SCORESHEET FANTASY FOOTBALL: ROSTER BALANCING PROCEDURES
In each weekly Scoresheet Fantasy Football game, you'll use 1 QB, 1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 DL, 2 LB, 2 DB, 1 K, 1 P, 1 Kick Return Team; and a flex position where you can use either a 3rd WR, a 2nd RB, or a 2nd TE. In addition to these 15 starting players, you'll draft 15 backup players. These backups will be used if a regular starter is injured if his team has a bye in the NFL, or if you trade or demote your starter.
Roster Balancing
For web-based drafting, you can choose to turn Roster Balancing on or off by using the box at the bottom of your ranking list (next to the save button.) If you have Roster Balancing off, then in each round when your team's draft pick comes up, the drafting system gives you your highest ranked available (undrafted) player. If you choose to turn Roster Balancing on, the drafting system will attempt to fill your starting positions before you receive any less important backups. Roster Balancing can be useful if you do not plan to participate actively during the draft, and do not plan to monitor your picks before and after each is made.
To turn Roster Balancing on, you must enter a number in the box at the bottom of your ranking list that corresponds to the draft round that you want Roster Balancing to begin assessing your positional needs. Roster Balancing will draft your highest ranked available player at each position for which you need a staring player. Roster Balancing will continue to skip over other listed players at positions that have been filled until there is a player on your list that plays a position at which you still need a starter. For example, you might think a good TE is very important, and so you might rank 6 of them in your top 12 choices. Once you draft 1 TE, the program will skip the next TEs listed and draft your highest ranked non-TEs in subsequent rounds. In Scoresheet Fantasy Football, you need 1 quarterback, 3 wide receivers, 2 running backs, 1 tight end, 2 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers and 2 defensive backs to fill your potential starting positions (including a "flex" position), so Roster Balancing will NOT skip over any of these positions until you have drafted the amount of players at each position listed above. For example, Roster Balancing will NOT skip over any RBs, DLs, LBs or DBs you've listed until you have received 2 of each of them.
Ranking Considerations
Because in each game you can play either 2 RBs or 3 WRs (including the "flex" position), Roster Balancing will have you draft 2 running backs and 3 wide receivers before considering those positions 'filled' with potential starters (tight end is considered filled for roster balancing purposes once you draft 1 TE - we assume most teams will not start 2 TEs each week.) After you have filled your starters at every one of the offensive and defensive positions (receiving one QB, 2 RBs, 2 DLs, 2 LBs and 2 DBs, one TE and 3 wide receivers), the drafting system starts similar Roster Balancing procedures for your backups. In the subsequent rounds, you'll get 1 backup at each of: QB, RB, WR, TE, DL, LB and DB. After you have those backups, plus your starters at kicker, punter and kick return team, you will get one more backup at any 7 different positions in the last 7 rounds.
Because some positions are generally considered 'more important' than others, there are some twists to the roster balancing rules. While you will start one Punter (P), Kicker (K), and Kick Return Team (KRT) each week, Roster Balancing will allow you to draft backups at other positions before filling your starters at P, K and KRT. If you have a player at K, P or KRT listed high on your draft list, Roster Balancing will not skip over them to get to a player at another position; but likewise, it will not skip over players at other positions to fill your starters at kicker, punter and special teams, until you have both starters and one backup at all the other positions.
Plus Sign Option
With Roster Balancing turned on, you may still override Roster Balancing, rules by putting a plus sign (+) next to a player's number. This tells us that you want to draft that player, even if you already have filled the position. For instance, you might want a 2nd quarterback, even if you haven't filled all of your starters at other positions. Once you draft a player (even with a "+"), he is counted at his specific position. Plus signs will only override Roster Balancing for ONE extra player at each position - you will not get a 2nd backup at a position before you have all of your starting positions filled, nor will you get a 3rd backup until you have starters at all positions (including P, K and KRT), and at least 1 backup at all of the 7 offensive and defensive positions.
As an alternative to listing a specific player on your ranking sheet, you may also list a position with a plus sign (+). This tells the Scoresheet draft system to draft any of the players that you've ranked above that point on your list as an extra player at that position. That is, it's the same as relisting each player you've already ranked at that position with a plus sign after their player number. For example, let's say you rank 25 RBs in your top 70 players, and then put "RB+" in the 71st slot. As soon as you get 2 RBs (filling your starters at RB), the Scoresheet draft system will skip over the other RBs you've listed and instead give you players from other positions at which you do not yet have all your starters. Then, once the "RB+" reaches the top of your list, the draft system will look for any Rbs listed above that point and draft them if they are still available (thereby drafting the top ranked RB on your list as your 3rd RB). If no Rbs are available, the draft system will ignore the "RB+" and proceed down your list.
In addition to the above Roster Balancing rules, we have a couple of special rule cases. It has been pointed out to us in years past that many owners would like to get a 2nd QB before filling all of their other starters. So, the Scoresheet Roster Balancing program automatically add a plus sign to all QBs on your list once the 10th round of the draft is reached. Adding this plus sign to QBs means that starting with the 10th round, the program will not skip over your listed QBs to get to other players farther down your list. However, once you get a 2nd QB, you will not get a 3rd QB until after you have drafted all of your offensive and defensive starters. This 'automatic plus sign' is removed once you get all of your offensive and defensive starters.
It is possible to have a player drafted for your team that you did not put on your player ranking sheet if you have no available players on your list when it is your turn to draft, or if you have Roster Balancing turned on and you do not have any players listed at a position you still need filled. To avoid this possibility, make sure that your list always has plenty of available players on it. If you are not going to monitor the draft, and just want to enter one (long) list to begin the draft, we suggest you turn Roster Balancing on, and then list 250-275 players, including players from many different positions. A suggested draft list of 260 players should include something like: 30 to 35 QBs; 30 RBs; 35 to 40 WRs; 20 TEs; 30-35 DLs; 30-35 LBs; 30-35 DBs; and a 10 to 15 each of Ks, Ps, and kick return teams. Your list should use some combination of these amounts per position to total 250 players - the exact numbers of players listed should depend somewhat on how often you use the Plus Sign ("+")option (if you use it at all.)
If using Roster Balancing, you do NOT need to group players by position on your ranking sheet; our Roster Balancing feature will give you a balanced team if you choose to use it. Note: kick return teams are to be listed just like individual players for drafting purposes. On your ranking list, please specify them by number and NFL team.
Free Agents
In addition to the pre-season draft, Scoresheet conducts a free agent draft each week (except
during the playoffs) - every team
will get one free agent pick each week during the 14-week regular season.
Teams will pick in reverse order of the standings,
and each team will receive 1 new player, if available. Since all teams
are tied at 0-0 going into the first games, the team that drafted
last in the very first round of the draft (Team 12 in a 12-team
league) will get to pick first in the first week's free agent
draft.
Once the season has started, if two or more teams have the same
win-loss record going into the week, the tie-breaker is:
- The higher team number drafts first in ODD numbered weeks
- The lower team number drafts first in EVEN numbered weeks
EXAMPLE: In Week 7, if Teams 3, 8, and 9 all have 3-3 records, the free agent draft order will be Team 9, then Team 8, and then Team 3. If it happened to be Week 8 instead, the order would be reversed.
Teams that choose not to submit a new free agent list will automatically have their previous list used again. However, teams that do not turn in a new depth chart/free agent wanted list that week will pick after all of the teams that did turn in a new list, regardless of win-loss record. Each week's free agent draft is held before that week's games are played so that you may use the free agent that week, if necessary (be sure to include the prospective free agent on your depth chart as described on the next page).
