Beginners Guide To NFL Fantasy
If you are panicking that the Supercoach season is about to end and you enjoy NFL then perhaps fantasy football is for you. If you spend all week agonizing over trades then perhaps the waiver wire can substitute. Trade Supercoach for ESPN and get ready to explain to your wife or significant other that Supercoach has ended but fantasy football has just begun.
For the purposes of this guide it will all be based on the ESPN version of NFL fantasy. I won’t include much detail on individual players, but I will do a player review before the season commences. The most important thing to remember is you don’t need to have an intimate knowledge of NFL players & teams to have fun playing this game.
NFL Fantasy is similar to Supercoach Draft in a lot of respects. Firstly you need to join a league and leagues can vary in size from usually 8-12 coaches. Then a draft takes place to choose your players. Drafting is a heap of fun and takes about an hour or so depending on your league. Players then play head to head each week until the finals similar to Supercoach.
Team
A standard ESPN team format consists of:
1 x Quarterback (QB)
2 x Running Backs (RB)
2 x Wide Receivers (WR)
1 x Tight End (TE)
1 x FLEX
1 x Defense (D/ST)
1 x Kicker (K)
7 x Bench Spots (BE)
FLEX is a flexible position that you can play any RB, WR or TE.
D/ST is a team defense that scores points by keeping opposition scores low and making plays like sacks, interceptions, return TD’s etc.
K is a kicker. Just get one off a good team and you will be okay.
Scoring
Like Supercoach players score points based on real performance in the game. Only players in your starting lineup score. I won’t go into much detail but a very basic version is as below:
10 run meters = 1 point
10 receiving yards = 1 point
Touchdown (TD) run or catch = 6 points
Touchdown (TD) pass = 4 points
So you want players who can get as many yards and TD’s simple!
Also negatives apply to fumbles, interceptions etc. For a full scoring explanation go to
Drafts
There are two types of Draft and the below examples are based on a 10 team draft:
Snake : Is similar to the actual NFL draft. If you pick 1st you wait until 19th for your next pick. 2nd pick next picks 18th. And so on until the 10th pick gets the 11th pick.
This is the most popular method.
Auction : You have a budget usually $200 and you can bid against other coaches for anybody. But a balancing act to get a good all round team.
Is a fun method for more experienced players.
You can do “Mock Drafts” once you have joined ESPN and they are a great way to learn. You get to practice drafting with other people. It’s heaps of fun and if you do a few you will be ready to go!
You may hear picks referred to as rounds: e.g. In round (1) I drafted Marshawn Lynch and in Round (2) I drafted Julio Jones.
Round 1 = Picks 1 to 10
Round 2 = Picks 11 to 20
Etc.
Players
As you draft the players are listed in order as ranked by EPSN. This is a good guide to when you should draft players. Certain positions have less “elite” players so players in that position are valued higher.
QBThe easiest position to get good players. Andrew Luck & Aaron Rodgers are standouts but then there isn’t much between 1-12.
TE The hardest position to get good players. It is Rob Gronkowski and daylight second. Gronk will go round 1-2. Jimmy Graham 3-4. And then wait for later rounds or stream (pick based on match ups) tight-ends.
RBThe second hardest position to get good players. Jeremy Hill is the last of the guns at #14th overall. So if you want the best you have to get them early.
WRA little easier than RB’s but the good ones are usually gone by the end of round 3-4.
DS/TWill start going as early as R8-9. Most people wait till the last few rounds.
K The better the offence the better the kicker generally, but there isn’t a huge difference between them. Usually drafted in the last round.
That’s the basics. I will cover the waiver wire and player reviews in the future.
Happy Drafting!