Why it's time for fantasy footballers to ditch PPR leagues
Let's say you're on vacation. You're staying at a lovely resort with some picturesque mountains on one side and the open ocean with a pristine, white sand beach on the other.
You and your significant other want an image to preserve that beauty. Do you take a selfie with your phone or camera, capturing the beautiful landscape around you? Or do you carve the image into a potato?
Since you can't take the topography with you, a picture is the closest you can get to bringing that reality home with you. Why would you settle for a potato carving?
Similarly, if you were to take a selfie with the stats that best reflect real-world player impact on the outcome of a football game, which stats would be in your photo? Probably the same ones you would use to score fantasy football, right?
Because it only makes sense that fantasy football scoring reflects real-world impact, correct? How else would you do it? You wouldn't try to squeeze meaningless stats into your fantasy football selfie. That would be silly.
Fantasy Football DVQ: The only draft rankings you need
The latest incarnation of the Fantasy Madman's football rating system has arrived. The nuts and bolts have been tweaked and strengthened, the breadth of the database was expanded, some ingredients were added to the soup, and some that were souring the stew were removed. So we're leaner and more flavorful. Now allow us to serve you the latest helping of the Draft Value Quotient (DVQ).
The DVQ is a system that rates players across the board, balancing value based on positional depth. A player's DVQ rating represents the point in the draft where projected production meets draft value. Each draft slot is assigned a value for expected production, which descends at a constant rate (same amount of expected points substracted from each descending pick). However, a player's real-world production forms an arc (steep fall at top, then flattening out), therefore there are gaps in the ratings. Example: The top player might have a 1.0 DVQ, but the second-ranked player might have a DVQ of 13.3. Deeper in the draft pool, instead of big gaps, players will only be separated by percentage points.
So saddle up, study up, then queue up a draft, and take a ride with the DVQ.
If doing that, you might as well just randomly pick a stat category and give it undue weight. Of course, now it is more like a potato-carving version of fantasy football.
For example, why would anyone put a different scoring weight based on how yards are gained? They are either gained or not, the 'how' doesn't matter — because a catch on the football field makes no more real-world impact in the game than does a rushing attempt. The real game doesn't care how yards are gained, why should fantasy formats care?
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) runs after catch during practice at the NFL football team's training camp in Westfield, Ind., Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
AP
So it makes perfect sense for fantasy leagues to abandon scoring for receptions. But everyone likes points, so how would you replace the PPR bonus? Easy; you instead score for first downs converted (FDC). This will give you a more accurate representation of real-world impact.
In terms of how it impacts players' performances, the top players basically just swap some positions, but there are meaningful changes elsewhere.
Betting on the NFL?
Take Jonathan Taylor. He jumps from the 28th-ranked Flex player in PPR to eighth overall in FDC. That certainly is a much better representation of his impact, as one of the few bell-cow RBs in the league. Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley and Kyren Williams have their fantasy impacts corrected under this format, and Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels and other rushing QBs get a boost as well.
If you're in an FDC league this season, the draft value for Bucky Irving, Chuba Hubbard and David Montgomery rises, and players like Trey McBride, Garrett Wilson and Brock Bowers take a hit.
PPR was invented in the early 2000s specifically to artificially increase value for WRs, since RBs dominated the first couple rounds of fantasy drafts. That disparity doesn't exist anymore, so why should PPR?
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (5) makes a cut during practice at training camp in Florham Park, NJ.
Bill Kostroun/New York Post
Its importance was always imaginary, only existing literally in the fantasy sense. It is the potato carving of fantasy scoring formats.
Take a real fantasy photo. Join a first downs scoring league and toss the PPR potato in the garbage bin.
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The cameras will be rolling, and how does that song go? You won't want to miss a thing. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
