Basic scoring fantasy football leagues are dinosaurs

Filed in archive Fantasy Football on June 27, 2007

If you play fantasy football and you select first in your draft, your job is easy, no matter what scoring method you use; you take LaDainian Tomlinson.

Sit back, and ride your superstar into the playoffs.

After Tomlinson, though it gets interesting, especially if you're in a basic scoring league, which emphasizes touchdowns, rather than yardage.

I received an e-mail recently from a guy who plays in a basic scoring league, and he was wondering where he could get information to help him prepare for his draft. The problem he and I and the few others like us face is that basic scoring fantasy football leagues are becoming obsolete.

The problem with basic scoring is that it is strictly for purests. Most performance scoring enthusiasts say there's no real challenge to basic scoring, because you only look for touchdowns, thus eliminating much of the preparation. Of course, we basic scoring guys disagree.

You see, when you get past the second round in a 12- or 14-team league, things get very dicey in a basic scoring league. In a performance league, you just go to a check sheet and look at where a guy is ranked, based onhis average points, during the past few years -- these averages are very steady in the high rounds.

Basic scoring is much different. If you are in round three, looking for a wide receiver, you can't just look at average scoring, because so many other factors are important. A guy like Cleveland's Braylon Edwards, for example, might be an easy selection in a performance league in round three, based on his points average.

While Edwards might catch 70 balls for 900 yards (solid performance league stats), he might catch just 3 touchdowns, which could devastate a guy in a basic scoring league, who was looking for a minimum of 7 TDs from his third-round pick.

Here's where a lot more homework and digging is necessary. In Edwards' case, a fantasy football player will have to keep a close watch on the quarterback situation in Cleveland. If rookie Brady Quinn wins the job, this might be good in the long run for Cleveland, but it most likely would hurt Edwards. Plus, Cleveland figures to run the ball more in 2007.

So, basic scoring fantasy football leagues might be dinosaurs, but for the purests, they are the only way to play.