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Bob Lung

Quality Game Scores: How Consistency Makes a Difference

July 1, 2009 1:30pm CDT

The Quality Game Scores system was created to show how building your team with more consistent players could actually make your fantasy football experience more rewarding. It doesn't matter whether that reward is monetary or simply the pride from dominating your friends in your fantasy league, the spoils are always sweeter in victory.

With the consistency idea being fairly new and uncommon in the fantasy football world, I've had a number of fantasy owners say to me, "Sure, it sounds great on paper, but what can I do to see where my team would have been last season had my team been more consistent throughout the regular season?"

No problem, folks! Below is a method of how you can use your team in your league to see where you and the rest of your league owners would have been record-wise if your team was more consistent.

IMPROVING YOUR FANTASY TEAM'S RECORD IN 2009

PLEASE, TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

Take your league that you played in and do the following:

1. List each team's actual record and their team average points per week (game).
2. Take your team first and use your team's average weekly score and replace it in each of your weekly games.
3. Now, determine how many games you would have won or loss.
4. This revised won/loss record is called your team's Consistency Record.
5. Now, complete these same above four tasks on all of the other teams in your league.

Did you notice how some of the team's Consistency Record was better than their actual record? However, this would have only occurred with the teams whose average score was higher than the league average score. Teams below the league average can't be helped by consistency, because being "consistently bad" is still….well, bad.

I have listed a sample league below to show you how a more consistent team will normally improve their record.

Team Actual Record Avg. Pts. per Week Consistency Record Change
Team 1 8-6 129.6 12-2 +4
Team 2 9-5 129.3 11-3 +2
Team 3 12-2 125.4 12-2 0
Team 4 11-3 116.9 11-3 0
Team 5 9-5 114.7 9-5 0
Team 6 8-6 107.8 7-7 -1
Team 7 5-9 106.4 4-10 -1
Team 8 4-10 102.0 4-10 -1
Team 9 7-7 101.2 5-9 -2
Team 10 4-10 97.3 4-10 0
Team 11 3-11 96.7 3-11 0
Team 12 4-10 87.7 3-11 -1

*** League Average Points per Week: 109.6

Drew Brees is one of the most consistent fantasy quarterbacks.
As you can see above, the teams above the league average either stayed the same or benefited from having a more consistent team, especially Teams 1 and 2, who could have gained four and two wins respectively. The important thing to note is the teams below the league average would receive no benefit at all, in fact; in this case, their records would have been worse if they were more consistent.

Team 1 was a perfect example of the "bad luck" team during the season. We have all seen this team in our leagues every year. Sometimes it's actually you and sometimes it's not. Personally, we probably could all care less if it's not you, but for argument purposes let's say it is.

Your team led the league in scoring! It averaged 129.6 points per week, but because you scored 180 points one week and 80 in the next week, your team barely made it over a .500 record. It's sad, but true. The lack of team consistency caused your team to miss the playoffs even though you led the league in scoring.

Another great case in point here is two teams (Team 2 & 5), who each had a 9-5 record, but Team 2 averaged 14.6 points per week more. If their team would have been consistent, they would have been 11-3 and made the playoffs. The lack of consistency in their team cost them the playoffs and even possibly a Fantasy Championship.

As you can see from the chart, teams 3 & 4 maximized their consistency winning all of the games that they should have. Their team's consistency was much better than teams 1 & 2. Your goal each year would be to work towards maximizing your consistency with consistent above average scoring from your players. While an element of luck will always exist, good coaching through looking at the matchups and starting the right players is important as well.

When it comes to the teams who averaged below the league average, let me make this perfectly clear, consistency WILL NOT make a bad team competitive! If your team's weekly average was far below the league average, then your team was extremely lucky to be competitive (i.e., make the playoffs). While there are certainly teams who seem to be on the good luck side of the fence, over time that luck will run out and their below average team won't be able to keep winning.

Therefore, the most important part to creating a playoff bound fantasy team is to draft an above average team - in comparison to the other teams in your league. An important thing to remember is to look at the player's past Quality Game Scores for the past one to three seasons. If you're torn between drafting one of two wide receivers and you note that one has been more consistent over the past few years, then by drafting the more consistent player you may help to improve your team's record in 2009.

I have been playing Fantasy Football for almost 25 years and I can't tell you how many times I have seen high scoring teams, including my own, not make the playoffs. We used to get upset and throw our hands up and curse the "bad luck". Now, you and I can stop cursing and do something about it! We can create a Quality Team with an emphasis on consistency!

As the information above shows, a Quality Team can mean one or two or more wins for an above average team. Those additional wins can mean making the playoffs. Making the playoffs means YOU have a chance to win a Fantasy Championship!

The Quality Game Scores is just another tool to add to your arsenal, as you work each season to take your team to the Fantasy Championship. I look forward to any questions or concerns you may have relating to the Quality Game Scores.

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