Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Six points for passing TDs?

I've seen and heard a lot of people go on and on about how "terrible" it is to award 6 points for passing touchdowns, versus the usual 4.  "It makes QBs rule the fantasy game," they say.  "It makes RBs and WRs less important!" they gripe.  Well, how about this idea that my league is using this year: 6 points for pass TDs, but penalize INTs by -3 points, instead of the usual -1 point.  We're also ratcheting down the pass yardage points: from 1 pt for 20 yds to 1 pt for 25 yds. 
 
Picture this QB line: 300 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INT.
 
With a traditional scoring system, that QB would score 25 points.
With our scoring system, he would actually score just 24.  ("Oh no, you CAN'T give 6 points for pass TDs, it'll ruin your league!")
 
What we wanted to do was reward QBs who make good decisions about throwing the ball, and penalize them for making poor decisions.  I think our scoring system does a good job of that.
 
What really surprises me is that no one who whines about 6-pt TD passes seems to look at how to keep scores from skyrocketing - they just say, "No, don't do it!"  I am appreciative of people who challenge the status quo and have logical arguments for doing so.