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It wasn’t really my intention to write about this topic, but we’ve been getting plenty of questions about this scoring format and I wanted to make sure I had a concrete answer to give. Though, I do prefer wood a bit more. (That’s what she said.) Plus, if a reader asks about this type of format, all I have to do is link them this post. It’s always nice to answer things back in hyperlinks, because blue is a great color, you get a free underline, and you can interact with them! You only get one out of those three when paying $54.00 to go see the Blue Man Group. What. A. Steal. Regardless, we’re here to talk about how a 6 Point Passing Touchdown affects the scoring of your Quarterbacks, and how that changes where they sit in the rankings, and furthermore, how you should react in the draft based off of all this information. So let’s get this party started.

So, let’s first examine how this changes a quarterback’s fantasy production. I’m just going to pull out a random player, let’s say… Carson Palmer, from my 2014 Fantasy Football Projections.

NAME POS TEAM ATT COMP CMP% YDS TDS INT ATT YDS TDS FL
Carson Palmer QB ARI 576 356 61.81 4126 24 19 15 7 0 3

So that’s what I have projected for him for 2014. That line right there is good for 217.74 fantasy points when assigning 4 points to a passing touchdown. When you raise that point total to 6 per touchdown, he then produces 265.74 fantasy points. That’s essentially a 22% in positive value change. Or, in layman terms, since all these numbers are making me dizzy, we have basically turned Carson Palmer into something almost as valuable as Nick Foles in 4 points for touchdown leagues. 22% is a big number, but women don’t care how big they are, it’s only how you use it (I swear), so let’s do this breakdown for all quarterbacks I have projections for, and we’ll sort them by how much percentage increase there is in value with the 6 point format.

NAME POS TEAM YDS TDS INT STANDARD 6-PT TD % Increase
Andy Dalton QB CIN 3356 28 21 217.84 273.84 25.71%
Drew Brees QB NO 5161 43 22 335.64 421.64 25.62%
Tony Romo QB DAL 4578 36 21 286.92 358.92 25.09%
Philip Rivers QB SD 4378 36 11 294.22 366.22 24.47%
Eli Manning QB NYG 4235 32 17 262.1 326.1 24.42%
Jay Cutler QB CHI 3997 33 17 273.95 339.95 24.09%
Peyton Manning QB DEN 4882 40 8 332.48 412.48 24.06%
Tom Brady QB NE 4459 36 12 302.31 374.31 23.82%
Brian Hoyer QB CLE 2003 14 8 120.02 148.02 23.33%
Matthew Stafford QB DET 4711 34 19 295.84 363.84 22.99%
Aaron Rodgers QB GB 4532 39 13 340.38 418.38 22.92%
Matt Ryan QB ATL 4627 34 11 301.48 369.48 22.56%
Joe Flacco QB BAL 3879 26 18 231.26 283.26 22.49%
Derek Carr QB OAK 676 3 6 26.94 32.94 22.27%
Nick Foles QB PHI 3928 31 13 278.82 340.82 22.24%
Carson Palmer QB ARI 4126 24 19 217.74 265.74 22.04%
Jake Locker QB TEN 3465 26 17 236.1 288.1 22.02%
Matt Schaub QB OAK 3109 19 13 173.06 211.06 21.96%
Andrew Luck QB IND 4138 36 13 330.12 402.12 21.81%
Josh McCown QB TB 3423 22 12 206.72 250.72 21.28%
Ryan Tannehill QB MIA 3916 27 14 256.04 310.04 21.09%
Ben Roethlisberger QB PIT 4431 27 17 258.14 312.14 20.92%
Geno Smith QB NYJ 1543 10 10 99.62 120.22 20.68%
Matt Cassel QB MIN 1456 9 5 87.94 105.94 20.47%
Sam Bradford QB STL 3812 23 14 225.78 271.78 20.37%
Chad Henne QB JAC 2435 13 10 131 157 19.85%
Russell Wilson QB SEA 3601 24 13 263.14 311.14 18.24%
Alex Smith QB KC 3345 20 10 223.2 263.2 17.92%
Robert Griffin III QB WAS 3711 26 14 294.24 346.24 17.67%
Cam Newton QB CAR 3611 28 13 323.04 379.04 17.34%
E.J. Manuel QB BUF 3167 18 16 208.18 244.18 17.29%
Ryan Fitzpatrick QB HOU 3345 16 11 189.8 221.8 16.86%
Colin Kaepernick QB SF 3345 22 12 265.1 309.1 16.60%
Teddy Bridgewater QB MIN 2105 11 6 132.9 154.9 16.55%
Michael Vick QB NYJ 1874 11 4 146.46 168.46 15.02%
Blake Bortles QB JAC 1121 4 2 67.28 75.28 11.89%

So, wow. I bet that’s the only quarterback list that will have Andy Dalton ranked at the top. And I think there’s an explanation for this. Based on highest percentage gainers, you have both guys who could potentially throw for less yards than the others, but still get a decent number of touchdowns while doing so. Furthermore, it’s an interesting snapshot of which QB’s you should target in a format like this. While I wouldn’t want anyone to build their draft around Dalton or the likes of Brian Hoyer, we definitely see Drew Brees is the best option in the top tiers, and Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, and Jay Cutler represent great options that you can wait on.

Here’s the list in order of the most fantasy points produced in the 6 point format:

NAME POS TEAM YDS TDS INT STANDARD 6-PT TD % Increase
Drew Brees QB NO 5161 43 22 335.64 421.64 25.62%
Aaron Rodgers QB GB 4532 39 13 340.38 418.38 22.92%
Peyton Manning QB DEN 4882 40 8 332.48 412.48 24.06%
Andrew Luck QB IND 4138 36 13 330.12 402.12 21.81%
Cam Newton QB CAR 3611 28 13 323.04 379.04 17.34%
Tom Brady QB NE 4459 36 12 302.31 374.31 23.82%
Matt Ryan QB ATL 4627 34 11 301.48 369.48 22.56%
Philip Rivers QB SD 4378 36 11 294.22 366.22 24.47%
Matthew Stafford QB DET 4711 34 19 295.84 363.84 22.99%
Tony Romo QB DAL 4578 36 21 286.92 358.92 25.09%
Robert Griffin III QB WAS 3711 26 14 294.24 346.24 17.67%
Nick Foles QB PHI 3928 31 13 278.82 340.82 22.24%
Jay Cutler QB CHI 3997 33 17 273.95 339.95 24.09%
Eli Manning QB NYG 4235 32 17 262.1 326.1 24.42%
Ben Roethlisberger QB PIT 4431 27 17 258.14 312.14 20.92%
Russell Wilson QB SEA 3601 24 13 263.14 311.14 18.24%
Ryan Tannehill QB MIA 3916 27 14 256.04 310.04 21.09%
Colin Kaepernick QB SF 3345 22 12 265.1 309.1 16.60%
Jake Locker QB TEN 3465 26 17 236.1 288.1 22.02%
Joe Flacco QB BAL 3879 26 18 231.26 283.26 22.49%
Andy Dalton QB CIN 3356 28 21 217.84 273.84 25.71%
Sam Bradford QB STL 3812 23 14 225.78 271.78 20.37%
Carson Palmer QB ARI 4126 24 19 217.74 265.74 22.04%
Alex Smith QB KC 3345 20 10 223.2 263.2 17.92%
Josh McCown QB TB 3423 22 12 206.72 250.72 21.28%
E.J. Manuel QB BUF 3167 18 16 208.18 244.18 17.29%
Ryan Fitzpatrick QB HOU 3345 16 11 189.8 221.8 16.86%
Matt Schaub QB OAK 3109 19 13 173.06 211.06 21.96%
Michael Vick QB NYJ 1874 11 4 146.46 168.46 15.02%
Chad Henne QB JAC 2435 13 10 131 157 19.85%
Teddy Bridgewater QB MIN 2105 11 6 132.9 154.9 16.55%
Brian Hoyer QB CLE 2003 14 8 120.02 148.02 23.33%
Geno Smith QB NYJ 1543 10 10 99.62 120.22 20.68%
Matt Cassel QB MIN 1456 9 5 87.94 105.94 20.47%
Blake Bortles QB JAC 1121 4 2 67.28 75.28 11.89%
Derek Carr QB OAK 676 3 6 26.94 32.94 22.27%

What can we take away from this in drafting? Well, surely there’s an increase in QB value across the board. But I’m not sure if it’s a substantial change. At first glance, you see the points that the position can put up, and your first instinct is to assume, well, I gotta grab me some of that. But upon further review, QB’s already put up big fantasy numbers. In fact, you won’t find a top RB/WR/TE that can outscore most Tier 1 QB’s, and even in PPR formats, Jamaal Charles and Calvin Johnson are the only ones that can get in the general area. The reason we still wait on the QB position is because you just need one player. There are usually 12 teams in a fantasy league, and 32 NFL starting quarterbacks to choose from. Well, 31-and-a-half if Mark Sanchez somehow becomes a starter. Also, add into the fact that this type of scoring has a “rising tide lifts all boats” affect, well, I’m not so sure there should be any change in your drafting strategy.

This year seems to be one deep in quarterbacks, and I’m still comfortable taking one later in the draft. But from what I’ve learned, at least we know how the scoring affects each player, and which player thrives in this system. Or I hope. I at least learned some more math which I can promptly forget, so there’s that I suppose.