NFFC Rules Changes Proposed For 2019; Let's Discuss

[pjoner]

I have a suggestion...What about a single entry main event separate from the Classic and primetime? Maybe something like a $1500 entry and the ability to compete for a big $75,000 prize for example. Obviously the league payouts would have to be a lot smaller than the the classic and primetime since I imagine the contest its self would be smaller. But it would give players a chance to compete for big money prize in a SINGLE entry tournament.

I like this idea

[Sandman62]

I think I agree with Wayne to devalue Kickers a little. Let's say all FGs are 3 Pts., but anything 50yds and more are 4 Pts.

This approach would then yield 50-yd FGs being worth a whole point more than 49 - something most contests fixed years ago, both for kickers and position player yardage. I'm not in favor of going back to it. Of course, moving to all FGs being worth 3 means a 55-yd bomb is only worth the same as a 25-yd chip shot.

I agree that it'd be nice to devalue kickers - if we absolutely must keep them, despite the direction the industry has moved. Maybe it's as simple as instead of .1 points per FG yard, divide that in half and award .05 per yard? And for extra points, instead of a full point, maybe just a half? That would cut all kicker points in half, making them a much less powerful wildcard factor.

This year, the top 12 kickers scored from 142 down to 107 in NFFC fantasy points.
By comparison:
-RB: Only 31 scored as much as K1; 44 as much as K12
-WR: Only 41 scored as much as K1; 62 as much as K12
-TE: Only 7 scored as much as K1; 15 as much as K12
-DST: Only 1 scored as much as K1; 7 as much as K12 (yet 8 kickers scored as much as or more than DST2 )

And all of this lopsidedness occurred in an NFL age where (a) offenses are scoring TDs at a prolific rate, and (b) kickers are missing FGs and XPs more than ever before - yet they STILL are affecting fantasy football outcomes far too much.

I find it interesting that the 3 biggest DFS sites have all done away with kickers. Apparently, they have figured out that most players don't want big-money contests decided by kickers.

[Sandman62]

1. Thurs. Night Players:
I still agree with the NFFC's longstanding view on this:

Our reasoning through the years is that it's not fair for a team to get a free look at a players' performance on Thursday and then decide to cut him on Friday in order to pick up another player who could actually start for them on Sunday. It would be like expanding that roster from 20 to 21 or more players for that week.

2. OC Playoff Team Expansion:
I wouldn't mind this. In the current 2-team system, you can have a very good year, finish 2nd in points, and get nothing. That's discouraging. And we all know that the championship rounds are like lotteries anyway, so does it really matter if there are more teams?

3. Team Kicker:
My preference for kickers is:
1. Elimininate, like all three major DFS sites have
2. Devalue: See my post above
3. Team kicker (DC only)

4. Consolation Round Teams Back Into Championship Round:
No thanks.

Anything else? Let's hear from you.

Well, seeing you asked...

REDUCE SCORING:

First and foremost, I agree with Wayne (Coltsfan) that this isn't good:
"The NFFC has always had the 6 points per passing TD. The problem is that in a h2h format, you are looking at possibly 40% of your scoring coming from a single position. I don't think it's a problem with DC's but I sure do think that 4 points per passing TD makes so much more sense."

While that system made sense back a decade or more ago, with all the NFL rule changes to promote more scoring since then, unless we welcome increased volatility, is it time for an update?

I'd love to see scoring more like DraftKings, Fanduel and Fanball (minus their yardage milestone bonuses, which award extra points for reaching an arbitrary threshold, while players who score a single yard less don't get those bonus points).

All three major DFS sites use 4-point passing TDs, 1 point per 25 (not 20) passing yards, and -1 for interceptions. DraftKings and Fanball do full PPR and FanDuel .5 PPR. All three have eliminated kickers.

Even beyond the QB position, due to the vast amount of fantasy points being scored via TDs, it often doesn't feel like the position players who mean the most to their NFL teams on a game-by-game basis and are receiving the majority of reps, targets, etc., are scoring a commensurate amount of fantasy points each week. Maybe to smooth out some of the volatility created by lesser players going bonkers while better (i.e. drafted much earlier) players struggle to consistently even reach double-digit points, we could leave rushing/receiving yards points as they are, but reduce TD and reception points? PPR was created long ago in the days when RBs scored more than receivers. That just isn't the case anymore, as this year 38 WRs and 29 RBs scored 150+ NFFC points, and 19 WRs and 13 RBs scored 200+. While completely removing PPR could possibly increase the value of TDs too much, maybe the time for HALF PPR has come?

An argument I've heard against half PPR is that it could possibly INCREASE volatility, as players who randomly/infrequently score TDs would become more valuable than many who are much more involved in their team's offenses. But is that problem easily solved with some math? [Now this might sound crazy, but...] Why must all fantasy TDs still be worth the same amount as NFL TDs when the NFL has changed so much in order to increase scoring to engage more fans? We're playing a stats game, not NFL football. So if reducing volatility is a goal (not sure it is for players or game operators, but I'm interested), then could non-passing TDs be awarded maybe 4 points instead of 6? Then reduce passing TDs from 6 to 3 (to keep them less than other TDs)?

Ok, so if you're still reading after that shocking suggestion , even if you're not in favor of reducing ALL TDs, hopefully you'll still consider the bold-faced part above, which is very much in line with the direction DFS sites have gone.

In summary, if someone were inventing FF from scratch right now, would it necessarily be mandated that just because NFL TDs are worth 6, that all FF TDs also must be? Or maybe instead they’d say "TDs are more random than yards gained, so we’re going to do 4-point TDs, and even just 3 for passing so that we don't diminish the importance of yardage too much.”


OFFER ALTERNATIVE CONTESTS WITH RESTRICTED NUMBER OF ENTRIES PER PLAYER:

In addition to the existing contests, offer "single entry" and "3-entry max" contests like DFS sites now do. There was an article a couple years ago about how something like 95% of DFS tournament contests were being won by about 3% of players because they were entering the same contest 500-1000+ times each. Soon after (and maybe even with some government intervention, if I recall correctly?), DFS sites started offering these type of alternative contests. Apparently they still seem to make money, so it can't be all bad.


NEW OFFENSIVE SCORING CATEGORY?

What would you think of fantasy football leagues awarding players with HALF the yardage (and half the reception value) on defensive pass interference (DPI) calls?

We’ve all probably been upset at some point when our guy helped his team by getting open enough to draw a DPI and the result moved the ball 5-50+ yards, but we got nothing for it in fantasy. Our guy ends up having a dud day, but if the defense hadn't essentially cheated, he might have had a banner day.

One opinion of this surely would be, “But he didn’t catch it!” The other side though is, "How do we know he WOULDN’T have? And the defender sure was worried enough about it that he committed a penalty to ensure he wouldn't.

And this would just be for DPI, not for holding or anything else where there wasn’t (a) a pass and (b) clear indication to which player.

I get it though that this is a radical idea, and maybe even has more bad than good that I'm not considering. So please don't throw away all these ideas if you adamantly reject this one.

[TR]

Other ideas:
1. Defensive Scoring
As a couple people already mentioned, I would also be in favor of bumping the defensive scoring in some way. Maybe implementing a yardage allowed element. I kind of like the points allowed ranges as is, though. Giving up more than 17 points doesn't seem like it should be rewarded with anything. But having yardage allowed ranges could boost the scoring and would be directly associated to the strength of the actual defense. Another issue related to defensive scoring would be not having opposing defensive TD's count against the defense. I know DraftKings and ESPN have implemented this. The extra point (or 2-pt conversion) still counts against the defense, but the 6 points allowed by the pick-6 or fumble-6 would not count. I think that would be a big upgrade. These are the rules from DraftKings:
Points Allowed (PA) only includes points surrendered while DST is on the field - doesn't include points given up by team's offense (e.g. points off offensive turnovers).
I would definitely be in favor of implementing this rule.


I like this idea and would be in favor of it also

[TR]

Sabretooth wrote: ↑Tue Dec 25, 2018 11:12 pm
I have a suggestion...What about a single entry main event separate from the Classic and primetime? Maybe something like a $1500 entry and the ability to compete for a big $75,000 prize for example. Obviously the league payouts would have to be a lot smaller than the the classic and primetime since I imagine the contest its self would be smaller. But it would give players a chance to compete for big money prize in a SINGLE entry tournament.
I like this idea

I like this idea also

[TR]

An argument I've heard against half PPR is that it could possibly INCREASE volatility, as players who randomly/infrequently score TDs would become more valuable than many who are much more involved in their team's offenses. But is that problem easily solved with some math? [Now this might sound crazy, but...] Why must all fantasy TDs still be worth the same amount as NFL TDs when the NFL has changed so much in order to increase scoring to engage more fans? We're playing a stats game, not NFL football. So if reducing volatility is a goal (not sure it is for players or game operators, but I'm interested), then could non-passing TDs be awarded maybe 4 points instead of 6? Then reduce passing TDs from 6 to 3 (to keep them less than other TDs)?

I think half point PPR for RBs is the best solution...as it is many RBs far less involved in their team's offenses have a much higher floor than workhorse RBs. An RB like mccaffrey who gets 10 catches for 100 should not get 2X points than a RB like Henry who gets 100 yards on 10 carries. Majority of RB receptions are pretty much extended handoffs and PPR for RBs gives these receiving backs far too much of advantage. Plenty games where RBs like Barkley and Mccaffrey were catching like 10 balls on dumpoffs for minimal yardage..yet getting rewarded more than a free TD floor. If no plans to change the full PPR for RBs, then I think it should be worth considering a point per first down to help balance things out for the running backs who actually carry the load and ground n pound. Picking up a first down should be alot more valuable than catching a ball for zero yards and being gifted a point..smh. Something is messed with full PPR for RB system when arguably the best RB ever, Barry Sanders wouldn't even be 1st or 2nd rd pick in such a scoring format because he didn't catch many passes or get so many goal line carries.

[King of Queens]

What would you think of fantasy football leagues awarding players with HALF the yardage (and half the reception value) on defensive pass interference (DPI) calls?

We’ve all probably been upset at some point when our guy helped his team by getting open enough to draw a DPI and the result moved the ball 5-50+ yards, but we got nothing for it in fantasy. Our guy ends up having a dud day, but if the defense hadn't essentially cheated, he might have had a banner day.

One opinion of this surely would be, “But he didn’t catch it!” The other side though is, "How do we know he WOULDN’T have? And the defender sure was worried enough about it that he committed a penalty to ensure he wouldn't.

And this would just be for DPI, not for holding or anything else where there wasn’t (a) a pass and (b) clear indication to which player.

I like this. To take this further:

(1) We should deduct HALF the yardage (and half the reception value) on offensive pass interference calls

(2) If your player is ejected from the game, you get zero fantasy points. I'm looking at you, Leonard Fournette

(3) QB catches should count as 2x or 3x PPR. If the QB throws it to himself, 10 point bonus. If he pulls a Mariota, 50 point bonus.

(4) There should be some kind of bonus for multiple "doinks" by the kicker in the same game. Cody Parkey owners would appreciate this.

(5) Fumbles out of the end zone, you get minus 6 points.

[BillyWaz]

What would you think of fantasy football leagues awarding players with HALF the yardage (and half the reception value) on defensive pass interference (DPI) calls?

We’ve all probably been upset at some point when our guy helped his team by getting open enough to draw a DPI and the result moved the ball 5-50+ yards, but we got nothing for it in fantasy. Our guy ends up having a dud day, but if the defense hadn't essentially cheated, he might have had a banner day.

One opinion of this surely would be, “But he didn’t catch it!” The other side though is, "How do we know he WOULDN’T have? And the defender sure was worried enough about it that he committed a penalty to ensure he wouldn't.

And this would just be for DPI, not for holding or anything else where there wasn’t (a) a pass and (b) clear indication to which player.

I like this. To take this further:

(1) We should deduct HALF the yardage (and half the reception value) on offensive pass interference calls

(2) If your player is ejected from the game, you get zero fantasy points. I'm looking at you, Leonard Fournette

(3) QB catches should count as 2x or 3x PPR. If the QB throws it to himself, 10 point bonus. If he pulls a Mariota, 50 point bonus.

(4) There should be some kind of bonus for multiple "doinks" by the kicker in the same game. Cody Parkey owners would appreciate this.

(5) Fumbles out of the end zone, you get minus 6 points.

LOL....this reminds me of George Carlin. He said something along the lines of "if you can bounce the basketball of an opposing players head and it goes into the basket......25 points. Would sure make those blowout games exciting!"

[Coyote Streakers]

Good luck this weekend everyone as we compete for national and league titles in Week 16. We have another $2.5 million to be awarded after Monday's games, so good luck to everyone.

We have planned for this final week of the NFFC season for quite some time now and we believe that we will be able to get prize money on your Player Accounts by Thursday night, or Friday at the latest. All of those winnings will be listed as 2018 earnings as you will see on your 1099 Tracker. If you'd like to offset some of those winnings, you definitely can sign up and pay for future contests from those winnings on your Player Account. Registration is open for the NFFC Post-Season Contest right now and Registration is also open for 2019 NFFC with the Early Bird bonus in place. You can just select TBD for location, date and time for any 2019 entry and change those to exact locations, dates and times later. Enjoy.

We are so excited about the upcoming 2019 season that we are proposing rules changes now before the 2018 season is over. Let's use this thread to debate these proposals and any other rules proposals you want to discuss. Let's begin.

Our first goal this off-season is to get the NFFC site on a new platform that will allow us to roll over the contests much more easily in future years. If we can do that, then we are confident that the MFL10s and the NFFC Draft Champions leagues can launch in early February. We'll have an update on that next month, but that's the goal. Play the Post-Season Contest and with any luck we'll transition right into the 2019 NFFC season shortly after the Super Bowl. That's the goal.

We will announce our Rules and Prizes at that time and I can tell you that you'll LOVE the prizes announcements. We are taking an aggressive approach to 2019 and will have record grand prizes in many of our national contests. We feel strongly that the technology is where we want it and that we have some great new promotional partners in line who can help us bring in new NFFC players. Stay tuned, but I think you'll love what we have to offer in 2019. The NFFC Primetime and the Rotowire Online Championship, especially, are heading to new prize levels in 2019.

But before announcing the Prizes, let's talk about the Rules. We added a couple of new rules last year, including adding FAAB before Week 1 and I think that was a good move. We changed our Draft Champions leagues from 8 and 4 hour times to 4 and 2 hours, and that was DEFINITELY a good move. The NFFC Cutline Championship changed to a best ball scoring format for Weeks 1-9 before then having all owners set their starting lineups in Weeks 10-16, which led to a record number of teams. So we did some good things last year.

We also added a new online draft room that now allows you to set separate queues for every single round and draft on mobile devices much more easily. The new FAAB setup also is set up to save you time as you can now look for any free agent or player and find out if he's available or not in all of your leagues with one click. We still have some design changes to make with Live Scoring and other areas of the site, but we feel we are very close to where we want to be from a tech standpoint.

So what Rules changes could we agree to that would make the NFFC even better in 2019? Let me propose a few and see what you think:

Possible Rules Changes In 2019:
1. Thursday Night Players: The NFFC currently does not allow players in the Thursday Night Game to be cut or picked up during the Friday FAAB period. Our reasoning through the years is that it's not fair for a team to get a free look at a players' performance on Thursday and then decide to cut him on Friday in order to pick up another player who could actually start for them on Sunday. It would be like expanding that roster from 20 to 21 or more players for that week. Now, we aren't married to this reasoning and can be convinced otherwise, but I'd like to see discussion on the Thursday Night Game players and whether they should be allowed to be cut during Friday's FAAB period. Begin.

2. Online Championship Seeks Expansion: This one is a little more drastic, so let's discuss. In the NFFC Primetime, we pay the Top 3 finishers and allow the Top 3 finishers to reach the Championship Round. In the Rotowire Online Championship we pay the Top 2 finishers and allow the Top 2 finishers to reach the Championship Round. We have 563 Online Championship teams in the Championship Round right now, which is a lot. But my idea is to add ONE MORE team from each league into the Championship Round, without paying that team a league prize. So in other words, we would put 3 teams from each league into the Championship Round while still paying $1500 and $700 in each league, thus giving that third place team a chance to still win the big grand prize. We think that's a fair tradeoff as many third place teams are so very close to earning that Championship Round spot anyways, and with the new grand prize, having a 1 in 4 shot at the Championship Round really makes this contest more appealing. Thoughts?

3. Team Kicker for NFFC Draft Champions Leagues?: We debated this one at length last year for the Draft Champions leagues and there was no strong consensus to change this. But I'll put it here for discussion anyway. If we do allow Team Kicker JUST FOR DC LEAGUES, it would be safer for owners who draft earlier before teams cut individual kickers or before there are injuries to individual kickers. It also might allow us to reduce DC drafts by a round or two because owners feel safer about backing up Kickers with 1 or 2 backup Team Kickers rather than back up their first kicker with 3-4 "names of kickers". This would be a drastic change for the DCs, but let's see if anyone has changed their mind in the past year.

4. Could Someone From Consolation Round Reach The Championship Round?: This is extremely drastic and even Tom and Darik weren't sure about this one. But here it is: In the Cutline Championship, teams in the Wild Card Tier always have a shot at making it back into the Championship Round. It's not easy, but the hope is there. What would you think of allowing JUST ONE TEAM from the Consolation Round in Week 14 and then again in Week 15 to jump back into the Championship Round from the Consolation Round? It would be the highest scoring Consolation Round team for those two weeks in the NFFC Classic, NFFC Primetime and Rotowire Online Championship. It's drastic, but again it gives everyone hope to still win those great overall grand prizes and gives reason for every single team to NEVER give up during the regular season. It's also just TWO extra teams moving to the Championship Round. You never know what can happen in Weeks 14 and 15. We always want to figure out how we can keep owners trying every single week and this year we added Weekly Prizes to the three contests, so maybe this is just one added incentive to dangle out there for everyone. Thoughts?

Anything else? Let's hear from you.

Thanks all and Happy New Year!! Let's make 2019 the best it can be, starting with the NFFC Post-Season Contest that this year has a record $125,000 grand prize. Enjoy!!

1. This is a must having the ability to cut a Thursday player you did not start. Everyone has same ability with their players if they so choose to cut them after Thursday game. Its a strategic move and everyone Wed has same opportunity to grab a Thursday player and hold or cut if they so choose.

2. Either way

3. Love the team kicker aspect for DE's only. Their is a lot of luck involved with this position whether it be injuries or performances and anyone who says they have a strong feel for it after the top 8-10 kickers is full of it, to let a position like this ruin a great team that was drafted at all the other critical positions is sort of crazy if you ask me.

4. Seems to drastic

5. Leave scoring the same, I love this format because of the scoring and it properly rewards great QB play. Dont change to become like other contests, this is what makes NFFC unique imo.

6. Is there a way not to lock lineups 5 minutes before kickoff? This threw me off numerous times during the year when I forgot about that feature.

7. I would like to see the option be available to cut a WED pickup Friday. The simple reason is because maybe that player got injured or benched or you had other injuries to your roster where you need to shuffle around your team to make a lineup. I think this is very important to be able to cut this player if need be.

[JohnP]

Agree with Mike on set lineup time. Looking through the game logs on NFL.com it shows the actual kickoff times and they range from 2 to 5 minutes after the top of the hour for the noon games. Is it possible to just lock at kickoff? Or lock at the scheduled start time?