These days it’s pretty hard to find someone that isn’t playing fantasy football and participating in fantasy football leagues.  There are many ways to play, and lots of sites to use to get information, scores, updates, and even play a few games.  However, each game play has different rules, stats, and points, so it’s important to know not only what game you are playing, but what stats and points count for that league.

We’ll break down some of the various fantasy football options, as well as the considerations for each one.  The reason is that depending on what points or stats the fantasy game is using, the players and teams can look quite differently.

Fantasy Football Leagues:

A. Head-head match-up:  This format is usually setup for a group of teams to play each other only, and the points are reset each week to compete against a new team.  The higher point total from the match-up is the winner, and the wins and loses record counts for the overall standings of the league.

B. Points Total:  This format is set up for a group of teams to play against everyone in the league each week with a running total of points.  This means that the points accumulated the week before are not reset, but rather built upon to rank the overall play of each team. The teams are ranked based on their points from top to bottom.  Sometimes, this is also called Salary Cap, as there may or may not be a dollar amount involved with each player.

Other Fantasy Football Setups:

C. Fantasy Football Pick-em:  These fantasy leagues are based on the win and loses of the actual NFL teams with each player in the group picking a winner for each game of the week.  The team that has the most wins and loses at the end of the season is the winner.  Typically, these are based on either actual wins and loses, confidence pool, or even on the spread.

D. Survival Fantasy Football:  This is a great fantasy setup for those that don’t want to do to much.  This involves just picking one winner each week, but you can’t pick the same team twice.  The player that is the last one left standing is the winner.

Each league has it’s own set of rules, and even within each league the individual commishes could set up their own points standing for plays.  This means that in one league RB’s may get more points, where in another league the WR’s may get more points.  Basically, the golden rule is to check the league setting before drafting your team so that you know what type of league you are in and who will benefit the most.  Below is a few examples of leagues that I’m and how the points can change for the same player.

Fantasy Football Example: I play in 3 fantasy league all on yahoo, but look how each league sets up their own points and how that can effect should be drafted.

RB: Lendal White – Tennessee Titans – Week 7 NFL

League A = 48.10 points (heavy RB league with points per carry)

League B = 40.00 points (standard RB league with points per carry)

League C = 35.00 points (no points per carry)

WR: Antonio Bryant – Tampa Bay Bucs – Week 7 NFL

League A =28.50 points (heavy WR league)

League B = 25.50 points (standard WR league)

League c = 24.00 points (standard WR league)

This comparison shows how important it is to draft a player based on the league settings, and not just on how good the player is.  RB’s in a league that doesn’t offer points per carry isn’t really favorable to most RB’s.  This scenario makes it so that only te RB’s that get TD’s will get good points.  Whereas a league that is offering points per catch, and not points per carry, means that it’s more important to draft top WR’s before picking up second tier RB’s.