Cool Rules
Rules are meant to be broken. Cool rules, however, they’re meant to be appreciated.
My favorite part about creating a dynasty league is building the rulebook and the best part about crafting the guidelines that govern a fantasy league in my opinion is creativity. Being creative with the rules (when done correctly) adds to the fun of your dynasty experience and can help to create a unique league that will keep fantasy owners coming back every year.
Every dynasty league rulebook has the same essentials. The scoring system used, roster size and starting positions are vital in every rulebook, but let’s face it – that stuff is a tad boring. Sure, you can spice things up by adding individual defensive players to a league or starting two quarterbacks rather than one, but to truly be unique, a league has to have something that few others do. I just happen to have a few suggestions I’ve come up with over the years. Keep in my mind while reading that these ideas qualify as “outside of the box” and may not be for all dynasty leagues.
Cool Rule #1: PPFD
A common rule you’ll find in many fantasy football league rulebooks is known by all of us as PPR. Whether it’s a half-point per reception or the more common full-point, most leagues now use some type of PPR scoring.
I’ve always thought the PPR scoring system to be a bit flawed. The core reason PPR was created was in an attempt to equalize scoring between all of the offensive positions. Many thought that in standard scoring leagues, quarterbacks could rack up fantasy points in big games a lot faster than receivers and running backs. Has PPR ever truly accomplished that goal or did it just sway things in the other direction? It could be argued that in some PPR scoring systems, the quarterback position takes a backseat to the other skill positions when it comes to big scoring days.
Another reason PPR has become so popular is the added value it gives to “chain movers” like Wes Welker who catch a lot of passes, but don’t score as often as other big time wide outs. An argument could be made that PPR has given some of those volume catchers an advantage over other more talented wide receivers. Half-PPR leagues have tried to even things out a bit, but maybe there’s an even better way.
As a resolution, perhaps instead of awarding points to fantasy players for simply catching a pass, we should start giving points for first downs (PPFD.)
Think about it for a moment. Not all (but most) fantasy leagues aren’t point-per-rush or point-per-completion leagues. So why would we grant points for making a reception, especially when points are already being awarded due to the yardage the receiver gets on the catch?
The reality is that there are four critical offensive statistics that go into deciding the winner of an NFL game; turnovers, yards gained, first downs and scoring (obviously). Most fantasy scoring systems account for three of those four statistics. By ignoring first downs when setting up fantasy scoring, we overlook a significant part of the real game.
To take the argument a bit further, ponder the following.
It’s third and ten and a receiver runs a 9-yard out route, makes the catch and is immediately tackled. While NFL fans and coaches are annoyed by the player, his fantasy owners are rewarded in these situations as if the player did something well when in all actuality he made a critical mistake.
An even better example of this skewed scoring system is a player that catches a screen pass and is tackled behind the line-of-scrimmage. That player still scores positive points in a PPR league. In my opinion, there’s something wrong with that.
Another situation where PPFD would come in handy is third and short. When an offense finds itself in such a position and hands the ball to the halfback, it’s vital to the team’s chances of winning the game that he gets the necessary yardage and keeps the drive alive. In my opinion, fantasy scoring should reflect the importance of moving the chains in such a situation. Awarding points for first downs would do exactly that and also add value to third down and goal line backs in deep leagues.
PPFD would not only alleviate these types of problems, but it would increase the value of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends without overvaluing them, and it does so while making a league distinctive.
Cool Rule #2: A True Dynasty Payout
The goal of every fantasy player that takes over a dynasty team is (or at least should be) one thing and one thing only – building a dynasty! So shouldn’t leagues incorporate a rule that awards owners who construct a fantasy empire and reign over the competition year after year? My absolute favorite rule to incorporate into dynasty leagues does exactly that. I call it the “Back-To-Back Fund” in my league.
The “Back-To-Back Fund” does exactly what the name suggests. It pays a rather large sum of money to any owner who wins back-to-back league championships.
To build the fund, just take a certain percentage (i.e. 5% – 10%) of every owner’s league dues and put it aside every year. The fund grows every season until an owner earns the entire prize for winning his or her second consecutive title.
It’s crazy to see what teams will do to try to cash in that lottery ticket after winning their first championship. On the flip side, it’s even more fun to watch other teams do everything they can to stop the previous season’s champ. The “Back-To-Back Fund” truly puts a bullseye on the back of the owner in defense of their title.
After implementing this rule into a league, it only takes a few seasons for the “Back-To-Back Fund” to outweigh the payout for winning your league’s championship game. Some leagues choose to make it a “Three-Peat Fund” after the back-to-back has been accomplished. I imagine you could start off with the stipulation of needing the trifecta to earn the loot, but I’ll leave the details up to you and your league mates. In any sense, this rule will absolutely increase the amount of fun you and your comrades will have once you put it into effect, especially if you’re the first one to win it.
Cool Rule #3: The Holdout
In my opinion, one of the best things about dynasty leagues is you can build them so your league owners have to make decisions that closely resemble the ones their NFL general manager counterparts make on a daily basis. To do so, you can include many things such as a salary cap with contracts, restricted free agency (along with unrestricted free agency) or you can even have a practice squad. When the goal is to make the league resemble NFL ownership as much as possible, one of my favorite things to incorporate into salary cap leagues is “The Holdout Rule.”
NFL franchises are often crippled due to a player’s demands for a raise while still under contract but most fantasy franchises never have to deal with such a dilemma. Adding “The Holdout Rule” will force owners to make the same tough choices as NFL GMs.
The best time to incorporate “The Holdout Rule” is at a live draft, right before league free agency and the rookie draft each year.
All you have to do is write the names of the highest scoring player(s) at every position from the prior season on pieces of paper and drop them into a hat. Then drop in an equal number of pieces (or more) with no name on them. Have the league champion from the year before draw a single piece of paper and the name drawn becomes the holdout for that off-season. If a blank piece is drawn, there isn’t a holdout that year and everybody can breathe easy.
In the event there is a holdout, the rule would state the player is demanding a contract equal to the largest deal at his position. The owner who has the player can decide immediately to cave to the player’s demands, give the player a raise and keep him active, or he can choose to let the player holdout and not use him until he reports to the team.
If the owner chooses to let the player holdout, the numbers one through sixteen are written on pieces of paper and dropped into the same hat. After free agency and the rookie draft are complete, the owner of the holdout draws out a number and that decides what week the player will give up on his demands for a new contract and be eligible to play for his fantasy team again. Of course, the owner will have the opportunity to give in to the player at any time after the first week of the NFL season, as long as they have the salary cap space.
The holdout rule is pretty intense and certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, but it adds a lot of reality to fantasy ownership and really enhances the excitement at the league draft. Some might think adding a rule like this is a bit harsh and it probably is for some leagues, but leagues that are looking to add unexpected challenges and want to replicate NFL ownership as closely as possible will absolutely love it.
These are just a few ideas that hopefully help add originality to the next rulebook you’re forming. Whether you integrate any of them into your league or not, remember that unique rules are what can separate your league from others and make owners want to come back for more year after year.
What are some cool rules you’ve been thinking about or have implemented in your leagues?
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