Fantasy Football Settings

If you are about to form your fantasy football league, but aren't sure what you want to use for settings, then I'm here to save your day. I've been the commissioner of my fantasy football league for nearly ten years and have used the same exact format every single season . . . with no complaints.

Here are the ideal settings for your fantasy football league:

Starting Roster:
1 Quarterback
1 Running Back
2 Wide Receivers
2 Flex (Running Backs and/or Wide Receivers)
1 Tight End
1 Kicker
1 Defensive Team

9 Bench Players: I think nine is the perfect number for your bench. This number allows you to have a backup at every position, with an extra backup at the running back and receiver positions.

Note: For the defensive team, you also get credit for their special teams scores on kick and punt returns.

Scoring (Offense):
Touchdown Thrown: 6 points
Touchdown Scored: 6 points
Every 10 yards receiving: 1 point
Every 10 yards rushing: 1 point
Fumble Lost: -2 points
Interception Thrown: -2 points
Every 25 yards thrown: 1 point
Two point conversion thrown: 2 points
Two point conversion scored: 2 points

Scoring (Defense):
Sack: 1 point
Fumble Recovery: 1 point
Interception: 1 point
Safety: 2 points
Interception, Fumble Return for Touchdown: 6 points
Blocked Kick: 2 points
Punt or Kick Return for Touchdown: 6 points
Shutting out opposition: 13 points
Allowing 2 - 6 points: 7 points
Allowing 7 - 13 points: 5 points
Allowing 14 - 20 points: 2 points
Allowing 28-34 points: -3 points
Allowing 35 and over: -6 points

Note: I do not give any points for yardage on interception, fumble, kick or punt returns.

Kicking:
Extra Point: 1 point
Field Goal under 40 yards: 3 points
Field Goal 40-49 yards: 4 points
Field Goad 50 and over: 5 points

Trading: NO TRADING
Yes, we all love to trade, but more often than not, trades turn most leagues into an ugly mess. One trade can literally make or break your football team, so your competitors will be very anal about any and all trades that are executed. It is very rare that the majority of the league members will agree on a single trade, so keep it simple and do away with trades and the drama. I do not think trading should be your shortcut to the championship, anyways. I believe you should win the championship by completing a good draft (with reliable backups) and making effective use of the waiver wire.

Waiver Wire/Free Agents:
The best way to utilize the waiver wire is to lock all teams on Sunday through Tuesday, thus preventing teams from picking up players on Sunday afternoon. Occasionally, you'll see a guy come out of nowhere on a Sunday afternoon and run for 150 yards. Of course, everybody will want him on their team, so there must be an organized way to conduct this. If you allow people to pick up free agents at any given time, then you are basically awarding people for staying home by their computers all day so they can capture free agents before others. You should lock the free agents from Sunday until Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon, the team that is first in the waiver order (typically the team with the worst record) will have first dibs.

Draft Order:
Let's face it, everybody wants the #1 pick! You could use the "random" order, but I prefer to use my own method. What I do is pick a random night of Major League Baseball games, or NFL pre-season games, and send everybody a list of that night's games. I have all of the members pick who they think will win each game, along with some "total points" tiebreakers. Whoever has the most correct picks will have the first pick in the draft.

Playoffs:
If you have 10 or fewer teams in your league, then allow the top 4 teams to make the playoffs. If you have 12 or more teams, then allow the top 6 teams to make the playoffs, with the top 2 getting a first round bye.

You should have your fantasy regular season end on week 13 of the NFL regular season. Weeks 14 and 15 can then be used for quarterfinals and semi-finals, with week 16 being used as the championship week. I prefer not to use week 17 because many teams in the NFL have already clinched their playoff seeding by that time, so many starters will not even suit up that week.

There you have it. If you use these settings, you should receive no complaints from your league members.

Good luck!