Thursday, December 28, 2017

B. Relative Value of the Quarterback Position

If we’re talking about the fantasy of replicating the role of the NFL GM, then there’s a strong argument that if any position is going to be given greater importance than others, it should be quarterback.  20 years ago, quarterback was the most important position in football, and in all of sports actually.  That has only become more so as the NFL has become even more weighted towards the passing game.  We have seen repeatedly that if an NFL team doesn’t have a quality starting quarterback they have almost no chance to win.  When I first heard of Superflex leagues, and the change in strategy required to compete in such leagues, I thought it was an overreaction.  After playing in such a league, and watching the NFL’s passing trends continue, my mind has changed. 


In trying to duplicate the NFL experience, no NFL teams start 2 quarterbacks, and so in that respect it still feels wrong to me.  For that reason I still favor ways to address quarterback value via the scoring system instead.  The biggest method in doing this is widening the value between the top quarterbacks and replacement level quarterbacks, both by increasing the value of QB-specific plays, as well as increasing the negative points assigned for detrimental plays such as having incomplete throws, committing turnovers, and allowing sacks.  As mentioned above, a turnover is the single-most important play in affecting the outcome of an NFL game.  Treat it as such for interceptions thrown or fumbles lost.  One of my regrets in setting up TUFFSCCL is bowing to owner pressure and assigning only negative-5 points per turnover rather than the negative-10 that I favored.  Even so, the scoring system did what it intended by increasing the point spread between QB1 and QB16, and from QB16 to QB32, thus making quarterbacks as valued as the other offensive skill positions even though we only start one.

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