What Is Relative Fantasy Value or RFV?

If you visit this blog over the next weeks, months and hopefully years you are going to see the term Relative Fantasy Value or RFV. I thought I’d take a second to explain exactly what it is. 

Back in the mid-1990's, Joe Bryant of FootballGuys came up with a concept called Value Based Drafting or VBD. The basic idea behind VBD is the value of a player is determined not by the number of points he scores, but by how much he outscores his peers at his particular position. Bryant's concept was created to be used during fantasy football drafts, using player projections and player baselines to determine if you should draft the #10 quarterback, the #22 running back or the #39 wide receiver.

For a more in depth explanation of Joe Bryant's VBD concept check out the following LINK. 

I took the concept of VBD and am using it to determine the value of players throughout the history of fantasy football and am referring to it as Relative Fantasy Value or RFV. The big difference is I don't have to project the player stats like in VBD, I already know them because the games have been played and the seasons have been completed. I do have to set the baselines, which I have established as the #13 quarterback, #25 running back, #37 wide receiver and #13 tight end. Just like Bryant's VBD, RFV determines the value of players not by how many points he scored, but by how much he outscored his peers at his particular position and that determines his point value. 

Using this concept I determined that wide receiver Cooper Kupp was the most valuable player in the 2021 season, even though quarterback Josh Allen scored the most points. How can that be possible? Lets look at Josh Allen first, he scored 478.58 fantasy points using my scoring system, which is outlined below:

The Fantasy Football Encyclopedia Scoring System

Passing Yards: 1 point per 25 yards passing
Passing Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
Interceptions: -2 points per interception
Rushing Yards: 1 point per 10 yards rushing
Rushing Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
Receptions: 1 point per reception
Receiving Yards: 1 point per 10 yards receiving
Receiving Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
All Other Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
2 Point Conversion: 2 points per conversion
Field Goals Made: 3 points per field goal
Extra Points Made: 1 point per extra point

Allen outscored the #13 quarterback, Ryan Tannehill who scored 316.36 fantasy points by 162.22 points. The 162.22 points is Allen's RFV. Cooper Kupp scored 439.50 fantasy points, which is 39.08 points less then Allen. But when you compare Kupp's fantasy points to the #37 ranked wide reciever, Russell Gage's 167.00 fantasy points you get a RFV for Kupp of  272.50 points. So in my eyes, Kupp was more valuable then Allen in the 2021 season.

I am taking this concept and going back to when the first fantasy football league was started, the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL), using 1963 as my first season up to the current season.

All stats are from the Pro Football Reference website.