FANTASY FOOTBALL A BEGINNERS GUIDE
If you have never played fantasy football, you are in for a wild ride that you will never want to get off! Over the course of our lives, we have all played a game of some kind. We started with board games, and video games then as we got older, we played casino games. Fantasy Football takes a lite bit of excitement from all those games we played over the years and combines them together.
STEP BY STEP
The first step in to joining the fantasy football community is to assemble a group of friends and family to create your league. Generally, leagues consist of anywhere between 8 and 14 people. The game is simple enough for anyone to play, even if they are not a rabid football fan. Once you have assembled your league, a must is a clever league name. As the founder of the league, you will assume the important role of League Commissioner.
LEAGUE STYLE
There are numerous styles of fantasy football, all most as many as there are flavors of ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. The various styles include the following;
Redraft – every year you draft a new team for that year’s competition
Dynasty – once you draft your team you keep the same team from year to year. After the NFL Rookie draft you select a fresh batch or rookies with a select number of draft picks.
IDP – this variation of fantasy you select offensive and defensive players
Guillotine or Survivor – this interesting variation is set up so that the lowest scoring team is eliminated each week, until the last team remaining is the winner
Keeper – this is a mix of the standard league and the dynasty league all rolled into one. Each year you determine a certain number of players to keep for the following year, and then re-draft the rest.
Daily Fantasy – this is usually played on a gambling website, where they set the odds on each player, and you assemble a team based on a salary. This could be played with a league or solo play.
LEAGUE DRAFT
The draft is the most important part of fantasy football, this is when you assemble your team. Depending on the type of league you are in the draft could take on different looks. The most common draft is an online “snake draft” this refers to the order you make your selections starting at 1-8, then the next round goes 8-1. This could also be done in person with a draft board. Another draft style is the auction, this is where you would bid on players from an established budget. Depending on the league scoring, and roster construction there are different strategies that you will want to explore to maximize your success.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Once you have drafted your team, and the season begins you will need to stay active to make your season a success. Checking your lineup for injuries and by adding new players from the free agent pool of players. While there is a fair amount of luck involved in a successful season, you can mitigate that risk by staying actively involved in what is happening with your team and your league mates teams.
