What you read below is an ongoing dialog about the 2022 season and how it will be run.
I will be making changes to this page when an idea strikes me or when something I'm planning proves to be unworkable. I have a 'phantom' league site set up that I'm using to experiment with and I've already had some of my questions answered by playing around with it.
Latest Update:
Feb 2 Feb 17 Feb 21 Feb 28 March 15 August 21
We will stay on MFL for 2022. I don't know of a site that is as flexible and I'd rather not require anyone to learn a new system. I am going to do away with some modules to make the site faster to load.
Now the particulars:
1. No keepers, we will redraft from scratch each year.
2. No trading of future picks going forward but 2021 deals will be honored. Teams which traded away 2021 picks will fill out roster with comp picks at end of draft or thru a special waiver session. UPDATE...MFL will allow me to add picks to a round once the draft is set up so comp picks will likely be a 'thing'.
3. Low cost. More than likely it'll be $7.00 per owner (to cover the $80 league fee to MFL) with a deadline in early/mid-August. Due to MFL's sliding (upward) league cost by date paid for the cost to you will rise the later you pay.
I'm keeping expenses to the bare minimum. Only outlay will be the league fee to MFL. I've taken a loss on trophies and graphics* but I'll end that this year (see below for update on the trophy) So here's the deal. I will throw open the league officially and establish a payment deadline. When you've paid I will add your waiver money ($350) to your franchise. Once the deadline expires without payment I'll begin looking for a replacement owner.
4. No trophy or any other championship awards other than a digital Hughes News Hughes Bowl edition. UPDATE: Note that the trophy has been paid for by an owner so we will award one this year as usual.
5. Draft order randomized on day of draft thru the MFL system. No need for me to load in everyone's email and team names into an outside services website. MFL will do the work with one click. UPDATE: A test of the MFL system shows that it works as expected if I choose the correct option (which I didn't the first six times I tried it and couldn't figure out what the hell I was doing wrong).
6. The rosters will have a 17 player limit. One IR spot with a requirement that the player be listed on IR or NFL's COVID list.
7. Waivers slightly changed with one condensed post-draft session. Limit of two Blind Bid claims per week and a total of three total claims per week, 30 claim limit per season. Claims made during the single FCFS session between the draft and the Week 1 kick off will count towards season total of 30 claims and waiver money. NOTE: That period runs at 8 a.m. Central the morning after the draft until 5 p.m. the next day which is NFL Opening Thursday Night. There are less than 48 hours between the end of our draft and the NFL season. The minimum blind bid amount will remain at $10 but FCFS (open claims) are going to be $5.
As noted the in-season weekly calendar will not change...Sunday kickoff to Wednesday nite for blind bids, Thursday morning thru Sunday kickoff for FCFS (open) claims. All of that begins prior to Week 2!
8. Six playoff teams, three division winners and three wildcards. WC=best two teams on records and highest remaining PPG with at least 6 wins. If no team qualifies under that last provision we will award the 6th spot based on record using our standard tiebreakers.
9. Basic playoff structure unchanged (top two teams get byes).
10. Scoring system will be true 'half PPR' for all players. i.e. one half point for each reception. This is a change from the previous rule which gave a point to RBs for each reception while giving a point to WR/TEs for every two receptions. Obviously scores can now end with a 'point five' i.e. you can win (or lose) 102.5 to 102.0 😏 True half PPR is the best way to get balanced scoring from both RBs and Receivers in the current NFL.
*=funny story. Our old graphics guy, the same guy who curtly told me out-of-the-blue a few summers back that his minimum to touch the league was now $250 (up from $50 yearly for a banner it took him maybe 30 minutes to update each year), reached out in mid-February to offer his services. When I mentioned his extortion attempt price hike email he acted like he didn't recall anything about it. LOL
