How To Play Fantasy Football | The Rookie Guide

How To Play Fant Fantasyasy Football: The Rookie Guide
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If you have always wondered how to play fantasy football, then this article is for You.

You’ve probably noticed that one or some of your friends began to enjoy the NFL much more than they used to, and you were encouraged to enter fantasy. You should not be discouraged if you are somehow overwhelmed with so much information that you will find about it; it has happened to all of us. 

We all started from scratch; even the most experienced today had their rookie year at some point. Everything takes its process, and at the same time, everything has a starting point. As a rookie, it’s time for your first step on how to play fantasy football.

Related: What Is Fantasy Sports?

What is Fantasy Football?

Its most basic concept is a virtual game in which you will act as the owner, general manager, and head coach of your franchise. The first thing you should do is find a league to participate in and decide the platform you want to play on. 

You can build your own league and invite friends or join one of the many public leagues available. Once inside a league, the next thing to do is build your team. You will choose real NFL players who will be part of your team for a season.

Maybe math has never been so much fun for you, but it will be enjoying this time. Fantasy is a math-based game. Players on your team will earn you fantasy points based on what those players do in real life in their NFL games.

Most leagues use weekly matches between participants as their entry system. Each week you will face an opponent, the one who manages to generate the most fantasy points with their starting players is credited with a win. It is commonly referred to as the “Head-To-Head,” “H2H,” or “Head to Head” system.

Teams with the best win-loss record will advance to the fantasy league playoffs to contest the championship (playoffs typically take place in NFL Weeks 15 and 16).

Roster

To play fantasy football, you need to have a roster that is made up (regularly) of 15 to 16 players in total. Of these, eight will be your starters, and the others will be as substitutes or on the bench.

The starting roster is made up of a Quarterback (QB), two Running Backs (RBs), two Wide Receivers (WRs), a Tight End (TE), a Flex (it can be a RB, a WR, or a TE of your choice and you can rotate it every week), a Defense (DST) and a Kicker (K).

How to Play Fantasy Football

How to Build a Team

The way you will get your players for the season will be in a draft, something similar to the draft that is done in the NFL. The date and time it will take place will be determined by the commissioner or manager of the league, usually in the weeks before the start of the NFL Season. A fantasy draft consists of 15 or 16 rounds

#1. Main goal

Your concentration should focus on putting together a team capable of winning your match each week in turn. To achieve this, you must make (to the extent that your draft allows) players who maximize their potential, that is, the most productive.

#2. Format to Use

Fantasy has grown and evolved so much that various formats and competition systems have emerged. For newbies, I recommend joining leagues of 8, 10, or 12 teams maximum.

As for the scoring system, I recommend you play the simplest, which we used to know as STD (standard), which today is Non-PPR. Most platforms have adopted PPR (point per reception) or Half PPR (half a point per reception) scoring systems so that a standard league may be different on each platform. All this is modifiable, so one of your first tasks when entering your league will be to soak up the information and competition system (you will find all this in League Settings). Knowing your league parameters from start to finish will make you a much better fantasy player.

Roles to Play:

As a fantasy player, you will basically have three roles during the season: viewer, general manager, and coach.

#1. Viewer

You will start this role months before the season starts. There is no other way to win in fantasy other than to stay informed about what is going on with the NFL players. In this process, you will determine which players are or are not worth looking at for your draft. It is the process of evaluating the fantasy options available.

#2. General Manager

Now, time to start making decisions. On the day of the draft of your league, you will become the general manager of your team, and as such, you will make the decisions about which players to choose in each turn or round. It can be a very responsible role, I know. However, in Fantasy Stadium, you will find all the necessary help to make your decision-making easier and more accurate. Best of all, it’s the fun behind the strategy and player choice.

#3. Coach

The season begins, and now the decisions you will have to make as a coach will be about which players to place on your starting roster and which to leave on the bench. Every week you can find in Fantasy Stadium a ranking that evaluates each player’s potential. It will help you make your decisions.

Teams with the best win-loss record will advance to the fantasy league playoffs to contest the championship (playoffs typically take place in NFL Weeks 15 and 16).

You May Also Like: Top-10 Best Fantasy Sports Websites

Is Fantasy Football Betting? 

Fantasy football is a vast sector in the sports industry with over $1.5 million. It is the number one sport in the USA, and its markets are highly regulated. Fantasy football is betting, but federal law classifies this activity as legal throughout the country.

With this basic introduction, you already know how to play fantasy football. There are many concepts to learn, no doubt. But the best thing is that you start learning them as you go. Remember that experience and practice are the best allies when it comes to learning something new.

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