Fantasy football consistency ratings: 2014-16

Updated through the 2016 regular season

How consistency ratings work

Using fantasy points determined by ESPN's standard scoring, the charts contained in this column rate players based upon how consistently reliable they were from the 2014 through 2016 seasons, a span of 51 weeks' worth of games (17 weeks apiece in each year). For IDPs (individual defensive players), the following scoring is used: solo tackle (1), assisted tackle (0.5), sack (3), interception (3), forced fumble (3), fumble recovery (3), touchdown (6), safety (2), pass defended (1). To familiarize you with some of the terminology and column headers listed in the charts below:

Start%: The player's "start percentage," which shows how often he earned your start in an ESPN standard league. This is his number of "Starts" -- those defined below -- divided by his number of scheduled team games.

CR: The player's "consistency rating," which is calculated as his weekly standard deviation divided by his fantasy points per game average. This is meant to identify the players who were most consistently close to their weekly averages. The lower the number, the more consistent the player. Again, lower numbers are better.

PPR%: The player's start percentage using PPR scoring, which uses ESPN's standard scoring settings but adds one point per reception.

FPTS/G: The player's average fantasy points scored per game.

Start: The number of times that the player's point total in a given week was worthy of having had him active in an ESPN standard league.

Stud: The number of times the player's point total ranked among the top at his position.

Stiff: The number of times the player's point total ranked among the worst at his position, making almost any waiver-wire option a smarter choice.

These are the benchmarks for what constitutes a "Start," "Stud" or "Stiff" performance: