Why is PPR the new standard?

[DYNOmite]

I think First Downs is a far superior statistical measure of player performance than, say, Receptions. Now that first downs are a readily available statistic, we can better differentiate what actually matters to a NFL team. Is a RB catching a short swing pass for a couple yards on 1st and 10 worth the same to a team as that same RB making the identical catch on 3rd and 1? Absolutely not, yet in PPR leagues they are scored the same. We can score First Downs to better distinguish plays that are more highly valued by an NFL team.

Anyone in one of these leagues? I would be interested in a league with .5 PPR and .5 PPFDR. That way a player still gets .5 for a catch of say 9 yards but no 1st down, but it also accounts for the value of getting the first down.

[sportstalkryan]

We're doing our start-up auction right now. I'll send you the link.

[ninotoreS]

Half-PPR is the way to go (i.e. 0.5 points per reception). Full PPR is too much.


edit: .5 PPFDR?

That's a great idea. I need to see if my league will support that scoring.

[Poindexter]

"Back in the day" (10-15 years ago) it was common for 20 RBs to be drafted in the 1st 2 rounds. Many claimed if you didn't go RB/RB in the first 2 rounds of a redraft, you were chasing them the rest of the draft, and that was usually true. So I think PPR was a response to that. Since that time, the NFL has changed drastically in favor of the passing game. Now the argument from PPR proponents seems to have changed from "RBs are too dominant" to "we need more complex rules for a greater challenge".

That may be, but I personally find it very distracting and annoying when actually watching the games to see a guy catch a pass for little to no gain (or even a loss!) and see him rewarded with ~10 yards worth of actual production in my fantasy leagues. When I see that play, my first thought it "well, that's a positive play in PPR leagues" even though it's a clear win for the defense. Last year Sproles had 4 catches for zero yards in a game. While those 4 points probably didn't win many games for his owners, it just bothers me that we're saying that's as good as someone's 40 yard run.

I like the idea of a point for 1st downs instead. That recognizes the contributions of the chain movers that don't score a ton of TDs, while also not rewarding guys for just catching the ball. It also accomplishes the goal of adding complexity in a way that makes sense.

[Pine Tree]

I'm a strong believer in 0.5PPR.


I plan on looking into it myself, but does anyone know of any information out there of how players would have scored with 1PPFDR?

[sportstalkryan]

Set up a league in Myfantasyleague.com. You don't have to pay for it for months, so in the meantime you can play around with the scoring system and see how it affects fantasy points across positions over the past two seasons. You just have to wait a few hours after making a change in the scoring system before the new points are calculated in their Player Performance reports.

[Pac_Eddy]

I'm a strong believer in 0.5PPR.


I plan on looking into it myself, but does anyone know of any information out there of how players would have scored with 1PPFDR?

I'm on board with 0.5 PPR. We use that in most of my leagues. A nice balance.

[Shadynasty]

It's been alluded to by a few people already but I personally love PPR because I think it rewards the legitimately skilled RBs. No stats to back this feeling up but just been my general observation over the years. Lesean McCoy, JC from KC... 2 of the 3-4 best RBs in the league but without PPR scoring, this isn't reflected to the extent it most likely should be considering the skill gap between them and the non-PPR RBs like lynch, gore, Mathews.

Saw enough Michael turner 20 carry, 62 yd, 2 TDs and 0 catch performances to decide that PPR at least adjusts for those travesties.

[dlf_jules]

It's been alluded to by a few people already but I personally love PPR because I think it rewards the legitimately skilled RBs. No stats to back this feeling up but just been my general observation over the years. Lesean McCoy, JC from KC... 2 of the 3-4 best RBs in the league but without PPR scoring, this isn't reflected to the extent it most likely should be considering the skill gap between them and the non-PPR RBs like lynch, gore, Mathews.

Saw enough Michael turner 20 carry, 62 yd, 2 TDs and 0 catch performances to decide that PPR at least adjusts for those travesties.

The best thing that can be said for ppr is that it de-emphasizes TDs compared to standard scoring. But you can get the same result without the side effects by awarding 0.2 points per rushing/receiving yard and 0.1 (or 0.08) per passing yard.