Guides › Pigskin Ladder strategy: how to get past the Pro Bowl tier
Pigskin Ladder strategy: how to get past the Pro Bowl tier
Most Pigskin Ladder runs end in one of three places: a guess on a stat the player does not own, a near-tie in the Hall of Fame tier, or a timer that ran out. Here is how to avoid each.
1. Know the category leaders
If the leader of a category appears in a matchup, he always has the bigger number. That includes interceptions, where the “leader” is the quarterback who threw the most. Here is every category leader:
| Group | Category | Leader | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | Career passing yards | Tom Brady | 89,214 |
| Quarterbacks | Career passing touchdowns | Tom Brady | 649 |
| Quarterbacks | Career interceptions thrown | Brett Favre | 336 |
| Running backs | Career rushing yards | Emmitt Smith | 18,355 |
| Running backs | Career rushing touchdowns | Emmitt Smith | 164 |
| Running backs | Career receptions | Marshall Faulk | 767 |
| Receivers and tight ends | Career receiving yards | Jerry Rice | 22,895 |
| Receivers and tight ends | Career receptions | Jerry Rice | 1,549 |
| Receivers and tight ends | Career receiving touchdowns | Jerry Rice | 197 |
| Pass rushers | Career sacks | Bruce Smith | 200 |
Note that Brett Favre is the leader in interceptions thrown (336), which makes him the correct pick in a matchup where the question is “who threw more.”
2. Do not let the timer cost a life
When the clock runs out, you lose a life exactly as you would for a wrong answer. A guess is always better than no answer, since it has a chance of being right. The timer shrinks from 14 seconds in Sandlot to 6 in Hall of Fame, so build the habit of choosing something by the three-second mark.
3. Watch for category traps
- Receptions for running backs: the best rushers are not necessarily the best catchers. See the receptions trap.
- Touchdowns versus yards: some backs scored far more or far less than their yardage suggests. See rushing touchdowns versus yards.
- Interceptions: volume explains most of the total. See the touchdown-to-interception ratio.
- Tight ends: Gonzalez is a volume receiver and Gates is a scorer. See the tight end guide.
4. Learn the Hall of Fame pairs
The upper tiers draw from a small, fixed set of near-ties. Studying them is the most reliable way past rung 14. Start with the closest matchups on the ladder.
5. Use a tiebreak rule when you are stuck
When you cannot recall either total, go with the longer career, then the player who was the focus of his offense or defense. That is the rule from our estimation guide, and it is right more often than instinct about who was better.
6. Treat three lives as a budget
You can afford to be wrong twice. Spend your lives on the coin flips in the upper tiers, not on the early rounds that you can get right by checking career length and who owns the category.
Ready? Start climbing.