MaddenGAF Fantasy Football Keeper League Overview
I decided to write up an overview of the fantasy league, especially since we are using keepers and all, to help some of the new guys in the league with how everything will work. Adding keepers to the fold adds another layer of fun and complication to fantasy leagues so I want to make sure to go over how that can factor into it all before the draft happens.
There will be 13 games. Between the three divisions, you will face each person in your division two times and 7 people from the other divisions one time. If you win your division, you advance to the playoffs no matter what. 3 other teams will make it in depending on standings. The first two seeds in the league get first round byes.
Keeper Rules
Now since we do have keepers in this league, it's important to know how the whole system works. You'll be able to keep two players per team for the following season. That player will stay on your team for as long as you wish to keep him. In order for a player to be eligible for your team to keep, you would have had to draft him.
No free agent pick ups will be allowed to be kept, unless you drafted him and then he got dropped and then you picked him up again, at that point you can then keep him. Any players drafted in or after the 3rd round are eligible to be kept. If you drafted someone in the 1st or 2nd round, that player cannot be kept so take that into account.
Waiver Wire
With 12 people in the league, free agent pickups need to be as fair as possible so we are going with a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) system for the waiver wire.
- What is Blind Bid Auction (aka FAAB)? It stands for free-agent acquisition budget, a stash of imaginary cash that every team in your division is given to perform waiver wire pickups. We'll be using a $100 budget for this year. This budget is set and no more FAAB dollars will be added during the season, so spend wisely.
- How does it work? If you want to put in a claim for a player on waivers, you submit a blind bid (meaning that no one else in your division knows what the amount of your bid is, or even that you've submitted a bid). When the deadline for bids passes, the owner who bid the most on a particular free agent gets him, and the amount of the bid will be subtracted from that owner's remaining budget for the year. The only thing that you will see when waivers go through is the who won which player, and the amount they paid for him - you won’t see any losing bids.
- I’m still confused... can I get an example? Sure! Let’s say Tom Brady gets hurt Week 1 and Tim Tebow steps in and throws for 400 yards. You really want Tebow, so you put a large bid in - $60 (out of your $100 budget). Let’s say that no one else wanted him as much as you, so the next highest bid was only $20. You therefore get Tebow - for $60, NOT $21. You pay what you bid, and are left with only $40 for the whole rest of the season.
- Why is FAAB a better system? All players have an equal chance of landing the week's hot waiver wire pickup, and it offers much more in the way of strategy. Your $100 budget is set for the entire year, so knowing not only when to bid, but when to bid big and how much you need to bid to outbid your opponents without spending too much makes for an intriguing and rewarding waiver wire experience.
- What if two players have bid the same amount on a player? The team with the worse rank will get the player.
- So if it's week 7 and I've blown my entire budget, I can't use the waiver wire anymore? Yes and no. We allow for $0 bids so you can continue to submit and potentially win waiver claims. But if someone submits even a $1 bid on that same player, they'll get him instead. What all this means is that you need to bid wisely and make your dollars count because once they're gone, they're gone.
- So what should I bid on a player? Many fantasy websites will give suggested FAAB bids in their weekly waiver wire suggestions. That can help you get an idea for a baseline for your bid. Obviously if you really want or need that player, you should adjust your bid up accordingly. Conversely if you suspect that no one else will be submitting a bid on that player, or if an owner with a lower FAAB budget will be submitting a claim, you can adjust your bid down accordingly.
(Credit to the reddit fantasy football league, NARFFL, for that description. It explained it perfectly)
Scoring - Fractional Scoring
Offense
Passing Yards -
25 yards per point
Passing Touchdowns -
4
Interceptions -
(-1)
Rushing Yards -
10 yards per point
Rushing Touchdowns -
6
Reception Yards -
10 yards per point
Reception Touchdowns -
6
Return Touchdowns -
6
2-Point Conversions -
2
Fumbles Lost -
(-2)
Offensive Fumble Return TD -
6
Kickers
Field Goals 0-19 Yards -
3
Field Goals 20-29 Yards -
3
Field Goals 30-39 Yards -
3
Field Goals 40-49 Yards -
4
Field Goals 50+ Yards -
5
Point After Attempt Made -
1
Defense/Special Teams
Sack -
1
Interception -
2
Fumble Recovery -
2
Touchdown -
6
Safety -
2
Block Kick -
2
Kickoff and Punt Return Touchdowns -
6
Points Allowed 0 points -
10
Points Allowed 1-6 points -
7
Points Allowed 7-13 points -
4
Points Allowed 14-20 points -
1
Points Allowed 21-27 points -
0
Points Allowed 28-34 points -
(-1)
Points Allowed 35+ points -
(-4)
That's pretty much it. The Yahoo ranking system is usually pretty good if you need some help with drafting strats. Here's the ESPN cheat sheet if you want to use it as well (
http://g.espncdn.com/s/ffldraftkit/13/NFLDK2K13_CS_Stand.pdf?addata=2013=ffldft_chtsht_standard_xxx)
Good luck to all.
