What is Fantasy Football: A Beginner’s Guide ...Middle East

Are you hyped for football season and the NFL? I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about fantasy football at work, online, and just about everywhere else. If you are a beginner looking to play fantasy football. Here’s what you need to know. Let’s take a look at what fantasy football is, from league types to scoring and more.

What is Fantasy Football?

Fantasy football is a game that lets you take control of your own NFL team to compete against your friends, family, and more. You draft a team of NFL players and earn points based on how they perform on the field each week. You compete against other teams in your league as you try to score the most points.

Just like in real professional football, you can release players who are not performing well or make a trade as you hope to score more fantasy points on gameday. If a player isn’t on anyone’s fantasy team, you can add them through the waiver wire.

Each week, you battle it out with an opponent, and leagues usually consist of 10-12 teams, but it can vary. There are also fantasy football playoffs. The fantasy playoffs take place from weeks 15-17, but it can vary depending on the fantasy league.

Fantasy Football League Types

As fantasy sports have boomed in the last decade, there are several types of leagues you can play fantasy football. Here’s a look at the most popular league types.

Redraft League

In a redraft, you draft a new team every single year. This is the most common type of fantasy football league. Most fantasy football team drafts are completed the week before the regular season begins. Each season, you start from scratch as you try to build a championship squad.

So last season, you might have had a roster with Jalen Hurts at QB, Saquon Barkley at running back, and Garrett Wilson as one of your wide receivers. This year, it’s a brand new season. You have a clean slate and can choose to draft those players again if they are available or go with someone else to build your team.

Keeper League

For a keeper league, you play with the same people every single year, and you are allowed to keep a certain number of players from your previous year’s team. For example, the keeper league might allow you to keep three players a year.

In the first year of the league, you draft your team from scratch. In year two, you are allowed to keep three players and then have to draft the rest of your team.

So in a keeper league, you could draft star quarterback Josh Allen and then keep him as a fantasy player for his entire career if you want.

Dynasty League

Similar to the keeper league, in a dynasty fantasy football league, the same people/owners stay in the league for multiple years. In a dynasty league, you keep your entire team. Each year, you have a rookie draft where you can add players to your team just like real NFL teams do at the end of April.

Also, you can make moves like a real GM, such as trades or adding players who are free agents. Younger players have more value each NFL season because they have the potential to play multiple years and have success on your team year to year.

Read More: Dynasty Fantasy Football Explained

Different League Formats

Let’s take a look at some of the different league formats, like head-to-head, best ball, and more, that you might use in the fantasy football season.

Head-to-Head

In this type of league, two owners will play against each other every week. If you score the most points, you get the win. At the end of the regular season, the teams with the best records find themselves advancing to the playoffs.

Best Ball

For best ball, your team’s score is optimized. The highest scorers for each position on your fantasy team are automatically plugged in to give you a final score. You don’t have to worry about who to start or sit in your lineup. No checking ESPN every second to see which players are injured. Draft your team and forget about it if you want to until the end of the year.

In a best-ball format, there aren’t usually trades or waivers, and fantasy owners can easily play in multiple leagues because they don’t have to keep track week to week throughout the season.

Roto

In a roto format or rotisserie, the leagues determine what statistical categories their teams will use as the final scoring system. A category might be rushing touchdowns. The team that ends up leading the league in rushing TDs would score 10 points, with the team in second getting 9 points, and it continues.

Teams earn points for each statistical category, and those are combined for a total score on the season. If you have the most points at the end of the season, you win the championship. This type of format is not very popular in fantasy football. You would see this in fantasy baseball.

Total Points Only

You won’t see the total points system used by fantasy football players often, if ever. In this type of format, whoever has the most total points at the end of the season is the league champion. Most leagues work in a week-to-week format. You go head-to-head with another fantasy team, and if you have more points that week, you win.

Fantasy Football Drafts

As you learn more about fantasy football 101, you need to understand how you get players on your team. Here are a couple of the different draft formats that you would take part in at the start of the season in many leagues.

Standard or Snake Draft

For a snake draft, the order of league members is either predetermined or random. You take turns picking players for your roster. The order reverses each round. So if there are 12 teams in your league and you pick 12th in the first round, you pick first in the second round. The draft is held in late August or early September before week one of the NFL season.

Auction

For fantasy football fans who want to do an auction, each team starts with a budget, and you bid on players. You are allowed to bid at any time as long as you have enough money in your budget to afford the player.

Scoring and Points Systems

There are a few different scoring systems you and your league mates can use when deciding the league rules. Here are some of the common points systems for fantasy football during the NFL regular season.

Standard

For standard fantasy football scoring, here’s a look at the fantasy scoring. This is a common standard system, but leagues allow commissioners to adjust the scoring in their league. So be sure you understand your scoring system before you start drafting, as it will have a significant impact on how you build your team.

For example, let’s say Justin Jefferson has 11 receptions for 120 yards and a TD. In a standard league, that would be 18 points. He would score 12 points for the 120 yards and 6 points for the receiving TD.

PPR (Points Per Reception)

For a PPR league, you receive standard scoring as well as one point for every reception. These types of leagues value running backs, receivers, and tight ends because you can rack up a lot of extra points from pass catchers. There are some PPR leagues that dish out 0.5 points per reception.

Read More: PPR in Fantasy Football Explained

DST (Defense)

Your fantasy football team can score points based on how well your defense performs. In some leagues, you draft an NFL team’s entire defense. For example, you draft the Chicago Bears defense. Then you earn points for sacks, interceptions, and fumbles. Leagues can even give out points for yards allowed, points allowed, and more.

IDP (Individual Defensive Player)

In some leagues, you can draft individual defensive players and earn points based on their statistical performance. There isn’t a standard scoring system for these types of scoring formats. Each defensive stat, such as tackles, fumbles, passes defended, interceptions, and more, will have a point value.

Bonus Points

During your fantasy football experience, you might find your league has bonus points. These are points for certain milestones that are reached. This could be extra points for a running back to reach 100 yards or if a quarterback throws for 350 yards. Also, bonus points can be awarded for big plays such as a rushing touchdown of over 20 yards.

Rosters and Starting Lineups

For a standard fantasy football team, you start one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex, one kicker, one team defense, and then have seven players on your bench.

There are some leagues that allow two quarterbacks because it allows you to play a quarterback at the flex position. Flex is usually reserved for wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs.

Free Agency and the Waiver Wire

If you have a player who isn’t performing well, you can drop them from your team. If your league has a waiver wire, the player has to clear waivers before they can be added by another owner in the league. It can sometimes take 2-3 days. The purpose of this is so the first person who happens to see the player added to the free agents doesn’t always get the player.

The grace period allows everyone to get a chance to add a player who has recently been dropped. There is also a waiver priority if more than one owner tries to claim the same player. This is decided through the draft order, as the last owner to draft has the highest waiver priority.

There is also a free agency format. In this case, the leagues allow anyone to add the player the moment they are dropped from another team.

*This article was originally written in July 2024, it was revised and updated on August 5, 2025.

What is Fantasy Football FAQs

Where can I play fantasy football?

There are plenty of major websites where you can play fantasy football, such as ESPN, Yahoo, and more.

What is a PPR fantasy football league?

PPR stands for points per reception. In this type of scoring league, you receive points based on how many receptions your players have, on top of the standard scoring. This type of league gives more value to receivers, running backs, and tight ends.

What is a dynasty format for fantasy football?

In a dynasty fantasy football league, you keep your same team each year and add players through the rookie draft or free agency. In a traditional fantasy football league, you redraft a new team each year to compete for the fantasy championship.

Do I draft a player at every position?

It depends on the league. For most leagues, you select quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, the flex position, tight ends, kickers, and team defense. If you are in a league that has scoring for individual defensive players, you can draft players on defense.

When are the fantasy football playoffs?

The fantasy football playoffs usually take place at the end of the NFL regular season. Most leagues will have their playoffs from weeks 15-17 of the NFL season, but it can vary.

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