Fantasy Football: Everything You Need to Know
What is fantasy football? In this article, we’ll cover everything that you need to know about how to play fantasy football, and some additional tips to help you get off to a fast start in your first fantasy football league.
Fantasy football is a game in which players act as the general managers of virtual professional football teams. The most common typical fantasy football leagues include 10 general managers, each with their own teams. The game typically involves drafting players from the pool of available players in the National Football League (NFL) and then using those players to compete against other fantasy teams (and their respective general managers). Here is a general overview of how to play fantasy football on a week-to-week basis:
How to Play Fantasy Football in 7 Steps:
- Join a league: You can join a public league or create a private league with friends or coworkers. Some of the most popular fantasy football sites/apps include: Sleeper Fantasy, ESPN, and NFL Fantasy Football
- Draft your team: Each player in the league drafts a team of real-life NFL players. The order in which players are drafted is usually determined by a random draw or by the reverse of the previous year’s standings (Dynasty Leagues). Sizzle Fantasy Sports has all of the information you need regarding how to attack your fantasy football league draft.
- Set your lineup: Each week, you will need to set your lineup for the upcoming games. This involves choosing which players will be in your starting lineup and which will be on your bench. A typical fantasy football league lineup includes a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, defense, kicker, and flex (can be a running back, wide receiver or a tight end). More advanced settings can be created to satisfy league needs for experienced groups.
- Score points: Players score points based on their real-life performance on the field. For example, a quarterback earns points for passing yards and touchdowns, while a running back may earn points for rushing yards and touchdowns. There are three main types of scoring in fantasy football: PPR, Half PPR, and Standard. PPR leagues award 1 point for each reception that a player accumulates and 0.1 points per yard gained (non-quarterbacks). The same rules apply for Half PPR, except only 0.5 points are awarded for each catch. Standard formats award the same amount of points for yardage gained, but do not award points for making a catch. In all of these league formats, quarterbacks are awarded 1 point for every 25 yards gained and 4 points for each passing touchdown. Players who score rushing or receiving touchdowns are awarded 6 points per touchdown.
- Make trades: You can make trades with other teams in your league to try to improve your team. Trading is a strategic process, and different positions have different value to lineups depending on the scoring format. Be sure to thoroughly evaluate trade offers before sending or accepting fantasy football trades.
- Make waiver claims: If you want to add a player to your team who is not already owned by another team, you can make a waiver claim. The waiver process allows teams to add players who are not currently owned in the league. Make sure to make your weekly waiver wire claims before the end of the day on Tuesday. Early on Wednesday morning, the waiver wire transactions process and the top players who were available will most likely be picked up by another fantasy football manager’s team.
- Make playoffs: At the end of the regular season, the top teams in the league typically make the playoffs. The playoffs are usually a single-elimination tournament that culminates in the championship game (Super Bowl). The winner of the championship game is crowned the league champion and in some cases, may receive a prize. The last place team in the league may also face some sort of punishment for their poor performance.
Want More?
Get everything you need to become a better fantasy football player at Sizzle Fantasy Sports. We will teach you how to become a better fantasy football player and go far beyond the surface of how to play fantasy football. SFS prides itself on being the most interactive and personalized source of fantasy football content and creates informational guides to get you access to everything that you need to know to maximize your fantasy football season.
