Newcomer’s Guide to Fantasy Football
What you’ll need to know going into your first Fantasy Football draft
The Basics
What is Fantasy Football? In Fantasy Football, players compete by selecting individual offensive players they believe will rack up the most game stats throughout the NFL season.
It really is that simple. But, let’s break it down just a touch further because the last thing you want to feel come Draft Day is sheer and uncontrollable panic.
The Draft
In the Draft you will be selecting the NFL players that you and you alone will have on your roster throughout your whole season. The Fantasy Football draft is exactly like the real NFL Draft. You need to find the best talent for your team before the other guys find it.
Most leagues are “Snake Drafts”, meaning everyone picks in a predetermined order, (i.e.: 1 through 10) and then turns back around and picks in the reverse order (10 through 1) so the owner picking last will then be the first to pick in the second round to keep things as “fair” as possible.
You will have the pick of every skill position player in the NFL. Seems easy, but you have to remember that all of the other teams probably want the same superstars as you do.
“How Many Players Do I Pick?”
This depends on your league settings. Usually you’ll draft 14 skill positions, a D/ST (Defense/Special Teams) and a Kicker for your Roster. But, you will not play every single player every single week.
While you draft 16 players, not all of their scores will count every week. Just like in real football your roster will be broken in two parts: your Bench and your Starters. Think of your Starters as just that, your starters. They’re the ones who’s scores will count. Think of your Bench as your backups in case one of your players get hurt or have a Bye week. More on this next.
“Which Players Can I Pick?”
During the Draft owners will select a mix of skill position players (QB/RB/WR/TE) from whatever mix of NFL teams they choose. That’s right. You can have the QB for the Arizona Cardinals and the RB from the Miami Dolphins. You do not have to pick players from the same team.
“Can I pick players from the same team?”
Yes you may. But, most seasoned Fantasy players will want to spread the risk/reward. If you’re a Cowboys fan and Dak Prescott has a horrible game and you have ALL the Cowboys players, you’ll have a horrible game. That doesn’t mean you should avoid drafting a great player because you already have a player from another team…just don’t get carried away with your fandom.
“Can I pick a bunch of QB’s and just play them since they consistently score a bunch of Fantasy Points?”
No. Your Fantasy team is set up to mimic a real NFL team. You only have one or two slots to play each position. Most leagues will be constructed to look something like this:
1 QB
2 RBs
2 WRs
1 TE
1 FLEX (your choice of RB/WR/TE)
1 Defensive Team
1 Kicker
That does not mean that should be the order in which you draft your players, or that you have to necessarily fill your starters before filling your bench. But, again…it’s usually the most balanced teams that have the most success.
“How Does Scoring Work?”
In Fantasy score is based on each NFL player’s personal game stats, not the score of the NFL game they’re playing in. The NFL team your player is on can lose miserably and your player can still score handsomely if he had a big stat game. Again…Fantasy Football is all about each individual player’s personal game stats and not the win/loss total of the real NFL team they play for.
You score points based on how many touchdowns, yards and in PPR leagues (“Point Per Reception”) how many catches your player has. Your Quarterback gains points based on how many touchdowns and yards they throw or run for. The amount of points per star will change per league. So be sure to look into the Rules on whatever site or app you are drafting in, or ask the person who invited you to break down the scoring rules.
Ex: WR catches 5 passes for 20 Yards, and scores a touchdown
PPR Format: 5 + 2 + 6 = 13
Standard format: 2 + 6 = 8
Side note: Players can also lose points if they fumble, lose yards or throw interceptions.
“How Do You Win?”
Winning and losing is just like the football season. You will play head to head against another owner in your league. Whoever’s team has racked up the most player stats that week (the first play in Thursday Night Football through the last play in Monday Night Football) wins.
You will play a different owner each next week, and depending on your Win/Loss record by the end of the regular season…you will be seeded in the playoffs which will operate the same way.
You need to hear this: Your head-to-head (aka weekly) performance matters more to your record then your overall score total!
“How Do I Know Who To Pick?”
The Average Draft Position (ADP) is going to be your best friend during your Draft. The name really says it all…it is the average order that players are selected in drafts based on last year’s Fantasy Football performance and the scoring projection they carry this year.
“I watch football, why don’t I just pick the players I know are the best?”
You are free to do that. But, sometimes real NFL success doesn’t directly translate to Fantasy Football. Why? Because as many wins as Tom Brady will lead the Patriots to this year…Tom Brady does not necessarily accumulate the most game stats…which is how your Fantasy team scores points.
“Should I just pick whichever player is left at the top of the ADP list when it’s my turn to pick?”
That is one strategy. But, if you keep snagging WRs because they’re at the top of the list, you are going to be stuck starting crappy RB’s and a bench full of good but unusable WR’s. You really want to think about your Fantasy roster like you would a real team. It is totally fine to be a better running or receiving team…but it is best to be balanced or at least decent on the weaker end.
“It looks like QBs score the most points the most often…why not pick them first?”
Again. People do in fact do this. But, the truth is there are a lot of QBs that will score a lot of points and so you want to spend those early picks on positions (like RB and WR) where it helps immensely to have the more elusive superstars.
“Besides This Article, How Can I Get Ready?”
Have you ever been invited to play a board or card game that you’ve never played before? You know that moment when all of the rules and strategy finally click…just as the game is ending? Frustrating right?
You don’t want that feeling when you are drafting your Fantasy Football team for the first time. To mitigate this as much as possible you’ll want to:
A) Watch a Mock Draft:
You’ll hear some strategy, see how the flow works and learn some major Do’s and Don’ts. Do you really want to watch people talk about Fantasy Football for an hour? Mehh. Sure beats the pain of giving up on your Fantasy team and hearing the trash talk pour in for the rest of the football season.
B) Do a Mock Draft:
Nothing is better than hands on practice. While you may not be playing against other players, the computer will do a fine job keeping things realistic. You need to see what might happen in your draft so you aren’t caught completely off guard come Draft Day.
Tips:
Set the exact amount of owners will be in your league (10 vs 12)
AND Set the Draft position you will be picking in (i.e.: 2nd)
“So We’ve Drafted…Now What?”
Congrats on completing your first draft. Hope you had fun. So now what?
As previously mentioned…you have your Starters (AKA your Lineup) and your Bench. Your job as a team owner is now to select the best Lineup to compete every single week….EVERY SINGLE WEEK. If you drafted well, you will most likely have a core part of your team that will only change in the event of Injury or Bye Weeks and only a few players that you may be switching out based on the weekly match ups.
Once the NFL team that your player plays for kicks off (be it on Thursday Night or Sunday Morning)…that player is locked in whatever position they are in and cannot be moved or swapped out no matter what. That means you will want to check your lineup before the games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday to make sure your Lineup is set properly.
“How do I know who to start?”
While it would be great if we were all able to spend a good chunk of time digging into Cornerback vs Wide Receiver or Pass Rushing vs Quarterback numbers…the information today’s Fantasy Football players are automatically given is amazing. Your Fantasy Football app will most likely give you a Projection on how many points your players (and your opponents’ players) will most likely score.
They aren’t always right. But, they’ll give you a good idea on what you can expect without having to dig into the raw data across the internet.
“Am I Stuck With The Players I Drafted?”
Nope! Just like in the Football, there is a Waiver Wire where available players can be snatched up by your league. In Fantasy Football this runs once a week, and owners can “Claim” players on leading up to whenever Waivers close. In most leagues Waivers will close early Wednesday morning…which means you’ll want to Claim your player on Tuesday to have a chance at your guy.
“Chance? Can’t I just pick whoever I want?”
No, there is a set Waiver Order. Leagues will either swap around the Waiver Order based on who lost (with losers picking first) or allow people who haven’t used a Waiver pick to pick first (so if you pick up a player one week, you move to the back of the rotation the next)
“What if I like my Lineup after my draft, can’t I just set it and forget it?”
Sure you can…if you want to pretend like injuries don’t happen in the NFL, or that you have all the superstars on your team already and there’s no way a player comes out of no where this year that you could snag off of Waivers, or that the defense your player is up against isn’t an unstoppable force.
You need to stay on top of your team, and the available players floating around your Waiver Wire. News happens fast in the NFL. Fortunately, the Fantasy Football app you are using probably tells you if your player is Questionable or Doubtful for a game thanks to injury, or if they are projected significantly lower or higher from one week to the next.
“Can you trade players?”
You most definitely can. Just be careful here…the fact that you are a new Fantasy player puts a big “I’m a Sucker” sign on your back. Before you accept a trade, be sure to check online sources, stats and maybe even a friend you trust to make sure you aren’t getting taken advantage of by a weaselly vet.
“But What If I Still Feel Like I Don’t Know What I’m Doing…”
It is 2019...Google it. Seriously, there are thousands of YouTube videos, Podcasts, websites and articles talking about Fantasy Football. If you have a question, someone will have an answer. It may not be the right one, but at the end of the day Fantasy Football is a game of luck and odds.
So good luck.
