Ideal Roster Sizes?

[mikebal9]

I am starting a new league with either 12 or 14 teams. I know that in baseball, the ideal roster size is based on a percentage of the total major league players. Is this the case in the NFL? I don't want a bloated waiver wire, but I don't want it barren either. How can I ensure this? What number of players per team do you find to be ideal? Thanks for your help.

[ChyBoy]

A couple of things you need to know first. What is your starters? For example, 1QB 2RB After that I like to have at least 1 back up per position then I add 1 for the positions with multiple players starting. So if you start 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1Flex, 1K, 1DEF, I would have a bench of 7 players, gives you a total of 16 players.

As for how many teams, 12 seems to work the best. There is enough starters to fill out your rosters with out using backups and there is enough talent on the WW to help, but it isn't flooded with players either.

[GiantFanatic]

Bah, screw that. Part of the rub of fantasy is having to make hard choices on your backups. Want another RB? Fine, play it loose with your WR core or carry just one D. Letting people have too many slots almost insures that all the good prospects get hoovered and then sit on someone's bench so that no one can play them.

I prefer a larger team with a smaller bench. I also like using flex spots to mix it up and let people differentiate. My roster this season is:

1 x QB
2 x WR
2 x RB
1 x TE
1 x W/T
1 x W/R
1 x K
1 x DEF
1 x DB
4 x BN

The DB is kind of like the wild card... though last season it really worked out to "who is playing against Oakland or Pittsburgh?" This let's you have 2 WR with a back-up, 2 RBs with a back-up, 1 QB with a backup, and one last back-up to play with as you see fit. You can also move them around, but you have to sacrifice to do so.

GF

[The Lung]

I am starting a new league with either 12 or 14 teams. I know that in baseball, the ideal roster size is based on a percentage of the total major league players. Is this the case in the NFL? I don't want a bloated waiver wire, but I don't want it barren either. How can I ensure this? What number of players per team do you find to be ideal? Thanks for your help.

All fantasy football leagues should have either 10 or 12 teams. 8 teams or less results in every team fielding basically all Pro-Bowlers, and 14 teams or more dilutes the available talent too thin.

[spodog]

I am starting a new league with either 12 or 14 teams. I know that in baseball, the ideal roster size is based on a percentage of the total major league players. Is this the case in the NFL? I don't want a bloated waiver wire, but I don't want it barren either. How can I ensure this? What number of players per team do you find to be ideal? Thanks for your help.

All fantasy football leagues should have either 10 or 12 teams. 8 teams or less results in every team fielding basically all Pro-Bowlers, and 14 teams or more dilutes the available talent too thin.

This answer is a little bit too one size fits all.

Ideal team count depends on preferences, roster size, # of starting positions, whether a flex position is used or not, 1QB v 2QB lineups, etc.

A 16 team league can be a good size. I know owners who play by a rule that says anything over 12 teams is too much, but they've been saying this for years, and meanwhile the NFL has added teams, so their original reasoning is flawed now, since there are more starting NFL players.

[The Lung]

I've been in 14 and 16 team leagues and they are AWFUL. You end up with backup QBs, 3rd string RBs, and 4th and 5th string WRs on your roster. At least once per season and sometimes several times per season you end up starting guys who don't even get one carry or one reception and you get a ZERO for the week. Again, these kinds of leagues dilute the available NFL talent too greatly.

[Coolest1]

The best way to determine roster size is determine how thin you want the waiver wire to be.
Consider how many at each position you would like drafted and you can modify your league appropriately. (Of course keeper leagues will modify your numbers as some people will want to keep players based upon future then current.)

You can figure most people will want to back up the main positions (QB RB and WR), sometimes with multiple backups. Most will either not backup or only have 1 backup on the secondary positions (TE K and DEF).

If you want lots of trades, you want deep starting teams and shallow waiver wire.
If you don't want trades, you want a deep bench and deep waiver wire.

Also, remember the bigger the league, the longer the draft.

So lets take an example: You want a deep league that encourages trades, but doesn't require it.
You have 12 teams in the league.
So we come up with something like this:
1 QB
1 RB
3 WR
1 RB/WR
1 TE
1 K
1 DEF
4 Bench

Figure on 24 QB's, 36 RB's, 48 WR's, 16 TE's, 16 K's and 16 DEF's approximately.

Play with the numbers and you should be able to find a league setup that works for you.

[aman74]

A couple of things you need to know first. What is your starters? For example, 1QB 2RB After that I like to have at least 1 back up per position then I add 1 for the positions with multiple players starting. So if you start 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1Flex, 1K, 1DEF, I would have a bench of 7 players, gives you a total of 16 players.

As for how many teams, 12 seems to work the best. There is enough starters to fill out your rosters with out using backups and there is enough talent on the WW to help, but it isn't flooded with players either.

Are you not counting the flex or something? I get 18 with your scenario.

We start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 D and we allow on IR spot for doubtfull or worse.

What do you guys think is a good roster limit? I was thinking between 16 and 18.

What about limiting max at each position?

We have it set to 3 QB, 5 RB, 5WR, 3 TE, 3K, 2 D