Linebackers
Defensive linemen
Defensive backs
Your league’s commissioner sets how many players at each position you must draft. Each position can score fantasy points in any of the following stat categories, depending on your league’s default settings. Here’s a sample of some of them (not from a Yahoo! league):
Sack: 2 points
Tackle: 2 points
Assist: 1 point
Interception: 3 points
Pass defended: 1 point
Fumble recovery: 2 points
Forced fumble: 3 points
Touchdown: 6 points
Safety: 3 points
Blocked kick: 2 points
Kick/punt return touchdowns: 6 points
The roster requirements and scoring variables are different in every IDP league. In general, stats such as tackles and forced fumbles make each defensive player almost as important as the offensive players on your roster. Of course, TDs still rule in most leagues, and your draft should still focus on the play-making RBs, QBs, and WRs. But after you’ve acquired your offensive stars in the first five to ten rounds, you can start to look at drafting dominant All-Pro defensemen. (For more info on pre-ranking IDP leagues, read Chapter 7.)
You versus Who? Knowing the Scoring Format
Knowing how your players score their fantasy points doesn’t mean you know the whole score. What matters in the NFL also matters in the big picture of fantasy football: winning. And just as each fantasy league has unique scoring rules for the players, leagues have different types of rules for competing against the other coaches. Make sure you’ve researched the league’s scoring format before you join so you know what it takes to win. This section gives you the rundown of how the road to victory is different in certain leagues.
Head-to-head leagues
The classic competition format for fantasy football is the style that mirrors the NFL: going head to head against the other teams in your league. In a head-to-head scoring league, each fantasy squad plays one other squad per week, and the starting lineup with the highest score that week wins. If the matchup ends in a tie, a tiebreaker set by your commissioner decides the game (total bench points scored is a common tiebreaker). Your league provider automatically tallies the points, using your league’s scoring parameters (see the previous sections in this chapter). After the week’s NFL games are completed, the fantasy results become final.
A larger league may also be divided into divisions, just like the NFL, although most aren’t. Each team will usually play the teams in its own division twice and the other teams once, but it depends on how the league is configured by the website or by the commissioner.
Points leagues
In a points league (also sometimes called a rotisserie or roto league), the scoring rules for each team are the same (see the previous sections in this chapter), but you have no head-to-head games each week. Instead, your league provider compiles each team’s points scored over the entire fantasy season (18-week regular NFL season). The team with the most total points at the end of the season wins the league.
Because many strange things can happen every week in the NFL, such as an all-pro QB throwing five interceptions or a kicker hitting five field goals, upsets happen in reality and in fantasy. In one week, you may score a ton of points and still lose because your opponent scored just one more point than you did. One or two close games like that can knock a good team out of the fantasy playoffs and put a lesser team in the postseason in the head-to-head format. Because a roto league weighs total points scored over the course of the entire season, not weekly wins and losses, it’s considered a more accurate measure of a quality fantasy team. I understand that opinion, but I prefer the H2H format because it feels more like the real thing to me.
Chapter 3
Finding a League Right for You
IN THIS CHAPTER
People take many different paths into the world of fantasy football. Perhaps one of your friends or coworkers has invited you to join a fantasy league. Or maybe you just want to sign up for a league by yourself to gain bragging rights over complete strangers. Furthermore, some people play fantasy football just for fun, focusing only on offensive touchdowns and bragging rights, while some hardcore players pony up thousands of dollars to play in tournaments that feature complex rules.
No matter your motivation, you need to know what you’re getting into. Specifically, if you want to play, you need to find a league that fits you and your needs. However you plan on playing, this chapter explains your league options and helps you select the one that will maximize your enjoyment of the game.
Understanding Your League Options: Public or Private
Although fantasy football offers many different types of games for you to choose from, before you choose a specific league, you need to ask yourself one basic question: Do you want to play in a public league or in a private league? When you answer this question, also ask yourself what type of environment you want to play in. The answer may be quite simple. Your cousin Bo may have asked you to play with him and his buds, which in that case means you join Bo’s private league. However, if you don’t know anyone and want to play fantasy, then you need to look into a public league.
You can find both public and private leagues that are free or that have entry fees. This section explains the two major types of fantasy football leagues, the free and pay versions of both, and discusses their pros and cons.