Additional Rules#

In most instances, our league follows the intended play enabled by the ESPN application. In cases where the behavior of the application is considered detrimental to enjoyment of the game, we may institute new rules which supercede the default behavior. These rules are always discussed and adopted in the off-season. This section covers the additional rules that our league follows.

Sportsmanship#

This is a casual, low-stakes league. Please respect others’ enjoyment of the game by avoiding unsportsmanlike conduct. Unsportsmanlike conduct includes but is not limited to intentionally losing games, trades, or waiver drops to alter the outcome of the season for other teams. Also see this guide to common fantasy football etiquette.

Also be aware of your responsibility to be an Active Manager.

Unsportsmanlike conduct will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the League Managers.

Player Eligibility#

In the 2020-21 season, Taysom Hill was made eligible by ESPN in week 11 for both the Quarterback (QB) and Tight End (TE) position. The QB position is generally very high-scoring, and the TE position is generally very low-scoring. This disparity allowed many teams to start Hill in the TE slot, and his solid QB performance (24 points) translated into a clear TE1 status that week. To put this in perspective, the overall #1 tight end in 2020-21 (Travis Kelce) scored an average of 14 points / game that season.

To prevent such misaligned eligibility assignments from impacting future games, we have categorized players into 3 tiers: Tier 1: QB Tier 2: RB/WR Tier 3: TE/K

If a player is made eligible for positions in more than 1 tier by ESPN, they may only be used for the highest-tier slot(s) for which they are eligible. Here are some example scenarios illustrating the use of this rule:

  • A player with both QB (Tier 1) and TE (Tier 3) eligibility may be started in the QB slot, but not the TE slot.

  • A player with RB (Tier 2) and WR (Tier 2) eligibility may be started in either an RB or WR slot.

  • A player with RB (Tier 2), WR (Tier 2), and TE (Tier 3) eligibility may be started in either an RB or WR slot, but not the TE slot.

Teams that start a multi-tier eligible player in a lower-tier slot will have the points scored by that player deducted from their team score at the end of the week.

COVID-19#

Beginning in the 2020-21 season, we initiated a policy of being able to designate a replacement player in case a game is later cancelled due to COVID-19. This applies to game cancellations only, not individual players being benched. To designate a backup player with a player who plays before him, declare it in Slack before either player has played and the replacement will be made retroactively if the later game is cancelled due to COVID-19.