[2.0 LEAGUE SETUP AND COMPETITION]
[2.1 Basic League Structure]
- 14 teams will placed into 1 division.
- Each team will play each other once through weeks 1-13 of the NFL regular season.
- 6 teams will make the championship playoffs conducted through weeks 14-16 of the NFL regular season.
- The ultimate goal is to win the Mark Davis Mangina Trophy in the Super BowlCut in week 16.
- 8 teams will participate in consolation playoffs to determine draft order for the following season.
- Each team will have a maximum active roster of 34 players, with the addition of 5 Development Squad players and unlimited IR slots.
- A salary cap of $200,000 will apply.
- Player value will be determined by the initial auction draft, future rookie drafts, unrestricted free agency, franchise tagging, transition tagging, restricted free agency and contract renegotiations.
- Each player will be assigned a contract length by their respective owner.
- As in the real NFL, there may be penalties against the salary cap for cutting a player before the final year of his contract.
[2.2 Owners]
- The league will have 14 owners and an alternate list will be made if extra owners are available.
- The only specification for ownership shall be active membership at the LU forum or the league Whatsapp group.
- If two owners agree, co-ownership will be allowed.
- If an owner decides to abandon ownership of their team a substitute owner will be found from the alternate list.
- If an owner is classified an absentee owner, an owner is involved in collusion, or an owner's participation is inadequate, a league vote can be called for by the executive committee or any two owners. A majority is required to replace an owner. If the league votes to replace an owner a new owner will be taken off the alternate list.
In case of a family emergency or when an owner knows they will be unable to handle their team for a set period of time, an owner has two alternatives. In either case the owner must alert the executive committee before the current week's game. Then the player may either choose to have a stand-in owner manage their team or use the weekly player rankings at
http://www.footballguys.com. If a stand-in owner is requested someone from the LU forum will be selected by the executive committee to run the team until the owner returns. That stand-in will only be able to select starting line-ups, however, and will not be able to trade or add/drop players.
[2.3 Absentee Owners]
Any owner not submitting or changing a line-up for two consecutive weeks becomes an absentee owner. If the league web-hosting site or software automatically carries starting line-ups over from the previous week, rosters do not have to be changed. Starting a player on bye or on IR, however, then qualifies for absentee owner status. Additionally, any owner not responding to or participating in preseason activities such as free agency and the draft shall also be designated an absentee. That owner is then subject to immediate replacement.
A $10,000 cap penalty (per infraction, applied to the current year with no deferred penalty) will be imposed for owners who do not actively participate in the league. This includes (but is not limited to) not participating in rule discussion, not voting on rule changes, not submitting line-ups, starting injured players or players on bye weeks and not participating in offseason activities such as free agency.
[2.4 Rosters and Starting Line-Ups]
During the season, each team is permitted to have 34 active players, 2 Development Squad players and 3 players on the Injured Reserve list.
A roster will consist of 17 starters and 17 bench players as follows:
1 Quarterback
2 Running Backs
2 Wide Receivers
1 Tight End
2 RB/WR/TE Flex
3 DE/DT
3 Linebackers
3 CB/S
1 IDP Flex
16 Bench Players
All position designations are determined by the league site.
[2.5 League Scoring]
Scoring is fractional to 2 decimal places and determined by the league site.
QB/RB/WR/TE Scoring
Number of Passing TDs - 4 points each
Passing Yards - 0.04 point for every 1
Pass Interceptions Thrown - -2 points each
Passing 2 Pointers - 2 points each
Number of Rushing TDs - 6 points each
Rushing Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Rushing 2 Pointers - 2 points each
Number of Receiving TDs - 6 points each
Receiving Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Receptions - 1 point each
Receiving 2 Pointers - 2 points each
Fumbles Lost (to Opponent) - -1 point each
DE/DT Scoring
Fumble Recoveries (from Opponent) - 2 points each
Opponent Fumble Recovery Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Forced Fumbles - 4 points each
Interceptions Caught - 6 points each
Interception Return Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Passes Defensed - 2.5 points each
Defensive Tackles - 1.5 points each
Defensive Assists - 0.75 points each
Sacked a QB - 4 points each
Sacked a QB Yardage - 0.2 point for every 1
Quarterback Hits - 1 point each
Tackles for a Loss - 1.5 points each
Safeties - 4 points each
Number of Defensive TDs - 8 points each
LB Scoring
Fumble Recoveries (from Opponent) - 2 points each .
Opponent Fumble Recovery Yards -0 .1 point for every 1
Forced Fumbles - 4 points each
Interceptions Caught - 6 points each
Interception Return Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Passes Defensed - 2 points each
Defensive Tackles - 1 point each
Defensive Assists - 0.5 points each
Sacked a QB - 4 points each
Sacked a QB Yardage - 0.2 point for every 1
Quarterback Hits - 1 point each
Tackles for a Loss - 1.5 points each
Safeties - 4 points each
Number of Defensive TDs - 8 points each
CB/S Scoring
Fumble Recoveries (from Opponent) - 2 points each
Opponent Fumble Recovery Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Forced Fumbles - 4 points each
Interceptions Caught - 6 points each
Interception Return Yards - 0.1 point for every 1
Passes Defensed - 2 points each
Defensive Tackles - 1.5 points each
Defensive Assists - 0.75 points each
Sacked a QB - 6 points each
Sacked a QB Yardage - 0.2 point for every 1
Quarterback Hits - 1 point each
Tackles for a Loss - 1.5 points each
Safeties - 4 points each
Number of Defensive TDs - 8 points each
All Scoring
Number of punt return TDs – 6 points each
Number of kick return TDs – 6 points each
Number of offensive fumble recovery TDs – 6 points each
[2.6 Voting, Rule Changes, and Disputes]
- Rule changes can be proposed by owners in the off-season before the draft or free agency begins.
- Commissioner will have discretion over rule changes, however, all changes will be put to the league before being actioned.
- This league will always be a keeper, contract, and salary cap league. Modifications to those systems may be made, but owners cannot vote to eliminate those basic characteristics from the league.
- In cases of rules interpretation or disputes the executive committee has the authority to make a ruling.
- When a problem comes up that isn't clearly addressed in the rules the executive committee will either make a decision if it is a unique situation, or propose the league vote to create a new rule addressing the situation.
- In such a case any immediately affected owners do not receive votes.
- Any decisions made by the executive committee are final.
[2.7 Dumping and Collusion]
- Under no circumstances will player dumping or collusion be allowed.
- Any trades that clearly benefit only one team or the intentional submission of a non-competitive line-up both qualify as collusion.
- Any such actions can be grounds for immediate removal from the league.
- If any owner suspects such actions they may request the executive committee to investigate.
- If the executive committee find the actions of any owner against the best interests of their team then the offending owner may be removed or subject to disciplinary action.
- Any disciplinary action short of removal from the league will be left up to the discretion of the executive committee.
- Removal from the league will require a majority vote from the rest of the owners.
- The normal penalty for a team involved in illegal activity but not removed from the league will be a forfeiture of draft picks and/or salary cap penalties.
**While it may be tempting to submit non-competitive line-ups once your team is eliminated from the playoff hunt, this is not fair to the rest of the league. A team intentionally throwing games throws off the competitive balance of the league, and can severely alter the chances of teams in the playoff hunt. This is a friendly league, so please be fair to the rest of the league and give it your best even if you're not playing for anything.
[2.8 Typical League Timeline]
(All times are only approximate and time limits will be put in place for each stage).
- Sometime after the Superbowl - Rollback day. All contracts are cycled back by one year.
- After rollback day and before UFA begins – Franchise and transition tags, contract renegotiations, 5th year options, development squad promotions and restricted free agent designation.
- Rookie draft begins.
- Unrestricted free agency begins.
- Contract years and types to be assigned.
- Free agency blind bid waivers once a week until season kick-off if time permits.