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Fantasy football was once a fun little game designed for NFL diehards seeking another angle to enjoy all of the action. Today its popularity is so widespread that it has almost become as much of a household name as the real NFL itself.
While it may seem like just about every NFL fan already plays fantasy football, the number of overall users still continues to increase each season.
For those looking to join a league for the first time ever, or for those who are just curious about what exactly fantasy football is, the following guide should answer most questions. While there are endless customizable options for each league, this will cover the basics.
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How does fantasy football work?
Fantasy football teams are managed by actual people and consist of a complete roster of real NFL players. Managers will have the opportunity to select all of their players during a fantasy draft, usually with ten or 12 total teams. Each team is managed by a different person, with all of them looking to build the best roster they can.
Each week in most formats, two fantasy teams will face off against each other. Their players will receive points based on a designated scoring system and the team with the higher cumulative total at the end of the week earns a victory.
Each team will then generate a record as the season goes on, with the best few in the league earning a trip to their fantasy playoffs.
How does scoring work in fantasy football?
Each player on a fantasy roster earns points based on their performances in their actual NFL games each week. Most fantasy leagues reward a player one point for every ten rushing or receiving yards, as well as a point for every 25 passing yards. Players also often get a point per reception and six points for scoring a touchdown.
Many leagues also include kickers, who earn points for converting kicking attempts and lose points for missing them. The most common approach for defensive scoring in fantasy leagues is drafting an entire defensive team unit, rather than individual defensive players.
Each fantasy roster will receive points for team-based defensive statistics, such as sacks, turnovers, and limiting points allowed in real NFL games.
How to join a fantasy league?
While public leagues are available for anyone to join, fantasy football is most enjoyable when played with a group of friends or acquaintances. For the best experience, prospective players should ask others if they have an open spot in an existing league or ask several if they are interested in starting a new one.
The simplest way to create a league is by joining an app or website that offers hosting. Tons of them do so for free, including ESPN, Yahoo, and Sleeper. While leagues can be made manually offline, they require an immense amount of work.
Therefore, using one of the host sites for a league provides the most user-friendly experience.
How to make roster changes in fantasy football?
Following the draft, managers will have opportunities to make adjustments to their rosters during the course of a season. The free agent is pool is one way to do so. Any player not currently on another fantasy team is available as a free agent. They may be added to any roster with an open slot or another player may be dropped to make room for a new one.
When a player is dropped, they are placed on the waiver wire for two days. Managers can make claims for waivers, which are processed in the reverse order of the fantasy draft. After a successful waiver claim, that manager will then go to the bottom of the wavier priority list for their next claim. When the NFL season kicks off, all available free agents are placed on waivers when their NFL game kicks off each week until the waiver picks are processed on Wednesday in the same drafting style.
The other way that managers can make adjustments to their rosters is through the trade market. They can offer other managers trades, and if accepted, it goes to a league vote on whether or not to approve or decline the trade. An unbalanced number of players can be offered, and in Dynasty leagues, future draft picks may also be included in the trade.
