Fantasy Football For Beginners
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First Time For Fantasy Football? This Should Help You Out
Fantasy football is basically a fantasy league of 10 to 12 teams where the owners draft and play actual players from the NFL. Scoring touchdowns and gaining 100+ yards rushing and receiving are the most common ways these fantasy players score for your team but every league is different and rewards and penalizes (fumbles, interceptions, etc.) each position differently. While it may not sound that fun to a beginnner, and I'll admit I don't think fantasy football is great for a casual football fan, however, if you love NFL football, you'll love fantasy football.
Not only will you be watching your favorite team on Sundays, you will also be watching your team as well if possible. Many fantasy football websites have live scoring so literally as one of your players scores he will also score for your fantasy team. You'll also find yourself rooting against your opponents players which can be tricky. One game last season I was up against an opponent with Tony Romo but I had his tight end Jason Witten and running back Marion Barber on my team, so I was literally rooting for and against the Cowboys at the same time. If Romo threw a pass to my guy it was all good. A touchdown to TO, not so good.
Another thing you will grow to love (especially as you get better at fantasy football and winning games) is the rivalry that grows between siblings, coworkers, in laws, and friends. Every year my brother and I have a game in which the loser must wear a crazy hat to the next year's draft (only the first few rounds). It definitely adds some spice to the win when you take out a vaunted rival.
If you are new to the fantasy football world it can be a bit overwhelming your first season. Most of the other owners will usually be pretty serious owners and pretty intent on making sure to take advantage of your inexperience. I remember how nervous I was in my first fantasy football draft. The other owners all knew each other quite well and I barely knew any of them. Overall they were all cool people but they were definitely intent on destroying me on the fantasy field.
I've put together a small list of mistakes I made my first few years on fantasy football. I can't guarantee if you follow my advice you'll have a great year, but hopefully it'll help you on draft day and make things more comfortable for you. Once you feel comfortable in your league then its nothing but fun.
1. Try to keep emotion out of your picks - As hard as it may be its best to try and keep all emotions out of your draft. I've seen some crazy picks over the years due to the love of a certain player or a certain team. Burning a quality pick on a player you love but who is pretty mediocre on the fantasy football field is a quick way to end up as the bye week for your opposing teams and landing in last place.
2. Study your league's scoring rules - I'm a member of 8 fantasy scoring leagues and amazingly not one scoring system is the same, and many are very different than the others. The only real constants are touchdowns scored being worth the most points and usually a 100 yd game (or 300 yd for QB's) is worth some big points. After that its usually all over the place. Some leagues penalize your defense for too many yards given up, some leagues give one point per reception making receivers more of a threat. Study hard and try to match your leagues scoring rules to your player ranking list.
Also know your lineup structure well. The flex position can be a killer if you're not sure about it. A flex position is where you may start an extra starter if he qualifies at certain positions. For instance, a normal starting lineup will be 1 QB, 2 RB's, 3 WR's, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF. Usually a flex will be an extra RB, WR, or TE. If your league has a flex make sure you are deep at those positions as once those bye weeks hit and a few teams get bitten by the injury bug, you might be surprised who you are forced to start.
3. Free Agency Is Very Important - My first few seasons I always figured I had a good draft, that should be enough. Many times my teams would do well but run out of gas as the year progressed. I kick myself now as normally I would ignore free agency which is an excellent way to not only fill in holes for bye weeks and injury, but also a way to pluck some stars that come out of nowhere. Last season alone I had some QB problems and was one of the first to snag Derek Anderson. Anderson wasn't even a starter on his team last year to start the season and now he is ranked as high as #5 on a few ranking sheets I've seen (#7 on mine). Ryan Grant is another free agent who greatly helped my teams last year. He was one of the best fantasy backs to have the second half of the season. If you ignore free agency you will be at a disadvantage as the season progresses.
4. Remember Your Mistakes- Depending on your perspective it can seem like ages from when your fantasy season ends and draft time begins. At the end of your draft make some notes, some advice to yourself for next season. Every league is different and every owner is different. Sometimes I change my drafting strategy based off wacky picks made by other owners. Try to watch the draft board fill up and make it work for you. At the end of your fantasy season jot down some notes about your league. Its one thing to know your scoring rules, its another to see them in action in a season. Make it so that next season you'll be the vet taking advantage of any new owner's inexperience in your league.
5. If you are a huge NFL fan and can afford it get DirecTV's Sunday Ticket - While DirecTV's customer service is some of the worst I have ever experienced, their programming is some of the best. I've been with them 3+ years now and can tell you if you have the extra money and love watching all NFL football, then it is worth the $300+ to buy the Sunday Ticket. Basically you can watch every single game (in high def for $75 more) and my favorite, you get the red zone channel. The red zone channel means you never watch another commercial, punt, replay review that never ends, etc. The RZC skips from game to game, from touchdown to touchdown, and also shows you important highlights like fumbles and interceptions, basically the most exciting plays. If you don't see if live (i.e. 2 touchdowns at the same time) you'll see the replay or even a split screen. Its very fast paced and not for those who hate channel surfing, but if you are like me, its the perfect way to watch the games on Sunday.
On a side note DirecTV has the worst customer service in the world so make sure if you are getting new service expect issues and don't get stressed. E-mail correspondance is the only way I communicate with them so I have a record of what happened. If they screw up badly, talk to a manager, they should take some money off your bill.
6. Always Have Fun (don't take things too seriously) - Many times you can have a great draft and a great starting lineup only to see things blow up for you in mid-season. As a beginner you will be more prone to having a weaker team as the othes in your league know the scoring rules and other things you can only pick up through experience. One team I had last year had Marc Bulger, Rudi Johnson, Andre Johnson, and a host of other players performing very badly or getting injured. Many times your team will lose due to something totally out of your control. When a team blows up like this just keep putting out the best lineup you can and don't take the fantasy games too seriously.
There is one exception, if your team makes the playoffs this rule does not apply. There is nothing sweeter than winning your league and being able to brag about it throughout the remainder of the NFL playoffs, at the Super Bowl party, and of course all off season long and even during the next season's draft as you heckle your siblings and in laws incessantly. But in all seriousness, fantasy football is meant to be fun and should always be even if you have a struggling team. Usually a struggling team is rewarded with a nice draft slot so you can always look forward to next season. I think the key is to always try to have fun win or lose.
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Comments
Yeah Sweetness is the best but definitely that whole squad was something very special. I love watching tape of the Ditka era Bears & the Jordan era Bulls.
I've never tried nfl.com for fantasy but if the scoring is pretty standard I'd keep your draft pretty conservative. Its very tough to do well in your first season but it is possible. When drafting your team make sure you are deep at all the high scoring positions (usually RB, QB, WR & TE) because those bye weeks combined with injuries can kill. A deep bench and consistent players will equal a good season 99% of the time. I'd avoid players like Steve Smith, Brandon Marshall and any more players that lose a few games to suspension as a they'll miss a decent chunk of the fantasy season. Good luck on your draft. If you're looking for advice during the season don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Thanks for the advice! I'm kinda nervous because, like I said, I am the only female in my league. You give great advice! My draft is Labor Day night. I have been trying to get all of my draft lined up on paper before putting it on the computer. And I am also a fan of Jordan and the Bulls. The man was poetry in motion! We had WGN and watched every game. I got a pair of Jordan's for Christmas in 1992 and I have never worn them. I have saved them in their box. Maybe I'm sentimental, but I just don't feel there will ever be another MJ. I am also a die-hard Cubs fan. I think I'm the only one down here lol. Every one down here likes the Braves or the Cards. I miss Harry. He made the games so exciting, even when we were down 10 runs. I loved Harry announcing and Mitch 'Wild Thang' Williams pitching. Couldn't get much more nail-biting than that! I will be picking 11th in my draft. So, I figure Brady, Peyton...the highest ranking QBs will be taken by my time to draft. I am hoping for Romo, but we'll see. Thanks again for the advice! Always good to meet another fan of the Superbowl Shuffle! That whole team rocked! Have a great day! :)
I was looking at the socring system & that site's player rankings, it does look like QB's score a little more than most leagues. If Romo is gone I'd probably go with a Marion Barber (or Gore if he falls), and then maybe go with Moss or Larry Johnson with pick#2. Based on the rankings and your draft slot I'd load up on the best position players until you can draft a QB at the right value for the draft pick. I'd target someone like McNabb or Favre with your 6th round pick. Both very decent QB's for so late in the draft. Many times I like drafting later in the draft (7th is my fave slot) as you can capitalize on other owners mistakes in drafting and you can build a nice, solid, well rounded team.
Great advice! I love me some Favre! LOL He's looking good so far in Jet green. I will also keep my eyes out in case I can get Romo. I like Barber too. I actually have Larry Johnson on my short list. (So I did good huh?) 1 of the men quit so that puts me up to 11th pick. Whos knows, since the draft isn't until Labor Day, maybe I'll be up to the 7th spot!! Thanks so much for helping me!!!
You're not going to believe this. I talked to a guy who lives here yesterday. He's in the NFL.COM league and his draft was night before last. His league is fixed to where the computer picked the drafting order. (Not like mine) Anyway, he got Favre in the 6th round! Your are good!!! I gotta hand it to you!! Amazing!!! Keep up the GREAT work!!!!! ( Hey, I need all the help I can get! lol)
I'm getting excited for football season. Love College and love pro mainly because of fantasy football. Nice hub!
Thanks ASU & 02Smith. Yeah Favre looked real good in his first preseason game with the Jets. He'll probably throw more picks and have lesser stats than when he was in Green Bay as he's trying to learn a whole new offense and playing with different receivers, but he still will make a quality fantasy QB this year. It looks like I'll have 3 drafts this Saturday so hopefully we all do real well on draft day.
Its my first time playinng Fantasy Football and it will be my first draft this Wednesday Nite
Thanks for the comments they wre vry helpful to a newbie
Delta
How did your drafts go?
The drafts went great, I did have a very stressfull 2 hours when 2 drafts overlapped and due to bad weather coming and going I was forced to move the laptop multiple times as the live draft would move into a basement with little signal. A little chaotic but lots of fun. I just can't wait for the season to begin now.
That's great! Today is my draft. I have all of my players lined up. I have changed them several times. I hope they are set right now. We have been having rain and I have been getting disconnected alot these past few days, so I feel your pain about the weather. I hope I can stay on tonight the whole draft. Wish me luck, I need it. Thanks again for your help and well wishes.
Hope your draft went very well. It sounds like you were very well prepared so you should do fine for your first draft. A little later this week I'll update the player rankings adding in the week 1 match ups. Might help with some of those tough start 'em or sit 'em decisions as injuries and opponents can raise or lower a player's stock on a weekly basis.
Ok, I had my draft last night. Keep in mind there are 12 people in my league and I picked 12th. Let me know what you think of my players if you get a minute please. Romo, Larry Johnson, DeAngelo Williams, Cotchery, Galloway, Welker, Watson, Gostkowski, Gerrard, Thomas Jones, Curry, Boss, Lions Def, Bucs Def. I was kinda proud of who I got considering how late my draw was. I look forward to your upcoming hubs!!
I think you did very well for the 12 spot. I love Romo this year, I also like all 3 of your backs although rookie Jonathon Stewart worries me in Carolina (the better Stewart does will take carries away from Williams). Cotchery should have a great year with his new QB. All in all a pretty solid team though.
I've already updated my QB rankings & RB rankings for week 1. I'll have WR, TE & D ready by the morning. Even though I don't have a vested interest in the Skins or Giants I am dying waiting for Thursday night and the beginning of the season.
Aww thanks! I'll watch what you said about Stewart. Thanks for the hint there! I'm excited about tomorrow nights game too. I'll be rooting for Eli. He's from down here. I've watched him since his freshman year at Ole Miss. Thanks again for the compliments and I'll be reading your hubs!!! Thanks so much for all your help. You rock!!! Oh, I almost forgot, I picked up Ricky Williams and Devin Hester by dropping the Bucs def and Ronald Curry. What do you think?
Yeah Stewart looked real good in preseason. I could see him doing what Adrian Peterson did to Chester Taylor last year (Peterson was so good Taylor barely played as the season pregressed). That was a good game, Eli is QB on one of my teams and that bootleg running score was pretty sweet.
Ricky Williams was a great pick up. Ronnie Brown is above him on the depth chart but had a nasty knee injury last year and not 100% yet. Ricky has a good chance of becoming the starter although they'll share carries either way. Its hard to find a team that uses a one running back system anymore.
This is true. Stewart was already taken. Boss is not producing for me. Any advice? I also dropped Gerrard and picked up K Warner. So far today I'm winning. Warner produced for me big time. Also I dropped the Lions D and picked up Chiefs but they weren't so good today. There wasn't much of a choice for picking up a good D. I also picked up Prater who did good for me today. I hope you're winning your leagues.
Yeah defense is a real crapshoot. I thought I had a great free agent pickup when I got the Ravens D last week and now the game is cancelled and I'm stuck starting Philly vs. the Cowboys which is scary. Fasano is looking like he might get a ton of throws in Miami from Pennington (although he did better week 1 than week 2). Penington doesn't have the strongest arm so he throws inside more often than normal QB's. Jon Carlson (Seattle, Hasselbeck is running out of receivers to throw to) and Tony Scheffler (Broncos has had 2 great weeks) are also great pick ups that have come from nowhere if still available. You had a great pick up with Warner, he can really put up some great numbers. I need a great game from one or 2 good games from Westbrook & Witten tonight and my teams will be in good shape. Tonight should be a great game to watch.
Well, this week is bad iffy for me. I'm playing a man who has 5 Packers including Rodgers. Romo is my QB. So we are playing headsup. I'm winning 52-26 going into tonight but he has 6 players left to my 3 left. I have 2 for the Monday night game. The Falcons got me 18 points today. Like you said, that is a crapshoot. I won last week so I'm 1-1 going into today. This year is freaky with all the injuries to big players. Miami is shocking me this year. Eli pulled it out but I thought he'd have had that game in hand early. I wish you luck today with your teams. Thanks for being a good listener and advisor! I really appreciate it! Oh yeah, I got rid of Boss and today he scored like a bigdog. UGH!!!!! Why is that???? Why do players produce AFTER you trade them??
It sounds like you are doing very well for a first year owner. Most first year owner's in my leagues are in the celllar as many did not draft very deep teams. I wouldn't worry about Boss too much, I really doubt he gets many more fantasy points. Usually its Eli & Plaxico for most of their scoring. You are lucky you don't have Ronnie Brown on your bench like me. That was frustrating to see all 5 of those gamebreaks. He outscored my entire starting lineup from that squad but oh well no way to see that one coming. If Gates continues to do well I should have a pretty good week. Hope you pulled out the victory, it really gets interesting now as we enter the bye weeks for the NFL teams.
Dang! One of the men in my league did that too. He had like 80 points on his bench. What's up with Brett tonight? I NEED 10 more points to win this week. I'm in panic mode!!!!!
Yeah Favre burned me with that late Stuckey TD as my opponent started Stuckey vs. my Antonio Gates but oh well. He's got a bad ankle now it seems and it looks like the Madden Curse maybe starting to catch up with him. Might be another long year for the Jets.
I hated to see him on the front of that game. I was hoping he'd be the one to break it. How are you doing today? I'm up 130 to 28 and he has D Jackson and Hinds Ward to go. I lost last week by 7 points. It was bad. So close yet so far. Guess I was paniced for a reason. I picked up the Bengals D for this week because the team I had was on a bye week. I picked them because of the match-up and they got me 11 points, so I was pretty happy with that. Romo has me 18 so far since he threw that big ole Interception. I hope you're winning this week. Have a good one!
I actually will have a perfect week if Santonio Holmes gets me a touchdown and about 30 yards (or just 100 yards will do). Knowing the Ravens D though it won't be easy. I'm glad it sounds like you have a win this week. I don't know if you saw my blog on fullwrap.com but an ESPN analyst (Matthew Berry) advised people to sit Larry Johnson this week. I hate that guy, besides him being very cocky he's usually wrong about one player every week. Yeah Romo seems like he has to make at least one mistake a game but he does recover well. Some QB's get all flustered but Romo just keeps playing. Despite me not being a Cowboys fan its hard not to love all the drama in Dallas.
I won 118-58 this week. I so needed that! He was wrong, Johnson got me more points than Romo. He friggin rocked for me yesterday! I'm glad your week went so great! Holmes will do you good. I like him a lot, I wish I had him. I'll check out your blog. Thanks for telling me about it! Did you happen to see the Bears game? Did you see that play the QB called with 12 men on the field? He was mic'ed up and said "Go down! Go down!" And his RB just laid down on the grass acting like his leg was hurt. Plainly it wasn't because they were lined up for the play, but since the QB saw the 12 men, he thought quick and got an injury timeout and saved them being changed one. One of the smartest plays I've ever seen. I didn't even know that was legal. LOL
I know Sam Wyche (old Bengals coach from way back) used to have his players do that all the time so they wouldn't have to use timeouts. They put in a rule when its under 2 minutes the team is still charged a timeout but if its not within 2 minutes its a smart move. I do like Orton a lot at QB as he's always been a winner. When Grossman was the starter it had the whole city enraged, I'm so glad Grossman is back on the bench this year.
Yeah Holmes def made my day with that touchdown. It was lookin pretty bad until then. I can't wait for next Monday Night's game Vikings/Saints and I have Peterson and Bush on different teams.
That call is just awesome. It was really quick thinking. Orton may make a good coach someday. I liked Grossman as a person, but he was king of interceptions. I'm glad Holmes came through for you. I felt like he would. I really like him. I'm trying to get ready for next week now lol.
I'm definitely a little hard on Grossman but he comes across as very cocky to many people in the Chicago media market. I think the last straw was when he admitted he did not properly prepare for a game (might have been a playoff game) because of New Year's partying. I think Grossman is about as popular as Steve Bartman (ok maybe not that bad) around here. I do love Orton though, he's definitely a winner. I still think if Orton had been plugged in there in the middle of 2006 the Bears would have had a chance vs. the Colts in the Superbowl.
I have lost 2 times, once by 6 points, last week by 1 point. That was hard! I'm ahead 109-64 he has Ward and Miller going tonight. So I'm hoping to win this week. Hubby played Orton this week. Hope things are going good for you!
Yeah my teams have been hurt by injurie but I'm hanging in there. With my team with Orton I went ahead an picked up Brady Quinn to start so that should make this Thursday's game very interesting. I hope you pulled out the victory last week, I hate losing close games. I'd rather it be a blowout sometimes.
I'm anxious to see Quinn play. The man is mighty-built for a QB. I watched him do some walk-throughs yesterday. He looks great. I did win this week. I'm 1 game back right now. I hate close ones too. 2 I lost was down to the last plays of the night. So I feel your pain. Hope this week goes well for you. I'll be keeping a close eye on Quinn.
allshookup says:
16 months ago
Do I see Walter Peyton? My favorite Bear was Jimmy Mc. I loved the rebel attitude he has. But, too, how can you not love Sweetness? I am signed up on NFL.COM to play fantasy this season. I have watched NFL for 19 years. I play NASCAR fantasy right now. I joined the league last (12th) so I get the last pick in the live draft. I really want to win this. I would appreciate any advice. Did I mention that there are 11 men and me in the league? I am reading the links you gave.