What Should I Do To Address Tanking?

[lukkynumber13]

Y'all trippin'

[ArrylT]

I mean, when it comes to trade vetoes, virtually this entire forum becomes free-team-management absolutists.

Because there is zero future certainty in any trade. That's a major difference. I'm sure we've all seem plenty of examples of trades that were lopsided at the time they were made and only a short time later the value was completely on the other side.

However there is no 100% certainty in a lineup each week - one of the major gripes of owners is "I built a dominant lineup" but lost in the sem finals to a guy who started "Joe Blow" the week he went off.

Take the other thread about tanking, where the question is about Team Ds. The top 3 Team Ds for the most part, in many scoring formats were the Rams, Ravens & Jaguars.

Week 16, in one of my leagues, those 3 teams combined for a total points less than the total the Raiders or 49ers D put up that week - 12p to 13.

So yeah a Larry Fitzgerald could be 80% likely to outscore Scrub WR each week but Week II when Fitzgerald had his lowest point total of the year (5p) here are some "scrubs" who outscored him that week

JJ Nelson
J. Kearse
B. Coleman
R. Higgins
D. Thompson
Jaron Brown
P. Dorsett
A. Erikson

And thats just the WRs who scored 10+ points that week in PPR

On any given week there is likely to be at least 1 WR (save in really deep rostered leagues) on waivers that will outscore your Stud

The point isnt that people should be starting any of those guys - or that benching Fitzgerald is "ok" but that there is no certainty period. There are obviously means by which we try to predict or project what a players production will be, and a good percentage of the time that will be in the ballpark.

Again I am not saying it is "ok" to start Higgins over a Fitzgerald - just noting that like with future trades, on a week to week basis there is no certainty that the player you put in the lineup will hit big, or bust. The odds are more likely that Fitzgerald will produce and a Higgins will do almost nothing, but I can go week by week each week of the 2017 season and find at least 1 WR normally found on waivers that put up a 10+ point performance.

Just like after 2014 (when Fitzgerald put up 3 straight sub 1000 yard seasons) I doubt many people were arguing Fitzgerald was going to put up 3 straight WR1-2 seasons (and his ADP fell accordingly to the 100-120 range).

[wasik49]

In my league where I'm the commissioner, I do not have rules/by-laws. It's a league of adults(I use that term extremely loosely) who are all friends. I had one issue of a team starting scrubs in place of starters towards the end of the regular season. I gave him and the entire league a warning. That warning is very simple. If you tank, I will place the highest scorer for that position in to their starting line-up for that week. It solved the problem, no issues in the past 3 years.

In a league where not all participants are friends, i suggest creating rules/by laws.

[PNWHawkfan]

We had an owner "possibly" try to tank two seasons ago to obtain Fournette. I never asked him point blank if that was his intention. We didn't have a solid rule about tanking at the time. Luckily no one complained to me about it or noticed it. I seen this as a problem in the near future and I went ahead and did my research. Found "Potential points" as an option and put it to a vote moving forward. It was in favor and it was put into place. Tanking isn't even an option anymore and everything is good. I suggest you do the same as this will make your life easy moving forward.

Last year a new owner with a really good team asked me how the #1 pick works out and I could tell he was losing some games on purpose. I laughed and explained it to him and he learned pretty quick he wasted his time because he ended up with the #6 pick. Eventually he made the move to get the 1.1 but he had to pay for it. Additionally the owner the year prior that was "maybe" trying to tank for the 1.1 didn't get it on the old system. He barely missed out on it, and he ended up trading up for the 1.1 that year to get Fournette. I think both of these guys were trying to get the 1.1 mid season. With Potential Points in place this solves the issue nicely.

As a commish when you see a flaw in your rules or bylaws I think it does fall on you to take a deep breath and say "I missed this and it's my fault." Pick up the research on the forum and work hard to set up boundraries moving forward. That is all you can do as a green commish. you learn, you adapt, and you tweak the league (with the league owner's votes) to make your life easier in the long run.

[vixen]

i just joined a league, one rule (i love) is that if you start a player on a bye week, that players becomes a free agent and all owners can bid on player (including the offender)....

edit: we have toilet bowl, so the remaining non playoff teams actually play for the first pick

[clarion contrarion]

thx ^^ for that I really like that idea and will borrow it .

[jeffster]

i just joined a league, one rule (i love) is that if you start a player on a bye week, that players becomes a free agent and all owners can bid on player (including the offender)....

edit: we have toilet bowl, so the remaining non playoff teams actually play for the first pick

Damn I kind of like that rule... it's harsh though. One owner messing up and leaving Gurley in on bye will unbalance the entire league. Maybe there's a way to moderate it a little, like only on the second week you start a bye player.

[turcorox911]

i just joined a league, one rule (i love) is that if you start a player on a bye week, that players becomes a free agent and all owners can bid on player (including the offender)....

edit: we have toilet bowl, so the remaining non playoff teams actually play for the first pick

Damn I kind of like that rule... it's harsh though. One owner messing up and leaving Gurley in on bye will unbalance the entire league. Maybe there's a way to moderate it a little, like only on the second week you start a bye player.

Yeah, interesting rule, but I think it's too harsh.

[honcho55]

Just wanna chime in again on this one. I don’t like tanking, I’ll never do it, and I’ll never like when someone in a league I’m in does it, regardless of rules. But, jeffster brings up solid points, and it’s just plain prudent to me to have rules/deincentives for this stuff because I imagine it’s not a tiny minority that is in that train of thought.

[sloth8u]

that's awful harsh, its pretty easy to miss someone imo.

to address tanking, you obviously need something in the bylaws.

-you can take care of "rebuild trades" by setting an early trade deadline. try week 6, at that point you force hands of the owners in your league. this encourages any "rebuilders" to make offseason trades that dont impact the game play of the season. it also allows them 1/2 the season for any other business that needs taken care of. at that point, its pretty simple to see who's tanking or rebuilding. use potential points for your draft order and victory points for your standings. those two setting will get you a solid representation of the rankings in your league.

[Pullo Vision]

So seriously, no punishment at all? Tanking is unethical!

Undesirable? Yes. Worth roasting said team? Yes. Worth adjusting bylaws? Yes.

But, a good commissioner in a good league doesn't apply a penalty/punishment for something when the rules don't specify that.

[clarion contrarion]

100% correct ^^^ no 20/20 hindsight policing . I had a guy in the battle for the 1:1 last season start an IR'ed doug martin . It did not affect the weeks outcome . I had not addressed that in the league constitution as in 5 previous years it had not been an issue now it is and will be addressed prior to the start of this season . I had a manager complaining about it after the fact but I did nothing . Now it will be addressed clearly going forward .
so in the immortal words of harry callahan -GO AHEAD MAKE MY DAY !

[turcorox911]

So seriously, no punishment at all? Tanking is unethical!

And so is punishing something that isn't against the rules. Unilaterally creating new rules on the fly and applying them retroactively reminds me a lot of communism tbh.

[Pew Dogs]

I didnt have time to read all responses so perhaps others have said this.

Tanking can be ended completely be doing 1 of 2 things.

1) Give draft order based on best records of teams who miss playoffs.
or
2) Have a loser bracket tourament with winner getting first pick and so on.

This makes every game matter and forces every owner to scratch and claw for every win every week ... period.

Problem solved. Now can we move on from all these irritating 'tanking' posts?

[Ruggenater]

I didnt have time to read all responses so perhaps others have said this.

Tanking can be ended completely be doing 1 of 2 things.

1) Give draft order based on best records of teams who miss playoffs.
or
2) Have a loser bracket tourament with winner getting first pick and so on.

This makes every game matter and forces every owner to scratch and claw for every win every week ... period.

Problem solved. Now can we move on from all these irritating 'tanking' posts?

Those are horrendous solutions. The worst teams in the league won't have a chance to turn things around if they can't ever win the 1st overall rookie pick.