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Setting up an IDP League
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Setting up an IDP League (or Getting a Little Defensive)
Landon Reed
Let's get down to brass tacks shall we? Adding individual
defensive players to your present or new league is fairly straightforward. Most
software or online sites give you the option of adding individual defensive
players. We'll let you worry about the mechanics of the site. We'll talk about
the strategy of picking numbers of players and setting up a scoring system.
Number of individual defensive players
Much like setting up the offensive side of the playing field,
you'll want to consider setting up individual roster spots for the defensive
side. You should consider the following positions: defensive lineman (DL),
defensive back (DB), and -my favorite- linebacker (LB).
I like to have about 9-10 player spots on defense, as I try to
maintain decent bench spots in my leagues. That's me. You should know that
defensive back (DB) is an umbrella term used for cornerbacks, strong safeties,
and safeties. Any one of those players can be put into the DB spot come Sunday.
(Though as an IDPBlitz member you'll learn they don't all produce points in the
same way for your team, depending upon the type of scoring system in your
league.)
There is no typical setup for a fantasy defense. I have seen
and played in a wide variety of leagues over the years. In my opinion, it's best
to try and balance the starting numbers and scoring output of your defensive
players to your offensive players. So, if you're starting 8-9 players on
offense, it's sensible to start the same number on defense. Here's an example:
Offense
Defense
QB 1
LB 4
RB 2
DL 2
WR 3
DB 3
TE 1
K 1
Okay, there you go. There are eight starters on offense and
nine on defense. Sorry for the slight imbalance but we love our defensive
players at IDPBlitz. Some people like to play with fewer. For example, one
league I know of uses only 1 LB, 1 DL, 1 DB, and 2 flex positions that can be
any player, for a total of 5.
Hmm…looking at numbers and initials seems a tad boring. Let's
put some names to the roster.
Offense
Defense
QB: Carson Palmer LB:
Brian Urlacher
RB: LaMont Jordan LB Demorrio
Williams
RB: Tatum Bell
LB Karlos Dansby
WR: Hines Ward
LB: Nick Barnett
WR: Andre Johnson DL Derrick
Burgess
WR: Charles Rogers DL: Osi
Umenyiora
TE: Chris Cooley
DB: Charles Tillman
K: Nate Kaeding
DB: Eric Coleman
DB: Greg Wesley
Yup, much better. Here you can see how the team comes together
as a group of individuals. You've got some quality pieces on offense to be sure,
but it's your superb defense that's going to win games for you week after week.
There isn't one weak spot in that group. Now, before I lose control and drool
all over this fantasy unit, let's take the next step and configure our scoring.
Assigning scoring values
Again I repeat myself here, but much like setting up your
offensive side of the ball, you should seek to maintain some balance. If your
league is going to reward offensive players hugely for scoring touchdowns, then
it's right to reward your individual defensive players for their Sunday sacks
and picks. If your league is a bit more involved and adds total yards to the
scoring equations, then it's entirely appropriate to add individual tackles to
the mix. If your league is one of the highly refined -even sublime- leagues that
takes into account the number of carries, catches, passing attempts,
competitions, and so forth of a player on offense; then it's fully expected
you'll amp up your studs on defense in a similar fashion by including caused
fumbles, safeties, recovered fumbles, assisted tackles, defended passes, blocked
kicks, and the number of times your frustrated defensive lineman bowls over the
water cooler. Eh, yea okay, I made the last one up, but still…
Let's do a short tally of a typical scoring result for a few
players under each system. These are my examples. At IDPBlitz.com, we refer to 3
standard scoring systems: Tackle, Big Play and Balanced. If you want to know
more about those, please go to Standard Scoring Systems.
The easy system:
Scoring
Points awarded
Carson Palmer 2 touchdowns 20 points for
a touchdown
1 interception
-10 points for an interception
LaMont Jordan 3 touchdowns 8 points per touchdown
Total on offense
54 points
Scoring method
Points awarded
Brian Urlacher 1 sack 12
points for a sack
1 interception 15
Osi
Umenyiora 2 sacks 10 points for a sack
Total on offense
47 points
We don't have perfect balance but it's plenty close. The
scoring is set in such a way that, like on offense, we are awarding the
individual defensive player for doing his job well. A lineman should be getting
sacks; and that's worth 10 points. You're linebacker is expected to stop the
runner and get the occasional bonus sack. That's worth a bit more at 12 points.
The interception earns 15 points because they're not quite as prevalent as
sacks. Many DBs go several games without making picks, so a little more is
earned when one is plucked from the air.
The more involved system:
Scoring
Points awarded
Carson Palmer 2 touchdowns 6 points for a
touchdown
1 interception -3
points for an interception
275 yards thrown 1 point
per 25 yards thrown
LaMont Jordan 3 touchdowns 6 points per touchdown
145 yards run 1
point per 20 yards run
Total on offense
45 points
Scoring method
Points awarded
Brian Urlacher 1 sack 6 points
for a sack
1 interception 10
points for an interception
11 tackles 1
point per tackle
Osi
Umenyiora 2 sacks 6 points for a sack
4 tackles
2 points per tackle
Total on offense
47 points
We've still have a nice balance here, and we're seeing the
benefits of incorporating more scoring as those individual tackles on defense
match well with the yardage number put up on offense.
Owners in general appreciate receiving points for a player
that had a good game during an actual game but may not have found the end zone.
Those of us that play in leagues with IDPs feel the same way on defense. When
you see a Brian Urlacher disposing of blockers like dandruff on a black shirt
and corralling opposing runners better than a pure bred Shetland Sheepdog, you'd
like to get some credit for it --even if he never gets that big bang moment when
he pancakes a hapless quarterback. I've had days --days I love- when all
my defense did was rack up those tackles. It was mucho points and mucho
satisfying despite the complete absence of a sack or pickoff. That's as far as
I'll go with the Spanish before I embarrass myself more.
Moving on…
The sublime system:
Scoring
Points awarded
Carson Palmer 2 touchdowns 6 points for a
touchdown
1 interception -3
points for an interception
21 competitions .25
per completion
1 sack
-2 per sack
275 yards thrown 1 point
per 25 yards thrown
LaMont Jordan 3 touchdowns 6 points per touchdown
145 yards run 1
point per 20 yards run
22 rushing attempts .25
per attempt
5 catches
.25 per catch
1 fumble
-3 per fumble
Total on offense
52 points
Scoring method
Points awarded
Brian Urlacher 1 sack 6 points
for a sack
1 interception 10
points for an interception
7 tackles
1 point per tackle
5 assisted tackles .5
points per assist
2 water cooler knockdowns (naw, just
fooling)
Osi
Umenyiora 2 sacks 6 points for a sack
4 tackles
2 points per tackle
3 assisted tackles .5
points per assist
1 caused fumble 3
points per caused fumble
2 defended passes 1 point
per defended pass
Total on offense
52 points
Now before you label me as some sort of idiot savant here
because the numbers matched perfectly, I think you'd better consider the notion
that I kept fiddling with them until they turned out this way. I've been called
at least one half of the idiot savant label before, but I'm choosing to withhold
that information as I don't want to undermine the authority of my ideas here.
All kidding aside, what you've reviewed here is a system which
rewards players on both sides for nearly everything they did during game play.
There's a sense of fulfillment that goes with setting up, tinkering, and
ultimately running a league under the sublime format. As noted, when a player
doesn't break the plane of the goal line on offense but dominated the game in
every other aspect, it's frustrating to not receive credit for that performance.
The exact same applies to an individual player on defense.
One last piece of philosophy
The best way to set up your first IDP league is to pick the
format you and your fellow owners are familiar with and make step by step
modifications which fit your particular appreciation for the game. If it's about
the BIG play only --great! Set it up as such on both ends. If it's a belief that
the more like actual football the league can be the more fun it will be, then
set up as many categories as you can and plan to spend a little time crunching
numbers.
Once you've done the number crunching you can sit back on
Sundays and watch the big boys do some crunching of their own.
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