Contents :
Deep in the End Zone Fantasy Football consists of a league of American Football fans, each of whom owns a Fantasy Football Franchise.
Those Franchises Draft a roster of Players from the 32 NFL Teams.
Each week a Franchise fields a line up of Players with the intention of beating their opponent.
A Franchise will succeed or fail in its quest to reach the high point of the year - the Fantasy Bowl - depending on the points scored by their Players in the real NFL games.
Franchises will be able to retain Players from year to year, allowing them to develop their squads and to spot rising stars or rookie talent in one year, and cash in during the following seasons.
It must be stressed that prospective Franchise Owners need a good working knowledge of American Football, the Players and NFL teams involved.
Active participation is expected and Franchise Owners will, to perform well, need to monitor daily Deep In the End Zone activity - either online or by email, submit weekly orders, be aware of and react to injuries, bye weeks, trades and cuts, etc. in the NFL and the impact that they will have on their Franchises.
The Deep In The End Zone Fantasy Football League currently consists of 12 Franchises and new Owners are welcome to join up to a maximum of 16, it is not realistically possible to accommodate a greater number.
The Commissioner is responsible for the general running and administration of the league including, but not restricted to, the following functions :-
The post of League Commissioner is held by Malcolm Cornelius.
In order to ensure smooth running of the league, a second Franchise owner will serve as Assistant League Commissioner.
The Assistant League Commissioner’s role is to act as an advisor to the League Commissioner, to cover in the event of the Commissioners unavailability, and to serve as an arbitrator in the event of a dispute involving the League Commissioner or his Franchise.
The post of Assistant League Commissioner is currently held by Mark Wightman.
Franchises will play each other over a series of regular season games to determine seeding for the Play-Offs.
The schedule of fixtures for each season will be provided to Franchise owners before the Draft.
All games leading up to and including the Fantasy Bowl take place in the NFL Regular Season, the Commissioner’s Cup takes place in the NFL Post Season.
An example schedule of games for a twelve Franchise league with Play-Offs is included in Appendix A below.
Franchises will be ranked by their Regular Season record, the following tiebreaker will be used :
As with the NFL, one of the most important parts of the Fantasy Football year is the annual Draft of Players.
The importance of full participation of all Franchises in the Draft CAN NOT be overstressed.
The League Commissioner will set the Draft date, time and venue and will provide details at least two weeks in advance.
Each Franchise should be represented at the Draft e.g. by sending a proxy if they are unable to attend in person. Should this not be possible then clear and concise draft instructions should be e-mailed to the Commissioner. Instructions should arrive by 12.00 on the FRIDAY BEFORE Draft Day AT THE LATEST.
Drafting orders should bear in mind that in a 12 Franchise league, 156 Players will be drafted, thus a large number of alternative Players for each position will need to be listed.
The Commissioner will attempt to integrate those Franchises not able to attend the Draft, with those that do. Attending owners may be asked to enact drafting orders for a non-attending franchise. In the absence of complete Draft orders the Commissioner will use various means including Internet sites opinions, cheat sheets and computer software to automatically generate picks for franchises as required.
The Draft will consist of one Round for each roster spot.
Each Franchise receives one pick in each Draft Round. The position of a Franchise’s pick is determined by its success in the previous year.
The first pick in the first Draft Round goes to the Franchise with the worst Regular Season record in the previous year, the second pick goes to the Franchise with the next worst record etc. Last years Fantasy Bowl winner drafts last in this round, the Fantasy Bowl runner up drafts penultimate, all other Franchises draft in accord with their Regular Season record.
The order of second Draft Round is the reverse of that in the first, thus the Fantasy Bowl winner drafts first and the team with the worst Regular Season record last.
For the remainder of the Draft, odd numbered Draft Rounds have the same draft order as the first Round, even numbered Draft Rounds have the same draft order as the second Round.
Not all of a Franchises Draft picks may be available on Draft Day as they may have been used to retain Players.
At the end of the Draft, every Player is assigned a Draft Round Value (DRV).
A Drafted Player is assigned a DRV equal to the round in which they were Drafted. All retained Players are assigned a DRV of 0. All undrafted Players have a DRV of 9. The DRV is set for the entire season even if they are traded or dropped.
Further details of Drafting are contained in Appendix B.
A Franchise’s roster is made up of five different types of NFL Players - Quarterback, Kicker, Tight End, Running Back, Wide Receiver.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends are dealt with as a single fantasy position - Receiver - in all areas except scoring.
The roster must be filled in a certain way at the Draft, and there are maximum and minimum numbers of each Player type allowed on the roster subsequently :
|
Position |
Minimum |
Draft |
Maximum |
|
Quarterback |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Kicker |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Running Back |
2 |
4 |
5 |
|
Receiver |
3 |
5 |
6 |
A Franchise's roster may never exceed 13 Players.
Multipositional Players are not allowed, all Players will be assigned to one position, usually that listed on NFL.COM. If any Owner believes that the position of a Player should be changed, then they should contact the Commissioner. If the Commissioner deems that the position of a Player has changed, this takes immediate effect.
Position changes will not be announced in the period between the line up deadline and the weeks NFL games.
If a Franchise's roster becomes illegal due to a Player's position changing, they must, during the next pick up period attempt to make their roster legal through the normal pick up process or by trade. If the roster is still illegal at the end of the pickup period then the changed Player will be released.
During the NFL Regular Season a Franchise Owner may wish to make changes to their roster, this is done by making a transaction.
The weekly transaction period starts at 09.00 TUESDAY and runs until 18.00 FRIDAY.
A Franchise may not make a transaction that would breach any rule, even if a later transaction would remedy the breach.
There are two types of transactions :-
* A TRADE is where a Franchise swaps any number of Players directly with another Franchise, receiving the same number of Players in return.
Trades may only take place during the Fantasy Football Regular Season.
A Franchise may never regain by trade a Player they have previously traded away.
A Trade must be notified to the Commissioner, by both Franchises. The Commissioner will reject any trade, if, in his view, it is in any way unfair.
* A PICK UP is where a Franchise obtains a Player from the pool of available Players.
The pool of available Players consists of all those Players who were eligible but not Drafted, and those released by Franchises during the season.
Each week of the Regular Season a Waiver Order is created following the completion of the games. The Franchise with the worst Regular Season record has the top position on the list and the Franchise with the best record has the bottom position. Prior to the Week One games the Waiver Order is the same as the Draft Order. For the Post Season the Waiver Order is created following the final Regular Season week and this is used for the entire Post Season, it is NOT reset each week.
A Franchise may Claim one or more Players off Waivers in each Waiver Period by listing all the Players they wish to claim in preference order. More than one Claim email may be sent each period but each one completely supersedes any previous.
The Claim email MUST state for each Player being claimed :
The Waiver Period ends each day at either 18.00 OR the start of the first NFL game that day whichever is earlier.
The Waiver Claims are evaluated in Waiver Order.
When a Franchise makes a successful Waiver Claim they move to the bottom of the Waiver Order and all the other Franchises move up. The Waiver Order rolls in this fashion all week.
If a Franchise has dropped a Player they may not reclaim them during the next Waiver Period that week.
Players involved in an NFL game played during the transaction period may not be claimed or dropped after the start of their game.
A Player with a DRV of 4 or less may not be dropped after the commencement of the Week 10 games, unless the Player retires, is placed on NFL Injured Reserve or is suspended by the NFL, AFTER the week 10 deadline.
Each week Franchises must provide the Commissioner with their line up for the weeks game. The deadline for line ups will be listed on the website, but will normally be 20.00 SATURDAY.
If a Franchise fails to provide a line up by the deadline, they are assumed to be playing the same line up as the previous week.
When there are NFL games prior to the normal deadline, Owners should submit a Line up prior to the start of those games. This Line up may be revised after the end of the early games, until the normal deadline, however those Players who played in the early games may not be removed from or inserted into the Line up.
Line ups should be e-mailed to the Commissioner.
Line ups may be made conditional on that Franchise's pick ups, only.
The Fantasy line up consists of 7 Players, made up as follows :-
If a line up is invalid e.g. due to the release of a Player or if the line up contains a Player on a bye week, that Player will be replaced. The Player will be substituted by the first Player for that position from the Franchise's roster, in alphabetical order of Player name.
The scoring method for this Fantasy Football league is contained in Appendix C.
There may, after the Franchises scores have been totaled, be a tie. The impact of this depends on the game :-
In addition to the Fantasy Bowl, Franchise owners compete in a second competition - the Commissioner’s Cup.
This competition covers the period of the NFL Play-Offs.
In the weeks of the NFL Post Season each Franchise fields a line up consisting of ALL the Players on their roster that are playing in that weeks games.
Each week the Commissioner's Cup line up scores points as normal, but towards a grand total rather than in direct competition against other Franchises.
As NFL teams are eliminated from the Super Bowl race so their Players are eliminated from the Commissioner's Cup.
The Commissioner’s Cup is won by the Franchise who scores most points during the NFL Post Season.
The League’s Closed Season commences at the end of the Super Bowl each year and ends on a date specified by the Commissioner, normally one week prior to the Draft.
At the start of the Closed Season :-
All remaining Players have their DRV lowered as follows :-
Old DRV |
New DRV |
5 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
3 |
8-9 |
4 |
10-11 |
5 |
12-13 |
6 |
At the end of the Closed Season Franchises may elect to retain Players for the new season.
A Franchise may retain one Kicker, one Quarter Back, one Running Back and any two Receivers, by expending a Draft Pick in the Draft Round equal to a Players DRV.
In addition to their retained Players, at each position a Franchise may nominate a reserve Player.
Should a Franchise whish to retain multiple players in the same round, then they will expend a pick from the next earlier round in which they have a pick available. Where there are multiple Players with the same DRV, Owners should specify which picks are being used to retain them, otherwise it will be determined at random.
Retentions must be notified to the Commissioner, by 18.00 on the last day of the Closed Season.
A Franchise may change any retention to the reserve Player by notifying the Commissioner, by 18.00 on the THURSDAY prior to the Draft. If no reserve Player has been nominated, the retention is instead cancelled.
Franchises will normally continue from season to season in the same Division and Conference. The Commissioner may make changes to the league structure, for example due to a reduction in league size, or in order to maintain a balance within the league.
In the event of an Owner not rejoining the League, a new Owner will be sought for the Franchise and they will take over that Franchise as is.
In the event of an increase in the number of Franchises, vacant Franchises will be filled first, then new owners will be granted an Expansion Franchise.
Fantasy Football Owners are invited to participate in a challenge to show their NFL and Fantasy Football knowledge and prediction prowess - Your Call Coach.
In this game Owners are invited to nominate a selection in each of a number of categories :-
Each correct answer will be rewarded with a specified number of points depending on the number of Owners selecting the answer, the more Owners who predict the answer, the fewer points will be awarded.
Entries for Your Call Coach must be received prior to the first NFL game of the season, and may not be changed.
Tuesday
09.00 Franchises may start submitting Waiver Claims
18.00 Waiver Claims adjudicated
18.01 Next Waiver Period Starts.
Wednesday
18.00 Waiver Claims adjudicated
18.01 Next Waiver Period Starts.
Thursday
18.00 Waiver Claims adjudicated
18.01 Next Waiver Period Starts.
Friday
18.00 Waiver Claims adjudicated, end of pickups
Saturday
20.00 Deadline for line ups.
The League Schedule is as follows :
The League is split into four Divisions each of three Franchises.
Each Franchise plays a Regular Season of 13 games.
Each Franchise in a Division plays the others twice, and every other Franchise once, for a total of 13 games.
The top Franchise from each Division advances to the Play-Offs as Division Winners.
The next best four Franchises also compete in the Play-Offs as 'Wild Card' Franchises.
The Play-Offs are handled as follows :
The four Division Winners are seeded 1 to 4, the four Wild Card Franchises are seeded 5 to 8.
Week 14 - 4 games - 8 vs 1, 7 vs 2, 6 vs 3, 5 vs 4. The winning Franchises are reseeded, Division winners before Wild Card Franchises.
Week 15 - 2 games - 4 vs 1, 3 vs 2.
Week 16 - 2 games - W vs W, L vs L. The winning Franchises play for the Fantasy Bowl. The losing play for Third and Fourth place.
There are no games in Week 17.
The Franchise with the best record receives Home Field Advantage in Weeks 14 and 15. There is no Home Field Advantage in the Week 16.
In each Draft Round a Franchise will have one Draft Pick. They may have used it to retain a Player.
During the Draft the following rules apply :-
A Franchise is allowed 120 seconds to make each selection.
Should the Franchise fail to make a selection in time, the Draft will move on to the next Franchise to make their pick instead. Selection will then revert to the skipped Franchise.
If a Franchise exceeds the time limit when they have consecutive picks, it must wait until the next Franchise has been allowed a selection opportunity before it is allowed to continue with its selection(s).
A warning will be given to a Franchise 30 seconds before the expiry of its selection time limit.
When a Franchise Drafts a Player they should announce :
This is for the benefit of other Franchise Owners and to ensure that there is no confusion over similarly named Players.
After a Player is Drafted the Commissioner will repeat the Players name, position and NFL team.
If a selection is made which :
The Commissioner will inform a Franchise how many Players they currently have Drafted or retained in that position if requested.
The scoring in this League is based on the actual performance of the NFL Players in both NFL regulation and overtime as follows :-
| TOUCHDOWNS |
|
2 POINT CONVERSIONS |
|
| Passing | 3 |
Passing |
1 |
|
Rushing, Receiving (RB) |
4 |
Rushing, Receiving |
2 |
|
Receiving (all except RB), Returns, Recoveries |
6 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
KICKING - FIELD GOALS |
|
KICKING - PATS |
|
|
up to 40 yards |
3 |
Point After Touchdown |
1 |
|
41 - 50 yards |
4 |
Missed Point After Touchdown |
-1 |
|
51 yards and beyond |
5 |
|
|
|
Missed Field Goal - |
-1 |
|
|
|
Missed Field Goal - |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PASSING - PASSES COMPLETED |
|
PASSING - YARDAGE |
|
11-15 passes completed |
1 |
150-224 yards passing |
1 |
|
16-20 passes completed |
2 |
225-299 yards passing |
2 |
|
21-25 passes completed |
3 |
300-349 yards passing |
3 |
|
26-30 passes completed |
4 |
350-399 yards passing |
4 |
31 or more passes completed |
5 |
400 or more yards passing |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
RUSHING - ATTEMPTS |
|
RUSHING - YARDAGE |
|
11-15 attempts |
1 |
50-69 yards rushing |
1 |
|
16-20 attempts |
2 |
70-99 yards rushing |
2 |
|
21-25 attempts |
3 |
100-139 yards rushing |
3 |
|
26-30 attempts |
4 |
140-174 yards rushing |
4 |
31 or more attempts |
5 |
175 or more yards rushing |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
RECEIVING - RECEPTIONS |
|
RECEIVING - YARDAGE |
|
|
4-5 receptions |
1 |
50-69 yards receiving |
1 |
|
6-7 receptions |
2 |
70-99 yards receiving |
2 |
|
8-9 receptions |
3 |
100-139 yards receiving |
3 |
|
10-11 receptions |
4 |
140-174 yards receiving |
4 |
12 or more receptions |
5 |
175 or more yards receiving |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
RECEIVING - RECEPTIONS |
|
RECEIVING - YARDAGE |
|
|
3-4 receptions |
1 |
30-54 yards receiving |
1 |
|
5-6 receptions |
2 |
55-74 yards receiving |
2 |
|
7-8 receptions |
3 |
75-99 yards receiving |
3 |
|
9-10 receptions |
4 |
100-124 yards receiving |
4 |
11 or more receptions |
5 |
125 or more yards receiving |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
INTERCEPTIONS |
|
FUMBLES |
|
|
Each Interception thrown |
-1 |
Each Fumble Lost |
-1 |
Post Season Home Field Advantage -
Use the following to calculate the Home Field Advantage -
( ( Home Franchise Points For - Away Franchise Points For ) / Games played ) - this yields advantage per game and then use the table below
Advantage per game |
Home Field Advantage |
|
< 2.5 |
+0.5 |
|
2.5 - 3.5 |
+1.5 |
|
3.5 - 4.5 |
+2.5 |
|
4.5 - 5.5 |
+3.5 |
|
5.5 - 6.5 |
+4.5 |
|
6.5 - 7.5 |
+5.5 |
|
7.6+ |
+6.5 |
Scoring will be calculated automatically from stats supplied by SportsTicker which will be deemed definitive as at Tuesday 09.00.
5.5.17 - Pre 2008 season -