Do you like watching NFL football? Do you want to make the season more interesting? Try joining a fantasy football league and experience the fantasy football challenge first hand. It’s fun, it’s challenging, and it requires real strategic thinking. Take your football watching experience to the next level!
What is fantasy football?
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Instead of picking your favorite team and rooting for them all season long, you pick a group of individual players from all the NFL teams. The Players earn points depending on how they perform during their individual games for the week. If your team’s players earn more total points than your opponent’s players, then you win for that week.
The point values are typically very similar, but they do vary from league to league, so that is something to be aware of and understand. For example, in “standard” scoring running backs, receivers, and tight ends earn points based on the total yards they gain each week.
In “PPR” leagues (points per reception) players get additional points for each pass caught. This gives receivers, pass-catching running backs, and tight ends additional value when compared to mainly straight-up running backs. As you can see this can change how you might want to construct your team.
What Are The Different Types Of Fantasy Football?
There are a couple of different types of fantasy football leagues to get into. There are the season-long fantasy football leagues and then there is daily fantasy football. Let’s take a look at the difference and see which ones you might be interested in. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be playing in both!
Season Long Fantasy Leagues
Season-long leagues are just what it sounds like. You select your team at the beginning of the season and basically have those players on your team for the season. This selection is done during the “draft”! The draft is done online and is set up for a time and date when all of your league opponents can participate.
This is one of the most exciting and intense parts of the season. Just like the real draft all your league opponents will take turns selecting their team’s players, based on a random draw sequence provided by your fantasy sports provider (ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, and many more). You need to be prepared when entering the draft! We’ll look at some basic helpful tips below for selecting your players.
After the league starts, just like in the real NFL, players can be removed and added due to injuries or performance. Replacements players can be picked up on “waivers”. Waiver selections are done on a priority basis (win/loss record) each week and a rotation is used if more than one opponent/player is involved. You can also make trades with other league players, but the trades have to be approved by the rest of your league. This helps prevent any collusion, especially during the play-off!
Along with all the normal positions (running backs, receivers, tight ends, etc…) You will also have 5 or 6 “bench” players depending on how your league is set up. Your bench will have a collection of backup players you picked during the draft. These players can be swapped in and out of your “lineup” on a weekly basis. Your lineup needs to be set at the beginning of each week. Players cannot be swapped in or out of your lineup once their team’s game begins for that week.
Daily Fantasy Football
Daily fantasy teams have similar player makeups and the games have similar scoring, but that’s where the similarities end. Instead of a draft, you are given a team salary cap allotment, typically $50,000 or $60,000 depending on which fantasy sports provider you use (FanDuel, Draftkings, and several others).
That salary cap money is used to buy players to be used on your team for the upcoming week. The player’s “value” is based on his performance throughout the season. In other words, studs and starters cost more than bench players. After that week’s games are done you start the process all over for the following week.
Why Should You Play Fantasy Football?
People play fantasy sports for several reasons. The first question is always can you make money playing fantasy sports? I guess the true answer is yes, but I wouldn’t quit your day job.
The daily fantasy football players who are making significant money have taken it to a level most of us can’t begin to wrap our heads around. They play hundreds of games a week and invest thousands of dollars! Their research takes hours and hours and includes advanced algorithms!
I believe the bulk of us play fantasy football for the challenge it has to offer. It really does require strategic thinking! There will be some weekly research involved if you choose. But those are the things that attracted me to fantasy football.
Then add in the competition between your family, friends or co-workings and the experience gets even better. Whether you play for a friendly wager, a trophy or just bragging rights, it can be a lot of fun with the right group of people!
Beginner Fantasy Football Tips
There are a ton of different factors you need to consider when playing fantasy football! What I am going to touch on here are just some of the basics. Be forewarned, this is not the silver bullet that will win you fame and fortune! However, they will be a great place for you to begin your research.
Follow The Rankings
There are all kinds of projections and ranking that created not only before the season starts but every week during the season. There are team offensive and defensive rankings along with individual player ranks. Keeping track of how a team or an individual player is tracking is very important. This is useful for both full season and daily fantasy.
Injuries and Illness
This is huge, especially as the season progresses! If you are new to watching football closely, as I was, you will be amazed at the number of nagging injuries that the players are playing through during the season. This includes injuries at practice during the week.
Monitor The Sports News
You will want to know what the individual players are up to on and off the field. Also what changes the teams are making. I know this is fairly obvious, but I bring it up to make sure you are aware of all the possible resources for this information. Besides the normal sports TV channels and websites, there are a host of other good resources. Your fantasy sports provider will normally provide a good selection of articles and videos, but don’t limit yourself to them.
There are fantasy football podcasts and Youtube videos that break down the games that were played the week before and have projections for the upcoming week. Many of them offer up individual player recommendations and picks. If you listen to enough of them, you’ll learn that they don’t always agree! It’s your job to put it all together, evaluate the results, and pick your favorites to listen to.
Play The Matchups
Armed with all the ranks, projects and information you can get your hands on you’ll want to play the matchups. If a team with one of the poorest-ranked defense against the run is playing a team with one of the top running backs in the league, I think you know where you should be looking.
Look at all the possible matchups. Receivers versus cornerbacks. Some teams, or players, play better at home. If you’re really knowledgeable about football, look at the type of defense versus the type of offense. There are lots of things to consider!
Look For The “Sleepers”
Sleepers come in different forms. Maybe a rookie has been improving and slowly getting more playing time and then due to injury or illness the team decides to rest a key player. Another scenario is a team’s top receiver is being covered by one of the league’s best defensive corners or is being double covered, then that leaves an opportunity for another receiver to step up.
Evaluate everything, even the weather for game day. Passing teams may not fare as well on rainy or windy days, so they switch to a more run-oriented offense. Taking advantage of some of those possible situations is how fantasy football games and seasons are won!
Vegas Odds
Another tool is the Vegas betting lines. You can bet the experts establishing those numbers are using a combination of everything above, and more! Learn what the different lines mean and use it as a tool for selecting teams and players.
What Fantasy Sports Provider Should I Use?
Fantasy sports providers are companies or organizations that provide online platforms that host these games. Many of the major providers like ESPN and CBS allow you to start your own season-long league completely free. Most providers do have established leagues that you can pay to join too.
Most of the daily fantasy providers, like FanDuel or DraftKings, require a minimum deposit of $5 to $10 to open an account. Once you have an account you can play any sized contest you want to, depending on what’s in your account.
Season Long Providers
As I mentioned earlier there are many to choose from. The league I’m in is through ESPN. We’ve been playing since 2016 and it’s been great. You pick a commissioner for your league and then he can set it up. As a group, you’ll need to decide on things like how many players will be on your teams, what type of scoring you want (standard or PPR), bench size, draft date, and a few other options.
After the draft, you start playing with the beginning of the regular season. The year-long seasons usually end a few weeks short in the regular season and use the last few weeks as their playoffs for the fantasy season. Just an FYI, teams that have clinched playoff positions and home-field advantages, for the regular NFL season, may rest some of their starters. That could be a game-changer for the last week or two of your fantasy season!
Daily Fantasy Sports Providers
Like the season-long fantasy sports providers, there are several to choose from. At the time I joined daily fantasy sports I decided to go with FanDuel. It was well known and had good reviews. At the beginning of my second season, I decided to try DraftKings, and was not disappointed.
Both are easy to navigate and play. Their point systems are very similar with only one notable difference. FanDuel points per reception (PPR) is .5, where DraftKings PPR is 1. This adds a little more value to receivers and pass-catching running backs for DraftKings.
FanDuel
In 2018 FanDuel made a change that aligns them a little more like DraftKings. In the past kickers were part of the team for FanDuel, but starting in 2018 there will be no more kickers. Instead, now there is a “flex” position on the team. This position can be any running back, wide receiver, or tight end on your team.
DraftKings
DraftKings typically seem to have a larger selection of lower-priced games (10 and 25 cents). At these low prices, I can play multiple games, with multiple lineups in each game, and still not break the bank. I play Draftkings’ games every week and encourage you to check out DraftKings and give them a try too!
If forced to make a recommendation, at this time I would lean towards DraftKings. I like the displays and formats when it comes to selecting games and individual players. I also like the PPR games more and with DraftKings having the 1 point per reception it makes it a better choice for me. However, this is a personal preference.
Join FanDuel Or DraftKings And Receive A Reward From Each
With the official NFL season just around the corner, you’ll want to get signed up today! The first regular-season game begins September 5th with a great match-up between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. So it’s time to join FanDuel or DraftKings, or both, and get ready for the upcoming season!
FanDuel Promotions
If you are interested in signing up for an exciting season of FanDuel, I would like to ask you to consider using this “FanDuel Refer A Friend” link to join. Once you get signed up and play $10 worth of contests, you will receive another $10 to be used toward additional contests. Full disclosure, if you use the above link and sign up, I will receive a $10 reward as well. I hope you’re ready to join and take advantage of these contests!
Fanduel also has a few free contests to play all season long. One is called “Gridiron Pick’em”. The Gridiron Pick’em game is a contest played weekly. All you do is select which teams will win each week. Depending on how many correct picks you have you can win a share of a weekly $10,000 pot. To see the other free games be sure to log into Fanduel and check out all the details on the free games tab. You’ll even find other fantasy sports games that are available.
DraftKings Promotions
DraftKings has a Refer A Friend program as well. If you click on this “DraftKings Refer A Friend” link and join, you and I both will receive a free $10 DK Dollars. They can be used to enter DraftKings contests. What a great way to get started.
DraftKings has free games (sorry no prizes) for the beginner to play and get comfortable with picking teams and playing. They also have a large selection of 25 cent contests to enter. These are a great way to try out your skill level and maybe will a little cash in the process. Sign up and get started anytime throughout the season.
Conclusion
So get started today and begin enjoying the fantasy football challenge. Open a DraftKings or Fanduel account and play a few free contests to get familiar with the games. Recruit 10 or 12 friends and start a season-long league. If you put together a group of dedicated friends, you can have a ton of fun. As a friendly reminder, any time you’re playing something for money, always wager responsibly.
Check the schedule, verify all the NFL team roster changes made during the off-season, and don’t forget those injury reports! You’ll soon be evaluating, picking free agents, and making line up changes like a pro! Above all have fun with your buddies! A small break from your DIY projects won’t hurt, so good luck with your season and be sure to let us know how you’re doing!
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