There's a first time for everyone playing fantasy football. If this is yours, welcome! You're going to love it, and more importantly, you're going to love football even more. Fantasy football can seem overwhelming for beginners, but we can make it simple for you. Just follow these steps and we'll have you playing fantasy football in no time.
How to play fantasy football
Fantasy football isn't very complicated. You select your own team of players, setting a lineup every week. Then, you watch as they run, pass, catch and score touchdowns, all of which are worth fantasy points. Every week, you are matched up with someone else in your league, and whoever has the most fantasy points that week, wins! Then, the following week, we do it all over again. The final few weeks of the NFL regular season are the fantasy playoffs, which work just like in the big leagues: Make the playoffs, then win to advance, or lose and your season is over. It's that simple.
Want to learn more? Field Yates wrote a beginner's guide to fantasy football specifically with new players in mind.
Fantasy football drafting for beginners
You've probably heard plenty about fantasy football drafts, and how fun they are. Yes, simply put, draft day is one of the best days of the year, and some fantasy football fans prepare for it for months, while others cram like it is the SATs. But you don't have to. The truth is, most of the work is already done for you. We rank all the players you need to fill out your team, in the order we'd take them in, and we also project hundreds of players so you can see how many fantasy points to expect. You can even set your team to "Autodraft" if you are drafting online, and we'll pick you a competitive team you can feel good about.
Now, if you do decide to draft yourself -- which is half the fun of being in a fantasy league in the first place -- that's not to say there isn't nuance in drafting. If the top player available is a quarterback, and you already have one, that might not be the best pick. But don't worry, you don't need to dive into your first draft unprepared. We've made it easy for you to practice with our mock draft lobby where you can try your hand as many times as you'd like before the real thing. Daniel Dopp even wrote up a guide on how to get the most out of your mock drafts.
Want to learn more? Once you've mastered the basics of drafting, dig into Mike Clay's Playbook for a master class on how he expertly approaches his draft.
Fantasy football beginner's cheat sheet
While drafting online puts our rankings and projections right at hand, you might have the need for that quintessential fantasy football tool: the cheat sheet. For the first-time drafter, we recommend the Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet for Beginners. It's the same information you'll find in our deeper cheat sheet but organized round by round and with a simple set of instructions from our fantasy rankings and projections guru, Mike Clay.
Want more cheat sheets? Check out Cheat Sheet Central for a variety of cheat sheets covering different types of leagues.
Fantasy football preseason research
If you have time before your draft, you might decide to do some deeper research. There is a lot of fantasy football information out there, but if you're a football fan, you already have a pretty good idea of who is a good player and who is not. The key to fantasy football research is to figure out what has changed since last season. So where do you start? Field Yates' Field Pass to the 2023 season (E+) covers the top storylines, rookies and sleepers you'll want to know to help you make smart picks.
Ready for more? You can dive into all of our content, including rankings, projections, sleepers, busts, mock drafts, strategy and opinion from our award-winning staff of fantasy football analysts in our 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Guide.
What to name your fantasy football team?
You're almost ready to go, but don't forget one of the most fun aspects of fantasy football: naming your team. Some people like to make it sound like a sports franchise from their hometown. Others are in leagues with a theme that calls for every team to be named after a superhero, or a Renaissance artist, or a cereal brand. Another popular and fun way to go is to make a pun based on the name of one of your favorite players, especially if he is on your squad. Give it some thought -- or none at all -- but just remember that people's first impressions of your team will be what you name it.
Want help with your team name? Take our simple quiz to find out what kind of football fan you are, and our Fantasy Football Name Generator will reveal a football-themed team name for you!
Ready, Set, Draft!
That's it! You're ready to go! Welcome to the fun and excitement of fantasy football. We're glad to have you and we'll be here all season to help you manage your roster all the way to a championship. All you have to do now is sign up for free to start a league with friends, family and coworkers, or join a public league to play against other fantasy football fans.