Grab a pen and paper, you'll need to start on this NOW

For the past 7 years, I have been one of those rare females that have played fantasy football. When I first started out, we had a 5 team league consisting of myself, my brother, my dad, my uncle and my boyfriend at the time.

Because almost all of us did not have laptops back in 2004, (and some still don't), we decided to not use a hosted site like NFL.com and instead opt for keeping track of our fantasy scores----by hand.

We used the box scores after Monday Night games to calculate our scores and have weekly calls to confirm that each side had correct math. With the endless amount of sites that have fantasy football today, our method created just 6 years ago seems like cave drawings on a wall.

Since 2004 and after bouncing around a couple different fantasy sites, we have stuck with Yahoo Sports for a couple years now and haven't looked back. Seeing as how I have been commissioner of at least one league per year since 2004, I consider myself some-what of a quasi-expert on the topic and I'm here to offer tips and advice on how to get your own Fantasy Football league started.

When starting your own league, be prepared to answer these questions when you ask someone to join your league.

Hit the title/read more to discover what you need to know before starting your own league...

Draft Formats

Players are drafted on a team in three main formats.

• Serpentine/snake draft: the draft order from the first round is reversed in the second round, then reversed again in every round thereafter, thus creating a snakelike progression.

• “Standard" draft system, in which draft order is maintained throughout.

• Auction system, in which owners bid on players using a predetermined budget.

In GuysGirl.com Fantasy Football League, we choose to go with NFL's system of conducting a fantasy football draft. This is pretty much the most fair as far as when team owners select players. This "Grid System" allows for each team owner to draft 1st overall at least once in the draft.

The table below (each number in the table refers to each team's draft position for that round) for the draft order for the full 14 rounds of the draft. You'll see that the order staggers each round of the draft (Team #1 has the first pick in round 1; Team #6 has the first pick in round 2, etc.) so that each team will have the opportunity to draft 1st in a round at least once.

League Formats

• Redraft League: Most teams operate under the "redraft" format. Redraft formats are leagues that redraft players every single year no matter how you finished the previous year.

• Keeper League: Keeper leagues usually have the same set of fantasy team owners every year. Prior to the draft, team owners choose which player they would like to keep from their previous fantasy football season. Some leagues allow you keep only 1 player, while others allow you keep your whole roster.
  

• Salary Cap League: The salary cap football league is a particular new type of dynasty league which adds another factor of realism similar to the NFL: the salary cap. Just like in the NFL, this means each player has an associated salary and the total spent on all the players on a team has a maximum - the "salary cap." This can have many levels of complexity, e.g. a player may be signed for multiple years, etc. These also incorporate handicap leagues for people with down’s syndrome.

Related Videos

How to Draft a Fantasy Football Team

Drafting a Fantasy Football Team

How to Set Your Lineups

Managing a Fantasy Football Team

Rules & Regulations

The Holiest Day

It is widely accepted that the draft is the single most important day in the fantasy football season, despite the fact that no games are played. Destination drafts have now become routine as many fantasy football managers have moved to different locations over time, but still enjoy competing against the same managers. With the internet sites moving fantasy football to a virtual event, many still crave the excitement of being all together during a draft. Locations usually involve a restaurant, casino, or large meeting space and some leagues conduct large, extravagant drafts that last multiple days.

How the Draft Works

You will draft a team of NFL players to form your idea of a perfect "fantasy" football team. You must "draft" (select) a player when it’s your turn based on the skill of the player and/or your need for that player to fill a certain position on your team.   The positions for which you need to draft are: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Tight Ends, Team Defenses and Kickers. Some leagues require more players such as Individual Defensive Players (IDP's).

Starters

Most league rules require that you start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 DEF, and 1 K. These are known as your "starters" and they are the minimum amount of players at each position that you must choose to play every week. You only earn fantasy points based on the players that you "start".

Bench Players

Players that you draft, but do not start are considered your “bench” players. You do not earn points for any player you do not start. The starters and your bench compile your "roster", otherwise known as your "fantasy football team".

Below you can see an example of what is meant by "starters" and "bench" players in your lineup. Remember, you DO NOT earn points for players on your bench.

Bye Weeks Are the Devil

WHEN YOU ARE DRAFTING PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR PLAYERS BYE WEEKS. This cannot be emphasized enough in that it makes no sense to draft 2 quarterbacks that are on the same bye week. When that bye week comes, you will without a doubt be in trouble unless you pick up a lower tier quarterback through free agency. Think ahead!

Owners for each team then determine each week which players will start (within the rules) and which will be "benched". Just like in real football, bench players can become starters for various reasons: due to other players’ injury, poor performance, or if another player’s team has a bye.

Each week, owners choose their starters for a game before a certain deadline. Whether to sit or start a player is usually based on strategic considerations including the player’s past and expected performance, defensive match ups, and so on.

Pick Your Starters

Each team owner must designate which players from the team roster will be starters each week - i.e. the only players who will "score" any points. The following example is similar to many common formats required for a starting lineup:

•  1 Quarterback (QB)
•  2 Running Backs (RB)
•  3 Wide Receivers (WR)
•  1 Tight End (TE)
•  1 Placekicker (K)
•  1 Team Defense/Special Teams (DST)

There are of course many variations on this. Some leagues use individual defensive players (IDPs) (and in some cases a punter) instead of or in addition to a combined Team Defense/Special Teams. Some other leagues use separate Defense and Special Teams.

Another variant is the "flex" position, which can be filled by a player in one of several positions. Flex positions are often limited to "WR/TE", "RB/WR", or "RB/WR/TE". Traditionally, this flex was required to be an RB, WR, or TE, however, some leagues allow any position to fill this flex slot as an "OP" (any Offensive Player). Although rare, some leagues do also have a 2 quarterback requirement for a starting lineup, yet providing another twist into the complexity of different scoring systems and lineups.

Lineup Deadlines

It is up to you to make sure you set your lineup every week. Some football games are played on Thursdays or Saturdays and require that any players you want playing in that game must be put into your starting lineup before the start of the game. Once the game starts, you’re SOL if you wanted to start a player in those games. If paying attention to each player’s game day is a little too much to handle, it’s best to just set your lineup by Wednesday, then follow up on Saturday and switch accordingly

Pre-Game Analysis & Matchups

During the week you might also want to check out who you are playing against. For each matchup you can read the projections to see how your team is "estimated" to perform points wise. These projections are of course just an estimate but usually pretty accurate.

Below is an example of what an estimation for your lineup may look like. Yahoo fantasy league owners are shown a "projected" and an "actual". Actual meaning what the player actually earned vs what was predicted.

Players earn points based on their performance in their weekly game. In almost all cases, players earn points for touchdowns, as well as passing, rushing, and receiving yards.

Passing yards (sometimes touchdowns as well) typically earn about half as many points as rushing/receiving yards, since QBs normally get many more.

Team defenses earn points for things like sacks, turnovers, safeties, etc. Individual defensive players (if your league uses them) typically earn points for sacks, tackles or turnovers made.

Bonuses can also be given for exceptionally good performances, like a QB throwing for over 300 yards, a kicker making a long field goal, or a team defense keeping an opponent under a certain score or a determined amount of yards.

Negative points are also given when players who commit turnovers or to kickers that miss field goals.

Below is an example of common scoring rules in Fantasy Football, though every league has minor changes.

Check Injury Reports......and Check Again

With any information, injuries occur, especially during training camp and preseason, make sure to check all injury reports at least the day before your draft to make sure you don’t draft a running back with an injured hamstring and he is out for 6 weeks.

Get Your Running Back Early

Most experienced GMs, subscribe to the RB early and often theory. This strategy places emphasis on landing 3 or 4 starting RB’s. The logic behind the theory is that the difference between say the 10th ranked and 20th ranked QB may be 30 points over an entire season, though the difference between the 10th and 20th ranked RB may be as much as 100 points over an entire season. This coupled with the fact that most leagues start a least 2 RB means the value of having many top tier RB’s outweighs having top players at QB and WR.

Handcuffing Theory

One secondary theory that emerged from the RB early and often theory is the idea of handcuffing star players to their backup. Handcuffing is the drafting of two players from the same team in the same position to protect the investment in the top player. For example, if one were to invest a high draft pick in a high performance, though injury prone RB, it would be wise to draft the backup to this player in the later rounds. If the star player get injured you then automatically have a new ’starter’ who will often be in position to put up numbers similar to that of the starter.

Grab the QB and WR On the Same Team

A final strategy consists of drafting QB to WR combo’s. This is good for players like Randy Moss and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, or Terrell Owens and Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys. Any time one of the player scores, the points scored on the play in question double for your team. This is often called double-dipping. Fantasy owners should be warned though that there are some drawbacks to this theory. The first problem is if you have too many players on the same team you will have your good players on the same ’bye’ weeks and will likely be unable to furnish your best team that week. Another drawback is that if you have a QB/WR combo and the QB has a bad week, it will result in both players not performing well on your roster.

Usually there is an unwritten rule that all trades should be fair and should benefit both sides. If a trade is sent to you, you have the option to accept, reject or make a counter offer to the trade. If the trade is accepted, it goes through a "review process" where the trade is visible to everyone in the league.

If you do not like the terms of a trade for other teams in your league, you can protest the trade. If a majority of the league votes in protest, the trade will be denied.

Below is an example of the screen you may see to conduct a trade if you belong to Yahoo Fantasy Sports.

You start off by choosing a player from your team and then choosing what you would like to trade for. You can search what you would like to trade for by position, by name or by team owner.

Free Agents

A free agent is a player that has never been draftedor has been off a team for a considerable amount of time. Usually free agents can be picked up immediately and added to your fantasy roster.

Waiver-Wire Players

A “waiver-wire” player or player on "waivers" is a player that was formally on a team in our league and for whatever reason was released. That released player goes through a 2-day claiming period where every team in the league will have a right to claim him. There is a waiver order based on team record that determines which team is awarded the player. Each week, teams are ranked according to record (in order of worst record to best record) and whether they have claimed a player or players off waivers already. This allows the teams in need of the most help to have an opportunity to pick up a player that could make them better and creates balance and better competition in the league.

Injured Reserve

The IR spot is for a player that is unable to play for a period of time due to injury, but you do not want to release them, as they could be one of your best players who will return to action soon. Injured Reserve frees up a roster spot by allowing you to pick up a temporary "free agent" or "waiver-wire” player until your injured player is healthy enough to play again. Not all leagues have a roster spot specifically for the IR as it some-what time consuming to monitor.

Below is an example of where you would have to go in a Yahoo fantasy football league in order to search for players on waivers or free agents.

Fantasy Football 101 Series: Basic Strategies; League & Draft Formats; Scoring; The Draft; Setting Your Lineup; Trades; How to Pick Up Players

Discover Why Girls Love Fantasy Football

Countless ladies who couldn’t stand football have grown to love the NFL™ for one reason…fantasy football. The competition, cash prizes, and nail-biting anticipation of every play have girls across the country glued to their TV sets every Sunday to see how their players perform. Discover the thrill of playing fantasy football, get the latest draft advice, and learn the strategies to dominate your female fantasy football draft and win your league from GuysGirl.

No Longer a Game for Geeks

Fantasy football has reached epic heights in popularity. Think about it. How many of your friends or coworkers (men and women) are currently battling it out for fantasy bragging rights? It’s a great way to meet new people, an excuse for getting friends together every weekend, and it gives you something other than work to speak about at the office…oh yeah, and if you only watch football to appease your husband or boyfriend, it makes the time go by a lot quicker too. Check out our entire section to discover everything you’ve been missing out on by not playing fantasy football.

Your All-Inclusive Fantasy Football Center

Guy’s Girl has assembled everything a girl could need to start playing fantasy football, as well as to take her game to the next level. You’ll find articles and videos packed with draft advice, trade suggestions, basic fantasy football rules, and lineup tips from the pros that’ll show you how to win your fantasy football league this season, whether it’s your first or your twenty-first.

Hit the jump to see all the articles and videos on Fantasy Football

no comments