Know the Rules

The format of Elite Fantasy Players football leagues may be different that other leagues you play in. All rules can be found here.  As noted by Kevin “Money” Mechtley, in his Ode to Draft Day, “every decision you make should be guided by your league’s rules.” I will go through a few important rules and discuss how your each should affect your draft day strategy.

Scoring

The most important non-standard scoring rule is points-per-reception (PPR). This obviously adds value to WRs over other positions. But more importantly it can significantly change the value of a RB compared to ESPN standard scoring. Receiving RBs get a huge boost. For example, in ESPN standard scoring, LeSean McCoy was the 7^th highest scoring RB in 2010, but 2^nd in the EFP scoring system—he will likely be undervalued if your league is dominated by ESPN free-league players. Also, think twice before you draft Michael Turner in the 2^nd round.

Punt and kick returners have some value. EFP scoring rewards returners with 1 point for every 25 KR yards or 10 PR yards, and 6 points for a TD. Although it doesn’t add a significant amount value to a returner, an extra 2-3 point a week from your receiver is enough to bump him up several rounds in the draft, and can turn Danny Amendola into an excellent cheap third WR.

Passing TDs are worth 6 points. Not a significant change, but adds some value to QBs who do not rush relative to those who do rush, while raising the value of all QBs relative to other positions.

 

Rosters

The EFP fantasy football roster is

QB       RB        RB        WR      WR      WR      TE        OP       K          D/ST,

where the OP position allows for ANY offensive player.

The most important thing to know is how the different positions are valued relative to each-other given that we play 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR and 1 TE. Below you can see the chart of the average points above the replacement player starting players at each position (neglecting the OP position)

	QB (12)	RB (24)	WR (36)	TE (12)	K (12)	D/ST (12)
Points above replacement	42	57	51	22	12	36

 

The top 24 RBs scored on average in 2010, 57 points above replacement, the highest of any the positions. Although QBs score the most fantasy points, they do not fare well when compared against replacement. This is somewhat balanced by the OP position which many 2^nd QBs will occupy. TE’s are the catchers of fantasy football, and provide little value on draft day compared to what is free after week 1.

Featured Image by Rant Sports