs (e.g., all play over 3 weeks, most wins wins the championship) that would also be better.

I also second the salary cap auction format.

 

[TheCommish]

I think auction is the 'best' way to draft teams, but you need the right owners for it to be a success. Unless you have the right combination, traditional is the way to go.

And IDP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Team defense. By a mile.

this

 

[Norcalhoya]

I think auction is the 'best' way to draft teams, but you need the right owners for it to be a success. Unless you have the right combination, traditional is the way to go.

And IDP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Team defense. By a mile.

Totally agree with the first sentence. My main league is just a league with friends and they all watch football, but if we did auction it would be a disaster. It's already hard enough to do auction FAs.

Edit: I am also EXTREMELY partial to 1/2 PPR. Full PPR seems to skew things too much to my liking, but I love the extra .5 points my WRs/RBs/TEs get.

 

[blake]

I think auction is the 'best' way to draft teams, but you need the right owners for it to be a success. Unless you have the right combination, traditional is the way to go.

And IDP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Team defense. By a mile.

Totally agree with the first sentence. My main league is just a league with friends and they all watch football, but if we did auction it would be a disaster. It's already hard enough to do auction FAs.

Edit: I am also EXTREMELY partial to 1/2 PPR. Full PPR seems to skew things too much to my liking, but I love the extra .5 points my WRs/RBs/TEs get.

Your post rings a bell with me. I'm trying to strong-arm my league mates into doing an auction, but our league is setup, just like yours - just with friends and in person and many are unsure, and a few are really not wanting it...but will eventually give it a shot but won't love it. I'm wondering if it may be a one and done type of experiment. I guess I'll see how our redraft goes this year with a full auction. It realistically could be a disaster.

A salary cap straight draft is my last ditch alternative.

 

[Keith R]

Voting on these issues is complete. Thanks for voting and discussion.

 

[fightingillini]

I went with

1) 12 teams. 10 makes each team fairly stacked, while 14-16 teams give a certain number of teams too big of an advantage, along with if your stud goes down you're totally screwed. 12 teams is ideal IMO.

2) 1/2 PPR. Personally, I like no PPR for RBs, 1/2 PPR for WRs and PPR for TEs. Reason is that the number of points per touch is pretty similar. The top 30 RBs are going to average about 18 touches a game, and the top 30 WRs are going to average 4 to 5 catches a game. Say RBs get 5 yards per touch, so an average RB will get 80 yards, or 8 points. Say WRs get 12.5 YPR, so the top 30 WRs will average about 60 yds a game. The top 20 TEs average about 3-4 catches for about 40 yards a game. Each positon is about 8 points.....the RB getting 80 total yards, the WR catching 4.5 rec for 60 yds, and the TE getting 3.5 catches for 40 yds. After that, then you can separate each RB/WR/TE by more or less touches, different yards per touch, and touchdowns, which is always a highly variable stat.

3) Team defense. Never played IDP. My team defense scoring would be structured to separate the good defenses from the bad ones (emphasis on points and yards allowed to go with sacks, turnovers and TDs).

4) Auction all the way. You can't have a real league without EVERYONE having a fair shot at Adrian Peterson or Arian Foster or Doug Martin or Calvin Johnson. Auctions incorporate the most strategy and reward the owners who are most prepared. Plus they are just more fun than snake drafts.

Other stuff in my perfect league

1) blind bidding for free agents

2) 6 teams make the playoffs, top 2 teams get a bye

3) trading deadline is Week 12

4) Rosters completely frozen once playoffs start

5) Deep rosters (20 is my preference)

6) Must pay for ww transactions (at least $1 per $100 entry fee)

7) QB scoring 1 per 25 yds pass, 4 pts per TD pass, -1 per INT, QB uses basic scoring for rushing/receiving

8) Starting lineup is 1QB-2RB-3WR-1TE-1K-1D, and one superflex (can be QB-RB-WR-TE). Makes QBs a lot more valuable.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

I went with

1) 12 teams. 10 makes each team fairly stacked, while 14-16 teams give a certain number of teams too big of an advantage, along with if your stud goes down you're totally screwed. 12 teams is ideal IMO.

2) 1/2 PPR. Personally, I like no PPR for RBs, 1/2 PPR for WRs and PPR for TEs. Reason is that the number of points per touch is pretty similar. The top 30 RBs are going to average about 18 touches a game, and the top 30 WRs are going to average 4 to 5 catches a game. Say RBs get 5 yards per touch, so an average RB will get 80 yards, or 8 points. Say WRs get 12.5 YPR, so the top 30 WRs will average about 60 yds a game. The top 20 TEs average about 3-4 catches for about 40 yards a game. Each positon is about 8 points.....the RB getting 80 total yards, the WR catching 4.5 rec for 60 yds, and the TE getting 3.5 catches for 40 yds. After that, then you can separate each RB/WR/TE by more or less touches, different yards per touch, and touchdowns, which is always a highly variable stat.

3) Team defense. Never played IDP. My team defense scoring would be structured to separate the good defenses from the bad ones (emphasis on points and yards allowed to go with sacks, turnovers and TDs).

4) Auction all the way. You can't have a real league without EVERYONE having a fair shot at Adrian Peterson or Arian Foster or Doug Martin or Calvin Johnson. Auctions incorporate the most strategy and reward the owners who are most prepared. Plus they are just more fun than snake drafts.

Agree with all four of these points. Though, from a strict fairness-in-scheduling perspective, I've always considered 14 teams ideal: no conferences, no divisions, a 13-week regular season where everyone plays everyone else once, with weeks 14-16 left over for a 6-team playoff. I prefer the overall dynamics of 12-team leagues, but to get a balanced schedule to work with it, you really need to go to three divisions of 4 and a 14-week regular season, neither of which are optimal IMO.

And the only thing I don't like about 0.5 PPR is the same thing I don't like about fractional scoring in general - if two teams really are evenly matched, give them a tie; one of them shouldn't have to get an L by a tenth of a point, or because some guy on their bench dropped a TD pass on Monday night.

The only people who don't love auction drafts (and auction FA bidding) are people who've never taken part in an auction draft. If I could, I'd never do another serpentine draft again.

 

[WampusCat43]

I think auction is the 'best' way to draft teams, but you need the right owners for it to be a success. Unless you have the right combination, traditional is the way to go.

And IDP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Team defense. By a mile.

Totally agree with the first sentence. My main league is just a league with friends and they all watch football, but if we did auction it would be a disaster. It's already hard enough to do auction FAs.

Edit: I am also EXTREMELY partial to 1/2 PPR. Full PPR seems to skew things too much to my liking, but I love the extra .5 points my WRs/RBs/TEs get.

Your post rings a bell with me. I'm trying to strong-arm my league mates into doing an auction, but our league is setup, just like yours - just with friends and in person and many are unsure, and a few are really not wanting it...but will eventually give it a shot but won't love it. I'm wondering if it may be a one and done type of experiment. I guess I'll see how our redraft goes this year with a full auction. It realistically could be a disaster.

A salary cap straight draft is my last ditch alternative.

One of my leagues has an auction for the first five rounds and then goes serpentine. It works. You could try it for the first couple rounds this year just to bait the hook.