A Guide to Winning your ESPN Fantasy Football League
Millions of players enjoy Fantasy Football every year, but let's face it it s not an easy game to get into, even for the most avid football fans. But don t let your confusion or fear of losing stop you from joining in on all the fun! This guide will help get you initiated into America s (new) favorite pastime.
It's All About Your Roster
Fantasy Football is a game played with real-life NFL stars. A fantasy player (you!) serves as the manager of your own football team, competing weekly against other teams in your league to earn the most points. At the beginning of the season, you'll assemble a roster of NFL players that will accumulate points for your fantasy team with
their real-life stats. All you have to do to win is pick the best players!
Fantasy rosters can look a bit different in each league, but the standard ESPN format is made up of 16 players representing six NFL positions. Nine of these players will be on your starting lineup each week (meaning they earn you points), while seven serve as your backup players and remain on
the bench. Your path to winning your league relies on the players you pick at the beginning of the season but how do you know who to pick, and when? Keep reading to learn just how to choose the winning team.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE WINNING TEAM
WITH THE BASICS
How Does My Team Get
Who Gets Hurt the Most ?
Who Scores the Most Points ?
There are two important consistency-related factors to look out for in Fantasy. The first is how consistent a position itself is. As mentioned, running backs can produce a lot of points but they re inconsistent, and often have bad weeks. The second is how similar players across a given position are to each other. Some positions have a big drop-off after the first 3–5 players have been chosen, so you should snag one early.
Before the NFL season starts, you and your leaguemates will take turns selecting players until all your rosters are full. Most drafts follow a snake format, where the team choosing last in the first round will choose first in the second round. The draft order is completely random, but some draft positions are better than others. It's just the luck of the draw!
AAVERAGE DRAFT POSITION
The average spot in the draft where a player is being chosen; helps identify a player s value
BBENCH PLAYERS
Players in your team who are not in your starting lineup, so their points will not count towards your weekly total
BOOM OR BUST PLAYER
DEPTH CHART
The hierarchy within each NFL team at a given position
DRAFT
How each team in your league builds its roster of players
A player who scores an inconsistent amount of points from week-to-week
BYE WEEK
The one week each NFL team gets to take off each season
C
CEILING
A player s best expected outcome ceiling means that they have potential to score a lot of fantasy points
MMOCK DRAFT
A practice draft, which can be helpful for trying strategies and preparing yourself
MANAGER
The person in control of all decisions on a fantasy team (you!)
PPICKUP
A utility roster spot; can be filled by a running back, wide receiver, or tight end
s worst expected point outcome; a high floor means they should provide
A player who is not currently rostered by
A player you add from the free agent pool or via waivers
PPR
Point per reception; the most common scoring ruleset, which rewards a player one fantasy point per catch
PROJECTIONS
Educated guesses as to how many points a player should produce in a given week or season
R
The players that make up a fantasy
STREAMING
Using the waiver wire/free agency to fill an empty roster spot every week, rather than locking one player in STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Shows the difficulty of a team's schedule based on the win percentage of their opponents
T
TRADE
A swap of players between two teams
TRANSACTION
Any change to your roster, such as trades, free-agent pickups, etc.
W
WAIVERS
A player gets put on waivers after being dropped by another team in your league
A player who you think will exceed his
A draft where the team who drafts first in Round 1 will draft last in Round 2
Putting multiple offensive players from the same team on your lineup
WAIVER ORDER
The order that your league s free agent waivers are processed
WAIVER WIRE
A small window where all teams have a chance to make a claim on a player; the team with the highest priority will have a successful claim
FAMOUS PATRIOTS MANAGER, BILL BELICHICK
AARON RODGERS, TRADED TWICE SINCE 2023