This article references 2022 statistics, you can find 2023 PPFD data examples here.
The Switch to PPFD
Here at Fantasy Football Helper, we have been playing points per first down (PPFD) leagues since Yahoo’s Andy Behrens wrote this article in 2017. The article encouraged fantasy football managers to try something new and I was inspired after playing standard/PPR scoring variations for over a decade.
As the commissioner of my home league, I decided to pitch PPFD scoring to my league members. All 11 other league members loved the idea instantly (which is extremely rare) and seven years later we haven’t looked back, as my home league of now 20+ years continues to use PPFD scoring.
In this article I will be discussing the following:
- An overview of PPFD Leagues
- Pros and cons of PPFD leagues and why it may work for you
- Which players get an advantage/disadvantage with PPFD scoring
- How to receive the Fantasy Football Helper free PPFD cheat sheet
Point Per First Down Scoring Free Cheat Sheet
If you’re just here for the cheat sheet and don’t want to read this article, I don’t blame you, so I’ll get right to it. When you ask us for the PPFD cheat sheet, you will receive an editable document customized to your scoring settings which shows how many total points a player would have scored in your exact format last year, total first downs, first down points per game, 2023 projections, and more. It will look something like this:
Depending on your first down scoring settings, the results can differ greatly from PPR variations, especially full PPR, therefore it’s important to identify players who benefit from first downs (more on that later). For those that use passing first down scoring, don’t worry, we track that too.
If you need any help or clarification on what the metrics in this chart mean or how to best interpret the data, we will gladly walk you through it. To receive this free cheat sheet, contact us with your first down scoring settings by clicking the button below or by filling out the form at the end of the article.
PPFD Format Overview
The scoring for this league format is pretty self explanatory. Players score points for every first down they accumulate. Below I will answer some of the common questions regarding this league format:
Are PPFD Leagues Increasing in Popularity?
While I don’t have definitive proof that fantasy football platforms are witnessing an increase in PPFD scoring leagues, the content covering this league format is certainly increasing and so too are the number of platforms offering PPFD scoring. In fact, 2023 is the first year ever that ESPN now offers first down scoring.
Additionally, The Scott Fish Bowl has been using PPFD scoring for numerous years and they partnered with Sleeper in 2022 to create custom first down scoring settings, allowing commissioners to assign unique first down scoring values per position.
What is the Preferred PPFD Scoring Set-up?
The beauty of PPFD scoring is that you can customize it any way you want to create the scoring balance you wish to have. Personally, my home league eliminated all PPR scoring and now uses 1 pt for receiving first downs, 0.5 pts for rushing first downs, and 0.25 pts for passing first downs. We wanted to make RBs more valuable as zero RB builds were becoming the norm and also wanted to boost QB scoring.
Some leagues such as The Scott Fish bowl combine PPR with PPFD scoring. This particular league chooses to boost TE scoring by awarding the position with an extra point per first down. As mentioned earlier, you can customize the scoring any way you wish and no matter the format, we will adapt our cheat sheet to your league settings.
Do Touchdowns Count as First Downs?
Unfortunately there is no universal standard among fantasy football platforms. Both Yahoo and ESPN count touchdowns as first downs. I have confirmation from both of their support teams. Therefore, it’s important to adjust TD scoring unless you’re ok with touchdowns being worth extra points.
For example, if rushing first downs are worth 0.5 points, a rushing TD will score 6.5 points (6 points for the rushing TD + 0.5 points for the rushing first down). If you still want TDs to be worth six points, then you would simply make rushing touchdowns be worth 5.5 points. Making this change ensures a rushing TD remains the standard 6 points (5.5 points for the rushing TD + 0.5 points for the rushing first down).
If you play on Sleeper, they automatically make the deduction for you, so if you don’t want this feature, you’ll have to adjust it.
In our cheat sheet you will notice a ‘TD deduction’ column for leagues that wish to keep TDs as standard scoring. Deducting the TD points ensures the player point totals are 100% accurate to your scoring settings.
Are PPFD Leagues Right for You?
If you’re someone who wants increased customization of positional scoring, or perhaps you’re tired of -4 yard receptions scoring more than 5 yard runs, or maybe you just want to try something different, PPFD is something you should try. Below we’ve listed some pros and cons to help you decide whether this scoring format is right for you:
Pros of PPFD Scoring Leagues
- Create customized first down scoring by position to create the scoring balance you desire
- Make running backs matter again
- Eliminate the PPR double dip effect and PPR cheese points (negative yardage receptions)
- Or combine PPFD with PPR because more points may lead to more excitement
- Reward important football plays (A converted 3rd and inches rush is a very impactful play)
- Gain an edge on your league mates who may not adjust their strategy to a new format
Cons of PPFD Scoring Leagues
- A small increase in weekly stat corrections
- Fantasy football platforms fail to communicate that TDs also count as first downs
- Every scoring system has flaws and PPFD is no different. A 1 yard reception for a first down may still be worth more and a nine yard rush on 1st and 10
- Lack of scoring format resources + first down stats are tedious to find
Which Players Benefit from PPFD Scoring?
It’s important to note that identifying which players gain value/lose value in PPFD formats varies by league and its first down scoring. However, I will be using an example to show just how extreme the differences can be when comparing PPR leagues vs PPFD with common scoring setups. For the results shown below, the PPFD scoring used awarded 1 point for receiving first downs and 0.5 points for rushing first downs.
What can we learn from this table?
- All the biggest movers are RBs, while all the biggest fallers are pass catchers.
- 4 of the top 5 players in PPFD leagues are RBs vs. only 2 RBs being top 5 in PPR leagues
- Jacobs, Chubb, and Henry saw very favourable jumps in PPFD formats due to their strong rushing 1st down totals. Jacobs had 14 more 1st downs than the next highest player.
- Henry and Chubb do not excel in the pass game, reaffirming the importance of rushing first downs.
- Ekeler lost more points than any other player
- Technically Austin Ekeler is a RB but he catches a lot of passes (5th in receptions)
- However, only 33.64% of his receptions were first downs, an extremely low rate.
- This is why Ekeler was #1 overall PPR Flex player in 2022 but ranked 4th overall in PPFD, and was the #3 RB.
Here are some of the overall largest risers and fallers when comparing PPR to PPFD scoring in 2022:
Once again we see running backs are the beneficiary of this scoring format, largely due to their ability to rack up rushing first downs. All RBs listed in the chart above had 43+ rushing first downs and ranked no worse than 26th (Jeff Wilson) in total rushing first downs in 2022. Williams (4th), Sanders (6th), Etienne (11th), and Elliot (12th) all ranked in the top 12 respectively.
The other primary reason for running backs seeing such a strong boost in this format is simply because not all catches are first downs, therefore, not every reception is automatically worth one point like in PPR leagues. This of course reduces the value of all WRs and TEs, as well as passing catching RBs such as Ekeler who was highlighted earlier in this section.
The pass catchers that were specifically highlighted as some of the largest fallers lose even more value because they do not catch first downs at a high rate (all below 60%). Some of these players may rack up the receptions but if they aren’t first downs, they aren’t doing much for our fantasy teams. For reference, the top 12 pass catchers have an average 1st down catch rate of 67.37%, and all top 12 reached a minimum 60% 1st down catch rate.
To summarize, here are three key takeaways to get an advantage in your PPFD leagues:
- Don’t be afraid to target RBs early in your drafts while your league mates pass on them
- Avoid pass catchers who specialize in short routes as a large percentage of their receptions may not translate to first downs.
- Unlike PPR leagues, you want early down/3rd and short RBs over 3rd down specialist RBs as they are likely to produce many more first downs. Target these RBs in the later-mid rounds.
Want to Access This Data? Ask for the PPFD Cheat Sheet!
The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 29th. You can still submit after this date, but there is no guarantee you will receive a worksheet (I’m leaving for my honeymoon).
If you would like a free cheat sheet with everything you see in this article, all you have to do is contact us with your league scoring settings. Even if there is data which wasn’t covered in this article, let us know what you’re looking for and we will try to get it for you! You can also request our auction value cheat sheet here.
Fantasy Football Helper 
1 thought on “Everything You Need to Know About Points Per First Down (PPFD) Fantasy Leagues”