*You Down With IDP?

[Modern_Duke]

Hello, it's me. I hope you are doing well. I know I haven't posted media in a while, but don't you worry I've still got some heaters rattling around in the old drafts folder. But today I just want to take a brief look at the now-not-so-recent change to fantasy drafts that was drafting individual players rather than team defenses. When it was implemented I think the commonly cited reasoning was, this will allow more users to draft their own players. That's harmless fun, and we of course want people to have fun here. So at the small expense of adding two rounds to fantasy drafts, team defense was replaced with defensive line, linebacker, and defensive back roster spots.

But the question, dear reader, is was this actually a harmless change? Was this worth it? Since I first started playing I have been a despiser of slow moving drafts and get unduly angry when the days drag on with one or two picks made. If I had my way I would draft quickly and I finish at the bottom rather than have the draft crawl but I finish in the TPE positions, but that's just me. [On that note, I implore the fantasy team to explore more ideas for improving the process for like-minded individuals, such as altering the time zone question to a "what 8 hour time span in the day are you most available to draft" question, and a "live draft" group option with a set start time and a 1 minute pick clock similar to IRL fantasy (what a fun combination of words) football drafts. But I digress, these are topics for another day.] Naturally, adding two rounds to the draft process have not made slow drafts any more enjoyable. So like I said, was this change really worth it - do users with defensive players get the joy of drafting themselves?

I took a look at the S42 fantasy rosters and here's how it breaks down:

There are 144 users with fantasy teams
Across these 144 fantasy teams, a total of 63 different defensive players were selected (just in case you were curious, 20 DL 21 LB 22 DB)
Of the 63 roster-worthy defensive players, 31 belong to users who signed up for fantasy
Of the 31 users with roster-worthy defensive players, 13 of them drafted their own player.

There you have it - but where does that leave us? Well, it's 12 additional picks which could take upwards of three whole days to get through if you get caught in the wrong group. In exchange, we have given 13 users (less than 10% of fantasy players!) the ability to call their own name. I know where I think the greater good lies!


(unless there was some other benefit of adding individual defensive players I forgot)

[Frostbite]

Down with IDP!

[TwoSocks]

As one of the 13 users, I also agree and say down with IDP!

[zaynzk]

Down with IDP!?

[qWest]

Down with IDP

[Repgnar]

Yeah you know me

[Rusfan]

Yeah, I like having the entire unit together

[domffl]

I agree with the conclusion, but the premise is highly subjective. Two rounds isn’t going to change the speed of your draft. However, the disparity in top 6 IDP players is vast. Especially DL. That’s what has my panties in a wad about IDP.

[br0_0ker]

the reason you have these numbers is the lower number of required players to pick on the defensive side along with scoring not matching top offensive performers. increase the total number of defensive players to equal offensive players, then adjust the scoring so the top 3 or so of each position group scores roughly equal at all positions. you'll see more equal representation across multiple seasons worth of IDP data. this was something IRL fantasy leagues already do for offense, with SF, expanding WR starting spots, PPR and TE premium, special RB scoring, PPFD, and I've played in IDP leagues where Aaron Donald was scoring equal to the top WRs in PPR, and I learned a TON of DL and LB because it was dynasty to boot...

but back to the point. the problem isn't the representation is low. the problem is the scoring doesn't reflect the desired distribution of players across the fantasy selections. don't make fantasy a offense only club, defense is (are?) people too. and this coming from a career WR. let's get MORE defense, not less.

[Kotasa]

I think our current system is broken but instead we should be decreasing offensive players. For too long people have fawned over offense I believe we should swap to an IOP system personally!