Fantasy Football For Dummies. Martin A. Schulman

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for an offense, score touchdowns, and even play on special teams — in other words, they make plays that impact the game. The scoring system of most fantasy leagues tracks defensive performance. In terms of defense, most fantasy leagues break down defensive scoring in two ways:

       Team defense/special teams: Standard fantasy leagues combine one defense’s stats into one fantasy player, called the team defense (DEF) on Yahoo! and/or defense/special teams (D/ST) on other fantasy football sites.

       Individual players: In more advanced leagues, each fantasy coach drafts defensive position players and uses an individual scoring system, much like with the offensive players.

      This section looks at both options and how they affect scoring in fantasy football. Check out Chapter 7 for more info on scouting defenses.

      Dissecting team defense scoring

      The team defense can be a major contributor to your fantasy team, depending on your league’s scoring system. Sacks, interceptions, and fumble recoveries quickly add up and lead to a dominant defensive game. If your team DEF crushes its opponent, it may even score the elusive shutout, worth 10 big fantasy points. If your defense gets lit up and gives up lots of points, many leagues penalize you for their performance. The special teams unit can also score you a quick 6 by returning a kick or a punt for a TD, but it’s very rare.

      The following list breaks down the default scoring for team DSTs on Yahoo!:

       Sack: 1 point

       Interception: 2 points

       Fumble recovery: 2 points

       Touchdown: 6 points

       Safety: 2 points

       Blocked kick: 2 points

       Kick/punt return TDs: 6 points

       0 points allowed: 10 points

       1 and 6 points allowed: 7 points

       7 and 13 points allowed: 4 points

       14 and 20 points allowed: 1 point

       21 and 27 points allowed: 0 points

       28 and 34 points allowed: –1 point

       35+ points allowed: –4 points

      Defensive touchdowns aren’t common, but they have a huge fantasy impact when they occur. For example, if a linebacker makes an interception, it’s worth 2 points, but if he runs it back for a touchdown, he gets another 6 points. Any time you can score 8 fantasy points on one NFL play, that is a sweet play!

      

On average, a team defense should score around 5 to 10 points in a good week. But a great week (15 to 30 fantasy points) or a terrible week (0 to –5 fantasy points) can decide a game. Every season, coaches will draft the projected top-three defenses early — from Round 8 to 12. The problem is that team defenses rely on so many variables, making their performances hard to predict and their value rarely worth such early round selections. You have 32 team defenses to choose from and less than half will be drafted. Thus, you’ll have a chance to stream a productive unit with a good weekly matchup during the season, even if you wait until a later round and miss out on a highly ranked DEF in your draft.

      Getting advanced with IDP scoring

      More advanced leagues, with intense commissioners and coaches who want a bigger scouting challenge, offer individual defensive player (IDP) scoring options. In an IDP league, each fantasy coach drafts individual defensive players and uses individual scoring, much like individual offensive scoring. (Because you’re probably a beginning fantasy player, I suggest you first focus on team DEF leagues. That’s why most of this book focuses on team DEF. However, if you do want a little bit on IDP leagues, this section gives a quick overview on scoring.)

IDP leagues break down the defensive players by three positions:

       Linebackers

       Defensive linemen

       Defensive backs

      Your league’s commissioner sets how many players at each position you must draft. Each position can score fantasy points in any of the following stat categories, depending on your league’s default settings. Here’s a sample of some of them (not from a Yahoo! league):

       Sack: 2 points

       Tackle: 2 points

       Assist: 1 point

       Interception: 3 points

       Pass defended: 1 point

       Fumble recovery: 2 points

       Forced fumble: 3 points

       Touchdown: 6 points

       Safety: 3 points

       Blocked kick: 2 points

       Kick/punt return touchdowns: 6 points

      The roster requirements and scoring variables are different in every IDP league. In general, stats such as tackles and forced fumbles make each defensive player almost as important as the offensive players on your roster. Of course, TDs still rule in most leagues, and your draft should still focus on the play-making RBs, QBs, and WRs. But after you’ve acquired your offensive stars in the first five to ten rounds, you can start to look at drafting dominant All-Pro defensemen. (For more info on pre-ranking IDP leagues, read Chapter 7.)

      

Note that a good IDPs stat ceiling is typically way below that of a good offensive skill player.

You versus Who? Knowing the Scoring Format

      Knowing how your players score their fantasy points doesn’t mean you know the whole score. What matters in the NFL also matters in the big picture of fantasy football: winning. And just as each fantasy league has unique scoring rules for the players, leagues have different types of rules for competing against the other coaches. Make sure you’ve researched the league’s scoring format before you join so you know what it takes to win. This section gives you the rundown of how the road to victory is different in certain leagues.

      Head-to-head leagues

      The classic competition format for fantasy football is the style that mirrors the NFL: going head to head against the other teams in your league. In a head-to-head scoring league, each fantasy squad plays one other squad per week, and the starting lineup with the highest score that week wins. If the matchup ends in a tie, a tiebreaker

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