3 Fantasy Football League Formats – Experience, Pros, & Cons
We all enjoy fantasy football – many of us love it! For a lot of folks, they’re familiar and comfortable with more than one style. For a number of people, the other formats of fantasy are foreign and kind of scary. Personally, I was once like that. My first year of fantasy was a redraft, touchdown-only league with my family. Now I play multiple redraft, keeper, best ball, and dynasty leagues with various rules and settings. Like many of you, I’ve come a long way.
When it comes down to it, expanding your knowledge of a fun activity can lead you to find something more in sync with your own style. Ultimately, that is what I hope to bring to you through this article. I’m going to break down each of the broader formats of fantasy football: redraft leagues, best ball, and dynasty fantasy football. Then, you can decide what’s right for you or whether another style of fantasy is something you may want to take an interest in.
Redraft Fantasy Football Leagues
The one that started it all back in 1962, when a former Oakland Raiders owner (Bill Winkenbach) and some friends created the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL). Like any redraft league, this consisted of a number of people who got together to draft fictional teams of real-life football players using real stats to determine weekly outcomes. This includes everything from typical leagues with only offensive players to IDP (Individual Defensive Players) leagues to Keeper leagues where you usually keep a small number of players from your previous season’s roster. Until recent years, this format was considered the “gateway” into fantasy football.
The Draft
Getting together with friends, family, colleagues, or people you’ve never met to draft your initial rosters is one of, if not the best part of the fantasy season. Additionally, the anticipation of the impending calendar of games just amps up the excitement for football. You’ve built your roster, had a good time, and maybe talked some trash to your friends who have become mortal, gridiron enemies. One of the most satisfying events in a fantasy draft is when you “snipe” another opponent. That’s when you select a player that one of your league mates was eyeing for their next pick. In the end, the audible groans emitted by competitors are oh so sweet to hear!
Roster Management
Similar to how NFL general managers have to continually construct and rebuild a roster throughout the season, you have to put on the proverbial suit-and-tie and adapt your squad. Additionally, you’ll need to manage your FAAB and work the waiver wire. Injuries, real-time roster moves, and various other occurrences all play into this aspect. Signing free agents, working out trades, and navigating injuries are the key aspects. Injuries can derail plans in all fantasy styles. To quote Peter Quincy Taggart: “Never give up! Never surrender!”
Setting Your Lineup
A number of factors come into play when setting your lineup: players on bye weeks, positive/negative matchups, roster format, etc. Do you start your stud tight end with a bad matchup or go with your backup who will face an opposing defense that oozes points to the position? These decisions can wreak havoc on your psyche or show others your prolific prognostication skills. Even the most well-known and respected fantasy analysts make the wrong decisions in these cases. After all, we’re all human.
Personal Experience
Personally, that was my introduction to the world of fantasy football. I will be forever grateful to my father for introducing me to fantasy football, among other things. The weekly meetings around the kitchen island to discuss rosters and choose our weekly starters will be eternally ingrained into my memory. Especially, due to the 21 touchdowns I got from my final draft pick, Terry Allen. In the end, I won my inaugural foray into this game.
Best Ball Fantasy Football Leagues
Of the three fantasy formats in this article, Best Ball was the last one I dipped my toes into. I was apprehensive to partake as I saw it as a gimmick that wouldn’t catch on. Boy, was I wrong! In the style of “set it and forget it,” you draft your team, walk away, and collect your winnings. It’s the simplest form of fantasy sports and makes for a great introduction to the pastime.
The Draft
The only part of the experience you need to be active in best ball is the draft. Just like in redraft, it opens the season with hubbub and trepidation. You can get together with others or sign in to one of the various apps, such as Underdog Fantasy, that have made it widely available. It truly is the highlight of the best ball experience! You don’t usually get the same hype from this draft as you do from others. It’s also used as a tool to gauge average draft position.
Roster Management
There is none or very little. You draft your team, and that’s pretty much it. In most best ball leagues, you don’t add or drop any players from your roster. Typically, the roster size is expanded to help protect your team from injuries and whatnot. Some leagues give you the opportunity to add or trade players, but for the most part, you draft and you’re done.
Setting Your Lineup
In this format, you don’t have to pick your starters. The highest-scoring players on your team are the ones who count for you each week or season. For example, if you have Patrick Mahomes who scores 15 points and Drew Lock who scores 20 points, you get credited for Drew Lock. No need to worry about matchups, location, or day of the week. It’s that simple and easy.
Personal Experience
Nowadays, this is the ideal way to start your fantasy football adventure. Go through the draft and see what happens! It couldn’t be any easier! For as little as a few bucks, you could collect a massive payday once the season ends. It’s not the “fad” that I once thought it would be. It’s a great starting point to see if it’s something you want to put more time into.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues
The pinnacle of the fantasy sports experience is dynasty fantasy football leagues. The players on your squad are yours forever, or until you don’t want them anymore. After the initial season of a dynasty league, you retain your entire roster. Each subsequent season, your league partakes in a rookie draft when you add newly acquired NFL rookies to supplement your fantasy roster. In terms of fantasy sports, it really is the closest thing to being an actual general manager. There are many different variations to the dynasty format, such as Empire and Devy (developmental) leagues.
The Draft
Like all other fantasy formats, you start the league with a draft. However, you may want to have a mind on the future as you’re going to be saddled with the majority of these players for the long haul. You’ll keep the same roster for multiple seasons with all of the trading and free agent signings you’ve come to expect from fantasy. Before each new season begins, typically after the NFL Draft, you’ll conduct a rookie draft to keep your roster fresh and competitive.
Roster Management
You still have the ability to make roster moves as in other formats. The biggest adjustment from other formats to dynasty is the ability to trade future draft picks, and it might be the most enticing part, as well. The bulk of these leagues let you trade draft picks to and from other teams, just like in real life. Has your team underperformed? Trade away some assets for picks! Is your squad on the verge of a championship run? Trade away some picks for established athletes! Sometimes you can do this in keeper leagues, but it is a main component of the dynasty fantasy football format.
Setting Your Lineup
Just like in most non-best ball leagues, you have to set your starters on a weekly basis. It’s the same waffling you’re typically going to endure in any other league. However, the caveat is the larger roster size. You’ll have more players to choose from in these kinds of leagues. Again, everyone will make mistakes.
Longevity
Per the name, dynasty leagues are going to last for quite a while. You’ll have good years, you’ll have bad years, you’ll have years that make you question your choices. As expected, there’s a laundry list of real-life general managers who feel your pain. Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-and-done happening. You’re signing up for a long haul, and a lot of you are going to have a blast while you do it.
Personal Experience
In the long run, trades feel more impactful. Rookie picks weigh more. Additionally, it makes trades even more difficult at times. There’s nothing better than drafting a Christian McCaffrey or Patrick Mahomes and holding them for their entire NFL career. Additionally, injuries will make you wince.
Furthermore, it’s the fantasy football experience that I’ve always wanted to participate in. Personally, I’ll never leave it! Sure, sometimes you’ll come across another player that makes a ‘Herschel Walker to Minnesota’ type of trade and that careens the league trajectory in favor of another manager (or yourself), stuff happens! You’ve got multiple years to reformat or alter your team for future or continued dominance! That’s the beauty of dynasty league football.
I hope the information given to you in this article has been informative. Additionally, I hope that, if you haven’t already, you participate in some of these other fantasy formats. Personally, my journey through the fantasy football landscape has been eventful, fun, educational, and enthralling. I wish that for anyone who takes on a new challenge in this wonderful celebration of all things fantasy sports related. Thank you for taking the time to consume all that I’ve put out!
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