Fantasy football is a game where an individual can assume ownership of a team and create the team’s roster of players from real football players in the NFL or National Football League. It can be played weekly, thus “weekly fantasy football”. The weekly fantasy football team created by individuals compete against other owners in the league to score points. These points are based on the players’ performance in the real NFL football games.
For people new to the game, it can be a simple hobby in terms of concept but boundlessly complex when it comes to its application. This is what makes weekly fantasy football a fun and engaging endeavor. In this write-up, what weekly fantasy football is will be further discussed, as well as how it is played, and a few types of football leagues run, and other options for newbie owners.
How Weekly Fantasy Football is Played
In this article, the traditional format of play which is H2H or Head-to-Head is referred to. To start, owners will pick players from a pool of available NFL players. The weekly fantasy football team will generally be subcategorized into positions like quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs and tight ends – these are referred to as the skill positions. The majority of league owners often select only from these said positions. A few leagues add other skills and positions like placekickers, team defenders, or even defensive players.
These teams of players then play against each other on a weekly fantasy football to determine a winner. At the week’s end, the team that has the most points win the matchup. Standings for weekly fantasy football are calculated the same as that of a traditional sports league where teams compete for a playoff entry. These are also based on standings. When playoffs commence, the remaining winning teams will compete in a league format to determine the league winner.
All of these activities take place within the National Football League’s 16-game season. The weekly fantasy football regular season happens within the first 13 to 14 weeks of the NFL season. Typically, the weekly fantasy playoffs are held between weeks 13 and 17.
How Weekly Fantasy Football is Scored
In head-to-head, owners of teams compete versus a single opponent and the winning team is the team with the greatest number of points for that match-up. The skill positions will earn certain points for statistics that they have accrued during the game. Quarterbacks will garner points for touchdowns. They will also gain points for yardage totals or even earn negative points for interceptions made. Depending on the league, everything completions to sacks taken add some points. Running backs as well earn points for every yard gained through a rush. They score for touchdowns as well. Similarly, all the receiver types – backs, wideouts, tight ends – earn like amounts for getting passes. Points per reception in weekly fantasy football games have become the industry standard, which is a point earned for a pass. At a week’s end, the team with the greatest number of points gets the win. The varied host of weekly fantasy football scoring setups has multiplied over the years. Some weekly fantasy football leagues give points to nearly anything. For the new team owner, it can be best, to begin with, widely-known standards and learn from there.
Weekly Fantasy Football League Size and Roster Setups
A customary football league is composed of 10 to a dozen of team managers. This league managers have a 16-man roster with roughly 160 to 192 players scheduled at no specific time. A weekly fantasy football team owner will typically be starting with 9 players. This consists of 1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 2 wideout receivers, 1 tight end receiver, a kicker, team defense, and a flex position where the owner can play anyone but the quarterback.
In current years, the availability of good quarterbacks has increased. Weekly fantasy football leagues have also started to allow quarterbacks in flex spots or that 2 quarterbacks start weekly. Some leagues add more starters to give owners a bit of a challenge, as well as takeaways some of the prerequisites to make the weekly fantasy football leagues more flexible.
Considering the above-mentioned variations, leagues vary a lot in size and scope. These leagues may present having rosters from 20 to 40 players or a league that adds team owners. For both cases, the number of players is expanded increasing the number of weekly fantasy football players relevant to keep track of. Owners confident of their football knowledge may opt for deeper leagues that offer them a much-appreciated challenge.
How Owners Acquire Weekly Fantasy Football Players
There are 2 types of drafts for owners to acquire their initial roster of players. That is through the snake style and auction.
Snake drafts arrange teams in order of specific spots, from first to last. The league takes turns in picking players one after another for a single round. The order then reverses and owners that picked last in the previous round will draft first in the next. This goes on until the draft is finished. This is how snake-style drafts are done. It is a pretty upfront way to draft weekly fantasy football teams but still offered endless strategies for team owners to succeed. This is recommended as a start for new players.
Auction drafts are just what its name suggests. Managers with an equal amount of virtual cash to bid on players fill their roster making use of auction-style drafting. Team managers alternate in nominating weekly fantasy football players to pin on the auction board, and the highest bidder wins. Bidding continues to rise as an owner bids higher. The wisest strategies for team managers may come from managing their cash. A lot is also at stake with knowing how and when to nominate players. It will greatly help as well to know where other drafters stand. The auction drafts for weekly fantasy football leagues are an advanced challenge on their own. Nevertheless, it is something every weekly fantasy football player should experience.
Countless websites run free-to-play weekly fantasy football leagues. Some popular websites include ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS. Try to search for more in-depth information before finally giving weekly fantasy football games a try.