First thing's first: what kind of league are you in? Fantasy football is highly customizable, so it's possible to participate in any kind of league, really. There are a few standard flavors, though, and it is helpful to understand what they are and to which you belong first. Let's take a look at some of those league types.
Traditional Redraft League (Head-to-Head)
The original league format, a head-to-head redraft league involves weekly matchups between league owners building toward a fantasy postseason and an eventual championship match. The term “redraft” means that the league drafts entirely new teams every season. It encapsulates any league that drafts entirely new rosters. Traditional drafts are “serpentine” -- a draft order is generated or pre-determined, fantasy owners take players in the first round in that order, then reverse that order for the second round. They continue alternating the order until the draft ends.
|
Example Team 1
|
Example Team 2
|
||||
|
Pos
|
Player
|
Points
|
Pos
|
Player
|
Points
|
|
QB
|
Aaron Rodgers
|
21
|
QB
|
Tom Brady
|
19
|
|
RB
|
Alvin Kamara
|
23
|
RB
|
Leonard Fournette
|
14
|
|
RB
|
Lamar Miller
|
9
|
RB
|
Josh Jacobs
|
5
|
|
WR
|
A.J. Green
|
11
|
WR
|
Julio Jones
|
15
|
|
WR
|
Tyler Lockett
|
10
|
WR
|
D.J. Moore
|
7
|
|
TE
|
Eric Ebron
|
8
|
TE
|
O.J. Howard
|
12
|
|
PK
|
Will Lutz
|
12
|
PK
|
Adam Vinatieri
|
5
|
|
D/ST
|
Los Angeles Rams
|
10
|
D/ST
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
8
|
|
Total
|
104
|
Total
|
85
|
||
Typically each fantasy team in a head-to-head league will play against most -- if not all -- other fantasy teams twice throughout the season. The end of the fantasy regular season typically falls on Week 13 through 15 in the NFL’s regular season, depending on the league’s settings. At that point, the teams with the best records will compete in the league’s playoffs, culminating in a championship game during Week 16 or 17 of the NFL’s regular season. Team 2 was crushed in the above example,
Traditional Redraft League (Total Points)
An alternative to head-to-head, a total points league involves accumulating the most points throughout the season. There are no matchups in the fantasy league, rather owners attempt to maximize their point totals on a weekly basis. This bears some similarity to rotisserie baseball leagues, where fantasy owners accumulate points based on certain statistical categories in lieu of head-to-head matchups. The following is an example of a season-long total points league with Team 10 winning it all by just 17 points.
|
Team
|
W1
|
W2
|
W3
|
W4
|
W5
|
W6
|
W7
|
W8
|
W9
|
W10
|
W11
|
W12
|
W13
|
W14
|
W15
|
W16
|
Tot
|
|
Team 10
|
82
|
103
|
87
|
104
|
113
|
108
|
94
|
143
|
108
|
114
|
80
|
100
|
119
|
89
|
136
|
103
|
1684
|
|
Team 4
|
81
|
102
|
74
|
122
|
133
|
107
|
94
|
112
|
98
|
95
|
99
|
103
|
107
|
132
|
108
|
102
|
1667
|
|
Team 1
|
112
|
78
|
113
|
98
|
94
|
127
|
85
|
111
|
76
|
137
|
82
|
90
|
89
|
136
|
130
|
98
|
1657
|
|
Team 8
|
107
|
104
|
70
|
67
|
67
|
83
|
98
|
75
|
133
|
122
|
128
|
97
|
115
|
100
|
88
|
110
|
1564
|
|
Team 5
|
61
|
94
|
78
|
83
|
92
|
72
|
112
|
103
|
84
|
116
|
64
|
97
|
88
|
110
|
108
|
102
|
1465
|
|
Team 7
|
64
|
115
|
82
|
58
|
96
|
92
|
67
|
99
|
88
|
44
|
99
|
106
|
138
|
127
|
95
|
91
|
1463
|
|
Team 12
|
71
|
102
|
78
|
88
|
79
|
100
|
102
|
99
|
80
|
94
|
77
|
111
|
105
|
84
|
77
|
128
|
1434
|
|
Team 11
|
94
|
87
|
78
|
92
|
82
|
97
|
81
|
83
|
86
|
71
|
138
|
75
|
68
|
103
|
92
|
80
|
1410
|
|
Team 6
|
90
|
98
|
81
|
95
|
81
|
81
|
87
|
74
|
82
|
56
|
119
|
106
|
93
|
67
|
118
|
68
|
1396
|
|
Team 3
|
68
|
88
|
74
|
144
|
105
|
82
|
101
|
107
|
98
|
62
|
87
|
77
|
97
|
58
|
90
|
56
|
1395
|
|
Team 2
|
125
|
117
|
102
|
76
|
79
|
73
|
97
|
91
|
77
|
93
|
59
|
80
|
82
|
72
|
64
|
92
|
1378
|
|
Team 9
|
84
|
90
|
61
|
74
|
87
|
45
|
119
|
55
|
74
|
83
|
107
|
99
|
77
|
110
|
95
|
91
|
1351
|
The popularity of total points leagues in general has waned over the years, with one notable exception...
Redraft League (Best Ball)
Bucking the total points league trend, best ball leagues have exploded in popularity in recent years. These leagues largely operate like total points leagues to determine league standings -- teams accumulate points on a weekly or season-long basis to determine winners. Some best ball leagues operate by pitting teams head-to-head on a weekly basis.
The difference in best ball leagues is that fantasy owners aren’t required to set lineups or otherwise manage their rosters. The league draft serves as the one and only way to put players on a fantasy team owner’s roster. Usually this means that each roster is much deeper than traditional leagues -- instead of 12-15 players, fantasy owners will typically draft 20-25 players. These leagues require deep dives into NFL rosters given how many players are needed to fill out the league.
Best ball leagues require deeper knowledge of NFL rosters because of the size of the fantasy rosters. Once you get into the 20th round and beyond, you are drafting NFL non-starters, perhaps players that are even fourth or fifth on their team's depth charts. Fantasy owners must account for bye weeks and injuries during the draft because there is no in-season management -- you cannot pick up your injured running back's replacement like you normally would, for example.
There are many flavors to best ball leagues. Some do incorporate head-to-head mechanics, and there are many ways to customize them. By and large, though, best ball leagues operate as total points leagues without the hassle of in-season management.
Auction Draft League
An alternative to the serpentine draft, auctions utilize a bidding-style draft to populate fantasy team rosters. A draft order is generated, but this only serves the purpose of nominating players for fantasy team owners to bid their money on.
Each fantasy team is allotted the same amount of money at the beginning of the draft, usually $100-$200. Unlike traditional snake drafts -- where teams draft in a pre-determined order in every round -- every player is available to every fantasy team provided that team has enough money to bid. This eliminates bad beats -- you no longer need lament being unable to pick the top running back in the league because you draft 11th. But you had better be prepared to pony up big bucks. Here is an example of the first several nominated players and their ultimate price in an auction draft:
|
Pos
|
Player Selected
|
Team
|
Drafted By
|
Cost
|
|
PK
|
Justin Tucker
|
BAL
|
Team 1
|
$2
|
|
QB
|
Pat Mahomes
|
KC
|
Team 4
|
$37
|
|
D/ST
|
Los Angeles Chargers
|
LAC
|
Team 7
|
$1
|
|
QB
|
Aaron Rodgers
|
GB
|
Team 1
|
$27
|
|
RB
|
Todd Gurley
|
LAR
|
Team 10
|
$39
|
|
WR
|
Antonio Brown
|
PIT
|
Team 1
|
$51
|
You can find more in-depth information on auction drafting and strategies in our annual auction draft guide.
Keeper Leagues
We are starting to go beyond standard season-long leagues. Keeper leagues operate just like season-long formats -- whether they be head-to-head or total points -- and they involve a draft. But each team is allowed to keep a certain number of players on their roster. Usually those keepers come with a cost in draft picks. Here is an example of a five-player keeper league with the players being kept in bold:
|
Example Team 1
|
Example Team 2
|
||||
|
Pos
|
Starter
|
Team
|
Pos
|
Starter
|
Team
|
|
QB
|
Russell Wilson
|
SEA
|
QB
|
Drew Brees
|
NO
|
|
QB
|
Jimmy Garoppolo
|
SF
|
QB
|
Andy Dalton
|
Cin
|
|
QB
|
Sam Darnold
|
NYJ
|
RB
|
Alvin Kamara
|
NO
|
|
QB
|
Ryan Tannehill
|
TEN
|
RB
|
Mark Ingram
|
BAL
|
|
RB
|
Kenyan Drake
|
MIA
|
RB
|
Jamaal Williams
|
GB
|
|
RB
|
James White
|
NE
|
RB
|
Mike Davis
|
CHI
|
|
RB
|
Orleans Darkwa
|
NYG
|
RB
|
Damien Williams
|
KC
|
|
RB
|
Josh Jacobs
|
OAK
|
WR
|
Sammy Watkins
|
KC
|
|
WR
|
Antonio Brown
|
PIT
|
WR
|
DeVante Parker
|
MIA
|
|
WR
|
DeAndre Hopkins
|
HOU
|
WR
|
Will Fuller
|
HOU
|
|
WR
|
Devin Funchess
|
IND
|
WR
|
James Washington
|
PIT
|
|
WR
|
Kenny Stills
|
MIA
|
WR
|
Antonio Calloway
|
CLE
|
|
WR
|
Tyler Lockett
|
SEA
|
WR
|
Zay Jones
|
BUF
|
|
WR
|
Rishard Matthews
|
Ten
|
TE
|
David Njoku
|
CLE
|
|
TE
|
Travis Kelce
|
KC
|
TE
|
Hunter Henry
|
LAC
|
|
TE
|
Austin Hooper
|
ATL
|
PK
|
Will Lutz
|
NO
|
|
PK
|
Greg Zuerlein
|
LAR
|
DT
|
Los Angeles Rams
|
LAR
|
|
DT
|
New Orleans Saints
|
NO
|
DT
|
Kansas City Chiefs
|
KC
|
Dynasty Leagues
Dynasty leagues take the keeper concept and turn it into full-blown franchise mode. At its inception, a dynasty league will hold a large draft. Each fantasy franchise will get to keep most or all of the players it drafted henceforth, barring trades or dropping them of course. After the inaugural season and thereafter, the league holds annual rookie drafts to add that season's rookies to the mix. Usually rookie draft orders are determined by the previous season's results -- the champion picks last, the last-place team picks first, and so on. Picks can usually be traded, and teams need to make room on their roster for incoming players.
Like NFL franchises, teams in dynasty leagues require year-round attention. Any bit of offseason news can have consequences for your roster, and it behooves fantasy owners to have a deep understanding of free agency and the NFL draft. They aren't for the feint of heart, but dynasty leagues can be incredibly fun and engaging.
Survivor Leagues
One quirky league type is the survivor league. Like the television show Survivor, each week sees the lowest-scoring team eliminated from contention. Typically this is a larger league because the NFL season is 17 weeks long. Generally these leagues do not allow for a waiver wire or free agency, so it is truly a battle of attrition.
Guillotine League
Morbid names aside, the guillotine league is a relatively new variant on the survivor league model. Like its cousin, the guillotine league drops the lowest-scoring squad from contention each week. The big difference, though, is that the dropped team's players all get dumped into the waiver wire pool for the rest of the league to fight over.