Get to Know Your Fantasy Football Formats: A Primer

Playing in a variety of fantasy leagues with a variety of fantasy football formats is great fun. Not only do you get to experience different ways to play and score alongside your favorite NFL players, but you also get to experiment with varied strategies. 

If you’ve only played in basic fantasy football formats on a couple of major sites, you’re missing out on an entire world of gaming. And, if you want to try something new, this primer can show you much of what that world can offer.

Though this list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide an introduction to a number of fantasy football formats. And if you’re interested in more information, click the links below and read on. 

Superflex Leagues

A Superflex league adds a roster wrinkle to traditional fantasy leagues. The Superflex position allows you to start either a quarterback, running back, wide receiver or tight end. As the article states, “Superflex is not to be confused with 2QB formats. A Superflex slot still gives you the option to start other players if you don’t have a second quarterback available to start.”

The format also thrusts the quarterback position to prominence, just like the reality game. Therefore, “Understanding when and how much to invest in the quarterback position will considerably affect your success in a Superflex league.”

There are plenty of strategic considerations when drafting and managing a team in a Superflex league. However, That’s it is a great next step to take from traditional fantasy football league formats. 

Best Ball Leagues

Best ball is an immensely popular format that puts all the focus on the draft. Many agree that the draft is the most enjoyable part of the process, so a format devoted entirely to how you draft is attractive to many. 

In Best Ball leagues, “…you draft your team and forget about it ‘til you win. No waivers, no trades, no worries!” Just sit back, relax and watch your expertly drafted squad take home the ‘ship.

As a point of strategy, “if you go out and try a best ball league, fill your bench with wide receivers that are second or third on their team. Those random WRs that could catch a deep ball for a touchdown or who fill in for an injured starter could end up being week winners.”

One and Done Leagues

One and Done leagues infuse an entirely new strategy into your fantasy football format experience. “This format is a twist on DFS with a season-long perspective.” That means you get the weekly thrill of DFS, while also managing the expected loss of previously played players week-to-week.

But it’s also incredibly beneficial to your overall game. One and Done leagues “make you a better football fan. You learn more about how a particular offense will succeed or struggle against another.” That alone is an excellent lens to develop through which to view the fantasy game.

If you’re looking for a completely different challenge and love strategic planning, this could be the fantasy football format for you. 

Game Against the Median Leagues

Adding a game against the median each week is a very small change, but it creates big changes in your fantasy leagues. In this fantasy football format, “you also play against a ‘ghost’ team. This ghost team scores the average of all the scores in the league for that week, also known as the median score. If you outscore the median, it is a win. If a score is less than the median, you get a loss.”

Even though the idea is simple, Game Against the Median leagues allow the better teams more of a chance to make the playoffs. “Unpredictability adds excitement to the game, but being subject to the whims of the chance to shape your entire season is beyond frustrating. So what can we do? The answer is easy: Activate the ‘game against the median’ option.”

If you’re striving to lessen the impact of luck and reward the best teams, this may be the format for you.

Guillotine Leagues

Guillotine leagues offer another completely different fantasy football format to explore. “Every week, the team with the lowest score is eliminated or “chopped,” and their roster is made available on waivers. Each week, the process repeats until we have one team remaining.”

While this offers a ton of strategic options, especially as the pool of competing teams thins out, it might not be too enjoyable if you get cut early on.

In many cases the champion is “determined strictly by the team with the most combined points over three weeks among the four teams.” That way, you make sure to crown the best team in this unique fantasy football format.

Auction Leagues

Auction leagues are another great way to try out a one-of-a-kind fantasy football format. In auctions, “each manager gets to bid whatever they want for the duration of [a] player’s auction, usually about one minute per player. The bids must be increased by a minimum of $1 every time you choose to outbid someone. This process goes on, one nomination at a time, until each team has filled out their entire lineup.”

Because of the way it is set up, every manager gets a chance to nominate a player and all can bid until their budget runs out. And while there are many strategies to the format, it’s important to note that “you can’t fake your way through it. There is no ADP list and you have to know your stuff.”

Auctions are a great way to create fantasy variance without changing anything outside of the draft itself.

Keeper Leagues

Keeper leagues offer a transitional fantasy middle ground between redraft and dynasty leagues. “If you’re not quite sure if you’d like a dynasty league, a keeper league is an excellent starting point.”

In a keeper league, you decide on a set number of players you get to keep year over year. During your draft, “There are a ton of considerations to make while selecting your players because, in many leagues, the draft cost of that player carries over to future years.”

Depending on how you ultimately decide to set it up, keeper leagues can be tailored to feel more like redraft or practically full-blown dynasty leagues. The level of customization is up to you.

Tiered PPR Leagues

The focus is all on balancing the scoring in Tiered PPR leagues. In this format, running backs are allotted fewer points per reception while tight ends earn more. Wide receivers fall somewhere in the middle. “This minimizes the tendency for passing down backs to break out and become cheat codes. Also, the idea taken from TE premium scoring that makes more tight ends fantasy-relevant is maintained.”

The general point is to make each fantasy position equally valuable. This can be further accomplished by adding more flex spots and inserting a superflex position. “Overall, it’s a great consideration for scoring balance across all skill positions.”

If you’re looking to play in one of the most wide-open strategic formats of all, consider playing Tiered PPR. 

These are just a few of the more popular fantasy football formats out there. This is by no means the end of the list. A little research is sure to turn up many more format options. But, it is a great way to get started so, if you’re curious, just try one out. Fantasy football is meant to be fun, after all.