Just over two weeks remain to enter the Fantasy Index Open competition. We will crown a champion of fantasy football for the 2020 season. But we’ve made some adjustments to account for the coronavirus pandemic.
Most notably, entries in the past have been due prior to the kickoff of the first full week of the preseason. This year, we’re allowing players selections to be made right up until the kickoff of the first game of the regular season.
Additionally, if any regular-season games are canceled, we’ll level the playing field in the scoring. That is, if some teams don’t play as many games because of some kind of COVID-19 issue, we’ll multiply their players’ production by the appropriate percentage in the scoring so it’s as if all teams played the same number of games.
If all 32 teams play at least one game, we’ll crown a champion.
Otherwise, this competition will be the same as what you’ve gotten used to in recent years. It’s still a free, all-comers competition, and the winner will again take home a monstrously huge trophy from the team at Affordable Trophies. They’ve been partnering with us on this venture for the last nine years.
This contest is different than a typical fantasy league. You don’t draft a team. Instead you submit a top 20 at each position before the September 10 deadline, and those 120 players become your roster. The higher you rank a player the more he counts towards your score.
The winner takes home the big trophy. The winner and the runner-up also receive invitations to compete in the Experts Poll in next year’s magazine, competing against 18 industry analysts.
David Wilde of Mukwonago, Wis., won the 2019 Fantasy Index Open, while Mike Erickson of Riverton, Utah, took 2nd. They were the top finishers out of a field of 832.
The 2020 version of the contest is live. To access the entry, log into the site and then click on “YOUR STUFF”. The contest is one of the pull-down options, under “Fantasy Index Open 2020”. Those who are already logged in can get to the contest by clicking here.
The contest is free, but to be eligible to win you must sign up on the website, providing a name and mailing address. If you were to sign up without supplying a name, you wouldn’t be eligible to win the trophy (which is huge).
Once on the website, use the drag-and-drop technology to select your 120 players in order – 20 at QB, RB, WR, TE, K and DEF. You’re stuck with those players for the duration of the 17-week regular season, so be careful about selecting players who are more likely to serve suspensions or miss games with injuries. There are no waiver moves or trades, so when a player doesn’t play, you get a zero from him that week.
Entries are due before the start of the first game of the season. That’s Thursday, September 10, at 5:20 p.m. Eastern time. Until then, feel free to start on your picks, coming back to make adjustments for injuries and other developments. But once that deadline hits, all entries are locked.
When scoring the competition at the end of the year, we’ll use PPR. Players will receive 6 points for touchdowns, 4 for TD passes, 1 for every 10 run/rec yards, 1 for every 20 passing yards and 1 for each reception. Defenses receive 2 points for takeaways, 1 for sacks and 6 for every touchdown scored on a return of a takeaway or kick. Kickers get regular NFL points – 3 for field goals and 1 for PATs.
In January, we’ll score all of the picks using a complex scoring matrix that combines a player’s production against where he was ranked. Basically, the higher you rank him, the most his production counts. Suppose, for example, that Justin Tucker finishes the season with 100 points. If you ranked Tucker first, that would net you 2,500 points (25 x 100). If you ranked him second, you would receive 2,400 (24 x 100). Third would be 2,300 (23 x 100) and so on down to 20th being worth 600 points (6 x 100). We use that same approach for all 120 players ranked by each entry, with the overall high score winning the title.
You’ve got 18 days left to complete your entry. Best of luck to all.