HOW TO: Play Fantasy Football

Don't play fantasy football? Don't worry.

This guide will teach the basics and tell you how to get started.

What is Fantasy Football?

Fantasy Football puts you in control of your own team. You draft the players, you make the transactions.

Fantasy Football will help you become more NFL knowledgeable. The amount of information you will obtain by knowing when to draft a player and how valuable they are in fantasy will give you water cooler credibility. Playing Fantasy Football makes watching on Sunday more than just watching (get Sunday Ticket). Your roster may have players from NFL teams across the nation. Who cares about the Browns vs Vikings if you live in Cali, or Pittsburgh vs Houston if your from Miami? Well, you'll care if your Fantasy Football success rides on it. You'll turn into the Bill James of NFL box scores by week 3.

Real NFL players are drafted to team owners prior to the season. A team owner must draft a set number of players and start a certain line-up from the players drafted. Typically an owner is required to start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TEs, 1 K and 1 Team Defense (8 players, 8 bench, 16 total - 10 or 12 team leagues - 160, 192 players drafted and the remaining become "free agents"). Fantasy Football is intended to mimic Pro Football. If your QB throws a touchdown, you get the points. If your kicker puts 3 field goals and 2 extra points threw the uprights giving his team 11 points - you get 11 points, too. Each week your team is matched against another team in the league (much like head to head match-ups in the NFL).

Your teams "starters" (decided before a specific deadline each week) will score against your opponents "starters" leaving the bench players performances meaningless. The overall goal is to have your NFL players outperform your opponents NFL players on the actual NFL field. Teams in the league will accumulate records like teams in the NFL - 4-1, 5-7, 10-3 - hoping that they will rise to the top of their divisions or standings in order to make the single elimination playoffs which typically occur during weeks 12 - 16. Most leagues avoid week 17 because leagues do not want to have a championship game when some NFL teams could possibly bench their starters if they have already clinched a playoff berth.

Every point counts and games are frequently decided by those few yards that your running back couldn't pick-up in the late minutes of the 4th quarter. Often times Fantasy Football match-ups make Monday Night Football extremely important. Some owners strategize starting certain players who play on Monday over a player who is scheduled for early Sunday because it gives them the wild card in case they are trailing after Sunday's games are over.

Playing fantasy football may be something you have thought about doing. You might not know what it is exactly, but have heard a lot about it. For a sports fan, owning your own team couldn't be more fun. Fantasy Football is a gamble and anyone can win. It is easy to learn, fun to play and the only way to find out why everyone loves it so much is to sign up and see for yourself.

What Are The Basics?

Your fantasy roster is limited to a set number. Your starting line-up and bench will consist of a number between 12-22. The more teams in the league, the less depth and the fewer roster spots. The less teams in the league, the more talent on each team and more roster spots. Your roster will contain a number of bench spots that can be used while your starters sit for bye weeks or suffer injuries. The "Team Defense" concept is starting to get phased out and individual defensive players (IDP) have become more popular. Traditional Fantasy Football is played with a "Team Defense". Meaning, an owner will draft an entire NFL team, like the Bears Defense. If Urlacher gets a sack, and another player recovers a fumble, the owner of the Bears Defense will receive the points for both actions. Team defense sometimes includes special teams as well. If that was the case and Devin Hester returned a punt for a TD, that owner would get an additional 6 points.

The Fantasy Football draft is considered the biggest day in Fantasy Sports. A league draft only occurs once a year and usually takes place the night before the first day of the NFL season. The closer the draft is to the season the better - in order to avoid unknowns that might occur during pre-season (injuries, cuts, starting spots lost/won, etc) and by drafting close to the start of the season it reduces that risk.

On Yahoo and ESPN there are options to join Live Drafts or Automated Drafts. In the Live Draft, you sign into your league's main page 30 minutes before the draft. After logging into the league page, you simply open another page where it shows the draft order, a list of players (after they are drafted they are shaded) and has a chat screen for members to talk smack. The Live Draft on Yahoo gives each team 1:30 to select a player before it automatically selects one for you. It is wise to "pre-rank" and "queue" your players beforehand so that the 1:30 doesn't play a significant factor.

Having each member of the league is present makes for the most exciting way to draft. If you ever want to feel like you are an NFL GM, draft with everyone together in the same room. The excitement is often overwhelming.

An Automated Draft is good if you don't have the 2 hours to do a live draft. An automated draft picks from a list that was pre-arranged by the owner. Every team in the league will be drafted by a computer automatically taking the top player from the list or the best available player from your list that fits a position in need. Preparing your list is vital for this type of drafting. Removing players who are overrated or hurt will ensure that the computer won't draft them, even if they are available in the last round of the draft.

Scoring is often determined by the commissioner of each league. Some leagues score more conservatively and others choose to award the smallest successes. In traditional Fantasy Football, scoring a touchdown (Passing, Rushing, Receiving), is typically 6 points. Some leagues give QBs only 4 points for a TD pass because the QB tends to throw more TD passes than a WR or RB typically receive or run. Yardage is awarded differently depending on commissioner preference. Typically passing yards are awarded 1 point for every 25 yards, rushing and receiving yards are awarded 1 point for every 10 yards. Some leagues give negative points for interceptions and for fumbles lost. A kicker is rewarded an extra point for kicking a field goal over 45 yards and an extra 2 points (5 total) for a made field goal from a distance of 50+ yards. Extra points are 1 point. A Team Defense is given 6 points if they score a touchdown, 2 points for a safety, fumble recovery or interception, and 1 point for every sack. Some leagues award points for a defense that holds their opponent between 0-6 points or holds the opposing offense to a certain number of yards.

Scoring is always changing and each league has its own unique nuances to the traditional game. There are many variations of how to score Fantasy Football, but it is not as confusing as it may seem, just be certain that you know how your league scores before you draft.