How does it work?

Every week your fantasy team will play another team in the league. Your team is made up of real football players in the NFL and will earn points based on how well the players do in real-life games. The team with the most points after Monday night, wins the matchup.

At the end of the season, the team with the best record wins. The team with the worst record will get some awful prize. I haven’t decided what you get for losing yet but it will be something embarrassing like being forced to post a video of yourself singing on social media.

Generally, a fantasy team starting lineup will have 1 Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 2 Wide Receivers, 1 Tight End, 1 Flex (any offensive player you want), 1 Defense/Special Teams, and 1 Kicker. (I will make a decision on the final line up once I know for sure how big our league is.)

How are points scored?

Offensive players earn points based on the number of completions, the number of receptions, yards gained and points scored.

Defense & Special Teams is treated as a group and will get points based on how few yards the other team gains, sacks, and interceptions.

How do I choose my players?

We will do a live draft at some point before the beginning of the season. We will take turns choosing players from a list of active NFL players in a similar way to how NFL teams draft rookies. You will need to draft for all your needed positions and 6 bench players you can use to replace players as needed. This is your team.

So what do I do every week?

During the season, the week starts with a game on Thursday nights and ends after the last game on Monday night.

You can manage your team from the nfl.com website or the NFL fantasy app.

Your goal is to create the best lineup based on how well you think your players are going to do that week. You can move a player between your bench and starting lineup as much as you want until his game starts for that week. At that point, he’s locked in whatever position he is at and can’t be moved.

What happens if a player on my team doesn’t play?

You only get points for a player if he actually plays in a game. If your player has the week off or is injured, you get no points. That’s why you have a bench of backup players.

My team stinks. What do I do?

There are two ways to make your team better if you don’t like the team you have.

Trading

You can trade players between other teams in the league. Maybe someone has too many good running backs but needs a QB, she can trade with someone else who ahs an extra QB but no running backs.

Waivers

All the players who weren’t drafted go to the waiver wires. Starting on Tuesdays you can claim a player off of waivers to replace of your players you don’t like.

This sounds like a lot of work

It doesn't have to be. NFL.com will let you know the estimated amount of fantasy points each player is going to score that week. It can be as simple as taking five minutes a week to make sure the players who will earn the most points are in your starting line up. 

Do I have to watch the game?

The players will do what they're going to do with the TV on or off so no.