Everything you need to know to play fantasy football is right here!

The goal of fantasy football is to have your team score the highest amount of points when matching up against another owner’s team. A NFL season has 16 weeks of regularly scheduled games.  A fantasy season has 13 weeks of regularly scheduled games with the remaining 3 for playoffs and the championship game.  There are many different types of leagues but we will stick to the basics.

We recommend that your league have 10 or 12 girls (aka owners). If you are the commissioner, you have the responsibility of forming the league, selecting a day for your draft, collecting any fees, and monitoring the season.

Let’s get started on how to play!

Starting your League:

1. Choose a free fantasy football management website ( Yahoo!, CBS Sports, or ESPN are the most popular)
2. Recruit owners for the league.
3. Create a league name and your own personal team’s name.
4. Select a draft date where each owner selects their players for the team. Make sure it’s a day that works for everyone. It’s ok if everyone cannot get together at one place-the draft can be completed online.
5. Prior to the draft, research which players you want for your wish list. GIRLS GONE FOOTBALL will have a mock draft for you before the season starts.

It’s Draft Day: Selecting Your Team

The order of the draft is selected randomly. There are 15 rounds in the draft. Each owner picks one player per round. The draft goes from 1^st to last and then is reversed during the second round. For example, if you have the 1st pick in the 1st round, you pick last in the 2nd round. If you have the last pick in the first round you have the 1st pick in the 2nd round. This continues until all rounds are completed.

Each fantasy team consists of the following: 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Running Backs (RB), 2 Wide Receivers (WR), 1 Tight End (TE), 1 Flex Player (RB or WR), 1 Kicker (K), 1 Defense, and 6 bench players.

RB’s generally give you the most points each week- it is important that you get the top rated players in the beginning rounds. K’s and your Defense generally do not give you a lot of points-so wait to draft them in the last rounds.

For your bench players, we recommend that you at least choose another QB, RB, WR, and TE. It is important that you have them in case your starting player gets hurt, is playing poorly, or if they have a bye week.

Managing Your Team

Each week you must select your starting lineup. Key things to look for are the following:

• Who has a bye week? Each NFL team has a week during the season where they don’t play. This is where your bench players come in when your starters are not active!
• Who is injured? Check before each game starts to make sure your players aren’t hurt and will be starting!
• Who doesn’t have a good matchup? For example, you may be indecisive on whom to select to fill your 2nd wide receiver spot in the lineup. If you are deciding between two players, you can look at which defense they are playing against and make your call. Check with GIRLS GONE FOOTBALL to see who they believe will play their best each week.

You have the options to add, drop, or trade your players during the season.

• Adding or Dropping: If a player is performing poorly or placed on the IR list, you can drop him to pick up another player who is a free agent. After trying to add a player another owner has dropped, a waiver may occur.
• Trade: You can trade players from your team to another owner’s team. When trading with another team, make sure it is a fair trade. For example, do not try to trade Tom Brady for Jake Delhomme (who sucks)- the trade will be vetoed right away. Usually there is a trade deadline where you cannot trade players after a certain week in the season.

How your players score the points: