Now, I love the NFL.  I’ve been watching games since I was like 3 years old with my dad.  I even remember helping my uncle make bets at the age of 8.  However, when I was in college my junior year in 1994, a college buddy asked me to play Fantasy Football.  I had no idea what it was.  In fact, when he explained it to me, I thought he was crazy.  So, instead of watching the outcome of the game, you track individual players’ stats to create an all-star team of sorts and you put your team up against another guy’s team?  Again, it took some mental gymnastics to figure it out, but after back to back 2nd place finishes (and some cash winnings).  I was hooked.  Of course, in those days, I literally would call the Commish every week to tell him my starters.  Other players would fax in their line ups to the Commish.  Then, we would all check the USA Today on Monday and Tuesday morning to determine who won the match up.  It sounds like ancient history, but it was some of the most fun I have ever had in playing Fantasy.

I didn’t play after college for several years, as I lived abroad in the Dominican Republic and then on both coasts.  I remember trying to explain to my friends the benefits of Fantasy Football and all I got was blank stares from 1997-2002.  Then, with more improved internet tracking sites and eventually smart phones, Fantasy Football is now in the average fan’s annual experience.  So, for those that already understand all the ins and outs of Fantasy Football, bear with me today, as we will go over all the basics.  However, in subsequent posts, I’ll go over Draft Strategy, Roster Management, Hot Picks for the Year, and eventually who to start each and every week.

Fantasy Football 101

Why do Fantasy Football?  Well, that is a great question.  Originally, Fantasy Football was born out of Fantasy Baseball, which had been around longer than the Football version.  Baseball has always been a statistical game, but as the popularity of Football increased and the availability of information skyrocketed, Fantasy Football has become extremely accessible.  So, the main reason why to play Fantasy Football is that it is a great way to learn the complete league versus just your local team.  As a kid, I really only watch the Chicago Bears.  Sure, there was probably the other game on NBC (in the AFC) and then Monday Night Football, but most of us Chicagoans live and die with the Beloved.  Well, what happens when the Bears were terrible?  Or like me, in college, I lived in Colorado, and I rarely got to watch Bears games.  So, why not find a way to watch the whole league.  Fantasy Football makes its players learn players at a variety of positions on all NFL teams.  Another good reason to play fantasy football is to have bragging rights over your friends or co-workers.  Like most office pools or Super Bowl Squares, everyone likes to win and in most leagues money is on the line – who doesn’t like to win a little cash while you are at it?  The NFL is the best game to watch and you can watch any game with an interest and have a chance to win money – maybe I’m missing something but this is f’in awesome.  So, that is why so many people play this game.  With the internet, smart phones, the Red Zone Channel and NFL Ticket, the NFL has made it extremely easy to play, so literally anyone can do it, even Grandma and Grandpa, if they are willing.

So, what does it all mean?  What is a PPR league?  Can I keep players year to year?  Do we pick defensive players?  All great questions.  I’m going to go over the basics of how Fantasy Football is organized using the following categories:  Duration of League, Selection Method, Roster Control, Scoring Format, Roster Make Up, Roster Management and League Size.  With these categories, we will cover 99% of all fantasy leagues.  Let’s jump in it.

Duration of League

Now, when I started playing fantasy football in 1994, there really was only one type of Duration – Season Long Leagues.  That meant that once you selected your team (more on that later), you had your team for that season.  In fact, depending on the league, you would play everyone in the league, like a round robin tournament, and then at the end of the year typically there would be some kind of playoffs to determine the champion.  Season long leagues are still the most popular method of Duration.  I, personally, play in 2-3 Season Long leagues every year.  We play 13 weeks long in League Play, and then 3 weeks of playoffs, if you are able to qualify.  I would say that the majority of leagues play Weeks 1-16 of the NFL regular season.  Some leagues go into Week 17, but since a lot of teams rest players that last week, most leagues do not go that late.  Typically speaking, Season Long rosters are more or less static with only one team being allowed to have a given player on their team at a time.

The other main Duration which broke on to the scene a few years back is Daily Fantasy.  Daily Fantasy involves individuals picking a lineup for one week at a time.  There are several internet sites that employ this type of approach, the most popular being Fan Duel and Draft Kings.  Now, as recent as last year, Daily Fantasy came under fire as being classified as “Gambling” in some states.  There has been a ton of lobbying on behalf of Daily Fantasy to keep it as a “Game of Skill” and therefore not sports gambling.  However, it seems that scare of eliminating Daily Fantasy is behind most states with the recent approval of Sports Gambling in several states.  So, enough of the legislation, how does Daily Fantasy differ from Season Long?  Well, most Daily Fantasy involves week long contests against a broader pool of people.  Daily Fantasy can yield cash winnings week over week, instead of waiting a whole season for a payout.  Plus, since you are only pick teams weekly, then depending on the format, you can usually select any player you want in the NFL for that week – so looking to maximizing match ups and picking hot players.  Most Daily sites employ a Salary Cap for your team, and therefore each player has a salary associated with them.  You have to be skillful in selecting a balance of top players and lower tier players that will produce in that week to win.  Daily Fantasy takes a lot of work, and I’ll post in later weeks the strategy in playing Daily Fantasy, as it really is a different approach to the game.  I should say that there is another Daily Fantasy site called Draft that allows people to draft a team each and every week amongst your friends, so like Season Long, you may not be able to have any player you want.  More on those different formats another time.

I’m sure there are other Durations out there – maybe a fitting 2 seasons within the NFL season, but Season Long and Daily are the most common ones.  The rest of this post will explain Season Long Leagues primarily, but some elements are used in the Daily contests, too.

Selection Method

One of the best aspects of Fantasy Football is the Draft.  In Season Long leagues, most leagues hold a Draft of some kind once a year before the season starts to get all the rosters together.  I love the Draft.  Between the preparation, the trash talk at the Draft, and the final roster in your hands at the end, the Draft is such a fun experience.  Personally, I strongly recommend you hold an in person Draft whenever possible.  It can be an event.  Most sites will send you a Draft Board to place selections with stickers.  People can get pretty creative with their Drafts between instituting prior year punishment to the league losers, themed Drafts for clothing, incredible food (like the Super Bowl) and again, just the best chance to talk trash to your opponents.  One league I am in does our Draft at a friend’s lake house every year.  We sit on their gorgeous deck, complete with pool and lake.  The food is incredible, and the drinks flow copiously.  We instituted a new rule last year that the last place finisher allows the League to pick their team name for the year, and during the Draft, the brainstorming for that name happens.  Now, most internet sites offer an online Draft Room which can be followed on your computer or smart phone.  This allows people to do real-time drafting anywhere they have internet service.  Online drafts are good because they are timed and also provide the available list of players to be drafted.

Now, there are several ways to do the Drafting of players.  Here are the most common methods:  Snake Draft, 3rd Round Reversal Snake, and Auction Draft.

  • Snake Draft – The majority of leagues use a Snake Draft format, which means that based on the Draft Order – the 1st Pick in the 1st Round will then be the last Pick in the 2nd Round.  So, every odd number round will reverse order in the even number rounds.  Why do this?  Well, it is more fair for the teams at the back end of the Draft.  If you go right back up to the top, then the talent would be loaded up top.  Now, determining the Draft order is really a matter of preference – some leagues use the Record from the previous year like the NFL, others just use a Random Order generated by the sites or some other form of chance, like drawing cards.  I recommend getting the Draft order set a couple of weeks before the Draft itself to give people a chance to strategize.
  • 3rd Round Reversal –  Like the Snake Draft, the 1st Round will reverse order in the 2nd Round, but at the 3rd Round, the Last Person in the Order moves back up to the top of the order.  Then, the 4th round reverses the 3rd round order.  This switch switching will take place every 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, etc. Round.  This method is not very common, but it is another way to try to balance out the rosters.
  • Auction – Now, the Snake Draft is very common out there, but in recent years, the Auction has grown in popularity.  An Auction Draft is run starting with a “Nomination” Order, where teams will take turns naming or nominating a player to be bid on and a dollar amount associated.  So, for example, Team 1 will nominate Tom Brady for $5, then anyone in the league can call out an auction amount over $5 to get the player.  When the bidding stops, the last and highest bidder is awarded the player.  Now, every team is given a Budget for their entire roster, so each team has to track and be strategic on their bids.  More on Auction strategy on another post.  The Auction Draft is fast and furious and can take a long time, but unlike a Snake Draft, anyone can get any player, where a Snake Draft players are taken ahead of your spot without any control.

Roster Control

Roster Control means how long a player on your team can be held by your team.  The majority of leagues that are Season Long Leagues will do what is called Re-Drafting or doing a Draft each and every year with all the available players in the actual NFL open to be drafted and no former players held over on rosters.  However, there are 2 other ways Fantasy Leagues can handle this – Keeper and Dynasty Leagues.

  • Keeper Leagues – If your league is a Keeper League, then each team will be allowed to “keep” one or more players from their roster of the previous season.  Teams usually have to declare their keepers well in advance of the Draft, so the league knows which players are available to Draft.  Most of the time, in Keeper Leagues, there is a price to the Keeper.  Often times, if you are allowed a Keeper on your team, then you give up a pick in this year’s Draft based on the Round the Keeper was taken the year before.  An example would be Le’Veon Bell, RB of the Steelers is often the top pick in a draft, so if I wanted to keep him, I would give up my 1st Round Pick this year.  We can talk about this more in Draft Strategy, but value is key in this format.  Also, the availability of certain players will help make those decisions.  Finally, in some Keeper Leagues, they allow teams to keep the same player for a period of years, like 3, but in those leagues, there is usually an escalating price for the Keeper.  An example would be if you drafted Antonio Brown in Round 3 two years ago, then last your you gave up your 3rd Round pick, this year you would give up your 2nd Round pick and next year you would give up your 1st Round pick if you wanted to keep him all three years.  That again, is meant to level the playing field.
  • Dynasty Leagues – In a Dynasty League, there is an initial Draft in the league, and players on those teams are on your team for life.  You will hold that player every year unless you drop them or trade them.  In those leagues past the 1st year, the Draft is really just a Rookie Draft, as those are the only players typically not on rosters.  Dynasty Leagues are very forward looking, and they act very much like the actual NFL franchises, since teams can trade future picks in Drafts for players now.  I’ve never participated in one of these, but it sounds like a ton of fun.

Scoring Format

One of the most essential elements of a fantasy league is the scoring format.  There are 2 main scoring formats – Standard and Points Per Reception, however there are lots of variations out there.  Any time you join a fantasy league the first thing you should check is the Scoring Format, as that will determine the value of players in the Draft.

  • Standard – Standard formats are what we used in 1994.  The format gives a set amount of points for:  yardage – passing, rushing or receiving; touchdowns, deductions for fumbles lost and interceptions thrown, points for Field Goals and Extra Points for Kickers, Defensive Scoring for interceptions, fumbles recovered, sacks, points against, and defensive scores (and often special teams touchdowns).  Other elements can be Defensive Scoring for Yards Against.
    • Quarterback Scoring – Quarterbacks will always score more points than another other position, so typically the Passing yards are discounted more than rushing or receiving yards and some leagues only award 3 or 4 points per Passing TD vs 6 points for rushing and receiving.
  • Points Per Reception – These leagues or PPR leagues give points per every reception of a player.  Now, there are full point PPR (1 point per reception) and 1/2 point PPR.  These leagues slant the value towards Wide Receivers and pass catching Running Backs.  The scoring totals and values will change dramatically over Standard Formats.  In my PPR league on ESPN, the league also gives additional points for number of carries for Running Backs and Pass Completions for Quarterbacks.  So, again, check your scoring format.
  • Other Scoring Variations:
    • Bonus Points – Some leagues give bonus points once players reach a certain threshold – 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing, 4 or more sacks on defense, etc.
    • Touchdown Only Leagues – There are leagues out there that only give points to teams when a player scores or throws a Touchdown.

Roster Make Up

Now, like the Scoring Format, the Roster Make Up is essential to understand in your league.  Let’s cover the essentials.

  • Number of Roster Spots – How many players can you have on your roster at one time?  Do you have an Injured Reserve Slot?  The number of roster spots corresponds to the number of rounds in a Draft.  Most leagues set a maximum roster limit that cannot be exceeded or that week’s lineup will be deemed illegal.  Leagues that allow Injured Reserve Slots typically require a player to be a certain injury designation to be in the slot or the lineup will be deemed illegal.
  • Number of Starters – Each league will have a different number of starters each week.  Plus, depending on the format, you may have to adjust your Draft strategy accordingly.
    • Standard Starter Roster:  A standard roster is 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Defense and 1 Kicker – this is the vanilla league that has a set number of starters.
    • Flex Spot:  Leagues like this will have 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex, 1 TE, 1 Defense, and 1 Kicker – the “Flex” spot can be any non-QB position player or RB/WR/TE.  Flexes give a team more flexibility in their starters and to not have to make as many tough choices each week.  Plus, the extra roster spot will provide more scoring overall.
    • Super Flex/2 QB League:  Some leagues allow teams to use a Quarterback in their Flex spot, now QBs score more than any other position, in general, so by default, “Super Flex” leagues become 2 QB leagues.  The Draft will be a lot more QB heavy than other standard starter or flex rosters.
    • All Flex League:  This is one I want to try, as well, where the roster can be 1 QB, then 5 Flex Spots made up of any RB/WR/TE in those 5 slots, plus the 1 Defense and 1 Kicker
    • 3 WR League:  This is just having one additional WR in lieu of a Flex spot – more typical in PPR leagues – 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Defense, and 1 Kicker
    • IDP Leagues:  This format is less common, but again more interesting since you focus on both sides of the ball.  IDP stands for Individual Defensive Player, and typically requires teams to Draft at least 1 IDP or often 1 IDP at 3 levels – Defensive Line, Linebacker and Secondary – so Starters would look like – 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 3 IDP and 1 Kicker.  Scoring formats for IDP should be reviewed closely, as huge points come for Sacks, Fumbles Recovered, and Interceptions, but high tackle linebackers rack up points easily.
  • Bench Spots and Position Limits – Some league fix the Bench, in terms of how many of each position you can hold.  I do not like those leagues, but what can you do.  I prefer the flexibility of holding on my bench players I want in lieu of holding less desirable spots like a 2nd defense or kicker.

Roster Management

Each league is different on how it allows teams to add, drop and trade players.  Here are some examples.

  • Waiver Wire – After the Draft, teams will need to adjust their rosters based on injuries or suspensions or just poor performance.  The undrafted players sit in a Pool available for any team willing to pick them up.  Most leagues run waivers at a set time (like 2 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of a given week).  In order to pick someone up from the Pool, you have to Drop a player to maintain the Roster Limit.
    • Weekly Waiver Order – Some leagues use the reverse league standings to determine who gets to pick up a player first off of the Waiver Wire.  Other leagues may use the Draft Order that only changes once a team makes a pickup putting that selecting team to the back of the waiver order line.  I did have one league that was literally a first come, first serve basis at 2 AM on Tuesday (which meant after Monday Night Football) – it was crazy.
    • Pick Ups After Waivers – Most leagues will allow you to pick up players after the Waivers are run up until kickoff of a given game, as long as the player was not just dropped from a line up.  That player may have to be held on Waivers for another 24 hours so everyone gets a chance to claim him, in the Waiver Order again.  Otherwise, players can be picked up at any time until kickoff.
    • Costs – Most leagues will charge you an amount for each Add or Drop or both.  Those costs go towards the end of year prize pool.
  • FAAB – In lieu of Waivers, another method of picking up players is the FAAB or “Free Agent Allowance Budget” system, which much like an Auction Draft gives each team an annual budget to spend on Free Agents each year.  Prior to the deadline for pick ups, each team can make a “Bid” on the Free Agent from their budget.  The highest bidder will get the player.  FAAB is the preferred method, since Waiver priority is given to teams at the bottom of the standings.  FAAB gives every team equal shot at getting the best Free Agents early in the season.  After the FAAB Budget process runs, then some leagues just have a normal waiver pick up process for lesser sought after Free Agents or allow $0 bids for those players.  Now, managing the FAAB budget is essential to success and we will discuss strategy during the season, as top players are available.
  • Best Ball Leagues – Now, there are a prevalence of leagues now that are called “Best Ball” leagues, which means that you draft your team at the start of the year, and you do not have to make weekly starting decisions. Each week, your best performances at each position will be counted towards your total. So, for example, if the “Starting Slots” are 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Defense and 1 Kicker, and you have double that number at each position on your roster, then the Top QB, Top 2 RBs, Top 2 WRs, Top TE, DST and Kicker will be counted towards the match up. I’ve never done this format, but I can see the appeal. It is helpful to not make the wrong activation each week, plus if you have injuries, then the format just takes care of that.  Now, in these leagues, there often is not a waiver wire pick up process, so the rosters may be larger than other leagues.
  • Trades – The other main way teams can change mid-season or in a dynasty format long term is via trade.  Teams can trade multiple players for one stud in some formats or even future picks in dynasty formats.  In most leagues, trades have to be either voted on by the league or approved/vetoed by the Commish to prevent outright collusion.  It is not a good idea to trade non-league items like cash or materials like stereos for fantasy rostered players.  Most leagues impose a Trade Deadline by which all trades must be approved prior to the end of the regular season.  We will discuss trading at length during the season.

League Size

The last element of a Fantasy League is the number of teams or size of the league.  In general, the smaller the league the stronger the teams and also the depth of the waiver wire.  Smaller leagues are called shallow leagues, since the number of players utilized or needed to know are less.  While the larger or “deeper” leagues take a greater knowledge of the league and in some cases players that are not readily known even to the most experienced fantasy player.  I’m in a 14-team league, and the rosters are never great, plus one key injury can doom you.  So, in Drafting, it is important to adjust to the size of the league and be prepared for stretching yourself in deeper leagues.

Alright, so we have covered the basics of Fantasy Football.  Hopefully, now if we refer to a 14-Team, Super Flex, PPR League with 2 Keepers and a FAAB Budget using an Auction Draft and only 6 bench spots, then you will know what we are talking about.  It is like learning another language at first, but once you dive in, then in a week or two, you will get the gist.

I’m going to use the next couple of weeks to get into some Draft Strategies and then my Top 150 lists for Standard and PPR, so you can do well on your Draft.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Wegs

About the author

I'm a 49 year old, twice divorced guy with a 20 year old. The blog has morphed a bit lately. Not just sports or dating, social commentary and now some stories from my past experience.