Fantasy Football – A Beginner’s Guide

If you want to join your office league or but don’t know anything and don’t want to be laughed at, this is the post for you!

Here are some basic guidelines for choosing a team as the next 2 weeks are prime draft days. Keep in mind you take my advice with a grain of salt. I have never won a standard fantasy league but I also have not lost. These are the basic steps, rules and tips for those of you who want to be involved in your office pool but don’t want to face the punishment of losing!

The Basics:

• Every week you will have an active team (9 players) and a bench. Your active team will have: 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, TE, 1 Flex, Defense and K. You will then have 6 players on your bench.
  • A flex player can be RB, WR or TE

• You will be required to draft your players on a certain day before any NFL games start. Last day to draft is 9/4 (the day before the 1^st NFL game: Packers at Bears).

• Typically the draft is a snake draft format meaning if you are 1^st to draft in round 1 then you will be last in round 2. In the mock draft above I had to wait until pick 13 for my 1st player but then I got to draft 2 turns later for my 2nd player.
  • Do NOT auto draft! You will get screwed. You can technically set your preferences but it’s not dynamic enough to really let you succeed.
  • I highly recommend doing a couple of mock drafts on whatever website (CBS, Yahoo, ESPN, etc) you are actually going to play on. This lets you get the hang of it without the pressure and you can even practice picking from your draft spot.
• Most leagues are head-to-head leagues which means you will be facing another person’s team every week in match-ups. You win the match-ups by scoring the most points with your active team (not counting your bench) compared to your opponent.
  • There are 13 weeks in a typical season and the rest (week 14 – 16) is considered ‘playoffs’. Typically, you only make playoffs if you are in the top 4 by win record. Then the #1 seed will play the #4 and #2 will play #3 in the same format as the season but each round will last 2 weeks.
  • If you’re in a bigger league, they can take up to 6 teams with the #1 and #2 seeds getting a bye.
• Scoring: (this is standard scoring – your commissioner can change this)
  • 1 point for 25 passing yards
  • 1 point for 10 rushing yards
  • 1 point for 10 receiving yards
  • 6 points for TD
  • 4 points for passing TD
  • -2 points for turnover (interception or fumble lost_
  • 1 point for every extra point
  • 3 points for a FG (up to 39 yards)
  • 4 points for a FG (40 – 49 yards)
  • 5 points for a FG (50+ yards)
  • 2 points for turnover recovered by defense
  • 6 points scored by defense
  • 2 points for a blocked kick
• After the draft, you can (and should) trade players. You can swap out players on your roster for available players pretty easily unless another person has already done so. You can also trade with fellow players but that can be tricky! If it’s a highly sought after player, they can charge you multiple players for their one!
  • Teams have a deadline by which you can trade for the week, which varies depending on your commissioner’s rules, but they have to be done by the first game of the week (usually Thursday night).
• If you are watching games on Sunday (or Thursday or Monday) with your bf and someone gets injured… PAY ATTENTION! Especially to his back up. Players that seem worthless at draft time can be invaluable if they all of a sudden become a starter. But you have to be quick, others will be doing the same thing. Get on your app and request the player so you can be early on the waiver wire.
  • Don’t know who their back up is? That’s what depth charts are for.
• It is also customary to come up with a clever fantasy team name. This can be a pun on player’s names (Ertz So Good), coach’s name (Better Belichick yourself Before you Wreck Yourself) or a team name (Root of all Eagle). Here are some of my favorites that I have seen this year:
  • Hot Chubb Time Machine
  • Shake it Goff
  • Zeke and Destroy
  • Oh Saquon You See
  • Bend it like Beckham Jr
  • Guns & Rosen
  • Dak to the Future
  • Le’Veon a Prayer
  • Turn Down for Watt
  • Ladies and Edelman
  • and every guy’s favorite….Eiferted (pronounced I fehrted)

Draft Tips:

Drafting is the most crucial part of Fantasy Football. It can make or break you. No pressure right? Here are some tips I have learned (sometimes the hard way) to make draft day a little less stressful.

• Wait on QBs!
  • This is such a hard thing to do, especially if you don’t know a lot about football because these players are the names you know best. But it is key to wait! The most common rookie mistake is to take a QB as your first pick (or your second).
  • The reason? Because all QBs will give you a ton of points per game. They touch the ball every play. Good options will be left in the later rounds, even if you’re the last one to take a QB.
  • I try to wait until at the earliest round 5 to take a QB. Don’t be alarmed when Patrick Mahomes from the Chiefs gets taken early because he will.
• So if not a QB, who do you take first?
  • Short Answer: A RB!
  • The RB is (in most leagues) the one who determines who wins or loses your match-up that week. First of all, you pick 2 for your roster when most NFL teams feature 1 with 2 WRs on most plays. This means there are fewer RBs to go around that will get a significant amount of touches (~25 per game). Even good WRs only get 5ish catches.
  • Recommended paths (1st round/2nd round/3rd round): RB/RB/WR or RB/WR/RB
  • Don’t want to think about it? This Washington Post article has a step by step guide on how to pick your top 3 depending on who is left.
• Last picks?
  • Kickers (‘K’) and Defenses. Kickers don’t score a lot of points comparatively with the rest of your team. There is very little difference points-wise for your fantasy team between the #1 kicker and the last in the league. Kicker production also varies season to season depending on how many times their team doesn’t score. Think about it, most coaches would rather score a TD than a FG, so the kicker won’t score you points unless its absolutely necessary.
  • Defenses also don’t give a ton of points. That being said, every once in a while a game will get crazy and the defense will get a fumble recovery but these are too hard to predict.
• Pick safe options first, risk it later
  • Your first 2 picks are the most important (no pressure!) because these will determine your team’s success for the season. Other people, especially those who have played before, will use their first 2 picks very wisely and you will be starting from behind if you don’t.
  • Take a risk on random players later rather than sticking with normally mediocre players. Here is where high risk high reward can pay off.
• Draft a backup for your standout
  • If your first pick was a standout RB, then you will need a backup RB. This reduces your risk if your star gets injured or has a bye week. 33% of RBs drafted in first round drafts (from 2016 – 2018) got injured at some point in the season. Take multiple RBs!
  • That being said, a backup QB isn’t hugely important like RBs and WRs are because the chances of them playing (and producing the same amount of points) is slim
• As far as picking backups:
  • All things being equal, chose a younger RB with less mileage on them (this is besides the huge stars). RBs tend to take a lot of hits and therefore it’s a younger position. 2.5 rookies average in the top 12 by the end of their rookie years.
  • Every other position: Avoid rookies. A rushing rookie QB is ok (not great but ok). WRs: Stay away from rookies! IF they get on the field, the chance of them doing well consistently is slim. Only 3 WRs in the last 7 years came out as a rookie to move up to WR1.
• I try not to draft players from the same team since they will all have the same bye week which means they will all give you 0 points on the same week. 
•  Resources
  • Depth Charts
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Tiers for each positions

Other tips:

• Play your match ups
  • What do I mean by this? Play your players who are facing a notoriously bad team. Teams playing bad teams tend to produce more offensive points (and therefore more points for you). So if you’re torn on who to play from your bench, play the player who has the worse opponent.
  • This should be used if you’re evaluating 2 roughly equal players. Do NOT bench whoever you used your first pick on in lieu of a player with a weak opponent.

• Don’t forget to swap out your guys who have bye weeks.
  • This is a tip more for the middle of the season and sounds self-explanatory. But when work gets crazy, it’s easy to forget to change your lineup. This means you need to be wary of who plays on what days. Keep in mind, especially around the holidays, games are played on odd days.
  • Typical NFL days: Thursday, Sunday and Monday (Monday is listed last as that game counts towards the previous week’s games).
• Stay patient!
  • If your first round pick has a rough couple of weeks, don’t give up on him. Things to consider after a slow start: your stars’ health, his O-line’s health and # of touches
    • If his O-Line has a bunch of injuries meaning younger ‘greener’ talent, then that means your stars’ blocks will not be as efficient, making it harder for him to get a run started.
  • If your star’s O-Line’s health or his health is spotty then it might be good to trade him. But don’t do so cheaply! If you spent your first pick on him then you should be able to get some major players in a trade.
• Do not get too attached to your drafted team. The best teams make changes! This especially is true from season to season. You do not win your league at your draft!
  • Feel free to use that to your advantage too if you want to trade with another person. If you know they are an Oklahoma Sooner fan, you know most likely they will trade you for a previous Oklahoma player for more than they are worth.
• Play more for ‘the here and now’ than you think. Winning your match-up week after week will give you a chance to make the playoffs and most importantly, will keep you from losing the league.
  • Another important note before you join a fantasy league is that most work leagues have a punishment for getting last! I have heard of multiple horrifying punishments. Some examples: taking the SAT (with a minimum required score), taking professional photos for a nude-y calendar, wearing something embarrassing to the office, having something inappropriate on your car until next year’s draft, etc.

Terminology:

• ADP (Average Draft Position) – the average place a certain player is usually drafted. You should come across this in your research for your draft and see it during mock drafts
• Bench – the 6 players that will not contribute points to your team that week
• Bye week – when a player has the week off (aka their NFL team isn’t playing)
• Commissioner – the person in charge of the league
• Depth chart – the order of each position on a NFL team. Starters vs backups
• Draft – how your team is picked
• Drop – when you let a player go from your team
• Flex player – a player that can be a RB, WR, or TE
• Free Agent – a player who is not currently on a team
• Mock Draft – a practice draft
• PPR (‘Points-Per-Reception’) – This is a scoring method in fantasy football to make WRs and TE (or RBs who catch) give you more points. Usually full point or half points per reception.
• Roster – players on a team
• Sleeper – a player that will exceed expectations of his draft slot
• Targets – the number of times a player is given the ball by the QB
• Waiver Wire – a temporary freeze on a player that indicates someone has picked up that player. The person with the highest waiver priority gets the player.
  • Usually the last person in the draft gets the 1^st rank in the waiver wire

What if there are letters next to your players’ name?

• D – Doubtful
• IR – Injured Reserve
• O – Out
• P – Probable
• Q – Questionable
• SSPD – Suspended

Top Pick Recommendations:

These are the projected top 10 scorers in each position according to ESPN. If they are ranked in the ESPN Top 50 overall projected players, they are marked with the solid bullets. The players with hallow bullets are outside of the top 50 (notice how they’re all RBs and WRs – take that hint!)

• QB – Patrick Mahomes,
  • DeShaun Watson, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Baker Mayfield, Carson Wentz, Andrew Luck, Dak Prescott and Drew Brees
• RB – Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley II, Joe Mixon, Dalvin Cook and Nick Chubb
• WR – DeAndrea Hopkins, Michael Thomas, Davante Adams, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, Tyreek Hill, Juju Smith-Schuster, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans and Keenan Allen
• TE – Travis Kelcee, George Kittle, Zach Ertz
  • Evan Engram, OJ Howard, Hunter Henry, Jared Cook, Vance McDonald, David Njoku, Delaine Walker

No Kicker/Defense is in the Top 50.

• K – Greg Zuerlein, Justin Tucker, Wil Lutz, Harrison Butker, Stephen Gostkowski, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Robbie Gould, Mike Badgley, Adam Vinatieri and Brett Maher
• D – Bears, Jags, Bills, Rams, Vikings, Saints, Chargers, Patriots, Colts and Titans

Notable players that are injured right now: Kareem Hunt (RB) – potentially 8 games, Golden Tate (WR) – concussion protocol 4 games, Andrew Luck (QB) – ankle problems Doubtful week 1, DK Metcalf (WR) – knee surgery Doubtful week 1. For the full list: click here. Just because players are sitting out preseason, doesn’t mean they are not ready to play. 

Should you be afraid to draft guys who are in the middle of disputes right now? *COUGH* Ezekiel Elliott and Antonio Brown *COUGH*

• I would not be. Elliott is rumored to be back in Dallas although still ironing out his contract. Brown is still appealing the helmet issue but that could be resolved any day now. Plus these 2 are huge potential points, so I wouldn’t give up on them just yet

Don’t be THAT guy…

• Don’t quit your league. This makes it less fun for everyone
• Be on time for your draft. If you’re not then when it is your turn, the full time has to run out before the draft can go on. This makes it take sooooo long.
• Don’t team up with other players – this gets other players very angry.
• Don’t take forever to respond to a trade request. Even if you’re turning it down, most people understand. They just need to be able to move on.
• Don’t make an insane number of crazy trades. Talk about a way to make your commissioner mad because they have to approve trades!
• Don’t forget to pay up! That’s just good manners for life.

Data gotten from Ultimate Draft Kit, rotowire.com, ESPN Fantasy, Yahoo Fantasy, Washington Post, NFL