What is Fantasy Football
So here's the Wikipedia summation of Fantasy Football
Fantasy football is an interactive, virtual competition in which people manage professional football players versus one another and that allows people to act as general managers of a pseudo-football team. The players that an individual is able to manage are professional American Football players in the National Football League. The different actions people are able to make are drafting, trading, adding/dropping players, and changing rosters. Due to the growth of the Internet, fantasy football has become far more popular in America today than ever before.
Ok, that's fair enough but it doesn't really explain it and what's involved. Never fear! I will talk you through a season from start to finish and attempt to explain how it works. Everything from picking a squad to Waiver's, cuts, trades and play-offs! This is based on the NFL fantasy league that we play in our workplace and there are a number of varieties, but come on... learn to walk first eh?
THE SQUAD
Each squad has 15 places available. Each game requires 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Running Backs (RB), 2 Wide Receivers (WR), 1 Tight End (TE), 1 Flex player (can be a WR or RB), 1 Defence and 1 Kicker.
HOW DOES THE LEAGUE WORK?
After selecting your squad in the draft (more on this later), you must select your starting line up and you will go head to head each week against other teams. Unlike, say Soccer fantasy football where you accumulate points towards a final tally at the end of the season, in Fantasy Football, the points you earn in that week are compared to your opponent... the team with the most points picks up a win. The teams with the best record at the end of the season will go into the play-offs to find out the overall champion. Placings are important as it decides who plays who in these play-offs. So for example, if you finish top, you will play the lowest ranked qualifier.If there are a number of teams involved you will often see the league divided into "conferences" to ensure a fairer split of games.
THE DRAFT
At the start of any fantasy football league, a draft will be held. The "owners" will take turns selecting the players they want for their squad. Once a player is picked by an owner he can only play and earn points for that team (barring a trade... more on that later!). The traditional draft is called a "snake" meaning that the initial order of selection is mirrored in each round. So if you have a league of 12 and someone has the 1st pick, they won't pick again until the 24th pick... and if you're picking at 12, you get to pick 1st in the next round. It is possible to do live draft picks and also auto picks, where you can enter your preferences before the draft and the league will automatically fill the squads.
SCORING
Check out the scoring section for a breakdown on where your players get you your points.
TRADES AND THE WAIVER WIRE
You'e not happy with your squad or you think you can improve it... how? Well, first off, you can only have 15 slots, regardless so if you want a new player you need to make room. If you're making a trade with another owner that's fine, but if you're picking up an unsigned player or a waived player, then you need to make room.
Trades are pretty self explanatory but can be tricky as you need to offer the other owner something they want... it's no good offering a 3rd rate running back for the best QB in the league... no one will accept that trade. This is where strategy and a good knowledge of the league help.
Unsigned players can be picked up whenever you like, but if a player has been owned and cut, then he goes onto the Waiver Wire. Any owner can select a player from the waiver wire but it is ordered, in the same way the draft is. The order is based on the current standings in the league. So if you're bottom of the league you get first shot at the waiver wire.
PLAY OFFS
At the end of the season, the play-offs kick in. As well as the top teams, you can have consolation play-offs and wooden spoons... always fun.
So that's it. What have I missed and what questions do you have? E-mail [email protected] and we can include a FAQ section or even answer your question in our podcast!