Fantasy Football Keeper League Questions

[Logan]

My money football league this year has decided to start playing keeper-style. My teammate and I are all for the idea, but the commish has proposed a crazy method for keeping players/forfeiting picks that we both think is stupid.

I kind of have an idea in my head on how it should work, who should be eligible, what should be forfeitted, etc, but am looking for other opinions.

Do any of you play in keeper leagues? What are your rules? Thanks.

[Maple Leafs]

My money football league this year has decided to start playing keeper-style. My teammate and I are all for the idea, but the commish has proposed a crazy method for keeping players/forfeiting picks that we both think is stupid.

I kind of have an idea in my head on how it should work, who should be eligible, what should be forfeitted, etc, but am looking for other opinions.

Do any of you play in keeper leagues? What are your rules? Thanks.Our league is moving to keeper this year.The options we're considering are:

- straight keeper where each team is allowed to keep a certain number and then we draft as normal
- keeper where each team forfeits a draft pick equivalent to where they took the guy they're keeping
- salary system where players are assigned a salart based on round and only a certain salary total may be kept

Each has their pros and cons. What system is your commish suggesting?

[Logan]

Our league is moving to keeper this year.The options we're considering are:

- straight keeper where each team is allowed to keep a certain number and then we draft as normal
- keeper where each team forfeits a draft pick equivalent to where they took the guy they're keeping
- salary system where players are assigned a salart based on round and only a certain salary total may be kept

Each has their pros and cons. What system is your commish suggesting?

I would copy and paste his e-mail, but the kid is a moron and it basically makes no sense when you read it. It had to be explained to me by my partner who heard it straight from the commish's mouth. I'll try and give the highlights:

Basically you wouldn't declare your keepers before the draft. It would be done WHILE the draft is going on. I'll give some scenarios:

-Last year you drafted Priest Holmes in the first round. This year, you have the last pick in the 1st round. Someone chooses him in the first round, #3 overall. You say, "Hey I wanna keep him." You forfeit your 1st rounder, and the owner has to re-pick (and this can go on and on and on...).

-If you don't pick a player by the round you drafted him in the previous year, you can no longer keep him (so if a great opportunity comes along where a player slips...you can draft the guy and lose your keeper...I suppose this is a good idea cause it makes you strategize).

-However, that condition only lasts for that particular round. If the player you were planning to keep slips completely out of the round you originally drafted him in, with no one who selected after you picking him, you can now give up your next round pick in return for keeping him.

There are other caveats that I can't think of right now, but my biggest problem with the whole system is that since you don't declare your keepers before the draft, its hard to develop a strategy for the draft. You could also spend a ton of time deciding between two players...finally select someone, and an owner yells, "I'm keeping him." To which you respond, "Fine, I'll take Player Y," and it repeats.

In my opinion, this is how I would do the system:

1. You can't keep a player drafted in the first two (maybe even 3 rounds). Drafting is the best part...its what we look forward to. I can't imagine a draft being too fun if, after winning the top overall pick, you're selecting between Kevan Barlow and Koren Robinson.

2. For any player you decide to keep, you forfeit a pick that is TWO rounds higher than the round he was selected in the previous year, and this escalates. For example, this year I draft a WR in the 6th round. He does great, so I keep him at a cost of a 4th round pick next year. He still does great, and the next year I keep him at a cost of a 2nd round pick the year after. At the beginning of year 4, he is no longer eligible to be kept, as he was a 2nd round pick.

3. If you keep a free agent, you lose your last "starter" pick (if you start a QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, a TE, a flex, a D, and a K...this is 9...so you would lose your 9th round pick). If you keep 2 FAs, you would lose your 8th and 9th.

4. Some kind of max on players to be kept...probably 3-4.

Thoughts? Criticisms?

[cthomer5000]

I've never really come close to making the league I run a keeper league, but I'd probably make it really simple:

You can keep up to 3 players. Keepers are declared before the draft, and therefore ineligible.
For the first player you keep, you surrender your 1st round draft pick.
For the second player you keep, you surrender your 2nd round draft pick
For the 3rd player you keep, you surrenger your 3rd round draft pick.

[Travis]

League I'm in, you can have up to 3 keepers, plus an additional keeper acquired through an off season trade (thrown in to promote interaction between owners as it's an online league). If you keep less than 3, you're given supplemental picks at the ends of the early rounds (can't remember the exact break down on that right now).

Aside from that, we draft straight up with just the declared keepers (had to have them in at the start of July) being off limits.