In-Season Terms to Know
In a fantasy game based on real stats, how do we find the diamonds in the rough on waivers? PFN's very own OSM can help.
If you're still battling in your fantasy league, here is a look at some options on the Week 15 waiver wire.
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Add/Drop
Add/Drop is the common name for the processes of adding a free agent or player from the waiver wire and subsequently dropping a player from your roster.
Add
Add simply defines as putting a player from the list of free agents on your roster. This process is typically done through the league’s waiver wire.
Automated Waivers Process
The Automated Waivers Process involves teams making claims on free agents that are assigned priority by each fantasy owner. Once a team adds a free agent, that team is then placed at the bottom of the waiver priority list. Each team gets their selection of a free agent before the worst team can select two free agents.
Bench
Typically referred to as “reserves.” These extra players are your bench players. Bench players DO NOT accumulate points unless they are activated into starting lineups.
Claim
A claim is a system of picking up a player off the free agent wire. Please be mindful of the fact that when you claim a player, you must either waive/drop a player to create a spot on your roster.
Depth Chart
A chart that displays who the first, second, and third-string players are at each position on an NFL team.
First Come, First Serve
First come, first serve is the most straightforward type of free-agent process. Every free agent in the league is free to be picked up at any time by any team in the league. When you add a player, you must also drop a player who was on your roster, who now becomes a free agent.
Fleecing
Fleecing is taking advantage of a fellow team owner in a lopsided trade.
Flex
The Flex is a spot on the active roster that can be utilized by a player regardless of position.
Fractional Scoring
Fractional scoring was developed to evade ties and to increase the accuracy with which NFL stats convert to fantasy scoring stats. Every single point breaks down into ten increments, where in the past, they were broken down into one.
Free Agent
A free agent is a player that is not on any team roster in your fantasy league.
Free Agent Acquisitions Budget (FAAB)
FAAB is an alternative to waiver-wire adds and drops where owners use an auction-style process to obtain free agents weekly.
Game-Time Decision
The term game-time decision is such a frustrating term for fantasy football owners. This term refers to a player whose status will not be released until near the start of the game.
Game Script
The game script refers to the way a game is being played out. Projecting game scripts accurately assists fantasy owners in making better lineup choices.
Injury Report
NFL teams are required to provide injury reports daily. These reports list player injuries and status for the upcoming games. Injury reports are vital to fantasy owners when determining who to start and who to sit.
Injured Reserve
The majority of leagues offer an Injured Reserve (IR) designation for players who are listed as OUT by their NFL team. In those leagues, your team is allowed to pick up a free agent to fill the injured player’s spot on your roster until he returns.
Lineup
The lineup consists of the players receiving points on your roster in a given week, i.e., your starters.
Pick Up
A pick up is a player that you add to your team’s roster via the waiver wire or free agent pool.
Player Rankings
Player Rankings are an ordered list of players based upon their expected fantasy football point output, either collectively or for a specific position.
Roster Limit
The roster limit is the number of players allowed by league rules to make up a roster. In most leagues, the number of players at each position is also designated.
Scoring System
The scoring system is the mechanism for the league that defines how points are earned.
Start-Sit
The Start-Sit decision is one that every fantasy owner needs to make regarding which players to have in their lineup, and which players to have on their bench.
Starting Lineup
The starting lineup consists of the players that will count for a fantasy team in the upcoming game. Typically, there are restrictions on the number of players, generally in fixed positions.
Streaming
Streaming is a popular strategy of picking up and dropping a new player(s) each week based on matchups. This strategy is most commonly done with positions that require one roster spot, such as quarterback, tight end, kicker, and defense/special teams.
Superflex
Superflex is a roster position that extends the flex position to include quarterbacks. Because you can start two quarterbacks in a Superflex league, quarterbacks are typically drafted much higher than in a traditional one-quarterback format.
Targets
Target is easily explained as how many times a player is thrown at.
Team Roster
Team roster consists of the number of players on a fantasy football team. The roster may vary from league to league, typically 15 to 20 players.
Team Quarterback
Team quarterback is best explained as the cumulative totals of all quarterbacks on a given NFL team. These are used to ensure that an owner has the starter and backup quarterbacks on the same team.
Touches
Touches are easily defined as how many times a running back, wide receiver, or a tight end gets the ball in a game.
Trades
Teams are allowed to trade players on their rosters as long as the deal is submitted before a predetermined trade deadline. Most leagues offer a system that will enable other owners to protest the trade that is too lopsided in one team’s favor to prevent a team owner from working together to build one super team.
Trading Block
Fantasy owners can put players on the trading block, which allows other owners to know that you are making that player available for trade.
Trade Deadline
The trade deadline in a league refers to the last day that league owners can make a trade with each other. This rule should help to avoid teams dumping players and potential collusion among owners.
Transaction
A transaction is any change to your roster.
Touchdown Vulture
A touchdown vulture is a player who doesn’t usually accumulate stats except for touchdowns thanks to his role as a goal-line specialist.
Undroppable Players
Undroppable players are a list of elite players who cannot be waived off team’s rosters in individual leagues to preserve the integrity of the league.
Weekly Lineup
Each owner submits a weekly lineup before the start of each game in which the players in question are involved. The number of players in a weekly lineup differs from league to league. Your points come from your starting lineup.
Waivers
Any player that remains undrafted is classified as a free agent and can be signed by any team on a first-come, first-served basis. The process involves the team with the worst record or top priority in a league getting the first chance each week to pick a player, followed by the team with the second-worst record or priority, and so on.
Waiver Priority List
The waiver priority list is another process to determine who adds free agents in fantasy football leagues. Teams are listed in order of preference, and free agents are assigned to the list, which is typically determined by the current team records. The team with the worst record gets priority on free agents; the team with the second-worst record gets second priority, and so on.
Point Per Reception
Points per receptions are an enhancement of the standard scoring system. Each reception by an offensive player is worth a point. This style of scoring is known as PPR leagues.
Playoffs
A playoff tournament typically takes place in the final two or three weeks of the regular NFL season, depending upon the number of teams there are in the playoff field.
The fantasy football championship occurs when the playoff field has been narrowed to two teams, with the winner being crowned as league champion.
Stack/Stacking
Stack/Stacking is a pairing of multiple players from the same team. The most common stack is a quarterback with at least one of his receivers. If the quarterback goes off, it’s likely his receivers will as well and vice versa.
