Part I: What is Fantasy Football
Research the game of fantasy football. Be sure you understand the difference between point, performance, and keeper leagues. Learn different draft methods.
Reading List:
- “What is Fantasy Football” and the rules section at Fantasy Insights.
- “Frequently Used Fantasy Football Terminology” at the Fantasy Football Toolbox.
- How to Play Fantasy Football, at Pro Fantasy Sports.
- Fantasy Football University at Fantasy Asylum Fantasy Football
Activities:
- Define your league
Learning Opportunities: reading, note taking, compare and contrast skills
Part II: Get ready for the draft
Rank your picks by your league’s scoring system. Find “cheatsheets” that rank players and compare them to your own rankings. Research “sleeper” opportunities. See if drafting positions in different orders provides you with more fantasy points. Explore how the position you draft in affects player availability.
Reading List:
- Fantasy how-to: draft strategies at NFL.com.
- FF Today Draft Plan at Fantasy Football Today.
- Drafting Tips at Fantasy Football Toolbox
Activities:
- Get a copy of team schedules and bye weeks.
- Get team depth charts.
- Get or design a team rooster draft sheet.
- Create your own custom cheatsheet based on your leagues scoring system at OneWeekWonder, ProFantasySports, or Fantasy Football Toolbox.
- Compare your custom cheatsheet to other available on the web.
- Identify potential sleeper picks.
- Conduct a mock draft varying the order of the positions you draft and the position you draft in.
- Download the complete draft kit at Ask the Commish
Learning Opportunities: Charting and graphing skills, learn to use a spreadsheet, compare different valuation systems, organizational skills, record keeping skills.
Part III: The Season
Each week you’ll need to decide which players to start and which to bench. Team schedules, bye weeks, and injuries are some of the factors that will affect your decision. You will also want to record how many points a player has scored for each game and look for trade opportunities.
Reading:
- “So Your Player is Listed as Questionable” at www.draftguide.com
Activities:
- Create a spreadsheet to track player’s points.
- Complete the Weekly Fantasy Football Starters Worksheet by ranking your players opponents using NFL.com.
- Check for injuries and trade opportunities
Learning Opportunities: Planning and management skills, data analysis, compare and contrast, ranking evaluation, graphing, prediction.
Additional Activities:
- Map player locations each week.
- Analyze player performances by varying the scoring system.
- Develop your own projections/ranking algorithms.
- Discuss controversy of team names and mascots.
- Discuss role of football stadiums in communities.
- Discuss role of sports in education
Links to other lesson plans:
Fun Fantasy Football for the Elementary Class
Football Fever Fun Lesson Plan
Resources:
These sites provide the following free:
| Cheat sheets |
Sleepers | How To’s/ FAQs | Work-sheets Schedules | Mock Draft |
?! Ads |
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| NFL www.NFL.com |
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| Fantasy Football Today www.fftoday.com |
y | y | y | y | y | |
| Fantasy Insights www.fantasyinsights.com |
y | y | ||||
| Fantasy Football Toolbox www.fftoolbox.com |
y | y | y | y | y | |
| Yahoo Fantasy Football http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/research |
y | y | y | y | y | y |
| The Huddle http://www.thehuddle.com/ |
y | y | y | |||
| Fantasy Pros http://www.fantasypros.com/ |
y | y | y | y | ||
| Draft Guide www.draftguide.com |
y | y | y | y | y | |
| Fantasy Football Cafe www.fantasyfootballcafe.com |
y | y | y |
Leagues:
Yahoo Sports Free
NFL.com Individual Team 14.95
My Fantasy League League 79.95
RealTime Fantasy Sports League 89.95
CBS
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