How scoring works
Every point comes from BenchScout’s own box score for the game, read while the game is on and again when it ends, plus its play-by-play for what a box score has no column for. A week stays provisional until Thursday morning, so a stat correction BenchScout picks up on Wednesday still counts; then it is final and goes into the standings.
| Stat | PPR | Half PPR | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | |||
| Passing yards | 1 per 25 yds | 1 per 25 yds | 1 per 25 yds |
| Passing TD | +4 | +4 | +4 |
| Interception thrown | −2 | −2 | −2 |
| Two-point pass | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Rushing | |||
| Rushing yards | 1 per 10 yds | 1 per 10 yds | 1 per 10 yds |
| Rushing TD | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Two-point run | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Receiving | |||
| Reception | +1 | +0.5 | 0 |
| Receiving yards | 1 per 10 yds | 1 per 10 yds | 1 per 10 yds |
| Receiving TD | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Two-point catch | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Returns and fumbles | |||
| Return TD | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Fumble lost | −2 | −2 | −2 |
| Kicking | |||
| Field goal 0–39 yds | +3 | +3 | +3 |
| Field goal 40–49 yds | +4 | +4 | +4 |
| Field goal 50–59 yds | +5 | +5 | +5 |
| Field goal 60+ yds | +5 | +5 | +5 |
| Field goal, flat value | +3 | +3 | +3 |
| Missed FG, flat value | −1 | −1 | −1 |
| Extra point made | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| Extra point missed | −1 | −1 | −1 |
| Team defense | |||
| Sack | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| Interception | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Fumble recovery | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Defensive or return TD | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Safety | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Blocked kick | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Points allowed | |||
| Shutout | +10 | +10 | +10 |
| 1–6 points allowed | +7 | +7 | +7 |
| 7–13 points allowed | +4 | +4 | +4 |
| 14–20 points allowed | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 28–34 points allowed | −1 | −1 | −1 |
| 35+ points allowed | −4 | −4 | −4 |
A commissioner can change any value, and add the ones not listed, on the league’s settings page.
Kickers: distance
A field goal is worth more the longer it is: 3 points from inside 40 yards, 4 from 40 to 49, 5 from 50 or more. The distance comes from BenchScout’s play-by-play. Until the play-by-play has reached a game, or for a kick it could not place, a field goal is worth the flat value, 3. Each kick is paid once, by its distance or by the flat value, never both. A league can price missed kicks by distance the same way; by default every miss costs 1.
Bonuses, tiers and position premiums
Beyond a value per stat, a league can add three kinds of rule. A bonus pays for reaching a mark in one game, such as 3 points for 100 rushing yards. A tier is a bonus with several bands: with stacking on, every band a player reaches pays (100 and 200 rushing yards, 3 each, pays 6 for a 210-yard game); with it off, only the highest band reached pays. A position override gives one position its own value for a stat, in place of the league’s: the usual one is a tight-end premium, 1.5 a catch where everyone else gets 1.
Team defenses score points allowed in bands too: a shutout is 10, 1 to 6 allowed is 7, and so on down to −4 for 35 or more. Points allowed are the opponent’s final score, every point included.
Each player’s game is rounded once, after every rule: to hundredths unless the league picks tenths or whole points.
When settings lock
Some rules cannot fairly change once the season is under way, so each one locks at a set point. A commissioner sees a locked setting greyed out, with the reason beside it. Every change is posted to league chat and kept in the league’s activity.
- Fixed once the draft starts
- Teams, Starters, Bench, IR slots, Position limits, Scoring type, League median, Draft order, Seconds per pick, Draft room, Absent managers, Waiver system, Bid budget.
- Fixed once the playoffs start
- Regular-season weeks, Playoff teams, Tiebreakers, Consolation bracket.
- Never fixed
- League name, Point values, Bonuses and overrides, IR designations, Minimum bid, Waiver days, Game-time waivers, No stashing, Lineup lock, Trade deadline, Trade review, Trade veto, Votes to veto, Offers lapse.
Point values never lock. A change mid-season counts from the week being played, or, if the commissioner ticks “apply to past weeks”, every final week of the regular season is rescored with the new values and the standings with it. Once the playoffs are drawn, past weeks keep their scores.
The week
A week runs Tuesday to Monday. Live while games are on; provisional once they are all over; final at Thursday 09:00 UTC, when results go into the standings. A player locks when their own game kicks off, not the first game of the week, unless the league locks everyone at the week’s first game.
Auto-substitution
Each starter can name a backup from your bench. If the starter does not play (ruled out when their game kicks off, or no stat line once it is over), the backup’s points count for that seat. Both lock as soon as either kicks off.
Projections and win probability
“Proj” is arithmetic, not a forecast: a player’s points per game this season before kickoff, points so far plus half that average while the game is on, and their points once it is over. Win probability compares the two projected totals with a normal curve whose spread comes from the starters still to play (half their average each, at least three points). It is a guide to how open a matchup is.
What depends on the play-by-play
Field-goal distance, two-point conversions, safeties, blocked kicks and the long-play bonuses (a 40-yard catch, a 50-yard touchdown run) come from BenchScout’s play-by-play rather than its box score. Where it has not reached a game yet, those rules score nothing for that game and field goals take the flat value; the week is rescored when it arrives, until the week is final.