Straight from the man who created fantasy football's version of the Midsummer Classic, The Scott Fish Bowl is "the premier fantasy tournament in the fantasy football industry." It brings together nearly every fantasy football analyst in the industry, celebrities, former professional athletes and thousands of fans. There are live drafts all over the country and in several different countries as well.

Fish is arguably the most charitable person in the fantasy industry. Along with plenty of help from many others (including but not limited to Ryan McDowell, John Bosch and Bob Gilchrist), he spends countless hours during the late winter and most of the spring organizing this charitable event, which expects to have 5,000 entries this year.

The Scott Fish Bowl is the main fundraising event for Fantasy Cares - a foundation that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. The majority of the funds raised are used to buy toys for kids at Christmas, but Fantasy Cares has also supported dog rescues, hurricane relief efforts, food shelves, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and many other worthy causes.

That is not the only unique feature of this league. Fish makes it his mission each year to tweak the scoring system, which adds another challenging layer of competition to a league where managers are trying to beat more than 5,000 other competitors.

Speaking of the unusual setup and scoring system, let's look at what SFB15 has to offer this season:

SCORING/LINEUP

Roster Size: 22 players (11 starters)
Draft: Snake (no third-round reversal - as of yet - as has been the case in recent years)
Starting lineup: No roster or lineup minimums at any position

The following is straight from The Scott Fish Bowl page:

Passing:
6 points per passing TD
1 point for 25 yards passing (.04/per)
2 points per two-point conversion

Rushing:
0.5 points per carry
6 points per rushing TD
1 point for 10 yards rushing (.1/per)
2 points per two-point conversion
1 point per first down

Receiving:
6 points per receiving TD
1 point for 10 yards receiving (.1/per)
2 points per two-point conversion
1 point per first down

Targets/Receptions:
QB/RB/WR - 1 point per reception on MFL; 2.5 points per reception on Sleeper
TE - 2 points per reception; 3.5 points per reception on Sleeper

* Managers will earn one point for every target on MFL; targets will not factor into the scoring on Sleeper

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SFB15 marks the first time in my 20-plus years of playing fantasy football that there are no lineup minimums at any position. Do you want an all-quarterback lineup? An all-tight end lineup? Eight of one position and one each of the other three positions? It is possible here.

"Volume is king" is the theme for this year's SFB, as players receive 0.5 points per carry (both platforms), one point per target and one point for reception (only on MFL) and 2.5 points per reception (only on Sleeper). SFB15 remains a tight-end premium league in which tight ends receive three points for every reception (one for the target and two for the catch; only on MFL) and 3.5 points (one for the target and 2.5 for the catch; only on Sleeper). Just like most leagues nowadays, athletic quarterbacks are the way to go at that position. Running backs with heavy involvement in the passing game will get a huge bump with a point each for a target and a reception.

Before we begin, let's look at how position groups fared (with this exact scoring setup) over the last two seasons:

2024

Top 25 (overall points): 7 QBs, 11 RBs, 4 WRs, 3 TEs
Top 25 (average - must play at least eight games): 6 QBs, 11 RBs, 5 WRs, 3 TEs

Top 50 (overall points): 12 QBs, 20 RBs, 13 WRs, 5 TEs
Top 50 (average - at least eight games): 10 QBs, 20 RBs, 15 WRs, 5 TEs

Top 100 (overall points): 19 QBs, 31 RBs, 38 WRs, 12 TEs
Top 100 (average - at least eight games): 25 QBs, 29 RBs, 35 WRs, 11 TEs

2023

Top 25 (overall points): 4 QBs, 6 RBs, 11 WRs, 4 TEs
Top 25 (average - at least eight games): 4 QBs, 10 RBs, 8 WRs, 3 TEs

Top 50 (overall points): 11 QBs, 18 RBs, 15 WRs, 6 TEs
Top 50 (average - at least eight games): 10 QBs, 19 RBs, 15 WRs, 6 TEs

Top 100 (overall points): 20 QBs, 32 RBs, 36 WRs, 12 TEs
Top 100 (average - at least eight games): 21 QBs, 32 RBs, 34 WRs, 13 TEs

Now that we know how the positions have fared in this specific scoring system, let's add some context for more perspective:

- Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are the only two players to finish inside the top 12 in overall scoring in both seasons. If we expand our parameters to the top 20 in both seasons, Allen and Jackson are joined by Jalen Hurts, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kyren Williams.

- Seventy-six players scored at least 300 fantasy points last season. In 2023, 83 cleared that bar.

- Eleven players (three quarterbacks, five running backs, one receiver and two tight ends) averaged at least 30 points last year. Nine players (two quarterbacks, three running backs and four receivers) averaged at least 30 points in 2023.

- Eight players scored at least 40 points in a game four times in 2024. In 2023, that number was six.

- Twenty-seven players hit the 35-point plateau at least four times last year. Two seasons ago, that number was 24.

- To illustrate the difference between SFB15 scoring and a more traditional format (PPR, four points per passing touchdown, no first-down or carry bonuses, etc.), Saquon Barkley ranked seventh overall with 356.3 fantasy points with about 60 fewer points than first-place Lamar Jackson (416.4). Using SFB15 scoring, Barkley (571.5) topped Jackson (560.0) by 11.5 points. Hurts was the eighth overall scorer in traditional formats (325.1). With SFB15 scoring, he ranked 19th last year (439). Ja'Marr Chase was surprisingly third in both formats. Bo Nix's 295.7 fantasy points netted him a 17th-place finish in traditional formats. His 387.5 points in SFB15 scoring were only good for 32nd.

- The gap between QB1 (Jackson) and QB12 (Kyler Murray) last year was just less than 13 points per game. In 2023, the difference between QB1 (Hurts) and QB12 (C.J. Stroud) was nine points per game.

- Last season, 12 running backs and eight receivers averaged at least 28 points. Those numbers were five and six, respectively, in 2023.

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While it may be an exercise in futility, I wanted to take a look at what managers should expect from each of their picks on a round-by-round basis, especially since what Fish strives for is balance across positions. I arrived at each average by taking the top 12 scorers across all positions and assuming they went in the first round. I did the same thing with players finishing 13th through 24th serving as the second round and so on. Knowing how many fantasy points we should expect from each draft pick makes it a lot easier to guide our decisions during the draft.

Perhaps it helps to look at it in graph form ...

In 2024, only Saquon Barkley (571.5), Lamar Jackson (560), Ja'Marr Chase (547.5) and Bijan Robinson (515) scored more than the 504.9-point average for first-round players. The gap between the top scorer (Barkley) and the No. 12 scorer (Baker Mayfield) was 102 points! In 2023, only Christian McCaffrey (612), CeeDee Lamb (541.5), Tyreek Hill (529), Jalen Hurts (513.5) and Josh Allen (498) topped the first-round average of 488.8 for first-round players that year. The difference between the first and 12th players in 2023 was 172 points, which was due in large part to CMC having a ridiculous season. (The gap between two and 12 that year was a much more reasonable 101.5.)

At the very least, the charts above should give SFB15 drafters an idea of the point total they should expect (hope for) from each of their first 10 selections.

In most "normal" leagues, fantasy managers are usually satisfied if their top starters are averaging 20 or more points - regardless of position. In SFB15, managers need to treat that number as more of a bar every one of their projected starters needs to clear. In 2024, 85 players cleared 20 points per game. In 2023, 88 players did likewise.

In a league where 132 players (11 starters x 12 teams) will start each week, the last two years of data suggest about two-thirds of each SFB15 league will have at least seven or eight players scoring at least 20 points most weeks. Finding the ninth or 10th 20-point scorer figures to be the difference in a win or loss in any given week and may be what separates the top team from the bottom team in many leagues.

STRATEGY

The strategy in this league will be simple: pick the player on your board who you think will score the most points each time you are on the clock. It really should be that simple. Perhaps the hardest thing drafters will encounter in this format is resisting the urge to scoop up the last player in a particular tier just to avoid a huge drop-off at a position. Another potential pitfall for drafters is remembering they do not need to make sure they come out of the draft with at least one player at each of the four fantasy positions. A team could take 11 quarterbacks and 11 tight ends. Or even 22 receivers.

It may be helpful to think of one word when drafting in SFB15: position-less. If the player with the highest-scoring projection is projected for 300 points and the next-best remaining player is projected for 285, the choice should be simple. The one exception might be someone like Omarion Hampton, who many believe will become a bigger factor over the second half of the season than the first. Getting an expected (if not likely) second-half push from a player is a completely justifiable reason to not take the player on the board with the highest-scoring projection.

The winner of SFB15 will be similar to the ones in most large tournaments: draft a team based on good statistical projections and hope they can avoid injuries. SFB15 figures to take that to an extreme, however. The manager who uses or creates the most accurate projections and simply follows their cheat sheet the best (and drafts a team that avoids injuries) will almost certainly play into late December.

Many managers will be drawn to the generous scoring setup at tight end and go heavy at that position in the early rounds. While it is not a bad idea, the data suggests the top ones (Brock Bowers and Trey McBride) need to be going in the back end of the first round at the earliest unless they are expected to finish with 90 catches, 1,000-plus yards and eight or more touchdowns, which is a huge ask.

T.J. Hockenson's 95-960-5 line from 2023 was good for the 15th-best scorer that year. Sam LaPorta's 86-889-10 line in the same season was good for 22nd. While Brock Bowers (112-1,194-5) and Trey McBride (111-1,146-2) fared better last year with third- and eighth-place finishes, respectively, can we expect either one to repeat that volume with improved supporting casts (Bowers) or with another player expected to see a much greater target share in 2025 (McBride)? I doubt it.

One of the more interesting nuggets from the charts above was the final point totals - total and average. The fact that both numbers are nearly identical was shocking. The data is also a clear indication fantasy managers should be targeting roughly 365 points per week from their regular starting lineup if they hope to make the playoffs. Teams eyeing a deep postseason run - since scoring average factors into the math during the postseason - probably need to shoot for an average of 375-380.