Fantasy Football For Dummies

(Image c/o ESPN)

By Oliver Collins 
Sports Writer

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Year in and year out millions of “football experts” try their luck in fantasy football drafts across the United States. Finding a fantasy team owner who isn’t confident that “this year is going to be my year” or “my drafting skills are unparalleled” is hard to come by. 

If you don’t know anything about fantasy football, here’s a quick rundown. It all starts with the draft. Each team picks the players they think will do well throughout the football season. Whether they get the most running back red zone touches or they’re a quarterback favorite receiver helps determine who to draft. Other factors like week-week opponent matchups, individual player highlights, or simply whether the player plays for their favorite team matter as well. High caliber players like Saquon Barkley or Travis Kelce usually go first, followed by lesser known athletes like Justin Herbert or TJ Hockenson. 

Each team needs a quarterback (ie. Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert), two running backs (ie. Saquon Barkley, Christian Mccafferey, Josh Jacobs), two wide receivers (ie. Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams) and a tight end (ie. Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews). Depending on how well a player does determines the amount of fantasy points awarded to the players team, whoever has more points at the end of the week, wins.

Competition is high, and there is always plenty of trash talk across the league. Who’s got the most bench depth, who’s got the most potential, which team is projected to have the most points. Fantasy football gets extremely competitive, so be ready to talk your talk because once the season starts, it’s all out war. Trades being made for key players left and right, injuries to stars like Nick Chubb and Cooper Kupp. That’s the fun of fantasy football, you never know what’s going to happen.