FantasyTools.ai

Learn

Learn fantasy football

The basics in plain English: how a season works, how scoring works on your platform, and what the words on every weekly board mean. Start at the top, or jump to the glossary.

Guides

Read these first

Scoring

How scoring works

Know your league’s scoring before anything else. It decides who is worth drafting.

Try it Fantasy points calculator Score any offensive stat line under Standard, Half-PPR, or PPR. Score a stat line

Glossary

What these words mean

The jargon on every weekly board, in a sentence or two each.

Scoring

PPR point per reception
Every catch is worth 1 point on top of the yards and touchdowns. It lifts pass-catching running backs, slot receivers and tight ends. See it in use: PPR
Half-PPR
Every catch is worth half a point. It is the middle ground between PPR and standard scoring, where catches score nothing on their own. See it in use: Half-PPR
Standard
Scoring where a catch is worth nothing on its own: only yards and touchdowns count. It favours running backs who score near the goal line over receivers who catch short passes. See it in use: Standard
On the boards: non-PPR
TE premium tight end premium
Tight ends get more per catch than other positions — often 1.5 points instead of 1. It narrows the gap between tight ends and receivers. See it in use: TE premium

Lineups and weekly calls

Start, flex or sit
Our one-line weekly call, for a 12-team league: start a top-12 QB, top-24 RB or WR, or top-12 TE this week; flex the next ones who would still fill a flex spot; sit the rest. See it in use: Start, flex or sit
Flex
A lineup slot that takes a running back, wide receiver or tight end — whichever you think will score the most that week. See it in use: Flex
Superflex
A flex slot that can also take a quarterback. Because quarterbacks usually score the most, superflex leagues value them far higher. See it in use: Superflex
DST defense/special teams
A whole NFL team’s defense and return units, played as one lineup slot. It scores for sacks, takeaways and touchdowns, and for holding the other offense to few points. See it in use: DST
On the boards: D/ST
Bye bye week
The one week each NFL team does not play. A player on bye scores zero, so you need someone else in that slot. See it in use: Bye
Streamer
A player you pick up for one good matchup and drop afterwards — most often a defense, a kicker or a quarterback. See it in use: Streamer
On the boards: streaming
Coin flip
Two players projected so close that past gaps that size went either way about as often. Either choice is fine; the start/sit tool names the small things that still lean one way. See it in use: Coin flip

Projections and stats

Projection
Our estimate of a player’s fantasy points this week, built from his share of his team’s targets, carries and passes, how much his team is expected to score, and his preseason value. It is a middle outcome, not a promise. See it in use: Projection
On the boards: Proj.
Floor and ceiling
The spread of likely scores around a projection. The floor is a bad week (only 1 in 10 past weeks like it landed lower) and the ceiling a big one (only 1 in 10 landed higher). See it in use: Floor and ceiling
On the boards: Range
PPG points per game
Fantasy points divided by games played, so a player is not marked down for the weeks he sat out. See it in use: PPG
Volume
The work a player gets: targets (tgt) for receivers, carries (car) for running backs, pass attempts (att) for quarterbacks. It is the steadiest guide to fantasy points. See it in use: Volume
On the boards: tgt, car, att
Target share
The share of a team’s pass attempts thrown at one player. It measures opportunity, which is steadier week to week than yards or touchdowns. See it in use: Target share
On the boards: tgt share, Tgt share
Carries
Running plays where the player takes the handoff or keeps the ball. More carries mean more chances at yards and touchdowns, above all near the goal line. See it in use: Carries
On the boards: car
Snap share
The share of his team’s offensive plays a player is on the field for. He cannot score on a play he watches from the sideline. See it in use: Snap share
On the boards: Snap %
Red zone
The last 20 yards before the end zone. Most touchdowns start there, so targets and carries inside the 20 point to touchdown chances. See it in use: Red zone
Implied total implied team total
How many points Vegas expects one team to score, worked out from the game total and the point spread. Higher totals mean more scoring chances for that offense. See it in use: Implied total
On the boards: Implied, Vegas
Matchup (DvP) defense vs position
How many fantasy points this week’s opponent has allowed to a position, ranked 1 to 32. “3rd softest” allows the 3rd-most, “1st toughest” the fewest. Our projections treat it as context, because the Vegas line already prices the matchup in. See it in use: Matchup (DvP)
On the boards: DvP, Matchup
Market prior
Where drafters valued a player before the season (his preseason ADP), blended into our projections so a few early games cannot swing his number too far. See it in use: Market prior
Tier
A group of players projected close together. A new tier starts where there is a clear drop to the next player, so players inside one tier are close to even swaps. See it in use: Tier
On the boards: T1, T2
Boom/bust
How often a player has a huge week (a boom) or a dud (a bust). Two players with the same average can differ a lot: one steady, the other all or nothing. See it in use: Boom/bust
On the boards: boom, bust
WOPR weighted opportunity rating
One number for a receiver’s passing-game role: 1.5 × target share + 0.7 × share of the team’s air yards. It rewards both how often and how far downfield a player is targeted. See it in use: WOPR
xFP expected fantasy points
What a player’s targets and carries usually score, judged by where on the field they came: a target near the end zone is worth more than one at midfield. It measures opportunity, not finish.
FPOE fantasy points over expected
Actual fantasy points minus xFP. Above zero, a player scored more than his chances usually produce, which tends to cool off; below zero tends to bounce back.

Injuries

Injury report
What every team files during game week: practice lines from Wednesday, then a final report (usually Friday) that gives each hurt player a game status. See it in use: Injury report
Questionable
A game status on the final injury report: he may or may not play. Check the inactive list, posted about 90 minutes before kickoff, before you set your lineup. See it in use: Questionable
On the boards: Q
Doubtful
A game status on the final injury report: he is unlikely to play. Plan as if he is out unless he is cleared before kickoff. See it in use: Doubtful
On the boards: D
Out
A game status on the final injury report: he will not play this week, and scores zero if he stays in your lineup. See it in use: Out
On the boards: O
IR injured reserve
A list for players hurt badly enough to miss several weeks. He cannot play until his team activates him, and many leagues give IR players a roster slot of their own. See it in use: IR

Drafts, waivers and trades

ADP average draft position
Where a player went on average in fantasy drafts: an ADP of 4.2 means he was usually the fourth player taken. Ours is preseason ADP, frozen once drafts end. See it in use: ADP
ROS rest of season
Everything left on the schedule from this week on. Rest-of-season value is what matters for trades and pickups, where one week is noise. See it in use: ROS
FAAB free agent acquisition budget
A season-long budget of make-believe dollars for claiming free agents. Everyone bids blind, the highest bid wins the player, and the money is gone for the season. See it in use: FAAB
Waiver priority
The order in which waiver claims are granted when two managers want the same player. Depending on the league it resets to reverse standings each week, or rolls: whoever claims a player drops to the back of the line. See it in use: Waiver priority
Handcuff
The backup to a starter — usually a running back — rostered as insurance, because he takes over the job if the starter gets hurt. See it in use: Handcuff

Next step

Put it to work this week.

The top of every weekly board on one page: Vegas implied totals, wind, DST and kicker streamers, waiver risers, injuries, soft matchups and byes.

Open the Week 10 cheat sheet 

Chalk & Sharp, our AI start/sit assistant, is coming soon