When it comes to IDP, the rules and strategies can vary wildly. If you think PPR vs. non-PPR can greatly affect how you build your roster, just wait until you have to break out your old conversion chart from your Trapper Keeper to set your IDP lineups.

Just kidding. It’s not that bad. In fact, this article is here to help you master the ins and outs of IDP leagues, so that you never feel overwhelmed. Use this article as a reference every time you join a new league, or have a question about a player’s value. Additionally, it’s a resource if you are considering starting up your own IDP league.

 

Scoring

First, some terminology: 

Tackle: A solo tackle. When the official scorer award a player with a full tackle.

Assist: When the official scorer gives half the tackle credit to one player and the other half to another, both players get an assisted tackle. Some scorers give out multiple assists on one play.

TFL: Tackle for Loss. It’s like a sack of the running back.

Big Play: Anything other than a tackle (I.E. a sack, PD, INT, FF, FR, TD)

Sack: Yep. You guessed it. When the QB goes down. 

INT: Short for interception.

PD: Pass Defensed. When a player bats down a ball, for example a DL at the line of scrimmage or a DB swatting a pass out of a receiver’s hands.

FF: Forced Fumble. Stripping the ball from an offensive player.

FR: Fumble Recovery. When said stripped ball is secured by a defensive player.

TD: It’s worth 6 points in real football, and often in fantasy football.

Next, let’s tackle the most common scoring systems. We’ll map out typical values for IDP stats, but the important factor is ratio. Is a sack (or other big play) worth the same (1:1), twice as much (2:1) or 4Xs as much (4:1) as a tackle? This is the general line of demarcation among the different scoring systems.

Balanced: 

This is the default scoring at fantasyguru.com. A balanced league weighs big plays about twice as much as tackles. In other words, they’re worth more than a regular tackle, but not a lot more.

A typical “Balanced” (or “Standard”) scoring system would be: 

Tackle: 1 point

Assisted Tackle: 0.5 points

Sack: 2 points

INT: 2 points

PD: 1 point

FF: 2 points

FR: 2 points

TD: 6 points

Remember the ratio. If your league scores tackles as 2 points, then a sack would be about 4 points in a balanced scoring system.

Tackle-Heavy: 

A tackle-heavy league weighs big plays about the same as tackles. 

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