How to play fantasy football in 2024: Beginners guide (2024)

  • ESPN Fantasy

Aug 1, 2024, 02:40 PM ET

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 against 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.

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 2024 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 2024 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.

How to play fantasy football in 2024: Beginners guide (2024)

FAQs

Who to pick first in fantasy football 2024? ›

Perfect 2024 fantasy football draft strategy, round by round for 12-team leagues: Picks 10-12. Pairing Garrett Wilson and Puka Nacua is the ideal first two picks: Nacua had one of the best rookie wide receiver seasons ever while Wilson should have a significant improvement at quarterback.

How do you play fantasy football for beginners? ›

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 against someone else in your league, and whoever has the most fantasy points that week, wins!

What position should be picked first in fantasy football? ›

Your first pick should be a running back, preferably Robinson, and so is your second pick — either Jacobs or Kansas City's Isiah Pacheco, who will have plenty of scoring opportunities with little competition for touches in the backfield.

How to study for fantasy football? ›

And here they are, my friend:
  1. Know the Rules (no kidding) ... ...
  2. Use Dynamic Player Valuations – Not Just Rankings. ...
  3. Outsmart Your Competition By Understanding Positional Scarcity. ...
  4. Take Advantage of Mock Drafting to Strategize. ...
  5. Hunt for Late-Round Fantasy Studs. ...
  6. Manage Risk By Avoiding Busts & Injury Risks.
3 days ago

What is the best strategy for fantasy football draft? ›

2024 Fantasy Football D/ST Draft Strategy
  • #1: Never be the First Person to Draft a D/ST. ...
  • #2: Never Draft More Than One DST. ...
  • #3: When in Doubt, Hunt for Turnovers. ...
  • #4: Plan Just Two or Three Weeks at a Time. ...
  • #5: Draft With Week 1 in Mind but Don't Overrate it. ...
  • #6: Target (and Avoid) These Defenses.
3 days ago

How to pick a fantasy football team? ›

Beginner's Guide to Drafting a Fantasy Football Team in 2024
  1. Find out how many QBs your league can start.
  2. Use average draft position (ADP) as a guide, but not a rule.
  3. Try to have your starting offense filled by Round 10.
  4. Fill out your bench with “handcuff" RBs and young WRs.
2 days ago

Is it hard to learn fantasy football? ›

That's it! As you can see, the basics of fantasy football are quite simple. Set your lineup every week, manage the waiver wire, keep an eye on bye weeks, make a few trades (if you want), and you're good to go. The last and most important part about playing fantasy football is to remember to have fun.

How to pick up players in fantasy football? ›

Add a Player on Web
  1. Click on the "My Team" tab in the clubhouse.
  2. ​Click on "Add Players" right below the "My Team" tab.
  3. ​You can select a specific position or all positions to choose from. Select a player to claim off waivers (You will most likely have to drop one of your players to open up a roster spot)

When should I start fantasy football? ›

Most fantasy football drafts happen at the end of August or over Labor Day weekend. This gives you just about a month before the big day. If you are new to the game, allow me to help you walk into your draft with confidence and not look like “the newbie”.

Should my first fantasy pick be a QB? ›

I recommend dedicating (at least) one of your first four picks to either a QB or TE. Consider Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts in the third round, or Lamar Jackson, Trey McBride, Mark Andrews or Dalton Kincaid in the fourth. ... stuff your bench with league-winning upside.

How do I choose my starting lineup in fantasy football? ›

This one is pretty straightforward: Set your lineup before "Thursday Night Football" kicks off (usually 8:15 p.m. ET). Head to your team page, take a look at the injury designations and projected point totals, and select the players you want in your lineup for the week.

Is it better to pick first or last in fantasy football? ›

Statistically, picking early gives you the best chance to win. Having a pick at either corner gives you better odds of getting both players you want when you have two guys you're struggling to decide between at your pick.

How to explain fantasy football to beginners? ›

To put this to you simply, fantasy football is a points-driven game based on the real-life production of NFL players. The players put up real points when they play, and if you own them on your fantasy team, you will get points for that.

When to get a QB in fantasy football? ›

Drafting multiple upside QBs later in your draft can work well. There are some massive benefits to implementing a late-round QB strategy. Savvy fantasy players can leverage strong matchups to get QB1 production from a QB2 in a given week. We generally see a late-round QB or two break out from late draft positions (C.J.

How to pick fantasy draft order? ›

10 Ways to Decide Your Fantasy Football Draft Order
  1. May the best gambler win.
  2. Have a celebrity on cameo randomly assign your draft order.
  3. Everyone takes the NFL Wonderlic test (h/t Shawn Foss)
  4. WWE-themed event.
  5. Super Smash Bros.
  6. Dave and Busters Decathlon (h/t Chuck Bass)
  7. Beer pong tournament.
  8. Let golf decide.

When to draft a QB in the PPR league? ›

More importantly, TIAV validates standard deviation and should be used as a guideline for the order positions that should be drafted. RBs should be drafted first in all leagues. QBs can be picked as late as the third round in standard leagues and the sixth round in PPR leagues but an elite one is mandatory.

When can I start picking my fantasy football team? ›

Fantasy Premier League is LIVE, with managers now able to create their squad for the 2024/25 season. You can register your Fantasy Premier League team ahead of the new campaign, which kicks off on Friday 16 August.

When should the fantasy championship be? ›

Typically, the fantasy football playoffs start Week 15, but how it breaks down from there depends on the league. In many instances, they run from Weeks 15-17, with six teams getting berths and the top two seeds receiving byes Week 15.

How to draft each round in fantasy football? ›

Perfect 2024 fantasy football draft strategy, round by round for 10-team leagues
  1. Round 1, Picks 1-10: Draft a wide receiver.
  2. Round 2, Picks 11-20: Draft a running back or wide receiver.
  3. Round 10, Picks 91-100: Draft a running back or wide receiver.
  4. Rounds 14-18: Fill Depth.
Jul 15, 2024

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