One of the things that can take the fun out of IDP leagues is when the IDPs barely register among the top scorers. If Jamal Adams - a dynamic superstar playmaker - can’t compete fantasy-wise with Cole Beasley, something’s wrong. Some of this comes from some antiquated scoring systems. As innovations on the offensive side like PPR, and bonuses for things such as long TDs and reaching a yardage goal became the norm, too many IDP scoring systems were getting left behind.
There’s an easy way to tell if your league has an issue with IDP scoring. Take a look at the top 100 in FP for your league. If there are fewer than 10 IDPs on that list, your league could use some sprucing up. If none of them crack the top 100…oh boy. And the bigger issue is that drafting players like Darius Leonard and Bobby Wagner – superstars on the field – might feel like drafting a kicker. Errr, no offense to any kickers who may be reading this.
If this is the case in some of your leagues, let’s flip that script.
Offense = Defense
I’ll show you my favorite scoring below, but what really matters is how your league scores offense and making sure IDPs are mixed in at every level with the QBs, WRs, RBs, and TEs. (Again, sorry kickers…I’m sure someone will write you fellas an article like this!) That’s all that matters.
A Suggested Scoring System
Below is my favorite IDP scoring system. It creates a more even playing field not only in comparison to offensive players but also with each other. DLs and DBs can hang a little closer to those 3-down LBs who normally dominate IDP leaderboards. (After all, they’re the QBs of the IDP world).
| Solo Tackle | 1.5 pts |
| Assisted Tackle | 0.75 pts |
| Tackle for Loss | 3 pts |
| Sack | 4 pts |
| INT | 5 pts |
| Pass Defensed | 2 pts |
| Forced Fumble | 2 pts |
| Fumble Recovery | 2 pts |
| Blocked Punt | 4 pts |
| Safety | 4 pts |
| TD | 6 pts |
Some Points of Clarification
Some fantasy sites give credit for a tackle AND a tackle for loss (sometimes called a “stuff”). If your site does, then adjust the TFL to 1.5 pts. The idea is that we want a tackle behind the line of scrimmage (in essence a “sack” of a non-QB, or a running QB) to equal about 3 pts, or twice what a normal tackle is worth.
I prefer giving credit for the forced fumble, even if the IDP doesn’t get the fumble recovery. That way if they do both, they get credit for a “big play,” which is worth 4 pts, but if not, they’re still rewarded for forcing the fumble.
Speaking of big plays, I prefer weighting most significant plays at 4 pts, which pairs nicely with the 1.5 pts for a Solo Tackle.
INTs are a little more valuable to help our DBs out. That plus 2 pts per PD can noticeably raise the elite DBs into offensive scoring territory. It also helps out talented CBs who don’t get the same amount of tackle opportunity as some of their less-talented CBs. I hate penalizing a player for being good at real football.
Now let’s take a look at an example of this scoring system in action. Below is a selected list of the top scorers from a league I ran in 2018 with some of my Twitter followers to test out the EDGE designation. I used the above IDP scoring system and a typical PPR scoring system for offensive players.
Saquon Barkley – 387 FPTS
Darius Leonard – 378 FPTS
Michael Thomas – 317 FPTS
Luke Kuechly – 321 FPTS
James White – 278 FPTS
Jamal Adams – 272 FPTS
Philip Lindsay – 225 FPTS
Aaron Donald – 227 FPTS
When scored like this, it becomes more important to draft your IDPs in the middle rounds and not wait until the back end of the draft to fill your IDP roster. We don’t want IDPs to be throwaway picks. It’s more fun and requires more strategy when you have to consider a potentially high scoring IDP vs. an RB2/RB3 when the middle rounds come through.
If you are a commissioner of a league, it’s easy to take a peek at your top scorers and make some adjustments if needed. If you don’t run your league, consider using the top scorers as evidence as to why your league might need an IDP facelift. Decide where your top scorers from each IDP spot should be equal to (maybe it’s RB1/WR1, maybe it’s FLEX), and adjust up or down from there.
At one point, there was no PPR. And before that, QBs got 6 points per TD pass. A lot of leagues adjusted to level their playing field. It’s time to do the same on the other side of the ball.
