Fantasy Football League Types: Key Differences Explained

By Jason Bolton September 06, 2024 09:41

Photo by AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

Fantasy football has created an even bigger buzz for die hard sports fans valuable for both beginners and seasoned players; when more than 15 league types exist, everyone has their own rules and strategies. This article will examine the most common types of fantasy football leagues: standard leagues, PPR (points per reception), dynasties, and auctions. Together, we'll break down the style, scoring system, and strategy to give you an all-encompassing look at which league is right for your play.

Standard Leagues

These are the most traditional when it comes to fantasy football. They offer a lot of simple entry points into the game, which can be good for new players. Across all sports, a standard league is where your team drafts players off an NFL roster and earns points through those players' performance on the field.

Rules and Scoring

Roster Composition: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE FLEX (RB/WR/TE) K D

Scoring System: Touchdown, Yardage Gained, and Field Goal Points. As an illustration, picking a single could be worth six, data, ILS rushing or obtaining TD.

Waiver Wire: Players not selected in your league are placed on waivers, and you can add them to your roster weekly.

Strategies

Standard leagues emphasize getting good running backs and wide receivers because those are the two positions that score the most points. The quarterback position has a lot of depth, meaning signal-callers are rarely considered in the early stages.

PPR Leagues

PPR (Points Per Reception) leagues add another dynamic to fantasy football by awarding a point for each catch made by an individual. This setup alters the values of particular positions and players, which appeals greatly to veteran fantasy team owners.

Rules and Scoring

Roster Composition: Same as standard leagues, but WR heavier, combined with PPR RBs.

Scoring System: Every reception represents a point outside of standard scoring. This can increase the value of players with many receptions, even if they aren't great at scoring touchdowns.

Strategy: WRs and TEs featured in their team's passing game become more valuable.

Strategies

Players like Christian McCaffrey, who are dual-threats, become even more valuable in PPR leagues. These are likely the types of players that draft strategies focus on above and beyond running or receiving yardage.

Dynasty Leagues

Dynasty leagues (keepers) are a step above your average fantasy football league, as owners keep their complete rosters from year to year. This layout is inclusive of real-life NFL franchise management, where the concern about a player should be more about individual player development and potential.

Rules and Scoring

Roster composition: Expanded roster sizes to house more development players and rookies.

Scoring System: Depending on where you play, it might be normal, or you can follow the standard PPR scoring format.

Strategies

Dynasty leagues are all about creating a balanced roster with vets and young studs. That is when scouting and predicting player potential become so very important.

Auction Leagues

Auction leagues change the typical drafting process with a bidding process. Team owners have a set amount of money to make their bids on certain players. This gives teams more flexibility and creativity in how they build their rosters.

Rules and Scoring

Team Composition: This is usually the same as a normal league, with another layer of complexity involving managing the budget.

Scoring: Auction Leagues are usually built on standard or PPR scoring format

Draft Strategy: Every player gets auctioned off, and team owners must be smart about spending their budget to have a competitive lineup.

Strategies

For auction leagues, you must maintain a budget while bidding strategically. Decide whether to spend big on a few stars or divide your budget amongst the clump.

The kind of fantasy football league you choose depends on how well your research went and what type of league players are. For beginners, we recommend that most people stick with standard leagues. PPR leagues deepen player bases and add an element of choosing how you approach the game. Whereas dynasty leagues are a long-term challenge, auction drafts add an entirely different element to draft day.

From weekly matchups to player development, from auction drafts and beyond, there's a league format that can improve your fantasy football experience. Knowing the main distinctions and techniques of every league type so that you can have all this information before deciding will help improve your game experience.