Introduction
Hi all,
I'd like to put together a guide that we can sticky and throw on the sidebar for beginners. So I'm turning to the community to help me compile the information.
We've already had some great posts that will help with some of the information, but this way we can have it all in one spot.
We had a glossary that was created last year.
Along with a brief beginners guide before last season
We've had many posts about people to follow on twitter
And a nice big post recently of some of the best fantasy websites
This is all great stuff and I will be including all of this. What I'm hoping everyone can help out with right now is filling in the rest of the process. I'm creating an outline below and will keep this OP updated as more suggestions come in, as well as adding links to this.
Please note. This is a GENERAL guide for beginner fantasy football players. ALWAYS read your league rules and be sure you are aware of them. This guide covers briefly touches on a lot, but it is certainly not comprehensive.
Creating a League/Team
How to create a league
Creating a league takes minutes. Simply go to your site of choice, sign in (create an account if necessary), and click the create a league button. It's that simple. By default, standard scoring will be selected, but you typically will have the chance to customized your league settings at this point of the set up. Creating a PPR league, setting bonuses, positions, etc are all available. Though if this your first league (and it may be if you're reading this guide!) then it may be best to go with standard until you've got a feel for the game.
How to create a team
If you're creating a team you've likely been invited to a league via email or link. Like creating a league, creating a team is as simple as following the directions on screen and choose a witty team name. Although you will likely get an email reminder close to the draft date, make sure you check it out and set a reminder for yourself if needed. The commissioner should have the league settings already up and ready by the time you've created a team, so make sure you check them out. A brief explanation is below, but there is so much variance among leagues if you have any questions you should ask your commissioner - as much as they are a rival, a good commissioner should also be striving to ensure all his members are as informed as possible. Asking questions as early as possible also helps avoid in-season controversy or calls for rule changes 5 minutes before the draft.
Commissioner
The Commissioner is usually the person who created the league (though it can change hands after or even have multiple commissioners). The commissioner has a wide range of additional responsibilities to the fantasy league including, but not limited to; selecting a draft draft and draft order, collecting league dues, setting up rules, roster positions, and stat categories, reviewing trades, settling league disputes, and more.
Where to create a league
League Formats
The number of different league formats in near infinite. Fantasy Football offers so many ways to customize a league that
Number of teams - Technically only 4 teams are needed to run most leagues, but the traditional minimum is 8 teams, which is considered a "shallow" league. The word "shallow" is used because as a result of teams only having 104 players (typically) excluding DST and Kicker, the waiver wire is usually full of capable replacements. 10 and 12 team leagues are more or less the standard size. 14 and 16 team leagues exist and are considered "deep" leagues and generally more challenging. Leagues do have more than 16 teams, but aren't as common. Anything from 14 teams and bigger will have people having to roster players who may not see gametime, on the offchance they become a starter.
Snake/Auction draft - A "snake" draft is a traditional draft format, done in the style similar to the NFL draft. Players draft 1-12 (assuming a 12-team league), in even numbered rounds, and 12-1 in odd numbered rounds. In an Auction draft, you will have a pre-determined budget (usually $200) which you use to bid on players. Auction drafts are often viewed as "fairer" because they allow all players an opportunity to build the team they like, while a snake draft requires players to adapt their team on the fly as preferred players are picked up. It is common for people in auction drafts to attempt to "bait" new players to pay more for a player than they are worth. Research player values and try and determine a few different lineups you would like, and players you would like to target. It is better to channel your resources into players you want, rather than bid on everyone and hope you land someone.
Standard scoring/PPR - Standard scoring means players do not gain bonus points for each carry or reception they have. PPR stands for Points Per Reception. It is the most common modifier to standard fantasy football leagues. In PPR, players will receive a set amount of points (usually 1 or .5) for every ball they catch. RB carries do not add a point. Some leagues will restrict PPR to WR/TE only, or RB only, but it is most common to have it across all players. Having a PPR league increases the value of WRs and pass-catching RBs. Because of this difference and popularity of PPR leagues, players are often ranked in both standard and PPR formats. As PPR is a very common league type, you will not struggle to find specialised rankings. Some leagues also award PPC - points per carry - though this is very uncommon.
Keeper - A Keeper league is another common league addition that can apply to standard and PPR (and other) league types. In this format team owners can keep a certain number of players year to year. The restrictions vary among leagues, so make sure you know what you are giving up before deciding to keep a player. Some draft leagues see you lose the round you drafted the player in, some see it move up a round per year (so a player in the 8th becomes a 7th round keeper, then 6th and so on) while Auction leagues may see you give up a set amount of money to keep a player.
Dynasty - Like a keeper league, a dynasty league could apply to standard and PPR (and other) league types. Instead of a traditional draft, dynasty leagues have a rookie draft to inject new players onto teams. Dynasty leagues bring a whole new level of complexity to drafting and trading as teams will rebuild and plan for the future, sometimes multiple years in advance. Dynasty leagues can range from 6 keepers to the entire team. Young players are valued highly in dynasty leagues, due to their ability to be kept for their whole career - for example it would not be uncommon to see a player like Andre Ellington or Cam Newton drafted ahead of Peyton Manning.
IDP - IDP stands for Individual Defensive Player. Traditionally, fantasy football is played with a team defense rather than individuals like on offense. An IDP league will allow teams to draft each player individually. The number or IDPs and positions vary greatly as there is true standard, as there is with offensive players. Point values as well may vary greatly between IDP leagues. The resources available for IDP leagues are far fewer than offensive players, however Rotoworld's Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) communicates and helps people on Twitter, as well as publishing a weekly article.
Draft Preparation
Owners put in a anywhere form zero to months worth of prep work. This will typically involve researching various websites/writers personal rankings, previous stat history, and gut feelings. The resource section has many fantasy football writers to help with your research. The most important thing to do is be aware of your leagues rules and research accordingly.
Draft Day
By now you should be adequately prepared for your draft. Your draft day should be a celebration, try not to be too stressed out. In fact, many leagues turn their draft into a big party, whether it's in person or online. Grab a beer and enjoy.
That being said, here are a few tips to keep in mind during your draft. Be prepared. Don't be the guy that takes the clock to 0 with every pick. You should know who you are going to pick for virtually every round before it gets to your turn. Especially the early rounds. If someone takes the guy you wanted, you should have a backup ready to go immediately.
If for some reason you are unable to attend your draft and must autodraft, it's a good idea to do a custom ranking of players. Upwards of 150-200 ranked players will cover most leagues for the majority of rounds. It's important to create your own rankings, because autodrafting often leads to being the first owner to draft a kicker and defense in the 7th and 8th round (generally a no no in the early rounds) or drafting a backup QB (for example) when others looking for that sleeper WR or taking a handcuff to their starting RB.
In Season Management
Waiver Wire
The waiver wire will be your main source for adding new players onto your roster. Many leagues automatically place all players on the waiver wire every Sunday to prevent owners from quickly grabbing players mid-game. Players which are dropped from another team during the week also go to waiver wires. In both instances, this means they are locked from being able to be picked up by a team for a set period (usually until Wednesday) There are three main types of waiver wire settings. The most common is to have waiver order reset each week inverse of standings - meaning the worst team gets top priority and best gets worst. Some leagues use a "queue" system - meaning you move to the back of the line each time you pick up a player. This allows teams with good records to save their waiver priority until they need it, rather than being unable to pick up a replacement when their star RB is injured. The last is Free Agent Auction Budget (FAAB) which allows you to place a blind bid on a player and highest bidder gets the player, regardless of standing. Important note: You are able to bid $0 in most FAAB leagues, so don't go wasting your budget when you decide to pick up a new kicker.
Trades
Trading players will be your other main source of acquiring players. Trades vary wildly between leagues and are usually reviewed by the league commissioner or the league itself. The important thing to remember is trades need to be balanced and benefit both teams. Sure, 2 WRs for 1 RB might be "fair", but if the other owner doesn't need WRs it just doesn't make sense. Except in extreme instances, trades do not need to be rushed and you have time to ask /r/fantasyfootball for advice in the daily thread.
Collusion may be occurring when a trade is significantly lopsided. Trading two backups for a starting QB may raise a red flag with the league and/or commissioner. Collusion is a great sin in fantasy football. Do not expect any sympathy if you are colluding with another owner and it is entirely possible that you will be removed permanently from the league if you are caught. If you suspect someone is colluding, notify your commissioner ASAP.
Check out these two threads for tips on completing a trade:
Weekly Rankings
Weekly player rankings will look similar to pre-draft rankings, but are assessed differently. While pre-draft rankings are based on anticipated production through the year, weekly rankings are based on several factors including performance to date and weekly match up. Weekly rankings won't affect your studs much (let's face it, you're starting Calvin Johnson every week), but they can help considerably with deciding who to start as your WR3, RB2, Flex, D/ST, etc.
General Advice
Start your studs. You don't need to ask if you should start Jamaal Charles over Toby Gerhart. 99% of the time your stud will outperform any pickup you might have. I don't care if Charles is facing the 1985 Bears, first round guys like him find ways to be productive. If he doesn't find the yards he might find the end zone, that's already better than 80% of the wire.
Don't drop someone with a long track record of success unless you have concrete evidence of why they are performing poorly. You aren't dropping Brady. You can bench him for Andy Dalton one week if you want, but don't drop him.
If you're deciding between 2 guys to pickup, ask yourself why you need them. Do you need a bye week fill-in? Or are you set and you need a bench warmer. If you need the bye week guy, go with the pickup who can produce now. If you need the points always go for that first. There are only 16 weeks of football and every week is important.
Don't know who to drop for a hot pickup? Is it Sunday? No? Drop your kicker and let the information flow in before you decide. Your kicker probably won't be picked up by anyone, and even if they are - who cares. Kickers are random the majority of the time.
Be patient. Players will have off weeks. But don't be naive - if we're halfway through the season and a player hasn't shown any glimpses it might be time to sell or cut bait. Again don't drop your studs, think about why they are struggling and decide if you think they will bounce back. You don't want to sell low, you want to do the opposite.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Are you too heavy at RB? If you're having to decide between starting two top tier RBs each week, you should probably deal one for a WR instead. It's okay to sacrifice a little value if it improves your team a lot. Don't be the guy who has a stud on the bench every week.
Resources. Read up as much as you can, but don't take every word an analyst says to heart. Use the information and data they provide and come to your own conclusions.
Don't take unnecessary risks. If you're sitting pretty in first place with a 7-0 record, think long and hard before making a blockbuster trade. Listen, I understand the allure of a "sexy" player but why risk the potential bust if you're already ahead. Sitting tight is probably the hardest part of fantasy football.
Don't over manage your team. Many owners guilty of this and the biggest problem is if you look at players long enough you will find (irrational) reasons to either love or hate them. It might be easy to convince yourself that a player is a for sure 'sell high'. It's easy to rationalize if you bring yourself to hate a player enough. Think big picture. Your goal is to win the league, not to make trades. If you micromanage too much you'll find yourself stuck with a bunch of players you might have just bought high on.
special thanks to /u/thefarceunleased, /u/kris919, /u/edwin23, and all the other folks who have contributed to these types of posts.
revision by mookiemookie— view source
