by Richard Sickels
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Fantasy Football Terms & Basics | Optimus Fantasy 101
Welcome to Optimus Fantasy 101!
That’s right. Whether you’re brand new to fantasy football or have been playing for years, this space’s primary focus is helping teach fantasy football terms and basics of the game. It will be an ongoing series covering the basics of fantasy football, including topics ranging from how to start a fantasy football league to how to play in different types of leagues.
In other words, no matter what level of fantasy football knowledge you have, we are here for you!
The Basics
The beginning of this series is going to be the basics of how to get into your own league. How do you find a league to join? Should you start your own league instead? What goes into creating a startup fantasy football league? We will help you to find the answers to these questions as you find your place in the fantasy football world.
It is also our goal to branch into some of the different types of fantasy football leagues that you can join. Some people enjoy a simple redraft league where you get an entirely new team every year. Others want a little more of a challenge where you can keep a couple of players, such as in a keeper league. Or maybe you want to be able to keep your whole team every year and dominate your league mates in a dynasty league.
It is our goal to help you make the right decision for you or, for the real degenerates out there, let you know what you are getting yourself into as you traverse all the different types of leagues available!
Optimus Fantasy is beyond excited to bring this type of education to the masses. Our goal is not only to help you play and win, but we want you to play and have fun. That’s the whole point of fantasy football, after all.
Be sure to follow us for all of your fantasy needs, and let us know if there are questions you have that we haven’t answered yet.
Glossary
Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
This is the number of yards the football travels in the air between the quarterback and the receiver on a passing attempt. This stat helps to decipher which quarterbacks are throwing it farther downfield on average, as well as which receivers are regularly being targeted on the deepest routes.
Average Draft Position (ADP)
This is the average spot in the draft a player is being drafted at. The average draft position of a player can change depending on the format you are playing on, as well as what platform you are playing on.
Best Ball League
This is a format where there are no lineups to set. Instead, the players that have the best scores at their respective positions are automatically slotted into the lineup for you. It is important to note that this format is all about the draft; there are no waiver wire transactions, no trades, and, again, no setting lineups.
Boom-or-Bust
These are players who will either score lots of points (Boom) or they don’t score anything (Bust). This will frequently refer to two different types of players:
- Players who have a chance of having a breakout season and scoring a lot of points or having a very low-scoring season (Boom).
- Players who will have games where they score lots of points one week but then don’t score anything the following week (Bust).
Breakout
This describes when a player should have a big year in the coming season or describes a player who did have a big year the previous season.
Bust
A player is considered a bust when they have a high ADP but underperform based on that draft position.
For example, let’s say Player A is drafted in the first or second round to be an RB1/WR1 tier fantasy asset. However, Player A ends the year with a fantasy points total equivalent to one drafted in the seventh round or later, making them a fantasy football bust.
Ceiling
This is the best a player is expected to perform in a given season. In other words, some players are said to have a higher ceiling because their given situation and ability give them the best chance to outscore other players at their respective position.
Commissioner
The commissioner is the person in charge of a fantasy football league. This person has total control of the league, including the ability to set lineups, reverse transactions, and set all of the scoring rules for the league. Commissioners will have different ways of running a league, but ultimately, they have the final say, and they are who you should reach out to if there is an issue within the league.
Contract League
A contract league is similar to a dynasty or empire league in that players stay on the teams that drafted them for, typically, more than one year. However, each player has a contract, and each team has a salary cap. The years of each player’s contract vary, as does the “salary” for those players. The contract league format gives a bit of realism to what it is like to create and develop a football team.
Daily Fantasy Sports League (DFS)
This league format allows fantasy players to create new lineups every week. Typically, there is a pool of cash that they can use to pay for players, and player values change on a week-to-week basis. Ultimately, DFS gives fantasy players more flexibility, as they are not committed to setting lineups every week and do not have the responsibility of tracking their teams throughout the season.
Developmental League (Devy)
A developmental league is very similar to a dynasty or empire league, except fantasy players are also able to draft players who are not in the league yet. This means that Devy leagues are drafting developmental players who are still in college or possibly even high school, depending on the league.
Dynasty League
Dynasty is a format in which teams draft their players but keep those players every year. Every year, dynasty leagues have a rookie draft, during which teams can draft new players based on having, typically, four rounds of picks.
Empire League
This format is very similar to dynasty in terms of keeping players every year and having a rookie draft each season. The primary difference is that empire leagues a rolling pot that can only be won by winning the league in back-to-back seasons. When this happens, the champion takes the pot and the league is dissolved. In other words, once someone wins back-to-back seasons, that is the end of the league, and the winner gets that season’s winnings, as well as the rolling pot.
Fade/Fading
Fantasy players may decide that they don’t like a particular player, team, position group, etc., and will not draft them or ignore them entirely. This is called fading because the player might be available, but the player is fading out of a fantasy player’s perspective into obscurity.
Flex
This roster position can be filled by a running back, a wide receiver or a tight end.
Flier
A flier is when a fantasy player selects a football player late in the draft who isn’t likely to accumulate a lot of points but has enough potential that it’s worth taking a chance on them.
Floor
A player’s “floor” is the opposite of their “ceiling,” as it is the bottom expectation of them. In other words, when a player has a high floor, it is believed that they will put up a solid number of points each year. For example, most quarterbacks are expected to have a decently high floor because they are constantly getting touches and are the focus of the offense.
Format
These are the different types of fantasy football styles, or formats, that a person can play, i.e., redraft, dynasty, empire, best ball, etc…
Free Agent (FA)
This is a player who is not on anyone’s team and is available to be added. Typically, though, these players have to go through a waiver wire process before they can be added.
Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)
This is a pool of money that each team has throughout a season to spend on free agents. In other words, if multiple teams want the same player during the waiver wire process, each one puts in how much FAAB they are willing to spend on that player, and the highest bidder gets that player. It is blind bidding, though, so teams don’t know if they are bidding too much or not enough.
NOTE: Not all leagues have FAAB; these leagues typically decide the waiver wire process strictly based on their waiver wire order.
Guillotine League
This fantasy football format involves a league of people drafting as normal. However, the lowest-scoring team each week is removed from the guillotine league, and all of their players become available on the waiver wire. The remaining teams have FAAB that they use to bid on the players to improve their teams as they attempt to avoid being the lowest-scoring team the following week.
Half-PPR
This is a scoring format where receivers get half a point for each successful reception.
Handcuff
This is a term for backup players who are drafted on the same fantasy team as the starters. Handcuffs are drafted or rostered in case the starter is benched or injured. Typically, this refers to a player’s positional backup. For example, you may want to draft a starting RB, as well as his backup.
Head-to-Head
Head-to-head is when two teams face off against each other every week to decide who wins. It is one of the more common forms of fantasy football leagues in which there is a winner each week and playoffs with a championship.
Hero RB
This is a draft approach in which fantasy players take a top, or hero, RB early and then focus on their other positions before returning to address the RB position.
Individual Defensive Players (IDP)
IDP is a format that includes individual defensive players in their scoring.
Injured Reserve (IR)
Injured reserve slots are for players placed on the injury list who will be unavailable for an extended period of time. Not all leagues have an injured reserve slot, and some will have multiple spots.
Keeper League
This format is where fantasy players keep a number of their team’s players each year. It is typically expected that if you keep a player in these leagues, you lose a draft pick as compensation in the draft the following year. In other words, if you draft “Player X” in the third round of a keeper league draft and decide to keep that player for the following season, you won’t have a third-round pick the following year.
Linear Draft
A linear draft moves from first to last and starts over again at the beginning. For example, the first player gets to pick again, and the draft progresses to the last person before repeating again. A linear draft is different from a snake draft, which wraps around at each turn.
Line-Up
In most formats, fantasy players need to set their line-up every week. This requires filling however many positions they need with the required combination of QB, RB, WR and TE, as well as possibly kickers and/or special teams/defense. These league line-up settings can vary widely and will be dictated by a combination of the league format, the commissioner and the league as a whole.
Mock Draft
A mock draft is a faux draft in which a fantasy player joins with a group of random people to go through the process of drafting. Mock drafting helps to get an idea of where players are available at each round. This practice prepares the fantasy player for the real draft.
Platform
Fantasy football can be played on various platforms, including CBS, ESPN, Sleeper, Yahoo, etc.
Points Against
This is a stat representing an accumulation of all points scored against an individual fantasy team throughout the season. Points against can help give an idea of a fantasy player’s record and whether it reflects their team’s ability or whether it is reflective of their competition.
Points For
This is a stat representing an accumulation of all points that an individual fantasy team has scored throughout the season. Points for can help give an idea of a fantasy player’s record and whether it reflects their team’s ability or whether it is reflective of their competition.
Points Per Reception (PPR)
PPR is a scoring setting where receivers get a full point per reception they make.
Reach
A fantasy player will “reach” on a player when they take them ahead of their average draft position (ADP) by one round or more. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to reach for a player they are one of “your guys,” and you want to make sure you don’t miss out on them.
Rebuild
The term “rebuild” is used for any team that needs a massive roster overhaul. Fantasy teams that need to rebuild have typically finished in the bottom half of their respective leagues for two or more consecutive seasons. This fantasy football term is usually only applicable in dynasty formats.
Redraft League
This league is a fresh new league every year and is played throughout the season. In redraft leagues, there is a draft at the beginning of each season, sometimes with the same fantasy players every year and sometimes with random fantasy players. It is typically a linear draft, a snake draft or a salary cap draft.
Rookie Draft
A rookie draft is where only rookies or free agents are picked. Instead of 15-28 rounds, a rookie draft typically has three to five rounds. These drafts usually only occur in dynasty and devy fantasy football formats.
Roster
A roster is a fantasy player’s entire team (bench, line-up, IR).
Salary Cap Draft
This form of drafting is where teams have a pool of cash that they use in an attempt to outbid others for the players they want. Instead of having people select in order – such as in a snake or linear draft – the salary cap draft has fantasy players putting up who they want to bid on next and allowing everyone to bid for that player.
Sleeper
A sleeper is someone who is being taken late in drafts because they are not expected to do as well but has the potential to be an important addition to a team.
Snake Draft
A snake draft has fantasy players picking in a certain order, and when it gets to the end of the round, it reverses direction and has the players who picked last begin to pick first.
Stacking
This is when you draft multiple players from the same team, stacking their potential scoring. Stacking is a strategy usually employed with an anchor QB and a player with significant receiving volume.
Standard (STD)
Standard is a scoring format that was once the standard of fantasy football scoring. In standard format, players only receive points for yards gained and touchdowns scored.
Stat Correction
A stat correction is a change to a player’s given stats after the game is over. For example, a receiver is considered to have fumbled the ball after catching a pass, with the defense recovering the ball. But after the game, the NFL league office decided that the defender intercepted the ball. This stat correction causes the receiver, who lost points due to the fumble, to gain those points back. Consequently, the quarterback loses points due to the now-corrected interception.
Stream/Streaming
This is when someone is willing to grab a new player at a particular position, depending on matchups, every week. Streaming is a popular way to approach positions that are fairly deep or are less valuable if fantasy players decide to fade them in the draft, such as tight ends or quarterbacks.
SuperFlex
A SuperFlex is when a flex position gives fantasy managers the option to start a second quarterback. This typically gives quarterbacks a higher value in fantasy.
Taxi Squad
Taxi squads are a few extra spots like the bench that are strictly for new players, such as rookies or second-year players, which means this is typically a dynasty/empire/etc. accessory. The requirements for players allowed on the taxi squad can vary from league to league. This gives fantasy managers a chance to see if the rookies will develop before having to commit to a roster spot to have them on the team.
TE Premium
TE premium gives TEs extra points for each reception, typically double the points of other receiving positions. This gives all TEs more value and makes them more valuable players in the league.
Third-Round Reversal (3RR)
This is a draft setting that only applies to snake drafts. Instead of turning back around, the third round starts over with the person who picked at the 1.12 spot again, at which point it turns back into a snake draft. 3RR helps bridge the value gap that can happen where the person who picks at the 1.01 has much more value than anyone else.
Tiered PPR
Tiered PPR is PPR scoring with a twist. Tiered PPR has a scale dictating how many points are given per reception based on how many yards the receiver has gained. For example, a short gain of five yards might only garner a .5 point, whereas a gain of 10 yards will garner a full point.
Turn
The turn is where one round ends and another begins in a snake draft.
Two QB League (2QB)
Two QB leagues are similar to SuperFlex, except instead of having the option to start a second quarterback, all fantasy players have to start a second quarterback.
Zero RB
This draft approach involves fantasy players addressing other positions, typically WR and TE, before taking RBs.
For more from Richard Sickels, find him on X (formerly Twitter) @RichardSickelsGMB
by Richard Sickels
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Fantasy Football Terms & Basics | Optimus Fantasy 101
Welcome to Optimus Fantasy 101!
That’s right. Whether you’re brand new to fantasy football or have been playing for years, this space’s primary focus is helping teach fantasy football terms and basics of the game. It will be an ongoing series covering the basics of fantasy football, including topics ranging from how to start a fantasy football league to how to play in different types of leagues.
In other words, no matter what level of fantasy football knowledge you have, we are here for you!
The Basics
The beginning of this series is going to be the basics of how to get into your own league. How do you find a league to join? Should you start your own league instead? What goes into creating a startup fantasy football league? We will help you to find the answers to these questions as you find your place in the fantasy football world.
It is also our goal to branch into some of the different types of fantasy football leagues that you can join. Some people enjoy a simple redraft league where you get an entirely new team every year. Others want a little more of a challenge where you can keep a couple of players, such as in a keeper league. Or maybe you want to be able to keep your whole team every year and dominate your league mates in a dynasty league.
It is our goal to help you make the right decision for you or, for the real degenerates out there, let you know what you are getting yourself into as you traverse all the different types of leagues available!
Optimus Fantasy is beyond excited to bring this type of education to the masses. Our goal is not only to help you play and win, but we want you to play and have fun. That’s the whole point of fantasy football, after all.
Be sure to follow us for all of your fantasy needs, and let us know if there are questions you have that we haven’t answered yet.
Glossary
Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
This is the number of yards the football travels in the air between the quarterback and the receiver on a passing attempt. This stat helps to decipher which quarterbacks are throwing it farther downfield on average, as well as which receivers are regularly being targeted on the deepest routes.
Average Draft Position (ADP)
This is the average spot in the draft a player is being drafted at. The average draft position of a player can change depending on the format you are playing on, as well as what platform you are playing on.
Best Ball League
This is a format where there are no lineups to set. Instead, the players that have the best scores at their respective positions are automatically slotted into the lineup for you. It is important to note that this format is all about the draft; there are no waiver wire transactions, no trades, and, again, no setting lineups.
Boom-or-Bust
These are players who will either score lots of points (Boom) or they don’t score anything (Bust). This will frequently refer to two different types of players:
- Players who have a chance of having a breakout season and scoring a lot of points or having a very low-scoring season (Boom).
- Players who will have games where they score lots of points one week but then don’t score anything the following week (Bust).
Breakout
This describes when a player should have a big year in the coming season or describes a player who did have a big year the previous season.
Bust
A player is considered a bust when they have a high ADP but underperform based on that draft position.
For example, let’s say Player A is drafted in the first or second round to be an RB1/WR1 tier fantasy asset. However, Player A ends the year with a fantasy points total equivalent to one drafted in the seventh round or later, making them a fantasy football bust.
Ceiling
This is the best a player is expected to perform in a given season. In other words, some players are said to have a higher ceiling because their given situation and ability give them the best chance to outscore other players at their respective position.
Commissioner
The commissioner is the person in charge of a fantasy football league. This person has total control of the league, including the ability to set lineups, reverse transactions, and set all of the scoring rules for the league. Commissioners will have different ways of running a league, but ultimately, they have the final say, and they are who you should reach out to if there is an issue within the league.
Contract League
A contract league is similar to a dynasty or empire league in that players stay on the teams that drafted them for, typically, more than one year. However, each player has a contract, and each team has a salary cap. The years of each player’s contract vary, as does the “salary” for those players. The contract league format gives a bit of realism to what it is like to create and develop a football team.
Daily Fantasy Sports League (DFS)
This league format allows fantasy players to create new lineups every week. Typically, there is a pool of cash that they can use to pay for players, and player values change on a week-to-week basis. Ultimately, DFS gives fantasy players more flexibility, as they are not committed to setting lineups every week and do not have the responsibility of tracking their teams throughout the season.
Developmental League (Devy)
A developmental league is very similar to a dynasty or empire league, except fantasy players are also able to draft players who are not in the league yet. This means that Devy leagues are drafting developmental players who are still in college or possibly even high school, depending on the league.
Dynasty League
Dynasty is a format in which teams draft their players but keep those players every year. Every year, dynasty leagues have a rookie draft, during which teams can draft new players based on having, typically, four rounds of picks.
Empire League
This format is very similar to dynasty in terms of keeping players every year and having a rookie draft each season. The primary difference is that empire leagues a rolling pot that can only be won by winning the league in back-to-back seasons. When this happens, the champion takes the pot and the league is dissolved. In other words, once someone wins back-to-back seasons, that is the end of the league, and the winner gets that season’s winnings, as well as the rolling pot.
Fade/Fading
Fantasy players may decide that they don’t like a particular player, team, position group, etc., and will not draft them or ignore them entirely. This is called fading because the player might be available, but the player is fading out of a fantasy player’s perspective into obscurity.
Flex
This roster position can be filled by a running back, a wide receiver or a tight end.
Flier
A flier is when a fantasy player selects a football player late in the draft who isn’t likely to accumulate a lot of points but has enough potential that it’s worth taking a chance on them.
Floor
A player’s “floor” is the opposite of their “ceiling,” as it is the bottom expectation of them. In other words, when a player has a high floor, it is believed that they will put up a solid number of points each year. For example, most quarterbacks are expected to have a decently high floor because they are constantly getting touches and are the focus of the offense.
Format
These are the different types of fantasy football styles, or formats, that a person can play, i.e., redraft, dynasty, empire, best ball, etc…
Free Agent (FA)
This is a player who is not on anyone’s team and is available to be added. Typically, though, these players have to go through a waiver wire process before they can be added.
Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)
This is a pool of money that each team has throughout a season to spend on free agents. In other words, if multiple teams want the same player during the waiver wire process, each one puts in how much FAAB they are willing to spend on that player, and the highest bidder gets that player. It is blind bidding, though, so teams don’t know if they are bidding too much or not enough.
NOTE: Not all leagues have FAAB; these leagues typically decide the waiver wire process strictly based on their waiver wire order.
Guillotine League
This fantasy football format involves a league of people drafting as normal. However, the lowest-scoring team each week is removed from the guillotine league, and all of their players become available on the waiver wire. The remaining teams have FAAB that they use to bid on the players to improve their teams as they attempt to avoid being the lowest-scoring team the following week.
Half-PPR
This is a scoring format where receivers get half a point for each successful reception.
Handcuff
This is a term for backup players who are drafted on the same fantasy team as the starters. Handcuffs are drafted or rostered in case the starter is benched or injured. Typically, this refers to a player’s positional backup. For example, you may want to draft a starting RB, as well as his backup.
Head-to-Head
Head-to-head is when two teams face off against each other every week to decide who wins. It is one of the more common forms of fantasy football leagues in which there is a winner each week and playoffs with a championship.
Hero RB
This is a draft approach in which fantasy players take a top, or hero, RB early and then focus on their other positions before returning to address the RB position.
Individual Defensive Players (IDP)
IDP is a format that includes individual defensive players in their scoring.
Injured Reserve (IR)
Injured reserve slots are for players placed on the injury list who will be unavailable for an extended period of time. Not all leagues have an injured reserve slot, and some will have multiple spots.
Keeper League
This format is where fantasy players keep a number of their team’s players each year. It is typically expected that if you keep a player in these leagues, you lose a draft pick as compensation in the draft the following year. In other words, if you draft “Player X” in the third round of a keeper league draft and decide to keep that player for the following season, you won’t have a third-round pick the following year.
Linear Draft
A linear draft moves from first to last and starts over again at the beginning. For example, the first player gets to pick again, and the draft progresses to the last person before repeating again. A linear draft is different from a snake draft, which wraps around at each turn.
Line-Up
In most formats, fantasy players need to set their line-up every week. This requires filling however many positions they need with the required combination of QB, RB, WR and TE, as well as possibly kickers and/or special teams/defense. These league line-up settings can vary widely and will be dictated by a combination of the league format, the commissioner and the league as a whole.
Mock Draft
A mock draft is a faux draft in which a fantasy player joins with a group of random people to go through the process of drafting. Mock drafting helps to get an idea of where players are available at each round. This practice prepares the fantasy player for the real draft.
Platform
Fantasy football can be played on various platforms, including CBS, ESPN, Sleeper, Yahoo, etc.
Points Against
This is a stat representing an accumulation of all points scored against an individual fantasy team throughout the season. Points against can help give an idea of a fantasy player’s record and whether it reflects their team’s ability or whether it is reflective of their competition.
Points For
This is a stat representing an accumulation of all points that an individual fantasy team has scored throughout the season. Points for can help give an idea of a fantasy player’s record and whether it reflects their team’s ability or whether it is reflective of their competition.
Points Per Reception (PPR)
PPR is a scoring setting where receivers get a full point per reception they make.
Reach
A fantasy player will “reach” on a player when they take them ahead of their average draft position (ADP) by one round or more. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to reach for a player they are one of “your guys,” and you want to make sure you don’t miss out on them.
Rebuild
The term “rebuild” is used for any team that needs a massive roster overhaul. Fantasy teams that need to rebuild have typically finished in the bottom half of their respective leagues for two or more consecutive seasons. This fantasy football term is usually only applicable in dynasty formats.
Redraft League
This league is a fresh new league every year and is played throughout the season. In redraft leagues, there is a draft at the beginning of each season, sometimes with the same fantasy players every year and sometimes with random fantasy players. It is typically a linear draft, a snake draft or a salary cap draft.
Rookie Draft
A rookie draft is where only rookies or free agents are picked. Instead of 15-28 rounds, a rookie draft typically has three to five rounds. These drafts usually only occur in dynasty and devy fantasy football formats.
Roster
A roster is a fantasy player’s entire team (bench, line-up, IR).
Salary Cap Draft
This form of drafting is where teams have a pool of cash that they use in an attempt to outbid others for the players they want. Instead of having people select in order – such as in a snake or linear draft – the salary cap draft has fantasy players putting up who they want to bid on next and allowing everyone to bid for that player.
Sleeper
A sleeper is someone who is being taken late in drafts because they are not expected to do as well but has the potential to be an important addition to a team.
Snake Draft
A snake draft has fantasy players picking in a certain order, and when it gets to the end of the round, it reverses direction and has the players who picked last begin to pick first.
Stacking
This is when you draft multiple players from the same team, stacking their potential scoring. Stacking is a strategy usually employed with an anchor QB and a player with significant receiving volume.
Standard (STD)
Standard is a scoring format that was once the standard of fantasy football scoring. In standard format, players only receive points for yards gained and touchdowns scored.
Stat Correction
A stat correction is a change to a player’s given stats after the game is over. For example, a receiver is considered to have fumbled the ball after catching a pass, with the defense recovering the ball. But after the game, the NFL league office decided that the defender intercepted the ball. This stat correction causes the receiver, who lost points due to the fumble, to gain those points back. Consequently, the quarterback loses points due to the now-corrected interception.
Stream/Streaming
This is when someone is willing to grab a new player at a particular position, depending on matchups, every week. Streaming is a popular way to approach positions that are fairly deep or are less valuable if fantasy players decide to fade them in the draft, such as tight ends or quarterbacks.
SuperFlex
A SuperFlex is when a flex position gives fantasy managers the option to start a second quarterback. This typically gives quarterbacks a higher value in fantasy.
Taxi Squad
Taxi squads are a few extra spots like the bench that are strictly for new players, such as rookies or second-year players, which means this is typically a dynasty/empire/etc. accessory. The requirements for players allowed on the taxi squad can vary from league to league. This gives fantasy managers a chance to see if the rookies will develop before having to commit to a roster spot to have them on the team.
TE Premium
TE premium gives TEs extra points for each reception, typically double the points of other receiving positions. This gives all TEs more value and makes them more valuable players in the league.
Third-Round Reversal (3RR)
This is a draft setting that only applies to snake drafts. Instead of turning back around, the third round starts over with the person who picked at the 1.12 spot again, at which point it turns back into a snake draft. 3RR helps bridge the value gap that can happen where the person who picks at the 1.01 has much more value than anyone else.
Tiered PPR
Tiered PPR is PPR scoring with a twist. Tiered PPR has a scale dictating how many points are given per reception based on how many yards the receiver has gained. For example, a short gain of five yards might only garner a .5 point, whereas a gain of 10 yards will garner a full point.
Turn
The turn is where one round ends and another begins in a snake draft.
Two QB League (2QB)
Two QB leagues are similar to SuperFlex, except instead of having the option to start a second quarterback, all fantasy players have to start a second quarterback.
Zero RB
This draft approach involves fantasy players addressing other positions, typically WR and TE, before taking RBs.
For more from Richard Sickels, find him on X (formerly Twitter) @RichardSickelsGMB
Believing in New York to pull off the unlikely victory in Week 1 was most definitely not my finest moment of the week, but I did also advise others to be cautious about the small likelihood of that. I can't beat myself too much over believing in the Giants, as Wan'Dale Robinson did deliver in Week 1's predictions via "Storyline, Storytime."
Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 3 waiver wire players early while the FAAB price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first but also so you […]
Bo McBrayer brings the spice with his fantasy football Week 2 advice, giving you the musings and information you need to keep your lineups hot-n-ready. Have you ever watched football for 11 consecutive hours on a leather couch? I have. My current couch is cloth, but I remember back when I was sticking and peeling […]
Week 1 always has a way of taking the wind out of our sails. Sure, it's lovely having football back. What's not wonderful is when a wide receiver goes down with an injury and has to miss time.
Puka Nacua should be heading to the injured reserve with a sprained PCL. There is no timetable for how long Nacua will be shelved. Fantasy managers are now sprinting to find a decent replacement.
In this week's WR2 Radar, I look at some of the more notable wide receiver injuries to monitor this and future weeks.
I will examine wide receivers that are readily available and that you can use to bolster your squad this week (or in the near future). Plus, find out what WR1s are pulling the wool over our eyes. Make sure to check out the Optimus Fantasy Rankings.
But fear not, folks. It’s early in the season, and there is plenty of time to fill those holes and right the ship. Here are players at every position that can help you get on your way to victory in Week 2 of fantasy football action and beyond.
Wide receivers are so nice; I had to do this twice! Welcome to Week 1, Part 2 of The WR2 Radar, where I dive into wide receivers who may not be the top option on their teams or at the top of the weekly fantasy WR rankings but have the potential to post WR1 numbers this season. Week 1 offers opportunities for these players to step into the spotlight.
Each week, I'll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won't be available in your league because you already have them. We haven't even played a snap of regular-season football yet, but we're already looking ahead to Week 2's players.
Note: If these players get hurt in Week 1, I cannot be held responsible, so please don't tweet me @ktompkinsii if that happens.
Which teams are at risk of facing an unexpected upset and commencing the season with a disappointing loss? Furthermore, which resilient teams are poised to learn from past setbacks and aggressively pursue their Super Bowl aspirations? The spotlight will be on a few promising rookie players aiming to showcase their talent right from the start. Will they walk into the tunnel after Week 1, leaving a significant mark on the league?
All these compelling NFL Week 1 storylines will be analyzed and dissected in our latest series, "Storyline, Storytime," which will bring you exclusive insights crafted by @hoovtube on X.
Keeping your fantasy football rosters in tip-top shape is no small task; it requires a level of almost psychotic tinkering that only a few in this world are capable of. It can drive some to madness and others to championship glory. We prefer to help you do the latter.
Should I give out bad advice, I’m not really the sentimental type. Being apologetic for failing to predict the future seems disingenuous, anyway. The fine folks at Optimus want me to contribute the stuff that spills from my eyes, ears, and nose, so this column will put just that at your fingertips. Should it aid you in a redraft or dynasty league victory, or even a DFS lineup, that’s cool beans. I aim to win in an entertaining way, so they don’t ever sack me for being boring. Bring on the rush, I’ll stand tall (or scramble) the only way I know: with pizzazz.
Last year, several wideouts surprised us by putting up WR1 numbers when they were WR2 (or WR3) on their teams. DeVonta Smith, Gabe Davis, and Tee Higgins each had four games as a top-12 WR in points per reception (PPR) scoring.
Rashid Shaheed, Jakobi Meyers, and Noah Brown all had three. Jaylen Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr., Jordan Addison, Joshua Palmer, and Cooper Kupp tallied two.
In my series this season, I'll examine weekly matchups to determine if an NFL WR2 can outperform a WR1 on another team. It is important to look beyond the label of "WR1." Considering factors such as matchups, injuries, and team dynamics, I'll find what No. 2 options are worth putting in your lineup.
This series is focused on helping you to learn how to play fantasy football.
In this article, we'll focus on the basics of what you need to start your own league. We will discuss how to decide what league format you want to play in, a few of the different platforms you can play on, and how to create your league settings.
First and foremost, let's discuss deciding who you will be playing with.
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