How does a neophyte learn the rules to fantasy football? I am not sure if there are different ways of playing, but specifically, how do people earn points on individual players (as I understand it) which sums to some total value which then parlays into a running ranking of those in the fantasy football pool (based on more than simply wins and losses). Does anyone care to explain?
Different leagues will have different scoring structures, but, from what I’ve seen, there are some basics which are pretty common.
You usually draft a set of players at the “skill” positions (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, kicker), as well as the entire defense for a team (in some leagues, when you pick a team’s defense, you also get their special teams). You usually have multiple players at each position, and, each week, you need to decide which players you’ll be “starting” – you only earn points for those players whom you start.
What seems to be pretty typical is that your starting players will gain points for yards gained, and actual points scored, in their games that week, and possibly lose points for turnovers. In a league in which you draft a defense, you’ll gain points if the defense has a good game (low points given up, low yardage given up, sacks, turnovers), and lose points if the defense has a bad week (lots of points and yards given up).
In most leagues, during each week, your team “plays” another team in your league. The team which earns the most points wins that week’s game.
Most leagues have playoffs…since most NFL players don’t actually play in the NFL playoffs, a fantasy league’s playoffs usually are run during the last few weeks of the NFL’s regular season.
For an example, this week Steve Smith had 5 catches for 66 yards. The league I’m in give one point per reception and .1 points per yard. So Steve Smith scored 11.6 points.
Edit: Woops, I meant to create a new thread for fantasy football discussion, not post it here.