Fantasy Football is a prevalent game among students within our Poly Prep community. It is played on various free platforms, including ESPN and Yahoo-fantasy, in which participants act as managers of their teams and draft different NFL players who they think will perform the best throughout the first 14 weeks of the NFL season. The goal is to build a team of players that can successfully produce more fantasy points than the other teams in their league. Players find a group of friends or family to form a league with and compete with them for the entirety of the season. The fantasy football season follows a similar timeline as the actual NFL season, excluding the NFL postseason. Players’ “fantasy points” are accumulated based on their players’ yards, receptions, touchdowns, fumbles, and many more. Fantasy football is a lighthearted game that encourages participants to engage with the NFL and its many events. Additionally, it is an excellent opportunity to bond with league-mates over the many inevitable arguments, dramas, jokes, and conversations throughout the season.
Although fantasy football is a delightful game to many, it can quickly become upsetting when you’re sitting at the bottom of the standings because your star player got injured or your second-round pick is underperforming. Commonly, players gather into groups of 10 or 12, called a league, who play against each other throughout the season. Stressing about fantasy football may seem futile; however, most leagues punish the loser as an incentive to keep playing when you’re losing. Some fantasy punishments within Poly leagues range from performing a comedy stand-up routine of “bad jokes” at the Upper School Annual Talent Show to running around a track until you finish a gallon of milk. In a fantasy league among the Freshman class, according to Freshman Liam Lorenzo, the loser must “wear a backpack of the winner’s choice for a month to school.” On the other hand, winners are rewarded with bragging rights, choice of punishment for the loser, and, most importantly, money pooled together by their league mates.
It is rare to see one go into a draft without any strategy or game plan. Some people want depth in their running back positions, and others with their wide receivers. This year, it was common for managers to go at the best running backs early in the draft because there wasn’t much depth at the position. The top three projected picks in this year’s draft were Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers, Breece Hall of the New York Jets, and Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons. Although McCaffery was picked #1 in most leagues, he has been a “complete disappointment,” according to Sophomore Ben Goldberg and Lorenzo, as he has been injured all season, and there is not much hope for him to return anytime soon. Another huge draft “bust” from this season has been Baltimore Ravens Tight End Mark Andrews, who was picked in most leagues within the first five rounds and has disappointed fantasy Football players nationwide. Additionally, Goldberg regarded Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and 49ers Wide Receiver Brandon Aiyuk as “terrible.” The two were projected to be some of the best at their respective positions but have only let fantasy users down so far.
Though there were some disappointments throughout the fantasy draft, there were also many “steals” that some managers were lucky to get their hands on with a late pick. These “steals” are players who didn’t have high expectations but, with their increased usage in their respective offenses, score lots of points and provide value. Some names that came up were Washington Commanders Runningback Brian Robinson Jr. (usually drafted in the 8th round), Las Vegas Raiders Tight End Brock Bowers (traditionally drafted in the 9th round), and Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver Jayden Reed (usually in the 8th round).
If someone on your team gets injured or you have an open spot after a trade, you can pick up a player from the waiver wire, where the un-rostered players are. Despite being un-rostered to start the season, many “gems” can be found on the waiver wire, such as 49ers running back Jordan Mason. According to Lorenzo, he picked up “Green Bay Packers wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson…[who] have a lot of upside as well.” The receiver duo has considerably exceeded their projected values.
In fantasy, quarterbacks are known to earn the most points statistically, as they are the leaders of the offense. However, they also tend to be very inconsistent, and it can be challenging to predict the best ones. According to Goldberg, “Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lamar Jackson of the Ravens, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, and Jayden Daniels of the Commanders have been fantastic this season.”
The top running backs and wide receivers, on the other hand, are easier to project. Lorenzo believes that “Derrick Henry of the Ravens, Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, and Breece Hall of the New York Jets” have been the most proficient running backs. From Goldberg’s perspective, it’s been “Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles and Kyren Williams of the Los Angeles Rams.”
The wide receiver position has been unpredictable in fantasy football this season, mainly because of the abundance of depth at the position. Players picked in the second, third, or fourth rounds have played fantastically. These receivers include Nico Collins of the Houston Texans, Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, Ja’marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals, Chris Godwin of the Buccaneers, and Malik Nabers of the New York Giants. Kansas City Chiefs star receiver Rashee Rice had also been performing well until he suffered an unfortunate ACL tear, which put him out for the rest of the NFL season.
Much thought goes into fantasy football: in terms of statistics, the unknowable factors of how a player will play any given week, and when or if a player could have an impactful injury. These unpredictable events, as well as conversations, trade discussions between league-mates, and punishments and prizes, however, make fantasy so entertaining and encourage over 25 million participants to play each year. Overall, fantasy Football adds another aspect of amusement to watching football on your couch on a Sunday afternoon and is a great activity many students at Poly enjoy.
