Section 2: Fantasy Football Glossary of Terms

 

ADP (Average Draft Position): The average position where a player is being selected in drafts. If a player has an ADP of 15, it means that, on average, he is picked 15th overall in most fantasy drafts. If you’re drafting 12th, the odds are strong that the player will not be available after your pick at 12.  You can also utilize ADP to find values in a draft.  If you think a player has a lot of upside but a low ADP, you can swoop in and take that player a round ahead of your competition.

Auction Draft:  A draft format where each manager is given a budget to bid on players rather than selecting them in a predetermined order.

Best Ball League:  A fantasy football league format where you draft a team of players at the beginning of the season, but instead of setting a weekly lineup, your highest-scoring players are automatically selected for your starting lineup each week. This format emphasizes drafting strategy and minimizes the need for in-season management, as there are no trades, waivers, or lineup decisions to be made.

Bench: Players on a fantasy roster who are not in the starting lineup for a given week but can be used in future weeks.

Bench Points:  The total points scored by players on your bench.  Only a few league styles will utilize players from the bench, Best Ball (see definition above) being the most popular form.  Otherwise, the bench points go to waste in most leagues and are more indicative of how effectively you choose your starters weekly.

Boom Bust Report: A report that evaluates players based on their potential for high (boom) or low (bust) fantasy scores in a given week or season.  

Breakouts: A player expected to significantly improve their performance, become a key fantasy player that year, and help lead you to more wins and championships.

Busts: Players who fail to meet their expected performance levels, often resulting in poor fantasy returns relative to their draft position.  A highly drafted player like Austin Ekeler in 2023 would be considered a bust due to his poor performance and injuries.

Bye Week: A week during the NFL season when a team does not play a game, affecting fantasy players from that team.  If you have multiple players from the same team, you'll need to find replacements during their bye week to avoid losing points.

Bye-Week Fill-In:  A player is added to your lineup to cover for a starter on a bye week.

Cap Space: The total budget available for acquiring players in auction or salary cap leagues.

Ceiling: The maximum potential performance of a player in a given week or season.  Tyreek Hill has a high ceiling due to his ability to score multiple long touchdowns in a single game.

Ceiling Game: A game where players perform at their highest potential, often resulting in exceptional fantasy points. A ceiling game for a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes might include 400 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.

Commissioner:  The person who organizes and manages the fantasy football league, including setting up the rules and scoring system. The commissioner is responsible for resolving disputes and ensuring the league runs smoothly throughout the season.

Consensus Rankings:  Rankings compiled from the combined opinions of multiple fantasy football experts.  ECR can provide a balanced perspective on player rankings, helping to mitigate individual biases from a single analyst.

Consistency: The ability of a player to perform at a stable level across multiple weeks. A player like Davante Adams is known for his consistency, regularly producing high fantasy points each week while rarely scoring outside of the Top 30 WR in any given week.

DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports):  A format where players draft a new team for a single day or week, competing for prizes based on that period's performance.  In DFS, you might draft a team just for the Week 5 games, competing against others to score the most points in that single week.

Depth Chart:  A list of players organized by position and ranking within their NFL team, indicating starters and backups. Checking a team's depth chart can help you see if a backup running back might get more playing time due to injuries.

Draft Board:  A visual representation of all the players selected during a fantasy draft. The draft board helps managers track which players have been picked and which are still available.

Draft Strategy: A manager's approach and tactics when selecting players during a draft. One long-standing historical draft strategy was to focus on securing top-tier running backs early, given their scarcity and importance in fantasy scoring.  This has changed recently as WR are becoming more valuable than RBs.

Draft Tools:  Various tools and resources are used to prepare for and conduct a fantasy draft.  Draft tools might include mock drafts, ADP rankings, and tiered cheat sheets to help managers make informed decisions.

Draft Value: The perceived worth of a player based on their draft position relative to their expected performance.  An RB  might be considered a draft value if selected in the mid-rounds but performs like a top-tier running back.

Dynasty League:  A league format where managers can keep a set number of players from their roster to carry over into the next season. These leagues require more advanced knowledge of rookies and players you might stash now that could pay off in the coming year.  Sometimes, these are referred to as Keeper Leagues.

Dynasty Stash:  A player held on your roster in a dynasty league with the expectation they will be valuable in future seasons.

FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget): A budget allocated to managers for bidding on free agents, typically used in place of the waiver wire. You can spend a large portion of your FAAB on a breakout player.

FAAB Bid:  The amount of your Free Agent Acquisition Budget you bid to acquire a free agent.

Flex:  A roster spot that a player from multiple positions can fill, usually RB/WR/TE. In a typical league, your flex spot could be filled by a running back, wide receiver, or tight end.

Flexibility: The ability of your roster to adapt to injuries, bye weeks, and other changes. Having multiple players, typically additional WR and RBs,  who can be slotted into your flex position adds to your team’s flexibility.

Flier:  A late-round draft pick or free-agent acquisition with high upside but significant risk.

Game Script: The flow and outcome of a game can affect player usage and fantasy points. If a team is expected to lead, its running backs might get more carries as it tries to run out the clock.

Handcuff:  A backup player drafted to provide insurance for a team's starting player, almost primarily at running back.  In 2024, if you draft James Conner, Trey Benson, a rookie with upside, would be an example of a handcuff many might draft.

High Ceiling:  Describes a player with the potential for exceptionally high fantasy points in a given week or season.  A player like Derrick Henry has historically had a high ceiling because he can have games with multiple touchdowns and over 200 rushing yards; this year, with his advancing age and on a new team with a running quarterback, might call that into question.

IDP (Individual Defensive Player):  A league format that includes individual defensive and offensive players.  Most common leagues will have you draft a DST: Defensive, Specials Teams unit of one team.

Injury Report:  A report that updates player injuries and their status for upcoming games.   NFL teams can be tricky with how they put players on an injury report and classify them.  It is essential to watch injury status until kick-off to see if your players are playing that week.

Keeper League:  A league format where managers can keep a set number of players from their roster to carry over into the next season.  Sometimes, these are now more commonly referred  to as Dynasty Leagues (see definition above)

Late-Round Flier:  A high-risk, high-reward player selected in the later rounds of a draft.

Lineup: The players selected to start for a fantasy team in a given week.  Setting your lineup involves deciding which players to start based on matchups and performance expectations.  Each league can have a different set of starting lineups, but the most typical formats would include 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 DST, and 1 K.

Market Share Report:  A report that analyzes the distribution of fantasy points scored by each position on a team, helping to identify key contributors.  A market share report might show that a player like Cooper Kupp dominates the target share on his team, making him a valuable fantasy asset, or it can show you how a team typically targets a position like RB for receptions, helping you decide if you want to draft an RB from that respective team.

Matchup: The comparison of a fantasy player’s opponent, often used to determine the potential for high or low performance.  A running back facing a weak rush defense has a favorable matchup, increasing the likelihood of a big game.

Mock Draft:  A practice draft conducted to help managers prepare for their actual fantasy draft. Participating in mock drafts can help refine your draft strategy and understand a player's ADP (see definition above).  Doing more mock drafts will make you more comfortable knowing which players are most likely available at your specific draft slot.

Ownership Percentage:  The percentage of fantasy leagues in which a player is owned or rostered.

Ownership Trends:  Changes in the percentage of leagues in which a player is owned.  A player’s ownership trend might spike after a breakout game or fall after a single bad game.  If a high-quality player has a few bad games, other fantasy owners could give up on that player, giving others the chance to pick him up if they believe he can rebound.

PPR (Points Per Reception):  A scoring format that awards points for each reception made by a player.  In a PPR league, if a running back catches 5 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, he would score 16 points in a traditional scoring format. (5 points for receptions, 5 points for yards, and 6 points for the touchdown).

.5 PPR (½ Point Per Reception):  A scoring format that awards ½ point for each reception made by a player.  In a ½ PPR league, if a running back catches 5 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, he would score 13.5 points in a traditional scoring format. (2.5 points for receptions, 5 points for yards, and 6 points for the touchdown).

Playoff Schedule: Your fantasy players will face matchups during the fantasy playoffs.

Player Prop Data: Statistical data and analysis related to player prop bets, such as over/under on yards, touchdowns, or receptions, often used to gauge player performance expectations.  Player prop data might indicate that a quarterback like Josh Allen will likely exceed 250 passing yards in a game.  This information can be helpful for those wanting to bet on player props, but it also can be beneficial to understand the Las Vegas odds each week to help you decide who to start with weekly.

Positional Advantage:  The edge gained by having a top-performing player at a specific position.  Historically, having Travis Kelce provides a significant positional advantage at tight end.

Positional Scarcity:  The concept that certain positions have fewer elite players, making those players more valuable. In fantasy drafts, top-tier Tight Ends or Running Backs are often drafted early due to positional scarcity.  This has changed somewhat in the past few years as top-end wide receivers garnered more top draft slots.

Projections:  Predicted statistics and fantasy points for a player in a given week or season.

QB1/QB2:  Designations for quarterbacks based on their expected performance and role within a fantasy lineup, with QB1 being the highest tier.

RB1/RB2/RB3:  Designations for wide receivers based on their expected performance and role within a fantasy lineup, with RB1 being the highest tier.  

ReDraft League:   Historically, this is the most common type of fantasy football league where team rosters are reset at the start of each new season. In a redraft league, you draft a new team each year with no carryover from previous seasons.

Red Zone Efficiency:  The success rate of a player or team in scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

Red Zone Report:  A report that analyzes player performance and opportunities within the red zone, where scoring chances are highest.  Using a red zone report might show that a player like Davante Adams is heavily targeted near the goal line, increasing his touchdown potential, or it could reveal a player you do not expect who is not targeted as much by his team near the goal line, lowering their chances to score.

Rest of Season Rankings:  Updated rankings project player performance for the remaining weeks of the fantasy football season.  Rest-of-season rankings can help you decide whether to trade for a player with a favorable schedule in the second half of the season.

Risk/Reward: The balance between the potential for high performance (reward) and the potential for a player's poor performance (risk).

Sleeper:  An underrated or lesser-known player who has the potential to exceed expectations.

Standard Scoring:  A traditional scoring format that typically does not award points for receptions. In a standard scoring league, a running back who rushes for 100 yards and a touchdown would score 16 points (6 for the touchdown and 10 for the yards).

Stream:  The strategy of picking up and starting players based on favorable matchups for a specific week.  For example, you might stream a defense playing against a weak offensive team that week.

Streaming Defense/Kicker:  The strategy of frequently changing defenses or kickers based on weekly matchups rather than sticking with one for the season.

Streaming QB: Picking up and starting quarterbacks based on weekly favorable matchups.

Target: A pass thrown to a specific receiver indicates potential receptions and yardage opportunities.  A target may or may not lead to a reception.  However, a high target count for a player like Keenan Allen suggests he is a focal point of his team’s passing offense.

Target Share:  The percentage of total pass attempts directed at a specific receiver, indicating their involvement in the passing game; the higher the share, the more dependent that team is on that particular player and the higher their opportunity to earn fantasy points each week.

Target Team Breakdown Report:  A report that details how often players on a team are targeted in the passing game, helping to identify critical receivers and potential breakout players.  A target team breakdown report might show that a player like CeeDee Lamb is receiving an increasing share of targets as the season progresses.

Tiered Rankings:  Rankings that group players into tiers based on similar projected fantasy output, helping to identify value within each positional group.  Tiered rankings can help you decide whether to draft a player from a higher tier or wait to get a similar player from the next tier down.

Touch Share:  The percentage of a team’s total offensive plays that a player is involved in.  Christian McCaffrey has a high touch share, getting many of his team’s carries and receptions.

Trade Value: A player's worth in a trade, often based on their current and projected performance.

Two-Quarterback League (2QB):  A league format where teams start two quarterbacks each week, increasing the value of the quarterback position.  In a 2QB league, securing a second reliable quarterback like Derek Carr is crucial.

UCV (Upside Consistency Value):  UCV is FF Ring Factory’s proprietary, comprehensive measurement that evaluates a player’s ability to deliver consistent and significant "Boom" performances (upside) while minimizing "Bust" performances (below-average weeks). This metric is calculated by analyzing weekly performance data for each player by position. It utilizes statistical methods like the Z-score to assess how strongly a player’s performance stands out relative to their peers. The weekly scores are aggregated to form an overall UCV rank for the season, providing a clearer picture of a player’s value beyond total fantasy points.

• Example: Consider Raheem Mostert, RB for Miami. While he had a few explosive 50-point games last year, his overall UCV rank would consider not just these high points but also his consistency. If Mostert had multiple low-performing weeks (busts), his UCV rank would reflect this inconsistency, giving a more balanced view of his fantasy value.

UCV+ (Upside Consistency Value Plus):  UCV+ is FF Ring Factory’s proprietary numerical score representing a player's performance for the season, scaled between 0 and 100. This score provides a straightforward, Madden-like rating that indicates how well a player performed and how consistently they delivered high-value (upside) weeks compared to their peers. UCV+ allows for easy comparison of players across different positions, highlighting the relative performance and ranking of players like Christian McCaffrey and Tyreek Hill against each other, irrespective of their roles as RB or WR.

Upside:  The potential for a player to perform significantly above their expected level.

Value Player: A player who provides significant fantasy production relative to their draft position or acquisition cost. These players often outperform their draft spot, offering more points and reliability than expected, making them valuable assets to a fantasy team. They deliver excellent returns on investment, allowing you to use your higher draft picks on other positions while still getting top-tier production from a later pick. 

Vulture:  A player, often a backup, who scores touchdowns at the expense of the starter.

Waiver Wire:  A system for acquiring free agents not currently on a fantasy roster, often based on priority or FAAB.  Many leagues have weekly waiver wire orders based on the worst to the best record.   Other leagues will utilize FAAB (see definition above) to allow you to bid on players each week regardless of your current win/loss record.  Aggressively working the waiver wire, especially early in the season, can be the difference between a winning and losing team.

Weekly Start/Sit:  Recommendations on which players to start and which to sit in your fantasy lineup for a specific week based on matchups and performance trends.

WR1/WR2/WR3:  Designations for wide receivers based on their expected performance and role within a fantasy lineup, with WR1 being the highest tier.