You hear the whispers at work. “How’d your fantasy football team do this weekend?” Or maybe it’s a family party and your cousins are huddled up, talking about who they got on their teams in their fantasy football drafts. Heck, nowadays, the NFL broadcast itself even mentions it. Matthew Berry or Field Yates are getting screen time, talking about players to add off the waiver wire or trades you should be making. Fantasy football is everywhere.

And it’s about time you got involved! Learning how to play fantasy football might seem like a daunting task at first but here is a little secret - anyone can win. Fantasy football is kind of like poker or other card games where knowing the rules and having a little luck can mean all the difference. Sure, you can give yourself a bit of an advantage by studying the game deeply. And we do a LOT of that. But the truth is that anyone can win with the willingness to play, a little luck, and some help from the right fantasy football tools.

Today we are going to focus on the basics of how to play fantasy football so that you can get in the game with everyone else. Fantasy football can enhance your NFL viewing experience when you watch games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Black Friday, whatever day Christmas falls on, and even Tuesday that one time during COVID. Maybe you could even win a little money if you decide to put something on the line. And Fantasy Alarm is here both with an explanation of the the basics and some fantasy football tools like rankings and advice!

 

 

 

Fantasy Football Rules & League Settings

The basic concept of fantasy football is that you draft own team of NFL players. Those players then get points based on how well they play in their games each week (we’ll discuss scoring below). Each week you set a lineup of the guys you think will do best. Your team faces off against another team in your league each week and the team with the most points wins. There are typically 10-12 teams in a league but there can be more or less too.

At the end of the season the top teams make the fantasy football playoffs. These typically start around week 14 or 15 and go through the second to last week of the regular season. For example, a 12 team league might have the top 6 teams make the playoffs with the top 2 getting bye weeks. The playoffs then last for three weeks with the last team left being crowned champion!”

ADVICE: If you are asked to join a league, make sure you tell the commissioner (the league manager) whether or not you have played before. If they are a good commissioner, they will know whether the league is appropriate for you to join or not. For instance, your first league probably should not have a $500 buy-in and a bunch of complicated rules.

 

 

 

Fantasy Football Lineups

In this article, we are going to focus on a basic league, though the rules can be customized. When you set your lineup, you will need to set each player at their designated position. The typical positions are as follows.

  • Quarterback (QB) - Most leagues have one quarterback but some can have two
  • Wide Receiver (WR) - Usually there are two or three WR spots
  • Running Back (RB) - Most leagues will have two designated running back spots
  • Tight End (TE) - Most leagues have one tight end spot
  • Flex (WR/RB/TE) - This is your “wildcard” spot where you have the flexibility to start any one of multiple positions (hence the name Flex). Most leagues will let you start a running back, wide receiver, or tight end here though some allow multiple quarterbacks (if you see the word “superflex” that means you can start a quarterback here too).
  • Kicker (K) - Most teams have one kicker
  • Defense/Special Teams (D/ST) - This is where you pick a team defense (e.g. the Philadelphia Eagles). You also get points for special teams like kickoff and punt. 
  • Bench (BN) - These are guys on your team that are NOT in your lineup. They are your reserves for injuries or bye weeks. Each league will have a limit to the number of players you can have on your bench. 

Here is a screenshot of what a typical fantasy football matchup might look like (note - this league does not have kickers as a customization choice).

ADVICE: Make sure you check your lineup every week before Thursday Night Football kicks off as players lock into their spots once their game starts. This becomes more important as the season goes on because you have injuries and bye weeks to deal with. Get those lineups set early!

 

 

 

Fantasy Football Scoring

Points are scored based on statistics. The key ones are yards and touchdowns though the most popular formats also give points for receptions (catching the football). Many leagues also have points for things like two-point conversions while also penalizing your players for fumbles or interceptions. Here is an example of the default fantasy football scoring on Yahoo which is a popular platform to play on. 
 

Defense and kicking have their own sets of scoring rules. Those can also deviate from league to league so you will want to check the settings and ask your league commissioner if there is anything unique about them before you draft.

ADVICE: Knowing whether your league has points for receptions or not is important. If a league does, it will be called either PPR (point per reception) or half PPR (half a point per reception). If there are no points for receptions, it will be called Standard. We have fantasy football rankings available for all three formats once you know what your league is.

 

 

 

Fantasy Football Draft Advice

This is everyone’s favorite part of fantasy football - the draft! Here is when you take turns picking players. If you have never played before, it is a smart idea to have a trusted set of rankings. Fantasy Alarm members can access our fantasy football rankings here for a number of different formats.

Typically, a fantasy football draft goes in a “snake” pattern. What that means is the first person picks, then the second, all the way down to the last person. Then, when it gets to the end, the last person picks TWICE and then it goes back the other way (9, 8, 7, 6 on so on). That makes things a little more fair than letting the same person pick first every round.

You can do drafts online or in person. If it is online, there is likely going to be a clock that limits the amount of time you have to pick which is why having those rankings handy during your draft is so helpful! Most platforms will let you move players you like into a “queue” so that they are ready to be picked. If the timer does run out, it will also pick from your queue which is a nice feature.

ADVICE: Keep in mind for your first draft that you will want to pick players at each of the positions but you don’t NEED to draft all your starting players before bench players! Since positions like running back and wide receiver are more valuable than kicker and defense, it is very common to draft RBs and WRs to your bench before taking kicker or defense. My advice would be to wait for someone else to draft the first kicker or defense and THEN take one yourself. Taking a kicker or defense too early is the most common mistake new players make.

 

 

 

Fantasy Football Waivers & FAAB

There are a couple of different in-season transactions you can do to improve your team after the draft. The two most common are Waivers and Trades.

  • Waivers - On the waiver wire you can add players to your team that didn’t get drafted. When you add a player, you will need to drop a player from your bench.  Let’s say for instance, your running back gets hurt and he’s out for the season. You can go to the waiver wire, add his backup, and drop the guy who is hurt. Most leagues have players on waivers locked while teams are playing and then you submit your claims on Tuesday which are processed overnight. We at Fantasy Alarm share our advice every week on who you should be adding or dropping to dominate your league!
     
  • Trades - You can also trade players. Let’s say your running back gets hurt like the example above but someone else already has his backup. Let’s say you also have an extra quarterback. You can offer to trade that person your extra quarterback for the running back you need. Waivers and trades can make all the difference in winning your league!

Advice: Fantasy Alarm actually have a Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer that can help you make sure the trade you are doing is fair. Just plug your guys you are trading away into the top part and the players you are acquiring into the bottom then hit “evaluate trade”. If the projections are close, do the trade!

 

 

 

Never Stop Learning!

These are the very basics of what you need to know to play. But we at Fantasy Alarm want to make sure that you have your best shot to win! With a Fantasy Alarm Membership, we not only provide all of the tools and rankings you need to win your league but you can ask us directly for advice on who to draft, who to add off waivers, what trades to do etc.

In fact, when you get a membership, you get access to our Premium Discord where you can talk to me and other analysts directly (my channel in the Discord is called Coop’s Corner where you can pop in and ask me questions directly any time!). Fantasy football is fun whether you in or lose but it’s a lot more fun if you are confident in the moves you are making. It’s our goal to make sure you are a fantasy football star so YOU can be the one bragging at the water cooler or family cookout when you win!