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The
Beginner’s Guide provides useful information to assist those that are new to
fantasy football. You will learn about
the basic rules, strategy, and terms used in fantasy football.
Fantasy Football is a contest in which your team of pro football players receives points based on the players’ actual statistics from pro football games. There are typically 10 to 14 teams in a fantasy football league, with each person in the league owning one team. Prior to the start of the pro football season, a draft or auction is held to distribute the pro players amongst the fantasy football teams. Typically, each pro player can be on only one fantasy team. Fantasy team owners select quarterbacks, runningbacks, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, and team defenses. (some leagues use individual defensive players instead of a team defense)
Each week of the pro football
season, the fantasy teams are required to submit a starting lineup. These are the players that will count
towards the weekly scoring for the fantasy team. The rules will specify a starting lineup requiring a certain
number of players at each position. The
players score fantasy points for accumulating statistics, such as touchdowns,
yards, and receptions. After the Monday
Night football game, the fantasy points are totaled for each team. In head-to-head play, each fantasy team
plays against another fantasy team in the league. The team that scores more fantasy points that week receives a
win, with the other team suffering a loss.
In total points play, each fantasy team is only interested in their
season total of fantasy points.
Most leagues play a head-to-head
schedule for 12 to 14 weeks. Following
the regularly scheduled games, the teams with the top won/loss records advance
to the playoffs. Four, or sometimes six
teams advance to the playoffs, in which they play against each other to
determine the final rankings. Prize
money is then awarded based on these final rankings. In the Phenoms Fantasy Football Leagues, prize money is awarded
to the top three teams, as well as the team with the most total fantasy points
scored from weeks one through sixteen.
During the season, team owners may
make transactions to alter their roster.
They may add and drop players between weeks, depending on the league’s
rules. They may also trade players with
other teams in the league. This
in-season management is crucial to producing a winning team.
The
draft is one way for a league to distribute the players amongst the teams. The draft order is randomly determined for
the first round. The second round of
the draft follows the reverse order of the first round. Team A that picks first in round one, will
pick last in round 2. This is called a
serpentine or snake draft. The purpose
is to make the draft process fair to all teams, allowing each team an equal
chance to build a successful team. The
odd numbered rounds follow the same order as round one, and the even numbered
rounds follow the same order as round two.
The total number of rounds will match the roster requirements for the
league.
The draft starts with the first team
selecting a pro football player. Each
team then follows in order, selecting a player that has not yet been
selected. The time limit for each
selection to be made depends on the rules.
For Live Drafts, the timer is set to 3 minutes. All participants in the draft are online at
the same time, watching the draft unfold and making their picks. For Slow Drafts, the timer is set to 18
hours. Each team owner should check the
website at least once a day to follow the progress of the draft, and make a
pick when it’s his turn. Live Drafts
typically take 3 to 3.5 hours, while Slow Drafts take 2 to 3 weeks. The benefit to Slow drafts is that all of
the owners don’t have to be online at the same time.
The draft is completed when all of
the picks have been made. Teams may
trade draft picks and players during the draft in the effort to better their
team. After the draft is complete, owners
may make other transactions prior to the start of the season.
The auction is another way for a league to distribute the players
amongst the teams. Each fantasy team is
given an equal amount of money with which to bid on players. One player is nominated for bidding at a
time, and all teams may bid on that player.
After a set amount of time has passed without any new bids, the player
is awarded to the highest bidding team.
Each player may only be nominated one time. Teams may not bid more than their remaining amount of money. In the Phenoms Leagues, teams must also keep
$1 free for each open roster spot, so that they will be able to fill their
rosters at the auction. The nomination
order is randomly determined and serpentine, like a draft. Teams may start each nomination at the
minimum bid, usually $1. Bidding is
done in whole dollar increments. The
auction continues until all teams have filled their roster. Phenoms FF utilizes the software developed
by www.fantasyauctioneer.com to
conduct auctions. This software makes
it easy for team owners to nominate players, make bids, and manage their
allotted bidding money. Typically,
Phenoms FF auctions take 3 hours to conduct online.
The football positions used in
fantasy football include quarterback (QB), runningback (RB), wide receiver
(WR), tight end (TE), kicker (K), and team defense/special teams (D/ST). Some leagues split up the defense and
special teams. Some don’t separate the
TE from the WR position, and some use individual defensive players (IDP)
instead of a team defense.
The roster is the group of players
owned by a particular fantasy team.
Typically, the roster size is 14 to 18 players, but it can vary
depending on the league. Most leagues
set a maximum number of players that can be on a roster, and some leagues set a
minimum as well. Some leagues also set
a positional maximum to prevent some teams from stockpiling players at one
particular position.
The starting lineup is the set of
players from the roster whose statistics count towards the team’s fantasy
points each week. The players on the
roster that aren’t in the starting lineup do not count towards a team’s score
for that particular week. Leagues set
positional requirements for the starting lineup that each team must meet. Typically, a starting lineup requirement is
1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 D/ST.
There are many variations, including a flex position. The flex position can be filled by a RB or
WR, giving the team owner more options when deciding on a starting lineup.
The roster maximum is larger than
the starting lineup requirement for several reasons. Players may be injured, or on a bye (no game that week), and thus
the team owner decides to keep them out of the lineup. A player may also not be playing up to
expectations, and thus another player may be started in his place.
The scoring system is how player
statistics are converted to fantasy points.
Scoring categories include, but are not limited to, passing yards,
rushing yards, receiving yards, touchdowns, receptions, interceptions, fumbles
lost, and two point conversions. Bonus
points are sometimes given for yardage benchmarks: 300 yards passing in a game,
100 yards rushing or receiving. For
kickers, categories include field goals made and PATs (extra points). Sometimes, bonuses are given for longer
field goals. Categories for team
defense/special teams include: points allowed, yards allowed, interceptions,
fumble recoveries, safeties, and returns for touchdowns. Individual defensive players score points
for tackles, assists, sacks, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, interceptions,
passes defended, touchdowns, and safeties.
Scoring systems vary in the
categories used, as well as the number of points awarded in each category. Some leagues score using decimals, while
others round to whole numbers. It is
important to analyze the scoring system to help determine which players will
score well in the system. Phenoms FF
uses three different scoring systems: Basic, Bonus, and IDP. These can be found in the rules
section.
Most leagues play in a head-to-head
(H2H) format. The schedule is set prior
to the season, with each team facing another team in the league each week. Often, the fantasy season consists of 12 to
14 weeks of H2H play. Each team submits
their lineup, and receives fantasy points based on the performance of their
players that week. The team scoring
more fantasy points gets a win for the week.
Leagues are often broken into two, three, or four divisions. At the end of the fantasy regular season,
the top teams advance to the playoffs.
Division winners are often guaranteed a spot, and sometimes wildcard
teams (non-division winners with the top won/loss records) advance as
well. The league rules will specify
tiebreakers in case teams have the same record. Total points scored and head-to-head record are the most common
tiebreakers.
Changes can be made to your roster
in the off time between fantasy weeks. (Typically Tuesday to Saturday) There are three main ways in that a team
owner can drop and add players: waiver wire draft, blind bidding, and first
come, first served. Players that aren’t
on a roster are eligible to be added, provided the team owner drops a player to
avoid exceeding the roster maximum. A
waiver wire draft involves the team owners requesting players to be added. The team with the worst record gets first
choice, the 2nd worst record gets 2nd choice, and so
on. There may be one or multiple
rounds. This system helps the worse
teams by giving them first priority in adding players. Blind bidding is akin to a weekly auction
for free agents. All teams submit bids
on free agent players, and the highest bidder gets the player. In Blind Bidding leagues, teams have a set
amount of money or credits they can use during the season to acquire free
agents. This system gives all teams an
equal chance to acquire free agents.
First come, first served, means exactly that – the first team to request
a free agent gets the player. Some
leagues employ more than one of the systems mentioned.
The fantasy football league
playoffs are typically held in weeks 14 to 16 of the pro football regular
season. This is to ensure that all of
the players are still playing and giving a full effort. The playoffs determine the top finishers and
thus the prize money awards. From a
fantasy league of 12 teams, often four or six teams will make the
playoffs. These teams play head-to-head
for two or three weeks to determine the first, second, third, and fourth place
finishers. The playoff teams are
determined by their record in the regular season, with total points scored
breaking ties. Sometimes, head-to-head
record during the regular season is a tie-breaker. Leagues that are broken into divisions often award division
winners an automatic berth into the playoffs, and then select “wildcard” teams
based on their records. Prize money is
often awarded to the top three or four teams.
Sometimes, prize money is also awarded to the total points champion, the
team that scores the most points throughout the entire fantasy season.
There are three main types
of leagues that carry over from year to year.
In each of these leagues, some players remain on a team from roster from
one year to the next. All of them have
some sort of draft or auction in the off-season to redistribute the players
that aren’t on a roster. Most also have
a rookie draft, for teams to select the rookies entering pro football. There are numerous rules variations, but
most can be categorized into one of three types: Contract, Dynasty, or Keeper
Contract leagues require the owners
to assign a contract to each of the players on their roster. Each off-season, the contract is decreased
by one year. Players that had one year
remaining and thus decreased to zero years in the off-season are then eligible
to be drafted or auctioned by a new team.
Most leagues have some sort of cap on how many total contract years you
can have on your team. Others may cap
the total number of years a player can be signed.
Dynasty leagues allow an owner to
keep a player as long as desired. That
player will remain on the roster until traded or released. There is less roster turnover in dynasty
leagues, as players aren’t forced to become available to other teams.
Keeper leagues allow an owner to
keep a certain number of players each off-season. Typically, teams are allowed to keep between four and eight
players. In the off-season, each owner
must declare which players he is keeping, and the rest become available to be
drafted or auctioned.
The goal in fantasy football
is to score as many points as possible.
Thus, the goal of your draft should be to assemble the highest scoring
team. You will want to draft players
that score a lot points, but there are other factors to consider. You must start a certain number of players
at each position. Because everyone has
to start the same number at each position, you are really trying to draft
players that will greatly outscore other players at their position. You are not concerned with how players at
one position score relative to another position. This is called Value Based Drafting. Joe Bryant, one of the owners of footballguys.com, wrote the best
article on the topic: http://www.footballguys.com/05vbdrevisited.htm. To try to sum it up: Draft players that will
greatly outperform others at their position.
The more they outperform others at their position, the greater their
value. Create your rankings based on
value.
Another key to drafting is having an
understanding and expectation of when players will be drafted. You may rank player A really highly, but it
isn’t wise to draft him with your first pick when you can surely get him with
your second pick, and perhaps your third pick.
It is called “reaching” when you draft a player that would have been
available to you later in the draft.
Sometimes, it’s OK to reach, as long as your player does perform well,
and you might have had some uncertainty about his availability later.
Those are the two keys: having a
good rankings and anticipating where players will be drafted. If you draft for value, and don’t reach for
players, you will have a successful draft.
The only other words of advice I have are to fill out your key starting
lineup positions (QB, RB, WR, and TE) before drafting backups at those
positions. I don’t mean that you should
draft one of each, but rather the number that you will be required to start. In some instances, a player may be so
valuable that you feel you can’t pass him up, so it’s OK. Generally, I like to draft a solid starting
core of players and then draft backups.
Auction strategy is similar
to draft strategy in that you are trying to assemble the highest scoring
team. In addition to your rankings, you
need to put a dollar figure to player’s value.
Instead of knowing when a player will be drafted, you should try to
estimate how much he is worth to the rest of the league. Then, like any good bargain hunter, you want
to pay less for your players than you feel they are worth. Some factors you need to consider are the
total salary cap, the minimum bid per player, and whether or not you are
required to fill your roster. (this impacts how much money you can truly spend)
You will have some choices as to
your overall strategy. Do you want to
spend a lot on one or two players, and then very little on others? Perhaps you want a balanced and deep team,
and thus avoid the most expensive guys but spread your money more evenly. I think the best strategy lies somewhere
in-between. Just like in the draft, you
want to build a strong core of players.
I think it’s important to commit a good amount of your salary cap to
your starting players. If you leave too
much money for backups, your starting lineup won’t be strong enough to compete
with other teams. However, spending big
on two or more players can leave you without a strong starting core, as you’ll
be relying on just a few players. If
those guys don’t pan out, you are sunk. First, you should try to identify a few players that you have
ranked very highly that others may not be as high on. These are the star players that you should target, as you’ll be
able to get them for a little bit less.
Then, you should consider which positions are deeper and might offer
better value. Here, you might pass on
the highest priced players because the players just below them can be had for a
great bargain. Overall, I think balance
is the key: balancing stars with solid performers, and still leaving enough
money to have good enough backups to get you through the season.
There are three main functions for
owners during the season: submitting a starting lineup, adding/dropping
players, and trades. These take skill
and strategy, and are a key component to winning a fantasy league.
When submitting a starting lineup, the golden rule
is to always start your studs. You
drafted these guys early or paid a lot in the auction for a reason. They perform well week in and week out, no
matter what defenses they may be facing.
Stick with them, even if they’ve struggled in a game or two. However, you might have to make a switch if
they continually under perform. Don’t
overreact to one or two weeks, but three or more weeks are definitely a
trend. As for the marginal players, it
depends on the position as to whether or not I’ll rotate them. At RB and QB, I think it’s OK to use the
defensive matchup to help make your decision.
You know that on a pass play or run play, it’s that QB or RB that will
pass or run the ball. However, at WR,
it’s a harder decision. The team may
pass a lot, but it might not go to your WR.
So, with WRs, I try to avoid playing matchups and rather stick with one
guy that I feel is playing the best.
There will be weeks where I’ve got the wrong WR in, but it’s better than
starting the wrong one every week as I rotate them. When in doubt, start the players that have scored the most points
thus far. They are playing the best,
and you should expect and hope for that to continue. Finally, make sure you are aware of bye weeks and injuries. Getting zero points from an injured or off
player isn’t going win you any fantasy football games.
In between fantasy weeks, teams may drop players for
other players. There isn’t much
strategy behind this other than to pay attention and try to add valuable
players to your team. Don’t give up too
easily on players, but don’t pass up players that you think can help your team. One strategy that may be helpful is to be
willing to drop your backup kicker or defense to add a player at another
position, and then add a backup kicker or defense later on when you need
to. You need to consider what players
are typically available to be added each week, and as long as there are plenty
of kickers out there, having a backup kicker isn’t very important.
Trading is an acquired skill, but it can be very
beneficial to your team. One way to get
trades done is to find ways for both teams to benefit. Suppose you have great depth at QB, while
another has great depth at WR.
Naturally, trading a QB for a WR can help both teams. You should estimate how the trade will
impact your starting lineup and your trading partners. Perhaps using average points to date, see
how much the trade will improve or hinder your starting lineups. If you want to trade, I recommend being the
initiator. Get things going by emailing
offers to other owners in your league.
However, be careful about making very lowball offers, as the other owner
may simply dismiss you as a rip-off artist and refuse to trade with you.
This page is intended to get you started and
provide a basic understanding of how fantasy football works. As your interest grows, and your appetite
for more information increases, I highly recommend visiting: www.footballguys.com. They are the premiere website for fantasy
football knowledge. Don’t forget to
check out the free
player projections here at Phenoms Fantasy Football. For a great listing of all types of fantasy
football sites, visit: http://www.ffbookmarks.com.