Fantasy Football Terminology
Every year, more and more individuals signup to play this magnificent game we call fantasy football. However, every year more and more people get confused as to what some of the key terms are to be aware of when playing.
Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be releasing a two-part article series where we describe for you the basic and advanced terms to know when playing fantasy football.
Let us tackle the introductory terminology first!
League Formats
- Redraft – The most common form of fantasy football. Skill position players are drafted at the start of each season.
- IDP – Stands for individual defensive player. A league which includes defensive players where points are scored for defensive plays including tackles, sacks, forced fumbles, and passes defended.
- Dynasty – A league where you hold onto your roster year-to-year and incoming rookies are selected in an annual draft.
- Keeper – Similar to dynasty but only a select number of players are retained each year.
- Best Ball – A league in which you do not change your roster week-to-week, instead the highest scoring player’s scoring output per position is automatically counted for in your matchup.
- Superflex – A extra flex position that can be filled by a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, or tight end. Due to the scarcity of starting quarterbacks, there is an increase in the value of the position and therefore makes them the number one position to insert into your Superflex spot week to week.
Draft Day Terminology
- ADP – Average draft position. The average pick a player is being taken in most fantasy football drafts
- Sleeper – A player, typically drafted in the later rounds (or even undrafted), who could be in line for an unexpectedly productive season pushing them into fantasy relevance. It is far from easy but hitting on a late-round selection is a sure-fire way to fantasy success and, equally as important, gives you plenty of bragging rights amongst your league mates.
- Breakout – A player who looks set to rise into the upper-echelons of fantasy relevance and outperform their ADP projected fantasy scoring output for the upcoming season. The key here is to look at both talent and opportunity and assess whether changing situations will lead to an uptick in fantasy production. Atlanta Falcons wide receiver, and former first-round pick, Calvin Ridley is a perfect example from last season.
- Bust – A player who could be in line to dramatically underperform against their ADP. Particularly in the early rounds of drafts, avoiding busts is vital to ensuring fantasy success.
- Handcuff – Usually referring to the drafting/acquiring of the backup running back of a workhorse running back as an insurance policy just in case the workhorse/starting running back gets injured. The obvious example from the 2020 season was Carolina Panthers running back Mike Davis, who finished as the RB15 in half-PPR scoring, according to FantasyData. While CMC managers will obviously have been disappointed that their first-round pick only played in three games, those who also had Mike Davis still had a viable fantasy option throughout the campaign.
In Season Terminology
- Streaming – Teams who are streaming (usually referring to a quarterback, team defense, or defensive player) do not have a regular starter but instead select a player (often from the waiver wire) on a week-to-week basis based on favorable matchups.
- Waiver wire – The draft can give you a good foundation, but the waiver wire is where leagues are won or lost. Following the draft undrafted players can be picked up through the waiver wire, either using a priority system or FAAB, depending on the league settings. Making shrewd moves through the waiver wire can turn an average team to a league winner – just look at the output of players such as James Robinson in 2020.
- FAAB – Free Agent Acquisition Budget. Using this format, managers are given a budget and place a blind bid to acquire available players. This provides all teams with an equal opportunity to acquire any unattached player.