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Are you ready for some football! Fantasy football is the number-one fantasy sport played in the world. There is no better way to spend a football Sunday than to have an interest in several games cheering on the star players on your fantasy team. The excitement of watching your team competing against your opponent’s in real time is riveting.
For just one price you get over four months of competitive enjoyment. To begin play, you need to join a league and assemble your team by either drafting players or by outbidding others by auction. Once the season begins, you put your players to work weekly against other teams in your league. You are an authentic general manager of your self made professional football team. If your players meet your expectations you get paid, if not, they get the axe. Every week you need to adjust your lineup for match ups and scour the waiver- wire to improve your team just like the real NFL gm’s. If you are good at it, you will win your league, have a great time, and win great cash prizes
Choose how much you want to spend and sign up to determine your prize pay-outs.
We have prize pay-outs for the league champion and for second and third place. We also pay if your team scores the most total points in your league. For the more extreme participant who really wants to put their skill to the test, we have "winner-takes-all prizes" leagues. With only one prize awarded per season, this league is not for everyone.
Choose your players by draft or auction
This is one of the highlights in your fantasy season.
The draft is done in the standard serpentine manner. For example, we draft slot one through twelve and then twelve through one and so on to complete your required rosters. The initial draft order is randomly determined.
The auction gives you the opportunity to have any player on your roster that you desire, provided you can outbid your opponents. You will need to pre-budget your salary cap in order to have a successful auction and be careful not to overspend on your targeted players. We feel the auction format is possibly the most fair and fun way to assemble your team
Our drafts and auctions are mostly done live but we will have email drafts. See our mock draft link and mock auctions link to get an idea on the average position or cost for your players. We recommend joining a mock for practice and to gain experience with the process.
Before the draft or auction you will have to develop a strategy for your targeted players and sleepers while giving some consideration to their fantasy playoff schedule in weeks 15 and 16.
This is the initial homework and research part of your season. Many participants go in with just gut feelings, buy a fantasy guide or subscribe to an online fantasy site for recommendations. The best players generally do all of the above.
Have a back-up strategy. Only rarely does your initial strategy go as planned.
For example, if you are in the early first round and the running back you targeted is off the board, you either need to pick another running back or be prepared to pick the best available on the board even if it is another position. Quality and remaining quantity of position will determine where you go next. The most successful rosters have depth at every position.
Execute your strategy during the draft/auction time and be prepared to make a pick when it's time.
To keep the draft moving and as a courtesy to other participants, we would recommend pre-drafting when possible. While it's understandable that a deliberate owner may take extra time making their selections, you run the risk of using all of your allotted time just to have the computer make the pick for you.
Once your team is assembled, be aware of team weaknesses.
These weaknesses may include, but are not limited to, multiple players on the same bye week, players with high injury risk, and no depth.. This is where free agency and trading have value and will be addressed later.
On opening day of the season you have to submit your lineup.
Generally there will be little to decide. You spend most of your research time on what is this week’s third best wide receiver or which quarterback to start and little brain power spent on decisions with your "must start" players.
Depending on which league style you are in, your lineup will consist of the following:
Lineups
- Standard: 1 QB, 2 RB’s, 3 WR’s, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 Def
- Flex: 1 QB, 1 RB 2 WR’s, 2 Flex(RB, WR, TE), 1 TE, 1K, 1 Def
- Standard Lineup with IDP: 1 QB, 2 RB's, 3 WR's, 1 TE, 1 K, 2 DL's, 2 LB's, 2 DB's
Your Best players
It's always in your best interest to start your top studs even when their opposing match up seems to be quite difficult. There can be exceptions to this, but you will outguess yourself more times than not and your lineup will suffer.
On Field Match-ups
Besides looking at your possible starting player’s defensive matchup for that week, you will also want to consider if your possible starting player’s team will be passing to come from behind or running to protect a lead.
Starting lineups of your opposing team
In some instances you may start a player that may neutralize an opponent's better players. This works on QB's and same team WR's.
Bye weeks
Your strategy should include having good depth to compensate for the bye weeks. This can prove crucial to your chances of making the playoffs. It is very easy to beat a team that starts skeleton lineups during the season because they do not have enough depth to field a quality team. Try not to make this your team.
Injuries
Injuries can be season-breakers or season-makers. A backup can be a fantasy goldmine for the team who has him or for the team that chooses him in free agency. (Just ask the Priest Holmes owners who had Larry Johnson on their team in previous years.)
Recent success "Hotness Factor"
If a player has a good game, there can be the proverbial "where there is smoke there is fire" adage. But, be wary of the one-game wonders and be not too hasty to dump an underperforming player in order to catch lightning in a bottle. There is less risk with dumping "sleepers" that can’t seem to wake up than to take a chance on a possible one-game wonder.
Backups
Your team depth is very important when bye weeks come into play for your regular starters. Having a good backup is also invaluable when your starter has a history of frequent injuries. A good tip to consider is taking a chance on the number-one ranked rushing team's back-up running back along with the number-one ranked passing team's back-up QB. If these players are not already on a team when injuries occur they will be the most sought after free agents. Avoid the frenzied bidding by planning ahead.
Free Agency and Waiver
Free agency gems
- the team that uses the free agency the best should make the playoffs at the very least
- check your available free agents often to improve your squad and continuously strive to improve your depth
- remember, if he is not on your team, you may be competing against him next week
Trading
Trades in your league (if applicable)
can be a way to instantly upgrade although you may be downgrading a strength
are mostly done by a team that is scrambling to shore up their weaknesses or a team with great depth
trades will only be allowed up to the week-12 kickoff, so plan accordingl
While the initial draft/auction is very important to your final success, if you don’t make the right decisions on starting players or picking up free agents your season may be disapointing. Your weekly strategy determines whether you win your league or only do well. To review:
Weekly starting lineup determination
start your studs
review upcoming players opposing match ups
consider your opponents' starting lineup
check bye weeks
Playoffs
This is the most exciting part of fantasy football. You will want a distraction-free zone in order to keep track of your players and those of your opponents' team. You know you will either triumph or go home.
The top four teams will make the Fantaball playoffs. The two division winners will get the guaranteed playoff births with the two other positions filled by the teams with the most total points. In week fifteen the top seed will play the fourth seed and the second seed will play the third seed. The winners will play in week sixteen for the league Super Bowl Championship while the losers will play for third place. We do not play on week seventeen due to the possible resting of players on teams that have already clinched their maximum playoff potential. The prize for total season points is awarded to the team that scores the most points through week sixteen.
The playoffs are designed to award the deserving teams and limit the "dumb luck" factors that occur by only using the standard league win/loss records. We are aware that many losses in a season come from playing the wrong team at the wrong time. By using total points scored for playoff determination, we reward your weekly high scores even if you lose to a team that has a "monster" week. Scoring high in a week, but being beaten out by another high scorer, is not credited in the standard fantasy league head-to-head match up scoring system. We address this to provide the most fair and balanced league play possible
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