Average Joe's Fantasy Football League
League Rules
$75 Buy-In / $15 Site-Fee
Rosters and Lineups:
You may carry 18 players, 19 if one is on Injured Reserve (18 Rostered Players, 1 IR-Player). You may manage your roster any way that you’d like, but by midnight before the kickoff of the first NFL Regular Season Game, you must have a “legal lineup” according to the website. Teams can have NO MORE than 19 draft picks at the conclusion of the season. If you have more than 19 picks by the time payouts are issued - you will forfeit your lowest picks in the draft until you meet the limit.
Lineups will be locked in 5-minutes prior to the kickoff for the player’s team that week. Contact the commissioner (Joe C.) for any troubles with your lineup. An illegal lineup will result in a forfeit, and a $5 FINE. Managers are NOT allowed to drop any player from their roster if the player’s NFL team has already kicked-off that week. Collected fines will be added to the Penalty Money payout category throughout the season. Once the Fantasy Week concludes, you may move/trade/drop any player of your choosing. Suspended players will carry a fine of $1 for every week they are simultaneously rostered and suspended (Example: IF ROSTERED… A 6-game suspension would carry a $6 Fine).
Each team is allowed ONE Injured Reserve (IR) player - who does NOT count towards your maximum of 18 players on your active roster. In order to place a player on IR, they must be listed as OUT by an official NFL Source. A player must remain on Injured Reserve for a minimum of 4 weeks. If after 4 weeks the player is still listed as OUT by NFL sources, the team manager has free-reign on how they designate the player. Once that player is no longer recognized as “Injured” by an official NFL Source, you MUST return them to your lineup. A player may remain on IR for the remainder of that week if they are activated on Thursday or later. Managers MUST alert the commissioner when they add/remove a player from IR. Failure to do so will result in a $5 Illegal Lineup fine. If you remove the player from your IR list for at least 1 Game (even if they sit on your bench), it resets the 4-Week IR rule. D/ST and Suspended Players cannot be placed on Injured Reserve. Teams are allowed to play 1QB, 1-4 RB’s, 1-4 WR’s, 1-2TE’s, 1K, 1D/ST for a total of 9 starters (a FLEX position is included). You can manage your roster however you’d like, but you need at least 1-player from each position active on your roster. A “FLEX” player can be filled by a RB, WR, or TE. The final standings for the 2024 Season will determine the 2025 Divisions - Playoff Teams in one division, Toilet Bowl teams in the other.
Trades & Waivers:
Trades are encouraged, but not mandatory. Any manager can reach out to you for a trade at any time. Draft Picks for the following season and Paid Waiver Claims are also on the table for trading. Trades do not incur any financial penalty. A league member may request a “protest” of any trade, in which the Commissioner will evaluate the calculated value of each player/draft pick involved in the transaction, while also collecting a league-wide vote on whether to uphold or veto the trade. Upon completion of the review of the protested trade, a report will be released to the league via email, showing the results of the review along with a report on the Value of each asset involved in the trade. Your vote is your voice.
The Waiver Wire (WW) will open immediately following the draft. The WW opens for Priority Picks after the conclusion of each Fantasy Week, with the Waiver Order being a direct reversal of the league-wide standings. Priority Picks allows a manager to claim a MAXIMUM of 2 Free Agents - please be sure to designate your Priority Picks clearly (set your highest priority waiver claim at the top of your Transaction’s page, text the Commissioner, or use the Comments section on the website). At 2:30pm on Wednesday, the WW closes to Priority Picks and opens to First-Come, First-Serve until the following Fantasy Week. Waiver pickups cost $3, and there is no limit on how many you claim. Drops do not incur any financial penalties.
TRADE DEADLINE: All finalized trades must be submitted to the commissioner prior to the Week 12 Kickoff. No trades will be permitted once Week 12 has kicked off - regardless if your player's game has started. Trading will open up to teams once the playoffs conclude for drafting and keeper purposes.
Schedule & Playoffs:
The regular season schedule is on the website. You can find each NFL team’s Bye Week within this folder, or listed on each player’s “Info Line” on the website. Our regular season will run through Week 14 of the NFL season, playoffs will take place over Weeks 15, 16, & 17. The top two teams from each division make the playoffs, and Overall Seeds 5 and 6 will make the playoffs as Wild Cards (Division Winners earn 1st Rd Bye).
Tiebreakers:
Ties in the final standings are broken into the following order:
1st) Division Record (Winning Percentage) | 2nd) Total Points Scored | 3rd) Head-2-Head Record | 4th) Point Differential in H2H
Keepers:
We will keep 2 players on our team from season-to-season. Keepers may be submitted/changed at any time through the League Commissioner up until 1-week (7 days) prior to the Fantasy Draft. At such time, the Submitted Keepers list becomes official, and no coach shall alter their roster for any reason until the conclusion of the upcoming Fantasy Draft. Players “kept” from one season to the next will see a 2-Round Draft Penalty on their status. Example: a 5th Rd Pick in 2022 will become a 3rd Rd Pick in 2023, which (if kept again) would become a 1st Rd Pick in 2024. Players selected in the 1st and 2nd Rounds of the draft will be ineligible to be kept, and must return to the player-pool for drafting purposes. Undrafted Free Agents who are kept for the following season will replace your 13th Rd Pick. The following year, any UDFA will follow the same Keeper Rule as any Drafted Player.
Scoring:
OFFENSIVE SCORING:
PASSING:
2pt Conversions: 2pts | Passing INT: -2pts | Passing TD: 4pts | Passing Completion 40+yds: 2pts
Passing Yds: 1pt per 25yds (fractional scoring)
RUSHING:
2pt Conversions: 2pts | Rushing TD: 6pts | Rushing Yds: 1pt per 10yds (fractional scoring)
RECEIVING:
2pt Conversions: 2pts | Receiving TD: 6pts | Receiving Yds: 1pt per 10yds (fractional scoring) | Reception of 40+yds: 2pts
Points Per Reception: 1/2pt per Reception
MISC. OFFENSE:
Lost Fumble: -2pts | Fumble Recovery for TD: 6pts (This is not additional points if the RB/QB picks up his own fumble… it would count as a Rushing Touchdown only).
FIELD GOALS/PAT:
Field Goals: 3pts each. Additional 1pt for 40-49yds, 2pts for 50-59yds, 3pts for 60+
PAT: 1pt for PAT Good, -1pts for MISSED PAT (EX: Successful 42yd Attempt = 4pts)
Missed Attempts: Inside 31yds = -1pts / 31yds - 40yds = -1/2pt / 41yds+ = 0pts (Blocks do not count as a miss)
DEFENSIVE SCORING:
D/ST Fumble Recovery: 2pts Interception: 2pts Sacks: 1pt Safety: 2pts
Points Allowed by D/ST: 0-2pts = 10pts / 3-7pts = 8pts / 8-12pts = 6pts / 13-17pts = 4pts / 18-22pts = 2pt / 23-27pts = 0pts 28-32pts = -1pts / 33-37pts = -2pts / 38-42pts = -3pts / 43-49pts = -4pts / 50+pts = -5pts
Defensive/Special Teams TD: 4pts | Blocked Punt/FG/PAT: 2pts
WEEKLY TIEBREAKERS:
If a matchup in the regular season results in a tie, our weekly tiebreaker rule is to match up a predetermined position player from each team. The week will determine which position is selected. The format is seen below. A playoff tie will be assessed first by in-season Head-2-Head record, followed by in-season Point Differential in the H2H.
Week 1: QB | Week 2: RB | Week 3: WR | Week 4: TE | Week 5: D/ST
Week 6: K | Week 7: QB | Week 8: RB | Week 9: WR | Week 10: TE
Week 11: D/ST | Week 12: K | Week 13: QB | Week 14: RB
LEAGUE DRAFT RULE:
If you cannot make the draft (whether in-person or virtually), your team will be drafted by the league members participating in the draft. Drafting responsibilities will be determined by reverse standings order (I.E. 1st Overall team will pick for the absent manager in the 1st Rd, 2nd Overall in the 2nd Rd, etc).
Payout Schedule:
A Champion’s payout schedule is set, along with included fees for waivers and other penalties we will come across throughout the season. These categories have been selected to find a way to keep everyone in contention for at least one of the categories - despite not necessarily being in the running for the Championship. The following will be the Payout Schedule for the 2024 Fantasy Football Season:
WEEKLY PAYOUT: (REGULAR SEASON ONLY) - $140 for 14 Weeks
$10/Week - Weekly High Score: Team with the most points scored. The award will be split between teams in the event of a tie.
FINAL STANDINGS:
1st Place - $150 Prize + 20% of all Penalty Money collected
2nd Place - $100 Prize + 10% of Penalty Money
3rd Place - $75 + 5% of Penalty Money
4th Place - $50 + 5% of Penalty Money
5th Place - $25 + 5% of Penalty Money
6th Place - 5% of Penalty Money
Toilet Bowl Winner (Consolation Bracket) - Toilet Bowl Winnings
Toilet Bowl Runner-Up - Toilet Bowl Winnings
END OF SEASON - BONUS CATEGORIES: Each category will receive +5% of all Penalty Money collected.
$60 Prize - Survivor: Awarded to the ‘last-team standing’. The lowest scoring team from each fantasy week will be dropped from the bonus game until only 1 team remains.
$40 Prize - Manager of the Year: Team with the most points scored in the regular season.
$30 Prize - Scout of the Year: Team with the most bench points recorded in the regular season.
$40 Prize - President’s Trophy: Team with best overall record (#1 Overall Playoff Seed).
$20 Prize - Division Winner: Team that finished in 1st place in the opposing Division.
$20 Prize - Most Valuable Player: Team with Most Valuable (Fantasy) Player on their roster at the end of the Regular Season. This is measured by the player who scored the most points in our Fantasy League.
$20 Prize - Rookie of the Year: Team with the (Fantasy) Rookie of the Year on their roster at the end of the Regular Season. This is measured by the rookie with the most points in our Fantasy League.
$20 Prize - Biggest Blowout Victory: Team who had the largest margin of victory during a regular season contest. If there is a tie, the prize will be based on head-to-head between the two teams. If there is no head-to-head comparison available, the prize will be awarded to the team with the better record (Overall Record considered first, then Division Record).
$20 Prize - Smallest Margin of Victory: Team who won by the least amount of points during a regular season contest. In the event of a tie, see “Biggest Blowout” tiebreaker rules.
$15 Prize - Bad Beats: Team with the 2nd most points scored that fantasy week loses to the team with the most points scored that fantasy week. If this happens more than once, the prize will be split with all managers who received a “BAD BEAT”. If no Bad Beats occur, payout will be included in Penalty Money.
TOILET BOWL AND PAYOUT: (PARTICIPANTS ONLY)
Any team that does not make the playoffs will be sent to the “Toilet Bowl”, our consolation Bracket. This is NOT a head-to-head matchup… but rather, the “best of”. The team (participating in the Toilet Bowl) who scores the most points during the Playoff Duration will be announced as the Toilet Bowl Winner. Second Place will be awarded to the team with the second most points scored. ALL TEAMS that participate in the “Toilet Bowl” will be assessed a $15 FEE, which will be collected for its own payout awards - with the Toilet Bowl Champion receiving a $60 Payout, and the Toilet Bowl Runner-Up receiving a $30 payout. (6 teams x $15 per team = $90 Winnings)
LEGACY PAYOUTS: (PARTICIPANTS ONLY)
This betting category is an optional category for anyone who would like to participate! The more people who participate, the larger the winnings can become! It’s an additional $10 per team this year. The funds collected are divided into their own side-pot’s representing the number of categories in play that season . The rules are simple - if a new record is posted on the leaderboard at the end of the season, the coach who holds the new record collects the winnings for that side-pot! The winning category’s side-pot is then reset to $0 for the following season. To set a new record, you must overtake the previous record. Tying gets you NOTHING! If no one overtakes the posted record, the winnings roll over into the following year’s side-pot for that specific category. If the record has not been broken after 3 consecutive seasons, the coach who holds that record collects the “Legacy Payout” and the pot resets to $0 - as well as the record. If the winning coach is no longer with the league, the money will be donated to kickstart the following season’s Penalty Money (or we can use it to fund our next draft). Below are the 2022 results, and the 2023 categories in play for the Season:
All-Time High Score - Sets a new All-Time High Score Record (1 Week) for most pts scored in a victory.
All-Time Low Score - Sets a new All-Time Low Score Record for fewest points scored in a victory.
Longest Winning Streak - Longest streak of consecutive victories during one season.
“They Went Off” - Awarded to team with most points against throughout regular season
Expansion Clause
In the event of a League Expansion, Managers will be prompted to select 5 players from their current rosters (2 Keepers, 3 Protected Players). Players that are not protected can be claimed by the new managers for a 2-Round Penalty on last years Draft Position. If a player was undrafted, they will take over the 13th Rd Pick on their new team. New managers will then select Keepers through a snaking Expansion Draft until all new managers have the maximum number of Keepers. Once the new teams have drafted their Keepers, they will be randomly placed into the draft order and the season will resume as normal.