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).
Running Back By Committee (RBBC)
This is when a team has multiple running backs that they rely on to score points. In other words, instead of there being a “work horse” back who gets a majority of the carries, the carries are evenly distributed throughout two or more running backs.
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.
Targets Per Route Run (TPRR)
This is the number of receiving targets a player receives on every route that they run. For example, Justin Jefferson is being targeted 27.7% of the time he runs a route and he runs 250 routes, that means he’s averaging 69 targets per route run.
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.
Yards Per Attempt (Rushing) (YPA)
This is the average number of yards a runner runs for whenever they have a rushing attempt.
Yards Per Route Run (YPRR)
This is the average number of receiving yards a player has on every route they run.
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).
Running Back By Committee (RBBC)
This is when a team has multiple running backs that they rely on to score points. In other words, instead of there being a “work horse” back who gets a majority of the carries, the carries are evenly distributed throughout two or more running backs.
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.
Targets Per Route Run (TPRR)
This is the number of receiving targets a player receives on every route that they run. For example, Justin Jefferson is being targeted 27.7% of the time he runs a route and he runs 250 routes, that means he’s averaging 69 targets per route run.
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.
Yards Per Attempt (Rushing) (YPA)
This is the average number of yards a runner runs for whenever they have a rushing attempt.
Yards Per Route Run (YPRR)
This is the average number of receiving yards a player has on every route they run.
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
If you like winning, come back every week for under-the-radar fantasy waiver wire pickups to keep you in contention until the final contest. We leave no stone unturned to ensure we give you the BEST chance to win week in and week out. Let’s get to it with our Week 12 waiver wire pickups. It’s […]
Sometimes, when I tell someone about my family dynamic, it strikes them as peculiar. “Are you and your wife going to have any more kids?” Absolutely not. One sixth grader is enough, and we have a mountain of cats—five of them. Add in our frenetic border collie, Rosie, and the house is full. My parents […]
Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 12 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (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; […]
Every week, Kacey Kasem will bring you WR2s primed to exceed their slot in the weekly WR fantasy rankings and could help bolster your chances at fantasy football glory. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I’m all about savoring the season before the Christmas rush kicks in. I’m not one of those people who […]
The holiday season is underway. I say this with confidence because November’s arrival ushers in auto-rejections to any time-off requests as a retail employee. It’s a timeless tradition where work-life balance is shelved for bending to consumerism’s staggering demands. Every year, I promise myself it will be my last in the suffocating, anxiety-riddled suck. It […]
Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 11 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (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; […]
Every week, Kacey Kasem will bring you WR2s primed to exceed their slot in the weekly WR fantasy rankings and could help bolster your chances at fantasy football glory. Thanks for checking out The WR2 Radar each week! Writing this series has been one of my favorite parts of the season. I love diving into […]
The fantasy football playoffs are mere weeks away, and squaring away your rosters is becoming more critical. Here are the top Week 9 Waiver Wire QBs and how to approach them before locking in your claims ahead of Wednesday morning.
The fantasy football playoffs are mere weeks away, and squaring away your rosters is becoming more critical. Here are the top Week 10 Waiver Wire QBs and how to approach them before locking in your claims ahead of Wednesday morning.
Unless you asked me a direct question about food or sports, I was a child who was very shy around adults. Fighting a reputation for being “rude” to small-town folks because I couldn’t even muster please and thank you on Halloween or at the grocery store was tough. The best way to hone interpersonal communication […]
Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 10 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (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; […]
Every week, Kacey Kasem will bring you WR2s primed to exceed their slot in the weekly WR fantasy rankings and could help bolster your chances at fantasy football glory. Halloween is officially here, and many of us are preparing for the year’s spookiest night. From costume parties to trick-or-treating, it is a time filled with […]
The fantasy football playoffs are mere weeks away, and squaring away your rosters is becoming more critical. Here are the top Week 9 Waiver Wire WRs and how to approach them before locking in your claims ahead of Wednesday morning.
[…] itch. Whether it’s a friendly mock draft with league mates feeling the same itch, a way-too-early redraft league draft or a dynasty start-up draft, this is the time of year to get back into the groove and ready […]
[…] shrewd dude or cagey lady so you can baffle your league mates. Sifting through the running back average draft position (ADP), I was able to unearth some RB values for you to target in […]
[…] *For an in-depth glossary of frequently used fantasy football terms, check out Richard Sickel’s Optimus Fantasy article.* […]