It’s happening. A couple weeks ago, I introduced a concept for a new fantasy football league. Well, not only does it have legs, it’s sprouting other body parts as well.
In brief, each roster spot is broken into quarters. When it’s your turn to draft, you don’t take one player; you take four. In essence, each pick is a quarter-share of each player. To make it really interesting, you can choose multiple shares of each player. There are only four shares per player available so when all are selected, that player is off the board.
After I wrote the piece, multi-media mogul and all around good guy Nando DiFino invited me on his SiriusXM Fantasy morning show to talk about the idea. Next thing I know an e-mail from the SiriusXM Fantasy Channel’s Program Director Matt Deutsch (another really good guy) appears in my inbox with an invitation to broadcast a draft line on-air. A couple days later, during my regular visit on Baseball HQ Radio, host extraordinaire Patrick Davitt asked me about the venture and we talked on and off air about some possible rules and how we could make it fantasy baseball friendly.
The rules need to account for the inability to run the league via a commissioner service since none could handle the same team owning multiple quarters of the same player. Since the scoring has to be done off-line via spreadsheet, in-season transactions need to be simple to facilitate running the league.
Patrick suggested having no reserve lists – everyone is active. The proverbial light bulb was blinding. That was the missing element to transfer the format to baseball. But, it also serves to streamline league management for football.
The usual weekly free agent and waiver acquisitions will be monthly. Doing it weekly would entail a bit too much administration. Once a month should keep owners engaged while affording the opportunity to replace injured players as well as having the emerging players contribute to the action. Plus, it could introduce some strategy with bye weeks.
An idea I’m considering is having the quarterback spot be Team QB, so instead of drafting Drew Brees you take the New Orleans quarterbacks. The plan is to poll the participants to see what they prefer. I can pose salient arguments both ways so instead of imposing my will, I’ll cede to the wishes of the league.
The final tweak (and this isn’t up for debate) is scoring using the all-play format. Instead of the traditional head-to-head scoring, each team will play each other team every week. This keeps the head-to-head feel but mitigates the majority of schedule-induced luck. We could use points but I’ve always felt there’s something to be said for a consistently solid team as opposed to one that sits on top of the points standings due to a couple of extremely high-scoring weeks. Plus, you run the league through at least Week 16 (no playoffs) which keeps everyone involved all season and doesn’t weed out teams late in the year.
What follows is the end result; the initial draft of the rules for Fantasy Clones, a novel concept in fantasy sports league management. This is only a draft, a work in progress so amendments are possible as the league participants comment.
1. The roster will consist of the following: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB/WR/TE, 1 D/ST, 1 K. Each roster spot is divided into four quarter shares. Flex does not have to be all of the same position.
2. At your turn, you select four quarter shares. Multiple shares of the same player are allowed as is choosing players at different positions.
3. Every roster spot is active; there are no reserves.
4. At the end of weeks 4, 8 and 12 there will be a free agent draft. Any remaining shares of players originally drafted will be available along with all four shares of non-drafted players. The draft will be STRAIGHT draft (non-snake), beginning with the team in last place. One share will be picked at a time until all the teams pass on their pick. At the conclusion of the waiver draft, player shares must be released so a legal roster results. The flex spot can change composition. The draft will be conducted live on-line. Owners unable to attend can submit a list to the league manager.
5. Points for each player share will be totaled as usual, summed up for each spot and divided by four. Scoring will be borrowed from the National Fantasy Football Championship:
PASSING
- .05 points for every yard passing (works out to 1 point every 20 yards)
- 6 points for every passing touchdown
- 2 points for every 2-Point conversion
- minus 2 points for every interception
- minus 1 point for every lost fumble
RUSHING
- .10 points for every yard rushing (works out to 1 point every 10 yards)
- 6 points for every rushing TD
- 2 points for every 2-Point conversion
- minus 1 point for every lost fumble
- 6 points for a recovered offensive fumble for a touchdown (RB, QB, WR, TE)
RECEIVING
- .10 points for every yard receiving (works out to 1 point every 10 yards)
- 6 points for every receiving TD
- 1 point for every reception for all players
- 2 points for every 2-Point conversion
- minus 1 point for every lost fumble
KICKING
- 1 point for every extra point
- 3 points for every field goal from 1-30 yards
- 3 points for every field goal plus .10 points for every yard after 30 yards (i.e. a 47-yard field goal would be worth 4.7 points)
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
- 1 point for every sack
- 2 points for every interception or opponents' fumble recovery
- 6 points for every touchdown (interception return, defensive fumble return, punt or kickoff return, blocked field goal return, blocked punt return). All special teams and defensive points are awarded to the team responsible. Individual players who also score a TD on special teams will receive 6 points for their fantasy teams. Also, any lost fumble or “muff” on a specials team play now results in negative points for that individual player. Should a kicker, punter or field goal holder throw a pass off a fake attempt, however, the offensive output for that offensive play would go towards the individual player, not the D/ST.
- 2 points for every safety
- 12 points for a shutout by the entire team
- 8 points for allowing 2-7 points by the entire team
- 4 points for allowing 8-12 points by the entire team
- 2 points for allowing 13-17 points by the entire team
6. The league will consist of 12, 13 or 14 using all-play format. Ties will be recorded as ties. Play will run through Week 16 (unless the league agrees to include Week 17).
7. Trading will not be allowed (but may be considered in future years).
So there you have it. There’s no doubt some details I’ve overlooked, but this is the basic idea. We’re in the process of recruiting from our friends in the industry along with including some readers that have already expressed interest. If you’re interested in participating, please post a note in the comments and you’ll be on the list if we have openings.
Stay tuned for details with respect to the date and time you can hear the festivities on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Channel.