Know Your League - League Size

  Posted 8/14 by Clayton Gray, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

Here at Footballguys.com, we try to give you every tool possible to succeed. However, to completely maximize your potential, you have to hone those tools to your individual league. The most basic league-specific variable is size. Obviously, league size will affect the quality of your roster. Having more teams in your league spreads out the NFL talent. This is a readily apparent realization, so that's not the topic we'll discuss here. Instead, we'll look at positional scarcity and how league size should determine the composition of your roster.

More specifically, how your strategy should change based on the number of teams in your leauge.

The Basics

Let's take a look at three different Top 25 lists. Note that quarterbacks are written in blue and running backs are found in black while wide receivers show up in red.

While the lists generally contain the same players, there are noticeable differences (namely, the quarterbacks and wide receivers sink as we move to the right). If you are wondering what type of manipulation caused that movement, it was merely league size.

• The list on the left is the Top 25 VBD list for an 8-team league.
• The list in the middle is the Top 25 VBD list for a 12-team league.
• The list on the right is the Top 25 VBD list for a 16-team league.

All three lists use the same generic scoring system with the same generic starting lineup requirements.

Digging Deeper

Let's take a closer look at the makeup of these lists.

Clearly, the overriding theme here is that the bigger the league, the more valuable RBs become (at the expense of QBs and WRs). Of course the reason for this is positional scarcity. In an 8-team league, there are enough backs available for everyone to grab a couple of nice options since only 16 are started per week. Conversely, running backs are extremely valuable in the 16-team league as 32 are started each week.

Final Small League Thoughts

What is not so clear, however, is the need for studs in the small league. With a relatively deep running back pool, everyone can find starting-quality players and fill out a decent bench. If your league is small, the focus should be on maximizing the talent at every position. There is no need to hold off on taking an elite passer or wide receiver because the running back pool will still have plenty of talent available later.

Taking this a step further, don't hesitate to nab the San Diego Chargers or Minnesota Vikings defense earlier than you would think viable. Remember, stud rule in a small league. Even after everyone in your 8-team league takes four backs, guys like Felix Jones, Chris Johnson, and Ricky Williams will still be sitting there. Are these backs really that much worse than the DeAngelo Williams or Fred Taylor or Rashard Mendenhall that you'll miss out on when taking that stud defense a round earlier? Of course not. Any of those six player is fine as a fourth or fifth option in your backfield.

Final Big League Thoughts

On the other hand, the running back still rules in the large 16-team leagues. Of course it would be nice to field Randy Moss, Peyton Manning, and Jason Witten every week, but with the now-shallow RB pool, you'll again be left picking from the aforementioned Felix Jones, Chris Johnson, Ricky Williams, DeAngelo Williams, Fred Taylor, and Rashard Mendenhall. However, you'll be looking at starting two of them every week (and considering yourself fortunate) because the other 15 teams have grabbed their backfield already.

Points To Remember

We have a couple of overriding thoughts here:

• In a small league, if the elite backs are gone, go for studs at other positions. There will be adequate quality available later at RB.
• In a large league, you can not pass on quality backs early as the position is far too shallow.