Yahoo remains one of the most popular fantasy football sites as we head into 2022. With many leagues hosted on Yahoo every year, it is crucial to know the ins and outs of the site’s standard scoring and league settings ahead of your 2022 fantasy draft.
In order to help guide you through your draft, we here at PFN have put together a Yahoo fantasy football cheat sheet for 2022. Below, we will examine the scoring settings, lineup requirements, and where there might be opportunities to find bargains or players to avoid based on the site’s ADP.
If you are looking to ask specific questions about your Yahoo league, be sure to join our free Discord server, where our analysts will be dropping in to answer your questions. All ADP numbers in this article were taken from FantasyPros and correct at the time of writing (Aug. 23, 2022).
Yahoo fantasy football cheat sheet | Hints and tips to help you win your league
Before you go into your draft, it is important to know your league settings. Are you joining a league that is set up as per the site standard, or has your commissioner provided a twist for your league? It is important to know these things before drafting, not least because they have an impact on how you judge the ADP.
The ADP on Yahoo is largely constituted by their “standard scoring” leagues. Therefore, if you are playing to non-standard settings, then the ADP may not be reflective of where player values lie. It’s essential to know this to ensure you have an advantage over your league-mates.
Yahoo fantasy football standard scoring system
The standard scoring format for Yahoo is PPR. However, when you are creating a league, there is an option on the page to have either half-PPR or non-PPR scoring if you prefer. The rest of the scoring is fixed at league setup but is able to be changed by the commissioner. In the quick option to join a league, that scoring is set to the standard.
When it comes to passing, there are points for passing yards (0.04 points per yard), four points per touchdown pass, and two points for a two-point conversion. QBs also lose a point for throwing an interception.
Players running the ball get 0.1 points per yard, six points per touchdown, and two points for converting a two-point conversion. As well as the half-PPR scoring, receptions earn 0.1 points per receiving yard, six points per touchdown, and two points for a two-point conversion.
There are also various points awarded for kickers and defense. Every PAT made earns a single point, while the scoring for field goals is based on distance. Kicks between 0-39 yards earn three points, 40-49-yard kicks earn four points, and kicks over 50 yards earn five points.
Defenses earn points in a multitude of ways. Touchdowns on defense or special teams earn six points, sacks earn a single point, while interceptions, fumble recoveries, safeties, and blocked kicks each earn two points. There are also points based on the number of yards and points a defense gives up, with a sliding scale from 10 points through to -4.
Additionally, players can also earn points for fumble recovery touchdowns. Players also lose two points for losing a fumble.
Yahoo standard roster requirements
The standard Yahoo lineup requirement is QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, kicker, and D/ST. There is the option to include a Flex spot at the league setup page. Each team also has six bench spots to store reserves and two injured reserve spots as standard. Unlike other sites, there are no set limits to how many players can be rostered at a specific position.
The standard-sized Yahoo league is 10 teams. This impacts how you read the ADP in terms of how it relates to the round a player is usually selected. Pick 60 in a 10-team league is at the end of the sixth round. In a 12-team league, it is at the end of the fifth.
If your league does have customized settings, then you can use PFN’s fantasy resources to help you understand how the value of players changes with different settings. The remainder of this article will examine the ADP that is generated from Yahoo’s standard league settings to look for any players to target or avoid in your drafts this year.
Yahoo ADP | Potential bargains to exploit
One thing to be aware of when comparing Yahoo to the half-PPR consensus ADP is that the Yahoo ADP is one of three sites that makes up the consensus. Therefore, there is limited scope for differences to occur as there are only two other sites to provide differentiation.
Quarterbacks see a familiar pattern in terms of ADP
If you have done drafts or mocks on other sites, you likely won’t be shocked by the order that the QBs go off the board on Yahoo. Among the top 10 QBs in the consensus ADP, only Tom Brady is out of place. Considered the QB10 by consensus, he’s the eighth QB selected on Yahoo. That pushed both Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott down a spot, but they remain in the same order.
It’s not until you get beyond QB15 that we then see slight differences in ADP for QBs in terms of when they come off the board relative to the position. Baker Mayfield as the QB16 is notable, given he’s the QB24 on average. He is followed by Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, and Carson Wentz. All of those QBs are going significantly higher on Yahoo than the consensus ADP has them.
RB values on Yahoo generally reflect the consensus
Unsurprisingly, given that Yahoo is one of the three sites that makes up the half-PPR consensus ADP on FantasyPros, the RB pattern is similar across both. Not until we get to between RB50 and 60 is there a gap of more than five picks in the relative selections of the position.
There are, of course, slight shifts in the order that backs go off the board. D’Andre Swift is the consensus RB8 but is the RB10 on Yahoo. However, that only translates to a three-pick difference on average.
Generally, that’s the story across the position. Some players, such as J.K. Dobbins, have variations of approximately a round between their consensus ADP and draft position on Yahoo, but things are usually pretty close.
Once you get outside the top 35 RBs off the board, there is some more variation. Marlon Mack is being drafted 124th on Yahoo but with a consensus ADP of 152. Brian Robinson sits at 131 on Yahoo and 147 in terms of the consensus.
On average, RBs tend to go off the board fairly quickly on Yahoo. The top 10 are all gone by pick 17, and 20 of the first 40 picks are RBs. Things space out a little more as the position thins out, but even with half-PPR providing extra value to pass catchers, running back is still a position to keep in mind early in drafts.
WR values follow ADP early before diverging
While there are individual differences that we will touch on soon, the general pattern of where receivers are taken is similar for the top 25, whether you look at Yahoo or consensus ADP. However, once you get into the region of the 30th receiver off the board, there tends to be a divergence occurring. After that point, receivers tend to go off the board slightly later on Yahoo than the FantasyPros consensus.
There are slight value discrepancies inside the top 100 selections, but generally, most players have an ADP on Yahoo within a round of the consensus on FantasyPros. The biggest discrepancies are Marquise Brown (71 on Yahoo vs. 60.7 consensus), Amari Cooper (79 vs. 65.3), Darnell Mooney (91 vs. 74.3), Chris Godwin (94 vs. 70.7), Hunter Renfrow (96 vs. 83.7), and Elijah Moore (99 vs. 82.3).
Tight end value reduces late in drafts
Through the first five tight ends being taken, the values when comparing Yahoo to the consensus ADP are very similar. Dalton Schultz is where we see the trend start to shift. He is going off the board half a round earlier on Yahoo on average than the consensus. While T.J. Hockenson retains a similar value, Dallas Goedert is being selected 13 picks earlier than the consensus on average.
That trend continues with Dawson Knox. His ADP on Yahoo is 75, compared to 91 in terms of the consensus. After Knox, things start to balance back up a little more, beginning with Zach Ertz. There are then some ebbs and flows to look for in the later-round TE prospects. If one of those is your target, then ensure you remain vigilant during your draft as to their ADP on Yahoo.