MVP Points Explained

It's time to set up your customized fantasy football cheat sheet — known as our MVP Board — with DraftSharks.com. Newcomers must read this before they begin!

By Lenny Pappano, DraftSharks.com

I have a simple question to test your fantasy football IQ. Who was the most valuable fantasy player for 2011 among these three players: QB Eli Manning, RB Steven Jackson, or WR Mike Wallace? Before you go page-flipping to find their stats, let me give them to you. Manning had 4,933 yards passing and 29 passing TDs. Jackson had 1,478 total yards and 6 TDs. Wallace had 1,193 receiving yards and 8 TDs.

Got an answer yet? Well, if you said, "It depends on your league's scoring rules," you're wrong. Customized fantasy football cheat sheets tailored to your league's scoring system are nice, but that's only the 1st step to dominating your draft. The correct answer is, "It depends on 1.) your league's scoring rules, 2.) the number of teams in your league, 3.) the number of players you're required to start at each position, and 4.) how many fantasy points these three players scored relative to every other player at their position.

If you're scratching your head and have a glazed look in your eyes, stay with me for a few minutes. By understanding the correct answer, you'll also understand the science of creating your very own MVP Board — a customized fantasy football cheat sheet that does much more than just calculate fantasy points based on your league's scoring system. Our Most Valuable Player Draft System will put you head and shoulders above your league competition this year.

Let's start by taking a close look at the question posed. The question is, "who was the most valuable player." Unfortunately, most people will view the question as, "who scored the most fantasy points." Consequently, they take the stats for each player, calculate the total fantasy points according to their league scoring system - and, bingo, give you an answer (usually Manning). But, of course, that is not the right answer.

The right answer is, "It depends on 1) your league's scoring rules, 2) the number of teams in your league, 3) the number of players you're required to play at each position, and 4) how many fantasy points these three players scored relative to every other player at their position." Most people are on the right track when they say you have to calculate the total number of fantasy points scored by each player, so let's do that. Let's assume you're in a league that uses a basic combinational scoring format. Here's what our players' 2011 total fantasy points look like:

Eli Manning scored 319 points.
Steven Jackson scored 183 points.
Mike Wallace scored 172 points.

At this point you still might be thinking, "Manning was the most valuable player because he scored the most points." Well, not so fast, my friend. Yes, it's true that Manning scored way more points compared to Jackson and Wallace -- and a normal customized fantasy football cheat sheet would tell you that. But remember part 4 above says that we have to determine relative value in comparison to all other players at their position. Still not convinced? Think about this simple hypothetical while we forge on. Suppose you played in a 3-man league. Each team had to start 1 QB, 1 RB and 1 WR. Furthermore, suppose that according to the league's scoring formula, the top three scorers at each position looked like this:

QBs	RBs	WRs
Matt = 500 points	Kim = 400 points	Moe = 100 points
Jared = 499 points	Khloe = 399 points	Larry = 50 points
Lenny = 498	Kourtney = 398 points	Curly = 49 points

Can you guess who the most valuable player in that league was? If you guessed Moe (the player with the 7th highest point total!!) then you're no stooge because you guessed right! Moe was the most valuable player because he scored the most points relative to other players at his position, as well as relative to other players at their positions. In our hypothetical 3-team league, whoever had Moe on their team scored the most fantasy points as a team -- even though Moe himself wasn't the highest point scorer. The reason is the relatively large point disparity between Moe and the rest of the players at his position. Plus the relatively small point disparity between the other players at their respective positions.

I know, I know...you're thinking, "Sure it works in a simple hypothetical where you can manipulate the numbers -- but how does it work in the real world of Fantasy Football?" Well, let's look at our three players again using our basic scoring formula from the previous example. This time we'll use real numbers from 2011 to measure the rest of the players around them. In this hypothetical, let's say we play in an 8-team league. Each team has to start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs. (For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to leave out kickers, TEs, and defenses -- but believe me, calculating overall value works the same no matter how many different positions you throw into the mix.) So you have 8 QBs, 16 RBs, and 16 WRs… Here's what we get for total fantasy points.

QBs	Fantasy Pts.
1. Drew Brees	471
2. Aaron Rodgers	408
3. Cam Newton	400
4. Tom Brady	393
5. Matt Stafford	372
6. Eli Manning	319
7. Matt Ryan	303
8. Tony Romo	301
RBs	Fantasy Pts.
1. Ray Rice	296
2. LeSean McCoy	281
3. Maurice Jones-Drew	263
4. Arian Foster	255
5. Marshawn Lynch	219
6. Michael Turner	216
7. Ryan Matthews	190
8. Adrian Peterson	188
9. Michael Bush	186
10. Darren Sproles	185
11. Steven Jackson	183
12. Frank Gore	180
13. Reggie Bush	180
14. Fred Jackson	173
15. Matt Forte	172
16. Beanie Wells	169
WRs	Fantasy Pts.
1. Calvin Johnson	265
2. Jordy Nelson	216
3. Wes Welker	214
4. Victor Cruz	208
5. Larry Fitzgerald	189
6. Steve Smith	186
7. Percy Harvin	178
8. Roddy White	177
9. Mike Wallace	172
10. Vincent Jackson	169
11. Marques Colston	162
12. Brandon Marshall	158
13. Hakeem Nicks	158
14. A.J. Green	152
15. Laurent Robinson	151
16. Nate Washington	150

Now we're set to answer the question. Who was the most valuable fantasy player for 2011 among these three players: Eli Manning, Steven Jackson, or Mike Wallace? We have the total fantasy points as calculated by the league's rules; we know how many teams are in the league (8); how many starters are in the league at each position (QB is 8 teams x 1 starter = 8; RB is 8 teams x 2 starters =16; WR is 8 teams x 2 starters = 16); and finally, we know how our three players performed relative to other players. Finally, to discover a player's true value, you simply subtract the total fantasy points of each player from the lowest starter's total fantasy points. That gives you what we'll simply call "Most Valuable Player Points" (or MVP Points for short). This number tells you exactly how much more valuable (or invaluable) each player was in comparison to every other player. When you do, your grid looks like this:

QBs	Fantasy Pts.	MVP Pts.
1. Drew Brees	417	116
2. Aaron Rodgers	408	107
3. Cam Newton	400	99
4. Tom Brady	393	92
5. Matt Stafford	372	71
6. Eli Manning	319	18
7. Matt Ryan	303	2
8. Tony Romo	301	0
RBs	Fantasy Pts.	MVP Pts.
1. Ray Rice	296	127
2. LeSean McCoy	281	112
3. Maurice Jones-Drew	263	94
4. Arian Foster	255	86
5. Marshawn Lynch	219	50
6. Michael Turner	216	47
7. Ryan Mathews	190	21
8. Adrian Peterson	188	19
9. Michael Bush	186	17
10. Darren Sproles	185	16
11. Steven Jackson	183	14
12. Frank Gore	180	11
13. Reggie Bush	180	11
14. Fred Jackson	173	4
15. Matt Forte	172	13
16. Beanie Wells	169	0
WRs	Fantasy Pts.	MVP Pts.
1. Calvin Johnson	265	115
2. Jordy Nelson	216	66
3. Wes Welker	214	64
4. Victor Cruz	208	58
5. Larry Fitzgerald	189	39
6. Steve Smith	178	28
7. Percy Harvin	178	28
8. Roddy White	177	27
9. Mike Wallace	172	22
10. Vincent Jackson	169	19
11. Marques Colston	162	12
12. Brandon Marshall	158	8
13. Hakeem Nicks	158	8
14. A.J. Green	152	2
15. Laurent Robinson	151	1
16. Nate Washington	150	0

The higher the MVP number, the more valuable a player is in that league. You can see that under this hypothetical league and its rules, Mike Wallace has a value of 22 MVPs. Eli Manning18 MVP's, and Steven Jackson 14 MVP's. Note that, although he has the fewest fantasy points, Wallace is actually the most valuable.

Of course the MVP ratings would change with a different set of assumptions. For example, I am the commissioner of the Washington DC Shark League. We have 8 teams -- and we use the same basic scoring system used in this demonstration. But our league requires that each team start 4 WRs. In our league, Eli Mannaing still has 18 MVPs, and Steven Jackson still has 14 MVPs. But Wallace jumps from 22 MVPs to 57. That's because we're now marking his 172 total fantasy points against the 115 total fantasy points of the #32 WR (Santonio Holmes), not the #16. Remember, 8 teams x 4 required starters = 32. And thus, the scoring disparity between Wallace and the last starting WR in our league rises.

It's a classic case of supply and demand. The more demand there is for a particular position, the more valuable the good players at that position are. Here's the key principle to understand. Every year, there are a finite number of fantasy points scored by a finite number of players. You're competing with everyone else to grab those players and points. Just like NFL coaches try to create mismatches on the field which favors their team, you should try to create the largest player scoring "mismatches" (the word "disparities" is more exact) within each player position. You might think that's a fancy way of saying "I gotta score more points than my opponents," but that's not quite what I'm saying. Scoring more points than your opponents is the end result of creating larger player scoring disparities within each position.

So far, you and I have been looking back at 2011 to figure the comparative value of several players. That is in essence the dilemma you face on draft day: how to determine value among players from different positions. Most guys can tell you that Ryan Matthews is more valuable than Cedric Benson, another running back. But is Matthews more valuable than, say, Roddy White? The answer is, "It depends..." Moreover, when it comes to TEs, a dynamic one like Rob Gronkowski can push MVP values through the roof! If he tags 17 TDs with tons of yards – like he did this past season - Gronkowski can help you steamroll opponents -- because of the huge disparity between his stats and the 12th, 8th, or even 6th-best TE. Let's see where his MVPs fell in our hypothetical 8-team league: He had 234 total fantasy points against the 8th best TE Vernon Davis had 115 total fantasy points. That's a whopping 119 MVPs, which is much more valuable than Mike Wallece's 22, Eli Manning's 18, or Steven Jackson's 14. You can see what a stud TE can do when he puts up huge numbers.

You'll see several TEs creeping up pretty high on our MVP Draft Board because of their propensity for higher MVP indexes. The MVP Draft Board doesn't say *draft* them that high, but rather, "This TE might be a fantasy prize, watch your average draft position (ADP) and make your move a little early if you wanna get him."

So it's simple to create your own customized fantasy football cheat sheet with DraftSharks' MVP Board. You're establishing a "baseline" player at each position and counting the Most Valuable Player points above and below the baseline player at that position. To do that you subtract the total fantasy points of each player from your baseline player to get the MVP index. If you're in a 12-team league that starts 2 RBs, your baseline RB is the #24 RB (12 x 2). He has 0 MVPs. Those players below your baseline player will have negative numbers to reflect their MVPs. Bear in mind that you will be drafting players who are not projected as starters, but you will still have to draft them. Obviously a player with -8 MVPs is more valuable than one with -23 MVPs.

Congratulations!! Now you know how to create a printable Most Valuable Player Draft Board customized to your fantasy league. While your competition is fumbling through 4 magazines to figure out their next pick, you'll be locked and loaded!

Now you must read How to Use Your MVP Board