I know this is a rarely visited corner of the boards, but here goes.

First some background
Last year I started a 10 team a league on ESPN with some friends around the area. It's a customizeable league, but for the first year we stuck with ESPN's standard format. It's also a fairly casual league.

Soon we will be having a vote on rule changes for the upcoming season. In addition to a handful of minor items, I am including a proposal for expansion to 12 teams. Several people in the league had expressed concern over the depth of the waiver wire, so I felt it was important to package the idea of expanding with some rule changes that would preserve the waiver wire depth. Some of you may feel that 12 teams still leaves plenty of depth, but the people in my league are particularly concerned about it, and my primary concern is maintaining a format that will be enjoyed by our entire league.

I'll present the 10 team format we used last year as well as the 12 team proposal. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on the proposal. Please keep in mind that this is for a fairly casual group.


10 Team Format (ESPN Standard)
10 teams, 16 man roster (9 starts, 7 subs)
QB - RB1 - RB2 - WR/RB - WR1 - WR2 - TE - D/ST - K

Passing: 1 pt/25 yds, 4 pts/TD, -2 pts/INT (ESPN Standard)
Rushing and Receiving: 1 pt/10 yds, 6 pts/TD, -2 pts/Lost Fumble (ESPN Standard)
Defense and Kicking: ESPN Standard


12 Team Proposal
4 changes:
1. Reduce roster size to 14 (9 starters, 5 subs)
2. Change RB2 to OP (Offensive player: QB/RB/WR/TE)
3. Add -1 pt/sack for QB's
4. Add 2 point bonuses for notable rushing and receiving events: 40 yd TDs, 100 yd games, and 200 yd games. (No bonuses for passing).


Rationale
As I mentioned before, there was particular concern for how expansion would effect the waiver wire. So I reduced roster size (10x16=160 and 12x14=168), so we only have a modest increase in players owned. Still there is an increase, and there is also less roster space, making things even tighter for owners.

So I changed RB2 to an OP flex. RB was the tightest waiver wire position in our league last year and QB had more depth than most, so this allows some of the player demand to shift to QB and other positions. It also allows greater roster flexibility. Therefore, it simultanesouly solves the issue of thinner waiver wire and smaller roster size. But It also allows for a QB dominated league (or so I've heard).

So the scoring modifications (3 and 4) were implemented to bring the level of QB scoring about even with RB scoring. Because of this the flexibility of the OP is fully realized. Owners can now use a variety of lineups and still find success. They are not forced to use 2 QBs. Some will, others won't.

So what do you think?