What is fantasy football?

I've been playing fantasy football for quite a while and have been watching the NFL for even longer. However, my mom told me that most people are unfamiliar with it, so she asked me to write my next post on introducing fantasy football to a beginner.

Tom Brady (Patriots QB), the unquestionable GOAT

Why is fantasy football so much fun?

On the outside, fantasy football may seem boring. After all, all you are doing is picking a bunch of players and hoping that they do well in their next games. But once you start playing, you will see that it's so much more than that. Fantasy football is about taking risks and analyzing statistics and trusting your gut. Fantasy football is about ripping your friends off in trades and rubbing it in their faces when you beat them. Fantasy football is about staying connected with your friends and always having something to talk to them about. I've been watching football with my dad and helping with his fantasy team since elementary school and it has formed one of the strongest bonds I have with my dad. I have been in a fantasy football league with my friends for 5 years and although we moved on to different high schools, we are as close as ever. There is so much I can say about why fantasy football means so much to me, but to truly understand, you have to try it out yourself!

What is fantasy football?

Fantasy football is a game based on the real-life football league (NFL). In fantasy football, there is a draft at the beginning of the season where the different participants in the league pick the players on their team. The players that someone can pick are quarterbacks (QB), running backs (RB), wide receivers (WR), tight ends (TE), kickers (K) and defense (DEF). After the draft, each person has a completed team with players from each position. A players success is based on their stats, which I will describe in a later section, but to win a matchup, the combined points of your team's starting lineup must be greater than your opponents.

How is fantasy football scored?

In fantasy football, there are many different ways to score points. If you are familiar with NFL football, you should understand the terms yard, touchdown, field goal, interception, fumble, etc. These are the standard scoring guidelines

All positions earn:

- 1 point for 10 yards rushing (0.1 pt/yard)

- 1 point for 10 yards receiving (0.1 pt/yard)

- 1 point for 25 yards passing (0.04 pt/yard)

- 4 points for a passing touchdown

- 6 points for a rushing or receiving touchdown

- -2 points for a fumble or interception.

A kicker is rewarded points for the distance of their field goals and for extra points. A defense earns points for interceptions, fumbles, safeties, or blocked kicks and loses points for allowing points by the opposing offense. In PPR scoring (Point per reception), a player is also rewarded 1 point per catch. In STD (Standard) scoring, however, a player is not rewarded any points for a reception, but can still earn points for receiving yards and touchdowns.

Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs QB), reigning fantasy and NFL MVP

Sample Scorings

QB: 238 yards passing, 3 TDS, 58 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD = 9.52 + 12 + 5.8 + 6

= 33.32 points

RB: 134 yards rushing, 2 TDS, 4 catches, 36 yards receiving = 13.4 + 12 + 3.6 + (4 for PPR) = 29 points STD, 33 points PPR

WR/TE: 8 catches, 108 yards, 2 TDS = 10.8 + 12 + (8 for PPR) = 22.8 points STD, 30.8 points PPR

Kickers and Defense scoring is a little weirder, so I'm not going to go into that.

Melvin Gordon (Chargers RB) rushes for a TD against the Ravens

Strategy

Contrary to what some may believe, fantasy football is an extremely skill based game. Although a good amount of luck is involved, understanding strategy and tendencies greatly improve your chances of winning. I'm just going to go into basic strategy right now in this post.

Volume is everything:

This may sound confusing, but its really the fundamental rule of fantasy football. The more times a quarterback throws, the more carries a running back gets, or the more catches a receiver or tight end gets, the better they will do. While there are several exceptions of players who don't get as much volume but still do great, a player with high volume will ALMOST ALWAYS be a consistent and high scoring player. If you are a first-time fantasy player, target high volume players over skill.

Know the scoring:

This is an extremely overlooked but arguably the most important strategy. Know how your league works and how each player is scored. A winning team in a PPR scoring league is very different than a winning team in a STD scoring league. If you are in a PPR league, go for players who get a large volume of targets. Generally, targets (the number of times a player is thrown the ball) is a good indication of how involved they are in the passing game. Because 6 catches (relatively common for a good RB or average WR) is worth as much as a TD, it is extremely important to go after high-target players. Usually, running backs with high involvement in the passing game are the best picks (Ex: Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey). If you are in a STD league, running back is by far the most important position. In this kind of leagues, receivers and tight ends are not as important, as quarterbacks and running backs score a large portion of your team's points. Go after run heavy running backs (Ex: Ezekiel Elliott, Melvin Gordon).

Wait on quarterbacks:

This is the most confusing to new players. Yes, quarterbacks are almost always the highest scoring positions. Yes, they score the most touchdowns and get the most yards. Yes, they are by far the most important player on any football team. But in fantasy football, the difference between a great quarterback and a good quarterback is less than you think. When drafting quarterbacks, you must understand that the difference between an early round RB or WR and a later round player is far greater than the difference between a top-3 QB and a top-15 QB. This is why you will likely see the first quarterbacks come off the board in round 3 and the majority of quarterbacks in the round 5-8 range.

Pick players on your favorite team:

No, I'm not saying pick Tom Brady first overall. But if you have the choice between someone on your favorite team and someone who is slightly better, go with the first. While fantasy football is a game of numbers, it sucks to have to root against your favorite team. Fantasy football is meant to make watching football fun, and I can guarantee you firsthand that watching a player on your favorite and fantasy team score a touchdown is one of the best feelings in the world!