40 replies to this topic

[track 1]

kicker is a waste for fantasy. and in place of the TE i will just have a flex. TE are a crapshoot every year except for maybe 3

[uwmalcolm]

We got rid of kickers in my main league and it's great. Don't miss it at all. I like having TEs though, and i'd say they're no more of a crapshoot to draft than RBs.

[Giants Fan]

The league I play in scores all FGs at 3 points, and we don't have defenses. Love it.

[diomed1]

The league I play in scores all FGs at 3 points, and we don't have defenses. Love it.

In my league we don't have a mandatory TE either. It's a flex position(WR/TE). No team D either. Just IDPs(which rocks!!!).
I am thinking about making the RB slots to a mandatory 1 RB position with another flex added for the RB2 option. With the RBBC going on in the league, it makes sense to me.

[Phurfur]

kicker is a waste for fantasy. and in place of the TE i will just have a flex. TE are a crapshoot every year except for maybe 3

TE are not a crap shoot and are very important to fantaxy football. We've played without kickers for years.

[Phurfur]

In my league we don't have a mandatory TE either. It's a flex position(WR/TE). No team D either. Just IDPs(which rocks!!!).
I am thinking about making the RB slots to a mandatory 1 RB position with another flex added for the RB2 option. With the RBBC going on in the league, it makes sense to me.

What ever makes it easier for you to play..........

The number 4 and 6 receivers in my league are TEs.

[diomed1]

What ever makes it easier for you to play..........

The number 4 and 6 receivers in my league are TEs.

Hey, it wasn't MY decision. It was voted on by all in the league. I actually use a TE every weekend but then again, he is as good if not better than most receivers. I voted for it when it was proposed. I like competitive leagues and there are only a handful of consistent TEs in the league. Not enough to go around. Flexing the position makes sense. The league is really tight in competition which is ideal IMO.

[RoadLizard]

In my league we don't have a mandatory TE either. It's a flex position(WR/TE). No team D either. Just IDPs(which rocks!!!).
I am thinking about making the RB slots to a mandatory 1 RB position with another flex added for the RB2 option. With the RBBC going on in the league, it makes sense to me.

Weve been without mandatory TEs for like 10 years. Where you guys been? They are treated like WRs. As for flex positions? Yep, been doing that for like 10 years too. We have various formations we alow including a Run and Shot(1 RB, 4 WR), Jumbo(2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE), Slot(2 RB, 3 WR) and lots of others.

Kickers and defenses are kind of a joke but IDPs dont interest us. Too many Tds and points end up not counting because not ever player is rostered or started. Oh well.

[The Next Generation]

I love having kickers and team defenses. This way, every year at the draft some idiot(s) draft them in the mid-rounds leaving better position players for the rest of us! Works out perfectly, IMO!

[Mike Nice]

kicker is a waste for fantasy. and in place of the TE i will just have a flex. TE are a crapshoot every year except for maybe 3

Why because you can't manage to get a good kicker or TE any year? Study harder

[Jarvis Basnight]

Why because you can't manage to get a good kicker or TE any year? Study harder

Who studies kickers?

[GridIronAssassin#1]

I think it would take the fun out of it if you eliminated tight ends, kickers, and defenses. That's part of the skill in managing a fantasy football team in trying to make all the parts work each week.

I mean, if it's all about dumbing it down, why not just pick 2 running backs each week?

[jgcrawfish]

i'm all for eliminating kickers, but TE, really? There isn't a position in FF that isn't a crapshoot. What part of Gronkowski, Witten, Gonzalez and Finley IS a crapshoot? All those guys were expected to be top TE at draft time, and all are in the top 7 right now. Hell, the only highly ranked TE that's truly a bust (not because of injury) is Vernon Davis. Gates has been banged up all year.

I mean jeebus, Graham is ranked 10th overall (in PPR) for ALL RB-YR-TE and ranked 4th for just WR-TE. Gronkowski isn't far behind. Just because you aren't capable of successfully picking a TE doesn't mean you should undervalue them. At that rate, why not just have a roster that features 1 QB/5 Flex and nothing else? Yeah, that sounds like fun...

[RoadLizard]

I think it would take the fun out of it if you eliminated tight ends, kickers, and defenses. That's part of the skill in managing a fantasy football team in trying to make all the parts work each week.

I mean, if it's all about dumbing it down, why not just pick 2 running backs each week?

But, thats just the problem - there is hardly any skill involved in defenses or kickers for that matter. Defenses are totally random and everyone knows this. Look at the Broncos D last night.... how many of you "geniuses" had them started last night? Noone did - they arent even rostered and rightfully so. Total fluke. The Steelers vaunted D hasnt done shiat all year. I can go on and on. Its random. I suppose with kickers you could "strategize" and make sure you get an indoor kicker or a kicker on a top offense but that doesnt always work either since PATs take a while to add up and FGs are random occurences.

Not saying that getting rid of them altogether is right or wrong - just stating the FACT that kickers and D's are as random as a dice roll.

[Matt Mueller]

The Mullmaniacs owning Graham and Kasay disrespect this.

[diomed1]

But, thats just the problem - there is hardly any skill involved in defenses or kickers for that matter. Defenses are totally random and everyone knows this. Look at the Broncos D last night.... how many of you "geniuses" had them started last night? Noone did - they arent even rostered and rightfully so. Total fluke. The Steelers vaunted D hasnt done shiat all year. I can go on and on. Its random. I suppose with kickers you could "strategize" and make sure you get an indoor kicker or a kicker on a top offense but that doesnt always work either since PATs take a while to add up and FGs are random occurences.

Not saying that getting rid of them altogether is right or wrong - just stating the FACT that kickers and D's are as random as a dice roll.

Totally co-sign with this. Team D is for lazy people. IDPs are much more challenging and fun IMO. That is why we don't use team Ds. Boring and random. IDPs take much more study and thought. In my league it can win a game for you, as it should be IMO.

[tenaciousb]

I always refer to the TE, K, D/ST positions as the 'bottom of the lineup' spots. But a team normally needs at least 25 points in my league from those spots to win. It's part of FF and should be in every league IMO.

[Cruzer]

I always refer to the TE, K, D/ST positions as the 'bottom of the lineup' spots. But a team normally needs at least 25 points in my league from those spots to win. It's part of FF and should be in every league IMO.

Me too.

[Young_Grasshopper]

I've played both WR/TE flex and TE - I definitely prefer the flex. The TE position drive me nuts... for years I didn't draft them high but then you get stuck with a Scott Chandler type who looks good on paper but gets you 10 points one week and 0.9 points the next week. Then my solution was to go for a stud TE: Gates in 2009, JerMichael Finley in 2010, and Dallas Clark in 2011. Gates was injured for part of 09, Finley lost for the year in 10, Clark a total waste of oxygen in 11. So now I don't know what the to do about TEs. Their value fluxuates a lot more than WR due to being held back for blocking schemes, and there are never enough good ones to go around.

[crackills]

This is where you guys are missing the point. Kickers, TEs and Ds are important during the draft!
Someone might choose to reach for balt or Pitt D in the mid rounds at the expense of drafting a 2sn/3rd tier WR/ RB with potential. But you, being a learned ff owner, do not because YOU know that Ds, Kickers are in fact crapshoots every year.
This is an advantage to a knowledgeable owner and makes the draft much more interesting and rewards people who a prepared for the draft.

[tbone138]

Hey, it wasn't MY decision. It was voted on by all in the league. I actually use a TE every weekend but then again, he is as good if not better than most receivers. I voted for it when it was proposed. I like competitive leagues and there are only a handful of consistent TEs in the league. Not enough to go around. Flexing the position makes sense. The league is really tight in competition which is ideal IMO.

I would argue that the people who draft the "good" tight ends used a high draft pick on them leaving valuable receivers/Rb's that they would have otherwise taken. So if you want one of the good ones, you have to pay a high price for them in the draft and it will or should result in weaknesses at other positions.

[chroniciguana]

We'll get rid of kickers when the NFL gets rid of kickers. And removes the "F" from NFL.

[plasma george]

This is where you guys are missing the point. Kickers, TEs and Ds are important during the draft!
Someone might choose to reach for balt or Pitt D in the mid rounds at the expense of drafting a 2sn/3rd tier WR/ RB with potential. But you, being a learned ff owner, do not because YOU know that Ds, Kickers are in fact crapshoots every year.
This is an advantage to a knowledgeable owner and makes the draft much more interesting and rewards people who a prepared for the draft.

By learned do you mean after you've played 1 or 2 seasons and figure that out, and do it like all the other owners ?

[swirvenirvin]

The Mullmaniacs owning Graham and Kasay disrespect this.

Yep that's me too. I couldnt cut Kasay this week on his bye cause he is 30 points ahead of the bext FA kicker so I cut Garcon instead to pick up a backup kicker for the week

[msudavedawg]

I would argue that the people who draft the "good" tight ends used a high draft pick on them leaving valuable receivers/Rb's that they would have otherwise taken. So if you want one of the good ones, you have to pay a high price for them in the draft and it will or should result in weaknesses at other positions.

Those of us starting Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski each week would beg to differ. In one league I start them BOTH. Took Graham in the 8th round in a 12 team league and got Gronkowski in rounds 11 or later in others (in one I got him off the FA wire).

Just need to do your homework. When people are drafting WR3s and WR4s I am looking at the TEs not named Gates and Witten. Not hard to pick one or 2 that are going to outperform all the scrub WRs out there.

[Pecos Rattlers]

I don't agree that "best kicker" is completely random. It is a combination of predicting the top offenses (somewhat doable) & the teams who will have decent/good offenses but bad red zone success (harder to predict).

Here are the top ten kickers from one league I'm in. (PAT = 1 point, 0-39 FG = 3 points, 40+ = 4 points, 50+ = 5 points, small penalty for missed field goals)

106 John Kasay (NO - K)
101 David Akers (SF - K)
100 Dan Bailey (Dal - K)
95 Robbie Gould (Chi - K)
94 Jason Hanson (Det - K)
93 Billy Cundiff (Bal - K)
92 Mason Crosby (GB - K)
91 Neil Rackers (Hou - K)
83 Stephen Gostkowski (NE - K)
79 Nick Novak (SD - K)

Is it what I would have picked in pre-season? Probably not, but not many of those teams are huge surprises either ... NO, Dal, GB, Hou, NE, SD are perennial high scoring teams. Bal & Chi usually have red zone scoring issues and good D to get good field posn. That leaves SF & Det as surprises, though the latter might have been predicted by quite a few. Whoever picked the Indy kicker in your league was probably disappointed, but then the same can be said of Jamaal Charles ... and the Indy kicker can be replaced a lot easier. A busted K also was likely a really low draft pick, so there's far less remorse for having to replace him anyway.

If you don't like the randomness of FG vs PAT, then I'd suggest reducing the # of points a FG is awarded instead of completely eliminating the kicker position. This would reduce the importance of picking bad red zone offenses & increase the importance of predicting good offenses instead.

You could also use significant penalties for missed field goals (at least for shorter attempts). Kicker accuracy is something you can research & should be mostly independent of how well the rest of the team is doing.

Maybe something like ..

• PAT = 1 point, missed = -1 point
• 0-30 yd fg = 1.5 points, missed = -1.5 points
• 30-40 yd fg = 2 points, missed = -1 points
• 40-50 yd fg = 2.5 points, missed = -0.5 points
• 50+ yd fg = 3 points, missed = 0

[Giants Fan]

As a matter of preference, I would rather play in an IDP league, where you have like a DB, a DL and a LB, than just some impossible to manage, team DST.

Either no DST or a complete IDP .... is my preference.

[NE-TheGoodLife]

Totally co-sign with this. Team D is for lazy people. IDPs are much more challenging and fun IMO. That is why we don't use team Ds. Boring and random. IDPs take much more study and thought. In my league it can win a game for you, as it should be IMO.

The whole argument that since the Denver D went off last night and otherwise is crap is exactly the point other people are making. Like any position for FF its not about tyring to guess which week a unit will go off for 15+ point (or whatever they did last night), but studying the unit (individual players as well as coaches, schedule, etc.) and determining how a unit will do over the long haul week after week. You know CONSISTENCY. We do the analysis to try and get the most points every week and hope for a couple of our weekly starters to blow up.

I personally have not played in an IDP League, but I can see the why people would rather play with that type of setup.

[beemo]

My problem with IDP leagues is that the points come from tackles, not actual defense. So Revis completely shut down his assigned WR, not allowing him to complete any pass? Well, no FF points for him, because the only way he's getting points is to allow the WR to complete the reception and then tackle the guy. That's completely counter intuitive to FF's general goal of reproducing the details of the sport in its scoring. I think team defenses do a better job of that via scoring bonuses and the like.

By that same token, abolishing kickers, defenses, and TEs would ruin the perception and fun of recreating a fantasy football team.

[madd futher mucker]

If you want to simplify things, then eliminate tight ends, defenses and kickers.

If you want to increase the complexity, richness and strategy of the game, which I maintain makes it much more fun, then you are making a huge mistake IMO.

Here's an example of why you should consider keeping them from a trade I made this week :

I managed to pull off a huge trade on Tuesday in Team 1 - just days before the trading deadline for this league. It was lopsided enough in favor of my trading partner that I got a call from the commish just questioning my rationale. But he should know better than to doubt genius. It was one of those trades where you give up more than you get, but you still come out ahead. I had only a few roster moves and $2 waiver dollars left before the trade, so I had to plan well. I’m alone in 2nd place with this team and should get a play-off bye. This was a move with nothing less than the Championship in mind, and there was no way I wanted my trading partner to turn down my deal.

When I explained the trade to him, the commish was impressed (as he usually is with the depth of thinking with my trades). He is contending for a playoff spot but was not thinking that far ahead. He had no idea who HOU or TENN played in weeks 15 or 16. To him it was just two decent defenses that didn't add much extra value to the trade for me. But they were primary motivators for me to propose the deal.

Yes, there are times with any position that the game doesn't play out the way you thought it would. But most of the time analyzing the match-ups at any position - even Tight Ends and defenses gives you a distinct edge over your competition. This trade would not have been made if my trading partner did not have Daniels on a bye and Dallas Clark out. He needed a TE and i had two good ones. Even in a league that flexes a TE, I could afford to give Witten up (the #3 TE in PPR), because I also had Gronk who is #2, and depth at other positions to fill my flex.

ADP will have a tough time putting up fantssy points when Minn falls behind as witness the GB game. Ray Rice is a PPR Monster, the #2 RB, with a great schedule ahead. So Rice should project as a far superior performer to ADP the rest of the way.

And HOU and TENN are THE TOP defenses to own in weeks 15 and 16 and these two defenses (along with the difference Rice should make) will probably be the differences makers in the close contests I expect to face in weeks 15 and 16.

No offense, but you are thinking and playing fantasy football at a novice level right now. My advice is to maintain the richness and complexity of the game and then take your gamne to the next level. Keep the TEs and the Defenses and still enjoy the flexibility of a flex position by also allowing TEs to be a flex. NFL teams employ two TE sets (usually with one split out or in the slot), there is no reason your fantasy team can't do the same.

Elevate your game by maintaining or even increasing the complexity and you will have a distict advantage over the other owners in you league who just want a simple game.

[pimptastic69]

But, thats just the problem - there is hardly any skill involved in defenses or kickers for that matter. Defenses are totally random and everyone knows this. Look at the Broncos D last night.... how many of you "geniuses" had them started last night? Noone did - they arent even rostered and rightfully so. Total fluke. The Steelers vaunted D hasnt done shiat all year. I can go on and on. Its random. I suppose with kickers you could "strategize" and make sure you get an indoor kicker or a kicker on a top offense but that doesnt always work either since PATs take a while to add up and FGs are random occurences.

Not saying that getting rid of them altogether is right or wrong - just stating the FACT that kickers and D's are as random as a dice roll.

I would argue that DSTs are not totally random now, they just require a little more skill in deciding which one to go with from week to week. Gone are the days when you can just draft the Ravens or Steelers and assume you'll get stellar points every week. It's now a legitamate position that you have to study each week.

[diomed1]

My problem with IDP leagues is that the points come from tackles, not actual defense. So Revis completely shut down his assigned WR, not allowing him to complete any pass? Well, no FF points for him, because the only way he's getting points is to allow the WR to complete the reception and then tackle the guy. That's completely counter intuitive to FF's general goal of reproducing the details of the sport in its scoring. I think team defenses do a better job of that via scoring bonuses and the like.

By that same token, abolishing kickers, defenses, and TEs would ruin the perception and fun of recreating a fantasy football team.

Well a tackle only IDP league would suck. You know you can set up scoring for IDPs to reward good defensive play, right? In our league we get tackle points but HUGE payoffs for TFL(tackles for loss), Sacks, Ints, FF, FR. So you have to get play makers, not just tacklers.
Also we allow points for ST(kick return yards) and some defensive players are returners as well, so that's a double bonus.

[beemo]

Well a tackle only IDP league would suck. You know you can set up scoring for IDPs to reward good defensive play, right? In our league we get tackle points but HUGE payoffs for TFL(tackles for loss), Sacks, Ints, FF, FR. So you have to get play makers, not just tacklers.
Also we allow points for ST(kick return yards) and some defensive players are returners as well, so that's a double bonus.

I know there are points for turnovers and whatnot, but there needs to be points for passed defended, low opponent's yards per carry, low offense total yards, low opponent's completion percentage (yeah, Tebow would skew this ), 3-and-outs, and so forth to truly reward good defensive play, and that's not gonna happen when looking at individual defense players. The tackles for loss stat is a good one though and would help bridge the gap, but I don't think that's enough.

[diomed1]

I know there are points for turnovers and whatnot, but there needs to be points for passed defended, low opponent's yards per carry, low offense total yards, low opponent's completion percentage (yeah, Tebow would skew this ), 3-and-outs, and so forth to truly reward good defensive play, and that's not gonna happen when looking at individual defense players. The tackles for loss stat is a good one though and would help bridge the gap, but I don't think that's enough.

We do get points for PD,
We get .50 assist, 1 for a solo, 4 for TFL, 5 for sacks and ints, 2 for PD, 4 for a FF, 2 for a FR. They also get points for INT return yards including the 6 if they make it to the endzone. In fact any defensive player that gets a turnover gets return yardage and TD points as well.
IDP scoring rewards the defensive player for great play just like the offensive scoring does. IMO it requires much more study than just a team D. I have had defensive players outscore my QB before. lol.

[edytwinky]

Just came across this thread. Sounds like one of the craziest ideas to me. I would have never even thought about removing a kicker and tight end. Think that really just takes away from the intracacies and fun of the league.

[GreenTD]

Just came across this thread. Sounds like one of the craziest ideas to me. I would have never even thought about removing a kicker and tight end. Think that really just takes away from the intracacies and fun of the league.

Yeah, sounds almost as crazy as the NFL getting rid of kickoffs all together.... Oh wait, they are actually considering this!

[jaxjag]

Get rid of the kicker if you like... may the fantasy gods have mercy on your soul.

But get rid of the TE? Big mistake... there are a handful of elite TEs just as there are QBs, RBs and WRS. Eliminating the position and lumping them in with receivers is ignoring the benefit/value of having an elite TE (that is what VBD is all about!). This lowers the strategy and makes the game a little more dull. Let's just follow this to the ultimate conclusion and have a "QB Only" league!

[DrG]

I like both slots. Hankies ju is a legit weapon, a 60 yd fg is 6 pts in my league. Te is also a challenge if u don't have 1 of the top 6

[DrG]

J a n I k o w s k i

[mobb_deep]

We'll get rid of kickers when the NFL gets rid of kickers. And removes the "F" from NFL.

Exactly. It's the only position in the entire game where you use your feet, and you guys want to toss it out! Kickers were first round fantasy picks, before the forward pass came along. Show some respect for the game!