Every week, millions of Americans set their fantasy football lineups in hopes of a head-to-head victory over one of their friends. They check their score, root for their players, and banter jokingly over the best waiver wire pickups for the week. But despite the enjoyment that so many people take away from fantasy, there are still tweaks that can make it an even more interesting and equitable game.
To start, I'd like to add a little more flavor to the kicking game. I propose that leagues give kickers six full points for a field goal longer than 59 yards and award bonuses for game-winning or record-breaking field goals. The public league I play in already gives bonuses for field goals of 40-49 and 50+ yards, so why not reward special teamers who make even lengthier kicks? I also think fantasy players should receive an additional one-point bonus for any game-winning field goal. That 39-yarder as time expires? It gets you four. And when someone makes the first 67-yard field goal in NFL history, it should count for eight fantasy points: six for the kick and two for breaking the all-time record.
Speaking of breaking records, I would also like fantasy managers to earn bonuses for any record that is broken or milestone that is set by a player they manage during a game. Prominence of the record will play an important role in determining the amount of the bonus. Tom Brady's 600th TD earlier in the year would be worth somewhere around eight to 10 fantasy points, four for the passing TD and four to six for the milestone. Justin Tucker's 66-yarder would be a two-point bonus for the distance record, while an RB surpassing the all-time rushing record would earn somewhere around eight to 10 bonus points. Among other things, this adds to the intrigue and fantasy-relevance of players who are still legends on the field, but no longer produce in fantasy on a weekly basis. Drafts and waiver wires will be more competitive whenever record-breaking opportunities come up as fantasy managers compete for the players likely to receive large bonuses. Managers will need to make difficult roster decisions about who to keep or drop in favor of the legends of the game.
There is caveat here that needs to be addressed, and that's the fact that there could be leagues somewhere in this fantasy football multiverse that already use rules like these. There's no easy way to check an entire planet's leagues, although I have to admit there's something about the task that I find enticing.
As great a game as fantasy football is, it can still use a few tweaks. I think awarding kickers additional bonuses and giving out additional points for record-breaking and milestone performances will make the game even more interesting and add more skill-based incentives to the sport.
