Supercoach NFL: Everything you need to know for week one

I want to start my first article for SC Playbook by saying – how good is this?!

We’ve got perhaps the two greatest forms of fantasy (in my humble opinion) coming together.

The strategy and price change-based joys of Supercoach and the raw, unbridled excitement of NFL fantasy. In the words of George Costanza, worlds collide. But in the best way imaginable.

Like I’m sure most of you have probably been doing since you saw the little NFL icon pop up at the top of the Supercoach home page, I’ve been digging into the rules, the scoring system, and everything in between to try to sus out how this whole thing works.

I’m operating under the assumption that if you’re here, you’re probably familiar with the basics of how the broader Supercoach fantasy system works.

But let’s do an overview of the differences for NFL, and then we’ll dig a bit deeper into the scoring.

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Roster Construction

You’ll need to pick:

2 QBs – 1 starter, 1 bench

6 RBs – 4 starters, 2 bench

8 WRs – 6 starters, 2 bench

3 TEs – 2 starters, 1 bench

2 Kickers (yuck) – 1 starter, 1 bench

2 Team Defences – 1 starter, 1 bench

And a flex, who can be from any position, just like NRL or AFL Supercoach.

There are no dual position players in NFLSC, and player positions will NOT update during the year.

Each week, you’ll be selecting 16 total starters, 15 of whom will count towards your final score.

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Your lowest scoring player will drop out, just like the Supercoach you know and love.

You’ll also select a VC and a C whose score will double, just like normal.

The main difference between NFL SC and NRL SC, is you won’t be picking reserves.

Your starting line-up is your starting line-up, and you’ll only get a score from your bench in the case one of your starters doesn’t take the field, and you need an auto emergency.

Note here: your AE will only pull from the same position as the player who dropped out. As an example, say you have Lamar Jackson, and he injures his hamstring in warm-ups. Your AE can only come from your QB bench player.

Another subtle wrinkle here which could be interesting, a player must have ‘accrued stats’ to be considered as played. So, if you have a wide receiver or tight end who goes out there but doesn’t get a target in their game (and therefore doesn’t accrue a stat), they would be considered a non-player, and you’d receive an AE substitution.

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Trades

You’ll get 26 total trades to use across the season. You can use two trades per week, with four trade boosts that’ll give you the ability to use three trades in a week.

Given the NFL season is 18 weeks long, that works out at about 1.44 trades per week.

As a comparison point, for NRL Supercoach’s 27-week season, we had 46 trades, which works out at around 1.7 trades per week. So, we have about 15% less trades to work with.

Granted, we have less byes and no Origin period to contend with, but we might need to think about being a bit slower on the trade trigger finger in the NFL game.

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Scoring

When I first logged into NFLSC, I was worried we were going to have an entirely new scoring system to figure out, but the good news is, the guys at News have made it pretty easy for us.

In the simplest terms, you can basically take your usual NFL fantasy scoring that the vast majority of leagues on the Yahoos, ESPNs and Sleepers of the world use, and double it. You’ll see what I mean in a second.

Offence

	NFL Fantasy	NFL Supercoach
Passing Yards	1 point per 25 yards	1 point per 12 yards
Passing TD	4 points	8 points
Interception	-1 point	-2 points
Rushing Yards	1 point per 10 yards	1 point per 5 yards
Rushing TD	6 points	12 points
Reception	Varies	1 point
Receiving Yards	1 point per 10 yards	1 point per 5 yards
Receiving TD	6 points	12 points
Fumble Recovery TD	6 points	12 points
Fumble Lost	-2 points	-4 points
2-point Conversion	2 points	4 points

The biggest thing I want to point out here is the points per reception.

If you’re an NFL fantasy veteran, you’ll know there’s 3 primary scoring formats leagues choose between: standard (0 points for receptions), 0.5-point PPR, and full-point PPR.

The simplest way to think about NFLSC is that it’s the equivalent of a 0.5-point PPR format. A reception is worth 1/12^th the value of a rushing or receiving TD, just in the same way 0.5 points for a reception would be 1/12^th the value of the 6 points you get for a rushing or receiving TD in NFL Fantasy.

Every other scoring metric is just double what you’re used to, so the relative value of positions, players, etc remains the same. AKA if they’re good in NFL fantasy, they’ll be good in NFL SC.

Kicking

	NFL Fantasy	NFL SC
Field Goal Made, 0-39 yards	3 points	6 points
Field Goal Made, 40-49 yards	4 points	8 points
Field Goal Made, 50+ yards	5 points	10 points
Extra Point	1 point	2 points

Nothing much to see here, just double everything up.

I could go on a rant here about how kicker scoring is 95% luck, that they’re a blight on NFL fantasy and have absolutely no place in any self-respecting NFL fantasy league or game, but I’m bigger than that, obviously.

Team Defence

	NFL Fantasy	NFL SC
Sack	1 Point	2 Points
Interception	2 Points	4 Points
Opponent Fumble Recovered	2 Points	4 Points
Defensive TD	6 Points	12 Points
Safety	2 Points	4 Points
Blocked Kick	2 Points	4 Points
0 Points Allowed	10 Points	20 Points
1-6 Points Allowed	7 Points	14 Points
7-13 Points Allowed	4 Points	8 Points
14-20 Points Allowed	1 Point	2 Points
21-27 Points Allowed	0 Points	0 Points
28-34 Points Allowed	-1 Point	-2 Points
35+ Points Allowed	-4 Points	-8 Points

Same again here. Take what you’re used to and double it.

Summary

Hopefully, that’s enough to get you going. We’re only a couple of weeks away from kick-off, so get in there, get tinkering, and have some fun with it.

I’ll be back with a couple more articles before the season starts. One that’s going to dig into player selection and roster construction strategy, and perhaps a sneaky team reveal as well, so you guys can get a glimpse at the roster that’s headed for overall glory.

Back soon!