ESPN Fantasy Football: Standard Scoring Switched to PPR

Getty Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown are two of the top 2017 fantasy football players.

ESPN made a substantial change to their scoring system over the off-season. PPR is now the default scoring setting for new leagues. What does this mean? PPR stands for point per reception, which is exactly what it sounds like.

While there are different variations of PPR leagues, the basic premise is players receive a point for each catch, in addition to typical yardage and touchdown scoring. ESPNs scoring change does not impact leagues who were standard scoring in previous years.

For example, my home league took a vote to change from our traditional standard scoring league to become a PPR league. Once the vote passed, I had to manually adjust the settings for it to become PPR. Had I not done so, our league would have remained a standard scoring league in the traditional sense.

If you are accustomed to playing in different formats, how should you adjust to playing in a PPR league? The biggest difference you will notice is at the running back position. Backs like Danny Woodhead and Theo Riddick who are not as relevant in standard leagues, can become extremely valuable in PPR leagues. Players like Woodhead and Riddick rack up points since they are active in the passing game.

For receivers, slot receivers typically see an uptick in value. For example, Cole Beasley can be a weekly start given the amount of catches he gets each week. In standard leagues, Beasley is often not fantasy relevant.

In summary, keep an eye on targets and catches. You will want to target receivers with a lot of both. Look for values at running backs with players who are active in both the run and pass game. Finally, enjoy the new PPR format if your league has made the switch.