Fantasy Football Scoring Glossary: Standard, Half-PPR & Full PPR
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Full bio →If you’ve ever joined a fantasy football league and seen “PPR,” “Half-PPR,” or “Standard” listed as the scoring format, this glossary explains exactly what each term means, where the letters come from, and why the format your league picks quietly reshapes which players are valuable. Use the fantasy football calculator to see the point difference for yourself with your own stat lines.
What “PPR” Stands For
PPR stands for Points Per Reception. It’s a scoring rule that awards fantasy points every time a player catches a pass, on top of the points already earned for receiving yards and touchdowns. The letters describe one single scoring variable — how much a catch itself is worth — not an entire separate rulebook. Every other stat category (passing yards, rushing touchdowns, interceptions, fumbles) scores the same regardless of PPR setting.
Standard Scoring (Non-PPR)
Standard scoring, sometimes labeled “Non-PPR,” awards zero points for a reception itself. A pass-catcher only scores from the yardage and touchdowns on the play. This format rewards big, explosive plays over the pure act of catching the ball — a receiver who turns 3 catches into 90 yards and a score outproduces a receiver who catches 9 short passes for the same 90 yards, since neither format credits catches directly in Standard.
Half-PPR Scoring
Half-PPR awards 0.5 points per reception. It’s the middle-ground format and, per Yahoo’s own default league settings, it’s the scoring type Yahoo starts new leagues with before a commissioner changes it. Half-PPR softens the gap between big-play receivers and high-volume, short-catch receivers without erasing it entirely.
Full PPR Scoring
Full PPR awards 1 point per reception, the maximum common reception value. This format is friendliest to running backs and receivers who catch a high number of passes regardless of how far each catch travels — a “checkdown” running back or a slot receiver running short routes can score nearly as many points from receptions alone as a big-play receiver scores from yardage and touchdowns combined.
Reception Value by Format
| Format | Points per reception | Favors |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (Non-PPR) | 0 pts | Big plays and touchdowns |
| Half-PPR | 0.5 pts | Balanced — volume and explosiveness both matter |
| Full PPR | 1 pt | High target volume, pass-catching backs |
Why This Term Matters More Than It Seems
The PPR setting only changes the value of one stat: receptions. It never touches passing yards, rushing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, or fumbles. That’s why quarterbacks score identically across every format (they essentially never record a reception), while running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends can swing several points on the exact same statistical performance. See Standard Fantasy Football Scoring Rules by Stat Category for the full point table across every category, or work through real box scores in Fantasy Football Points Calculation Examples by Position.
Other Scoring Terms You’ll See
- TE Premium: some leagues award tight ends a higher per-reception value than running backs and receivers (commonly around 1.5 points per catch instead of 1.0) to offset how much harder tight ends are to find in Full PPR drafts.
- Superflex: not a scoring term but a roster-format term — a league that allows a second quarterback in the lineup, which raises quarterback trade and draft value even though passing stats score the same as always.
- Bonus scoring: extra points some leagues add for hitting yardage thresholds in a single game, like 300 passing yards or 100 rushing yards, on top of the base per-yard rate.
- Six-point passing TD leagues: a common customization that raises passing touchdowns from the default 4 points to 6, closing the scoring gap between quarterbacks and skill-position players.
Confirm Your League’s Exact Setting
League commissioners can change any of these defaults before the draft, so the safest move is to check your league’s scoring settings page directly rather than assuming Standard, Half-PPR, or Full PPR based on habit. Once you know your format, plug a stat line into the fantasy football calculator to get an exact point total, or read Common Mistakes When Calculating Fantasy Football Points to avoid the most frequent scoring-format mix-ups.