Getting Started in Fantasy Football

THE HISTORY OF FANTASY FOOTBALL

Bill Winkenbach (ex-Raiders owner), Scotty Sterling (Oakland tribune Sports Writer), and Bill Tunnell (ex-Raiders PR person) originated the idea of Fantasy Football as they were sitting in their hotel room at the tail end of the 1962 Raider eastern swing trip. The league was called GOPPPL (THE GREATER OAKLAND PROFFESIONAL PIGSKIN PROGNOSTICATORS LEAGUE) The first draft was held at Winkenbachs rumpus room and thereafter the GOPPPL draft and payoff dinners were held at various Oakland restaurants.

As the years have rolled by, Fantasy Football has developed into a huge industry that takes advantage of today's most current technology to scrutinize every detail and obscure statistic. information is more available than ever before and to be on top of your game, you have to know your stuff. Dominate Your League is dedicated to the Fantasy Football owner that is ready to take their game to the next level.

WHAT IS FANTASY FOOTBALL?

Fantasy Football is a game of statistics and number crunching. In the game you play the part of the Owner and GM of a team that you get to draft. The individual players that you select score your team points each week based on a particular scoring system. The scoring system is typically determined by the commissioner of a league and generally approved by the league owners. As the season progresses, your player will score points during their weekly games based on their actual performance in those games. For example, if you own Peyton Manning and he throws for 300 passing yards during week #1's game, you will have scored 10 points for his passing yardage statistics based on a league scoring system of 1 point for every 30 passing yards. There are many other types of ways to score points in Fantasy Football besides passing yards, including rushing/receiving yards, touchdowns, field goals, safeties, interceptions, etc...

One of the reasons that Fantasy Football has grown in popularity so much is that is adds a level of excitement to games that you would not normally watch. As a non-Fantasy Football owner, the mid season matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Buffalo Bills would not likely be a thrilling event. However, if you are a Fantasy Football owner and have Willis MacGahee and Anquan Boldin starting for your team, suddenly, it's a must watch game. There is something about Fantasy Football that appeals to both the casual and diehard football fans alike, and once you sign up to join a fantasy league, you'll likely be hooked for life.

The following section will give you a rundown on the different types of Fantasy Football Leagues that one can participate in. From a standard Redraft League to a full-fledged Dynasty League to an IDP League, there are many styles of Fantasy Football Leagues that all offer various challenges and enjoyments to the Fantasy Football owner.

LEAGUE TYPES

Standard Re-draft Leagues (Head to Head)

The most common of Fantasy Football Leagues is the Redraft-League with Head to Head matchups. In this league type, each team plays a weekly game against another opponent where the sum of your team's points must outscore the sum of the other team's points. Depending on your performance each week, you either outscore your opponent and get a win, your opponent outscores you and you get a loss, or your opponent and you score the same number of points and you both get a draw. The drafting process in these types of leagues usually involves a serpentine-style draft in which the 1st pick overall in round one will pick last in round two and the last pick in round one will pick first in round two, etc. Once the draft is completed, the owners select a starting lineup each week depending on the scoring system and rules of the league. Satrter/bench considerations should also be made for weekly matchups as well. The teams with the best win/loss records typcially meet in a olayoff tournament to determine the league champion. Each new season, all of the NFL players go back into the pool and can be drafted all over again.

Example of Head to Head Competition

Standard Re-draft Leagues (Total Points)

The Re-Draft League with Total Points is very similar to the Head to Head League with the exception of having Head to Head matchups. in these leagues, the team does not play against an opponent each week, but tries to outscore all of the other teams for the duration of the season. If you have a team that finishes the regular season with the most points overall, you win the league. Many leagues have incorporated this idea of a "Points Champion" into the Head to Head Leagues by declaring a points champion at the end of the "regular season" (usually around week 13 or 14) and then continuing on with having the playoff tournament to decide the league champion.

Example of Total Points League

Auction Draft Leagues

Auction drafts are a relatively new approach to Fantasy Football Leagues and present an interesting twist to the Fantasy Football Draft. These drafts are more involved then standard drafts and offer some unique challenges in determining player values and auctioning skills. They are also much more time consuming than standard-style Fantasy Football Drafts. The way it works is that each team has a salary cap that they can spend on drafting their players. A team can not exceed their salary cap and therefore the draft becomes an exercise in finding bargains. You really have to be able to think on your feet in these types of drafts because each draft is a little different. Another complication is that it is quite difficult to determine player values as Auction Fantasy Football Leagues are not as common and finding Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets that matchup to your league's scoring system AND salary cap are sometimes impossible to find. The Draft Pick Analyzer from Dominate Your League helps to resolve this problem as it instantaneously generates auction values once a scoring system is entered. Most people don't have this advantage in auction drafts, which is why we made the application. To help you Dominate Your League. Once the draft is over the league rules revert that of a standard league.

Example of the first six bids of an Auction Draft

Keeper Leagues

These type of leagues are similar to the standard style leagues with the exception that an owner can keep a predetermined number of players from his team from the previous season. The number of players you can keep varies depending on the league. When drafting the following year, the "keeper" players are simply removed from the drafting process. Depending on the rules of the league, a team may be penalized a draft pick (or picks) in order to keep a player (or players).

Dynasty Leagues

A dynasty league is similar to a keeper league, except that each team can keep their entire roster of players from one year to the next. After the inaugural draft in year one, the players will stay on the team they are drafted to unless they are traded away or released. Each offseason a rookie draft will take place in which the owners can add talent to their rosters. These leagues can be really challenges to rebuild a poor roster as it may take years of wise trading and shrewd drafting in order to rise to the top.

Survivor Draft Leagues

These leagues may use either the auction draft or the standard draft. Once the rosters have been filled out, however, the rules are much different. Similar to the television show, Survivor, in this type of league, the team with the fewest points scored in a week is booted out for the season. In this kind of league, it is very important to build a well-rounded squad that can withstand the perils of injuries, bye weeks, and other similar challenges. Usually, no free agent pickups or trades are allowed. Because of the format, there is possibly a higher degree of luck involved, as you can have one bad week and be kicked out of the league.

Individual Defensive Player (IDP) Leagues

These leagues use defensive players as well as offensive players. This type of league takes a lot more research, knowledge and experience to know not only what defensive players to draft, but when to draft them.