(Closed) First-time Fantasy Footballer, PLEASE help me!

posted 6 years ago in The Lounge
Post # 1
Member
6741 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: June 2014

Ok, so a bit of history… I don’t really like watching team sports except for baseball.  But, my Fiance is REALLY into football.  Every Sunday during football season is my most dreaded day of the week.  Worse than Mondays sometimes.  I just really, really hate watching the sport.  Our usual compromise is that we split the weekend.  I get to pick whatever we do on Saturday as long as I don’t bother him on his Sundays to watch the games.  But, this isn’t really enough for my Fiance because he really wants me to enjoy watching the game with him.  So, last year, we picked me a favorite team (Go Panthers!) and I tried to get into it but apparently they don’t show the Southern teams unless they play the Northern teams up North.  Uhm, thanks for helping me pick a team I’ll never be able to watch, FI! 

Anyway, towards the end of the season last year, I decided to stop being a selfish jerk on Sundays and to stop being pouty and to get into football.  It’s apparently “really important” to him that I learn to like football.  So, at the end of last year’s season, I told my Fiance that I will be on this year’s fantasy football team.

Now, I’m competitive by nature.  My Fiance is, too.  So.. not only will I be joining the team, I actually have to beat him.  Problem?  I really don’t know ANYTHING about football.  It took me 5 seasons to learn what “a down” is (lol.. ok maybe not that long.. but honestly, it took a while).  That’s probably part of the reason why I hate football (that and the fact that there was a problem w/ my ex.. long story..).  And Fiance apparently researches EVERYTHING and wins almost all his leagues every year.  Talk about your competition!!

So, I’m coming to you guys for some help.  I need to learn the rules of the game and I need to learn who the teams are, who the players are and how to pick the best players.  Where do you look that stuff up?  How do I know which sources to trust?  How do I know which players are going to do well this year?  How do I know who is injured?  How do I know when a trade is good for me?  How do you even WIN fantasy football???? 

Can anyone help me by linking me to places where I can look this stuff up?  I don’t want to just willy nilly google these things. 

I know this is a lot, so any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Post # 3
Member
998 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: November 1999

We do fantasy every year and it is a lot of fun.  You really do not need to know the rules of football to do fantasy (they take forever to learn). You just basically need to understand the different positiins and the players in the NFL that will bring in the most points for that position.  If yoy go to a barnes and noble (or another bookstore) they sell magazines specifically for fantasy. Younwill find a lot of great info in them.

Post # 4
Member
281 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: September 2010

My husband LOVES fantasy (fill in the sport).  And football.  I feel for you.  The pp is right, fantasy is different than actual football, and there are magazines (oh, the magazines!) that will help figure it all out.  Sometimes, my husband will get me to do a little throwaway league with him so he gets me to participate (usually with lots of his help) and I don’t mess up his “real” leagues (the ones where $ is involved).  Sigh.  But it might be a good way to get started.

Post # 5
Member
354 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: November 2012

here are the resource links I sent out to my all-ladies fantasy football league.  we have a lot of first timers.  basically, you don’t actually have to know a lot about football – for instance downs are totally unimportant in fantasy.  You just have to learn the rules of fantasy football.  I suggest going to whatever online site you’ll be using and reading the rules.  Boring, but helpful.  I linked espn’s below because that’s what we use, but if your league uses yahoo or cbssports, read their rules.  That’s how you will get scored.  You win a “game” by getting more points than the team you’re matched against.  You win the season by winning enough games to make it to the playoffs and then winning the playoff bracket. 

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/resources/help/content?name=introduction-videos

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/content?page=fflrulesindex2012  

http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/ffldraftkit

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=NFLDK2K12_TMRManifesto

Last year was my first year, and I loved it!  i ended up in 8th place out of 16 teams, so solidly in the middle!  I’m in 3 leagues this year, including the ladies-only league I started. 

Good luck!  I hope you end up enjoying it as much as I have!

Post # 6
Member
6741 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: June 2014

I will definitely head over to B&N, I had NO idea there were fantasy football magazines!!

And we’re using ESPN, too – so those links are great! 

Thanks guys!! None of my friends are into FF so I had no one to ask.  And I’m not going to the competition for help!  hahaha I kind of want to impress him with my expertise.  🙂

Post # 7
Member
2638 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: November 2006

I’m in an ESPN league and pigskinaddiction.com is my go-to source.

Post # 8
Member
415 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: July 2012

I print out the CBS draft kit every year (never win though!).  Sometimes the less you know the better, just pick the best available player in each round and cross your fingers.

http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball/draft-kit

Some of the best-drafted teams tank in the first week due to season-ending injuries nd the like.  If you can look at who gets injured the least, that mught be a useful addition.  But I drafted Payton Manning who never gets injured and he was out for the season right away, ugh.

Also remember that past performance can be pretty meaningless, and draft some rookies in the late rounds that have a high upside (i.e. you don’t have to use an early pick on them, but they are back-up to a good position so if someone gets hurt they could become very valuable).

Also, check out your top picks once you have them for who should be handcuffed (i.e. pick up their backup too).  OR you can pick up a good handcuff for a player someone else drafted, if you want the option to trade with them for someone else.  Not everyone should be handcuffed, so don’t do it unless there is a good reason.

There’s also an iPhone app that you can use to keep of the draft and quickly see the next best available player, but it can be hard to update it real-time during the craziness of a draft.

If it is a draft with alcohol, DO NOT drink.  This is my number one piece of advice and one I never follow.  Others will get drunk and make stupid mistakes, missing big players, making uninformed picks because they spent the round of picks talking instead of planning, etc.

Decide your top 12 (or however teams are in your team) picks beforehand, put a lot of thought into that first pick.  Do it wrong and you’ll kick yourself.  Decide if you want to draft a Ring Bearer or a QB first (sometimes this decision hinges on where in the draft you are).  If you get one of the first three picks, you’ll probably want to pick up a top Ring Bearer, unless you’re in a PPR league.  If you’re late and no one has picked a top three QB or WR, getting one of them might be better than getting a less valuable Ring Bearer.  I personally think QBs are great first round picks if one of the best available.  Yes, worse QBs are still more valuable than worse RBs, BUT a star QB can carry your team to victory every week.  Sometimes a star Ring Bearer gets stuffed by double or triple coverage and ends up seriously underperforming for their position.

Post # 9
Member
6741 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: June 2014

@Cecilia37:  I have so much to learn still!

Thanks!

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