Fantasy football (FF) has blown up since I started playing it 16 years ago. I still remember Randall Cunningham's face on the cover of my first ever FF book seeming to say, "Take me first, I won't let you down." To be honest, FF just seemed a little too fake to be cool, but I thought I'd give it a try. I was hooked for life during my first draft when I realized this was the closest I would ever get to playing in the NFL. I know what you're thinking, "That's pretty close and you're pretty cool, Noah". You know what I'm thinking? You're a sarcastic bastard. You also might be a genius.
Moving right along...
The major problem I have with FF in general is the fact that it just hasn't evolved as much as it should have. There are millions of people participating in leagues and there are more than enough cheat sheets out there to allow you to draft a solid team without much research. If you're fairly new to FF, trust me when I tell you it wasn't always this way. I consider those things a nice step forward in the fantasy sports world. But the fact of the matter is, the game itself just hasn't changed enough. The main reason for that is most people try to keep FF as true to real football as possible. I'll deal more with that later, but I will say, it's a league where you make up an imaginary football team and take real players stats to measure your fake teams performance against other imaginary teams. But they're definitely right. Let's keep this thing as real as possible. Ugh.
The glaring problems with FF are more than you might think and frankly more than I care to write about. Without further ado, here's my list of the biggest problems and their solutions.
(Warning: Before reading this list, be prepared to completely change the way you look at FF.)
Problem #1: In most years, the first 12 out of 13 or 14 players chosen are running backs. It's considered a fantasy football staple. "Load up on RB's early and take some mid and late round fliers on WR's and QB's with upside", says (enter token fantasy expert's name here). Can I say something? Why does it have to be like this? What is the point of this running back domination? The reason for it is that traditional lineups are still overwhelmingly used. These lineups usually consist of 1 QB, 2 RB's, 3 WR's, a flex position (WR, TE or RB), a kicker, a defensive team and 6 bench spots. This is what people are used to, but this is why a guy like Willie Parker will get drafted before Peyton Manning. This is why the owner who drafts Steve Smith in the first round is ridiculed by his buddies and probably won't win the championship. Want an easy fix that will make your league more fun? Welcome to your new addiction. I call it playing FF the right way. It's like upgrading your girlfriend from Alicia Goranson (the original Becky on 'Roseanne') to Sarah Chalke (the new and improved Becky). Even John Goodman was breaking character and giving her the eye.
A new lineup is the first step. Don't be afraid to admit you may have a problem. Here's how it breaks down. You start 2 QB's, 2 RB's, 4 WR's, 2 TE's, 6 bench spots and that's it. It may seem crazy, but let me explain. This makes QB's and TE's way more important. Which balances things out in the early rounds. In a 10 team league with 1 starting QB, the worst starting quarterback will be someone like Farve, Kitna or Vince Young. That's not so bad. The guy with Peyton Manning only has a slight edge and you have better running backs to make up for it. In a 10 team league with 2 starting QB's you could end up starting J.P. Losman and Alex Smith side by side if you wait to long! I'm pretty sure the guy with Peyton Manning and Marc Bulger isn't too worried about your running backs. The same applies to TE's, but to a lesser degree. The top 10 TE's are all studs and wash each other out in a 1 TE format, but if you grab 2 of the top 5 while someone else ends up starting Owen Daniels and Marcus Pollard in the 2 TE format then you have a leg up. Also you won't be able to neglect WR's too much because you need to start 4 now. This will make draft day a lot more interesting and you won't have to feel shafted if you don't get a top 3 pick.
Some people would argue that fantasy football should be as realistic as possible, therefore you should only start 1 QB. I would counter by asking those people to show me an NFL team that starts two tailbacks and to show me a GM that would take Rudi Johnson or Joseph Addai over Tom Brady or Carson Palmer to start their franchise.
Problem #2: Wide receivers are insignificant. The first WR off the board isn't usually until mid to late 2nd round. Once again we can fix this so why don't we? Change your scoring system to reward wide outs and tight ends. What kind of yards are the hardest to come by in the NFL? Receiving yards. The top wide out's usually only average something like 80-85 yards a game. So why are they worth the same as rushing yards in every league? The standard scoring system is usually something like this:
Passing TD: 4 pts
Passing Yards: 1 pt for every 20 yards
Rush/Rec TD: 6 pts
Rush/Rec Yards: 1 pt for every 10 yards
To improve balance and add a much needed twist, consider this scoring system:
Passing TD: 5 pts
Passing Yards: 1 pt for every 30 yards
Rushing TD: 6 pts
Rushing Yards: 1 pt for every 15 yards
Rec TD: 7 pts
Rec Yards: 1 pt for every 10 yards.
This will make the players much more even and you can draft the best player available as opposed to the best RB left on the board. Who wants to get forced into taking Cedric Benson when guys like Chad Johnson are still available?
The last thing to address is the fat trimmed off by doing away with kickers and defensive teams. I for one can't remember that last time a kicker won a fantasy game for me and I felt like I made a smart play and deserved to win via the boot. But I do remember countless times of feeling completely ripped off because someone got lucky and their kicker made 5 fg's on Monday night to beat me by 1 point. Who needs the heartache? Fantasy football is already brutal enough on the nerves.
Defensive teams might be a little more likable, but in the end they just don't add much to the games. Once again it just seems like luck when a defense goes off. You can play the match ups a bit, but most defenses average almost the same points per game as each other anyway. My #1 reason for saying sayonara to these 2 positions is the way they affect your bench. No smart owner carries a backup kicker or a backup defensive team. So when your def/kicker has a bye you either have to drop them (which many people do and that shows you how little they are valued) or you can drop someone off your bench. The problem there is that good owners won't be carrying guys they want to drop for a kicker, (i.e a handcuff like Michael Turner) but they are forced to or else they have to run a blank and that's why I say, good riddance, Phil Dawson and the Denver Defense. It was fun while it lasted. Sort of.
