Is it time for 1/2 ppr?

[renman]

Haven't seen much football or fantasy football banter here so I figured I would throw something out there. With the incredible dominance of some of the RB's in the mid to late 2000's the NFFC saw a clear advantage to having one of the top picks (even though we all know back then you could win from anywhere on the board) after reviewing large samples of league results. This obviously lead to a sense of unfairness when the entry fees and stakes get high and someone gets the less desirable 10th through 14th draft position via a random pick. All the NFFC regulars know this lead to the innovation of 3RR and when combined with KDS it makes for some fun strategic planning before the season.

My question is this. With all the NFL rules seemingly benefiting the passing game, which has obviously lead to incredible passing and receiving statistics over the last 5+ years I am wondering if maybe it is time to consider a change. The result has been RB's are less and less desirable in the first round. I am not great at looking up results of drafts from the past but it would be interesting to see how many WR's on average go in the first round now compared to in 2006 or something. Work horse RB's continue to see deteriorating value as the position is more specialized as teams often us a RBBC. Rb's also generally get banged up more. We seem to be headed for drafts where teams just grab nothing but WR's in the first 2 rounds and just grab RB's and QB's later. I am always one who enjoys an environment where differing strategies can be in play or seriously tough decisions need to be made in the early rounds. Right now it seems like everyone will be taking WR's and a couple guys will deem it worthy to take the risk on a Lev Bell or someone and pass on the first round WR.

There were 6 RB's that had a first round ADP (14 team league) this year. Every one of them has been a disaster aside from Adrian Peterson. Which will further drive WR's into the first round.

Just wondering in a league that is more and more about the pass and receptions numbers continue to grow, if maybe 1/2 point per reception is something to consider or discuss.

[Sandman62]

Might as well add QB scoring to the discussion. Every Joe Blow Nobody QB can score 30+ regularly now. If 1 point per 20 yds and 6-pt TDs were considered optimum 4 or 5 years ago, then with so much more passing now, why not tone it down a bit to smooth out the wild swings? Otherwise, why didn't we use 1 pt per 15 yds and 8-pt passing TDs back then? Probably because that would've been considered too easy to get crazy high QB pts and minimize the importance of other positions - pretty much where we are now.

[KenGill]

The times, they are changing...
Not a bad idea to cut back to 1/2 point.
I'd also think seriously about cutting QB TD's to 4 points. Yeah things could always change again, but with the NFL's new stand on concussions and preventing injuries, they are going to do whatever they can to keep the current offensive setup.

[driftin]

This thread amuses me. I needed a good laugh thanks guys.

[TR]

I liked the 1/2 ppr for RBs..wish they would bring that back so the workhorse RBs aren't at a disadvantage to pass catching specialists.

[BigBlueNation]

I've never been one to argue or discuss the rules of NFFC/NFBC leagues, I just tend to go with any decision and adjust accordingly. Is the purpose for discussion of potential point changing to equalize the players? If so, I would suggest a study, maybe go back 3-4 years and see if there's a trend. There have been so many injuries this year to early round picks, not to mention early round busts, I wouldn't want to make a knee-jerk decision based on this year. Would we still be having this discussion if, one way or another, Bell, Charles, Foster, Murray(s), Forte, Lacy, Anderson, Hill, Forsett, Lynch, Mccoy hadn't disappointed this year? The trend of NFL teams to go RBBC has greatly affected the position. A healthy "bell cow" is a huge get in our leagues. Face it, injuries are becoming more frequent and frustrating our game more than anything.

JMO

[renman]

Bigblue,

Its just a conversation. it isn't any sore grapes or any push to change rules. Just a conversation starter. some of the best, most innovative rules in fantasy football came from these types of conversations. All those RB's you listed are supporting my point that the RB position is more volatile than ever before and when you pair that with how the league has made rules that promote the passing game the explosion of offense via the pass leads to the vast majority of players using the same strategy in drafts. I simply like it when fantasy players are posed with tougher decisions and a spectrum of strategies can be used. Given how many pass attempts and receptions there are now I simply wondered if it was worth discussing. Someone also mentioned how the work horse RB has been rendered less valuable given the fact a 3rd down back who only sees 5-7 touches per game can easily outscore the starting RB who gets 18 carries and grinds out 7.9 points.

I just wanted to read the opinions of others that is all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Bigblue,

Its just a conversation. it isn't any sore grapes or any push to change rules. Just a conversation starter. some of the best, most innovative rules in fantasy football came from these types of conversations. All those RB's you listed are supporting my point that the RB position is more volatile than ever before and when you pair that with how the league has made rules that promote the passing game the explosion of offense via the pass leads to the vast majority of players using the same strategy in drafts. I simply like it when fantasy players are posed with tougher decisions and a spectrum of strategies can be used. Given how many pass attempts and receptions there are now I simply wondered if it was worth discussing. Someone also mentioned how the work horse RB has been rendered less valuable given the fact a 3rd down back who only sees 5-7 touches per game can easily outscore the starting RB who gets 18 carries and grinds out 7.9 points.

I just wanted to read the opinions of others that is all.

I don't mind the discussion James, but it seems like one that you or someone else starts every year. It's all good and in good fun. But honestly I disagree with you on one point: that everyone is using the same strategy on Draft Day.

Look at the ADPs even with WRs scoring more than RBs: 4 of the top 5 picks in our ADPs were RBs and 7 of the first 14 were RBs. People are still in love with the dominant RB and several people are winning this year by picking 2 or even 3 RBs right away, while others are winning with 3 and even 4 WRs with their first picks. I don't think there's any proven strategy that is winning out in fantasy football with the passing game taking a more prominent role than when we first started the NFFC in 2004.

Heck, when we started the NFFC we had RBs getting only 1/2 point per reception because they were already so much more valuable than WRs. Now the game has changed and I'm glad we changed with it, allowing 1 point per reception for all players. Yes, that makes the WRs more valuable with today's passing game, but you still need a strong mix of top players at every position to win in the high-stakes format. Honestly, you could change any part of our scoring format and the best players in the NFFC would adjust and still excel. It's a moot point because good players just adjust to the scoring system in front of them.

The beauty of the fantasy sports industry is that you can have many different game formats and all can be cool. We're seeing that in the industry right now. In baseball, it's tough to top 5x5 Roto, so the game formats are harder to differentiate. But fantasy football can be played with a lot of different scoring variations.

As for QBs, nobody values them more than the NFFC at 6 points per passing touchdown and yet the QBs are almost a dime a dozen in today's game. If anything, we've all learned this year not to take a top QB in the first or second round (ouch with Luck and Rodgers this year). In fact, the top QBs right now could have been had anytime after Round 8 or 9. Not only that, but QBs between 4 and 17 have a difference of about 4 points per game. It's a position that can certainly win any week for you, but for the most part even with our scoring system all of the parts are almost interchangeable right now.

Finding top players at each position and staying healthy is the key in today's game, not a new scoring system. Heck, show me a way to prevent injuries or to help teams with injuries (I guess DCs do that the best) and I'll do it. But whatever the scoring system is, we still need to deal with injuries, surprises and bad calls. Cure the reffing issue if you really want to change the game for the better.

I enjoy the conversation every year. It never gets old!!

[BigBlueNation]

Bigblue,

Its just a conversation. it isn't any sore grapes or any push to change rules. Just a conversation starter. some of the best, most innovative rules in fantasy football came from these types of conversations. All those RB's you listed are supporting my point that the RB position is more volatile than ever before and when you pair that with how the league has made rules that promote the passing game the explosion of offense via the pass leads to the vast majority of players using the same strategy in drafts. I simply like it when fantasy players are posed with tougher decisions and a spectrum of strategies can be used. Given how many pass attempts and receptions there are now I simply wondered if it was worth discussing. Someone also mentioned how the work horse RB has been rendered less valuable given the fact a 3rd down back who only sees 5-7 touches per game can easily outscore the starting RB who gets 18 carries and grinds out 7.9 points.

I just wanted to read the opinions of others that is all.

And I responded with an opinion. I have no attitude with my response, I get what you're asking, but the topic/subject of the thread was, "Is it time for 1/2 ppr". Greg/Tom will do what's best.

[Sabretooth]

No It is not time to go to 1/2 point per reception! Sorry for not elaborating.