IDP and ST Scoring Discussion

[David Yun]

We've got months to hash this out, but ESPN's fantasy site is rolling again and I wanted post my preliminary IDP and ST scoring settings. Suggestions and comments desired.

Solo Tackle - 1 (.5 for assist)
Tackle for Loss (Stuff) - 2
Sack - 4 (2 for 1/2 sack)
Pass Defended - 2
Interception - 6
Fumble Forced - 4
Fumble Recovered - 2
Safety - 8

Reasoning:

The tackle stat is the baseline for IDP scoring; 1 is natural. This means we end up with the less than aesthetic .5 points for assists. If this ever serves as a tiebreaker, terrific. We don't do ties, and the current 'home team wins' tiebreaker is admittedly fundamentally arbitrary. Stuffs for loss of yardage should be worth more than the standard tackle (double at 2).

[Tangent: regarding home field advantage. Maaaaaybe visiting teams should be penalized some points...thoughts? This wrinkle would also provide a reward for playoff teams achieving higher seeding, making that more meaningful.]

I want to reward sacks (and also stuffs), to make defensive linemen more relevant. (Most IDP systems result in tackle orientated linebackers dominating the scoring.) Sacks result in loss of down and significant loss of yardage (2 points per 1/2 sack).

I'm seeing a lot of IDP leagues only award 1 point for passes defended. But a PD is as good as a tackle for no gain. I'm going with 2 points to increase the value of defensive backs, especially elite cornerbacks which would otherwise get no play. This also further offsets the impact of LB tackle monsters. I remember this being the setting when Kang and I last played IDP, and it worked out fine.

I have interceptions tentatively at 6 points. This feels high from an intuitive perspective, but an INT is certainly more game breaking than a sack, and my thinking is that turnovers should be treated like touchdowns for defensive players. This does mean that a TAINT (touchdown after INT) results in 12 fantasy points. That is SUBSTANTIAL, but is a rare occurrence for any given individual player. I'm thinking that it's reasonable to equate this to an offensive player breaking off a 60 yard TD run or reception (which would result in 12 points).

I've split up those 6 turnover points for fumbles. 4 for the player that forces it, 2 for recovering. Fumble recoveries seem at least somewhat a matter of luck, and I want to emphasize the player who creates the opportunity. Of course, a fumble recovery can also lead to a touchdown for a total of 8 points.

8 points for a safety seems extreme, but I'm treating it as the 2 points put on the scoreboard plus the generation of a turnover. Again, like TAINTS, individual players rarely create safeties and I'm okay with the scoring bonanza of 8.

[David Yun]

Special Teams:

I want to make sure everybody understands - the D/ST teams slot is for special teams play only. (IDP players replace all non-special teams play.)

Punt/kickoff return yards - 1 per 10 yards
Touchdowns - 6 points
Blocked punts/kicks - 2 points

Reasoning:

I did a rundown of the top return yardage teams from last season. Going 1 per 10 yards results in these teams barely averaging double digit fantasy points. Seems reasonable to me.

All touchdowns are 6.

I retained the 2 points of blocked punts/kicks from last season. This feels appropriate for say, preventing a field goal from having the opportunity of scoring. I also added those 2 points to any IDP player getting a blocked kick. This bugs me a little, but it seems analogous to an offensive position player earning 6 points if they manage a special teams kick return TD.

[David Yun]

I'm considering upping the penalty for interceptions and fumbles (currently at 2) to reflect the IDP importance of turnovers. Thoughts?

[Dave]

The scoring you have for IDP and Special Teams looks fine. I'm not too keen on increasing the penalty on interceptions and fumbles, as that doesn't reward the IDP player so much as hurt the offensive player.

[David Yun]

Increasing the penalty to 3 appeals to my sense of symmetry. That would make the penalty of interceptions and fumbles for offensive players exactly half that of the reward for defensive players. This is largely my OCD kicking in, but it's no less arbitrary than your dislike of penalizing offensive players.

Ball security matters.

[David Yun]

Wondering if we should just drop ST entirely.

[David Yun]

Adjusted ST return points to 1 per 25 yards. This will be the minor scoring position, except for jackpot bonus TDs.

Kang's perspective on it was: "It's a tiebreaker." I like that just fine. ST play in NFL games are kinda like that.

[David Yun]

Discussed it with Joel and the following is the finalized scoring system for our league. If there are any concerns, bring them up in the next couple of months.


Passing, rushing, and receiving is the same as last season, except for the penalty for INTs and Fumbles has been increased to -3

There is now a Kicker penalty for missed PATs of -1, and missed FGs have been increased to -2

Touchdowns of every variety are 6 points

Every tackle, assisted or solo, is 1 point.

Tackles for losses are 3 points.

Sacks are 4 points (2 points per 1/2 sack).

Passes defended are 2 points.

Forced fumbles are 4 points. Fumble recoveries are 2.

Interceptions are 6 points.

Safeties are 8 points.

Blocked kicks are 2 points.

PLEASE NOTE: The D/ST slot only applies to special teams play - 1 point per 25 yards of kick/punt return, 6 points for return TDs, and 2 points for blocked kicks.

[David Yun]

I just removed the ST slot. I started taking a head count, and we had enough people that were leaning against it or didn't care. Commish stamped the move as well.

It would have been good to have ST play represented, but I just didn't see any solid ways of reasonably translating the on the field performance to fantasy impact. It mostly had to do with ESPN's scoring tools not having the options I was looking for.

[David Yun]

Scoring for Stuffs has been adjusted to 2, down from 3. All Stuffs are credited on top of a Tackle, so each such play is now awarded the intended 3 (2+1) points.

There are other similar issues: Sacks/Half-Sacks generate points for 1 Tackle and 1 Sack/Half Sack, and Interceptions generate points for 1 Pass Defended + 1 Interception. I did not adjust these.

So:

Tackle = 1
Stuff = 3 (2 + 1)
Half Sack = 3 (2 + 1)
Sack = 5 (4 + 1)
Interception = 8 (6 + 2)