Fantasy Dish...

Fantasy Football, whats the hype you ask?


Fantasy Football is a way of immersing yourself into the game as a fan. You start to follow players on teams other than 'yours' because the team you 'drafted' depends on their individual performances. You want the best of the best on your team at every skill position, but were your preseason guesses correct? Did your star player get injured, who are going to pick up off the waiver wires or trade for to replace him???


Every league has the opportunity to customize the general rules set forth by the website in which you are playing on. I play on www.yahoo.com and www.espn.com. Some leagues do automated drafts that you can set up your pre-selected draft order and the system will take your top rated available player to fill your team. Most leagues do a live snake draft. A snake draft will take you from player 1-10 in round 1, and player 10-1 in round 2, and so on through all rounds. Draft position in both types of draft are randomly decided. Another type of draft is a live in person auction draft. In this type of draft you have a certain amount of cash, your salary cap in which to draft your players. In this type of draft the order is randomly selected, but on your turn you nominate a player and starting value for him. He then goes on the auction block, you may or may not get that guy on your team.


Leagues generally have 10 to 12 teams, the fewer the teams the deeper the rosters go. The more teams the creative you have to be with your drafting and waiver pick ups. There are risks and rewards to most picks. Some are more reward than risk! This is a great way to connect with your guy, if he plays you can start and as you start to follow your team, you'll notice that aspects of the game you haven't understood before are starting to make sense. You might even develop your own favorite team, or your love for your team will grow stronger yet diversified because you have a Top 10 player on your fantasy roster.


Fantasy Scoring is slightly different in most leagues, but common values are:
Touchdown- 6 or 7 points
Rushing/Receiving Yards- 1 point for every 25 yards gained
Passing Yards- 1point for every 25 or 50 yards thrown
Field Goals up to 35 yards long- 3 points
Field Goals 36-49 yards- 4 points
Field Goals 50+ yards- 5 points
Point After Touchdown- 1 point
Interception - 2 points
Sack - 1 point
Fumble Lost by Offense - negative 2 points
Fumble Caused by Defense - 2 points for the defense




So today as I sit here, I am thinking about the upcoming fantasy season....


My Dream Roster (NOTE: I have not compared bye weeks)


QB- Aaron Rodgers/ Green Bay Packers
RB- Ray Rice/Baltimore Ravens
RB- LeSean McCoy/ Philadelphia Eagles
WR- Calvin Johnson/ Detroit Lions
WR- Victor Cruz/ New York Giants
WR- Jeremy Maclin/ Philadelphia Eagles
TE- Rob Gronkowski/New England Patriots
K- Mason Crosby/ Green Bay Packers
DEF- San Francisco 49ers


Bench- RB - Adrian Peterson/ Minnesota Vikings (If he is ready to play from injury)
Bench- WR - Vincent Jackson/ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bench- TE - Jimmy Graham/ New Orleans Saints
Bench- QB - Drew Brees/ New Orleans Saints
Bench-  WR- AJ Green/Cincinatti Bengals


A common question is 'Should I put Rookies on my fantasy team?' 


My theory is if you feel there is a rookie that will make an immediate impact on his team and be a big scorer, by all means draft him. But make sure you solid veterans that play the same position. For example, Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers) came in last year and played well from week 1. That generally isn't the case, as it takes time to learn the playbooks and the speed of an NFL game.





So I pose to you....


Will you play fantasy this year?
Would you play in a women only fantasy league?
What questions do you have about football?
What football related topics are you interested in?


Please log in and leave comments!


-Amanda

Football is almost here for 2012

Training camps are under way. This past weekend the hubby and I entertained our football deprived selves by going down to One Buccaneer Place and watching practice. I also got some great photos that I hope to get signed for our future Mancave! One of our good friends is in Minnesota for Vikings training camp, I hope to see pictures soon.

 Ronde Barber #20 The only player left on the roster from the Buc's 2002 Super Bowl Team! A great player, and veteran leader for this team.

 Team huddle before practice gets started.

 Josh Freeman, the QB for the Buc's. He's been looking sharp and has some great new targets to get the ball to this year.

 Connor Barth practicing his accuracy during practice drills, he's the field goal kicker for the Buc's. Holding the ball is Michael Koenen, the punter.

 Dallas Clark newly acquired free agent pick up from the Colts, and one of my favorite players. He's a Big 10 guy, and will provide a great veteran presence in the offensive huddle for this young team. He's looking forward to a fresh start after battling injuries last year.

 Vincent Jackson (VJax) another excellent free agent pickup from San Diego. He already appears to have great timing with his new QB Freeman. The Tampa fans are highly anticipating the long bomb hook ups between these two guys.

This was a play that Coach Schiano will not tolerate. Madu a halfback, was stripped of the ball. I'm showing this one because it is simply a great photo!

 Doug Martin appears to be a shining star, the rookie halfback will challenge Blount for the starting job. He's quick and has a nasty side step. If he stays healthy he could have an amazing rookie campaign.

 Mark Barron is another rookie with high expectations on his shoulders. Looking forward to seeing this guy in action.

What is your favorite team? Who is your favorite player?