#Finally, an alternative to outdated PPR scoring: First Downs Converted

A lot of things have changed in our world since you last spent time with the Madman. But one thing hasn’t.

PPR still stinks.

Yep, the most popular format in fantasy football continues to expand its domination. Standard scoring is becoming a thing of the past. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself.

Standard relied far too much on touchdown production, which is notoriously inconsistent and unpredictable. It yields significantly fewer points, and points are fun.

But it has been overrun by a worse alternative, that is as outdated now as it was counterproductive at its inception. Points per reception formats were originally created in the early 2000s to counter the overabundance on bell-cow running backs taken in the first couple rounds of fantasy drafts. That dilemma no longer exists.

Now, NFL teams rely far less on the ground game than they did back then. There are far fewer teams who utilize a feature running back, which used to be the norm – a league littered with Derrick Henrys. There are many more committee backfields.

Yet none of that is the reason PPR drives the Madman into madness. It is the simple concept of equality of production and scoring, and a translation of real-life impact to fantasy impact. In the real-life NFL, 10 yards is 10 yards. How you gain it doesn’t change the result on the field. Why should a reception for 10 yards be worth twice as much as a run for 10 yards?

Then there is the ultimate example of PPR prejudice: a player catches a screen pass for zero yards, and scores the same amount of fantasy points as a running back who gains 10 yards on a rush. And what if those 10 rushing yards constituted a first down? Doesn’t matter. PPR has deemed the act of a reception the fantasy equivalent of a 10-yard real-world gain, which is inexplicable nonsense.

So what is the solution? Some might say half-point PPR, since it limits the prejudicial scoring to just a half point. But we also don’t like partial points, and being half as bad is still too much bad for our taste.

We have an alternative. The Madman isn’t sure we coined this term, but we haven’t seen it often and almost exclusively in our own conversations. It’s name? FDC.

The best way to counter PPR is to instead score for first downs converted. In a First Down Converted (FDC) format, every time a player gains enough for his real-life team to get a first down, he gets a point. It doesn’t matter how he converts – be it run, pass, QB scramble, etc. This would provide the extra points that would make what otherwise would be standard scoring more interesting. It would better represent real-world contributions. And it wouldn’t engage in the abhorrent idea that some touches are better than others.

Here’s another benefit: If you allow QBs to gain a point as well, that would add fantasy value to that position. A huge problem now in fantasy, much more significant than any perceived over-reliance on RBs years ago, is the devaluing of QBs in basic fantasy leagues.

In leagues that allow just one starting QB – the vast majority, and an idea that fits with our ideology of trying to mimic real-life football — the most important position in real-life is one of the least valuable in fantasy.

Waiting to draft a QB in drafts is a strong strategy that routinely yields strong results. There are more than enough usable QBs to go around in 12-team leagues. You easily can wait until the last third of the draft to even start considering QBs, and still end up with a championship-caliber team.

Instead of spending early draft capital on QBs, you wait and grab a pair in the final 5-6 rounds, then platoon based on matchups. You have more flexibility to stream the position. You are less hindered by a catastrophic injury at QB – because your other positions are stronger.

Giving QBs a point every time they convert a first down, by run or pass, would give that position the biggest boost, and it would help curb the drastic gap between fantasy value and real-world value.

So jump on board the first-down train. Get converted. And start playing a version of fantasy football that is more akin to real football.