NFL Salary Cap Leagues: 150 Point Strategy

Weekly Fantasy Football: NFL Salary Cap Leagues "150 Point Strategy"
By Adam of Rotopicks.com

On Draftstreet, the maximum you can spend on your roster in a Salary Cap game is $100,000. There are 10 roster spots (QB, QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, FLEX, DEF). So, you might do some quick math and assume a well-balanced roster is approximately $10,000 per roster spot. And if you abide by that, you'll probably lose... no offense. That is because the best perspective is grounded in the fact that you should target 150 total points for your team. This is a magic number of sorts that tends to place you in the money (unless you are playing in a GPP of hundreds of players). So, now you know that you need to squeeze 150 points out of $100,000. Another way to put that is you want to shoot for 1.5 points for every $1,000 you spend. This is the best way to approach salary cap games.

There are an infinite number of ways to go about building your team under the 1.5 pts per $1k spent strategy. I would start with researching the current week's players and simply list the elite options at each position. Then check their salary and mark it down. Next, write down your estimated statistical predictions for each player. Keep it simple. Round off Quarterback yardage to the nearest 50 yards. Round off rushing and receiving yardage to the nearest 5 or 0 digit. This makes it much easier to calculate the points that these stats produce on DraftStreet.

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Finally, and most importantly, when you calculate how many points each of your statistical projections yield, use only those players who will get more than 1.5 points per $1,000 you spend on them.

Quarterbacks

On Draftstreet, it is very easy to calculate points in your head. Every passing yard is equal to .04 points. An easier way to say that is: in order to translate passing yards into Draftstreet points, pretend there is a decimal after the first number in the total passing yards, and then simply multiply by 4. If you keep your projections rounded to the nearest 50 yards, this is a cinch.

e.g. 250 yards --> 2.50 --> 2.50 x 4 --> 10 points (250 passing yards is 10 points) Another way to think about passing yards is that you get 1 point per 25 PY.

Every passing touchdown is 4 points and every interception is 1 point. This is easy to calculate.

Lastly, there are probably only a few Quarterbacks in any given year who are a threat to run. Rushing yardage and rushing touchdowns are the same for QB's as they are for the other positions. Each rushing yard is 0.1 points and each TD is 6 points. So, to translate rushing yards to points, just put a decimal in right before the last digit.

e.g. 45 rushing yards --> 4.5 points

After doing these calculations a few times, you'll be surprised at how quickly you will know how many points any given stat line equals.

- I predict for QB SMITH: 300 passing yards, 2 TD, 1 Int, 10 rushing yards

- QB SMITH's TOTAL DRAFTSTREET POINTS: 12 + 8 - 1 + 1 = 20 points

- QB SMITH's SALARY = $15,000

- 22.5 points is needed at that salary (15 x 1.5)

- Thus, QB SMITH is not a bargain since his projected point total does not exceed 1.5 points for every $1,000 spent on him. (you are only getting 1.3 points per $1k)

Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Tight Ends

For all the other positions (minus defense), calculations are even easier. Lump all receiving yards and rushing yards together (we can call it total yards). Divide that by ten for your points (put a decimal before the last digit). Every reception is 0.5 points, so divide receptions in half to calculate. Touchdowns are 6 points each.

(2 pt conversions are 2 points and fumbles are -1, but I never predict these for my players).

e.g. RB DAVIS prediction: 80 yds rushing, 1 TD, 4 Rec 50 yds receiving

80+50 = 130 total yards = 13 points

4 Rec = 2 points

1 TD = 6 points

Total points = 21

*** Now, just for fun, see if you can figure out the highest you would pay for those stats (21 total points...

Remember, 1.5 points should equal $1,000 spent.

Get it yet?

If you said $14,000 is the highest you would pay for that RB, then you're ready to start playing.

DEFENSES

Defenses are a little trickier to calculate in your head, but basically you start with 12 points and deduct half a point for every point that defense allowed. If they allowed 21 points, I cut 21 in half (10.5), then subtract it from 12 (1.5). After that, add 0.5 point for every sack and 1 point for every turnover (fumble recovery, interception). A defensive TD is 6 points, and a safety is 2 points.

But I like to make things easier. I use 24 points against as a baseline in my mind. When a defense gives up 24 points, you subtract 12 from 12 for an easy 0 points. Then you simply add the other stats. This is useful because 24 points against a defense is a pretty common number, especially for the weaker defensive plays. And when you start with 24 points against as your prediction for a defense, the rest of the calculations are incredibly easy.

I love to find a cheap defense ($2,000 - $4,000). Now, if a defense is only $2,000, it only needs 3 points to abide by our 1.5 pts/$1,000 strategy. To get 3 points, if the defense gives up 24 points or less, it only needs a couple sacks and/or turnovers. Heck, if the defense gives up 18 points, it has already met its quota of 3 points and the rest is gravy. In other words, 3 points is not hard to reach at all.

CONCLUSION

Now, this is not meant to be a math class. It is more of a way to get you into the habit of seeing things from the mathematical perspective that is necessary to be a winner in Salary Cap games.

And once you get skilled at quickly calculating points and figuring out if the salary is a bargain, the options are endless in terms of constructing a lineup... and that is when the real fun begins.

Good luck and as always, thanks for reading!

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