For a very long time, the only real way to play fantasy football in the UK was with the budget method, where everyone in the league could pick whichever players they wanted with the restrictions of a set budget. In this system, each player has their set values, so each team could have the same players within a league. Of course, they didn’t – as it’s the variations that separate the fantasy league leaders from the rest, but a template would be formed as quickly as a month into the season. Every team, by this point, will have the likes of Harry Kane and Mohammed Salah this season, making little space for variation.

But, over in the USA, they do things a little differently. With a draft to start the season, the fantasy league only has one of each player available, making every team different. Let’s look at how this more competitive, skilful, and exciting way of playing the Premier League fantasy football works.

Below, we’re going to break down the differences between your traditional fantasy football game and the USA fantasy game, which is so popular that it inspired a new form of betting (as well as excellent television series The League). Then we’ll initiate you into some key strategies and factors that USA fantasy sports players have created to bring success to your drafted fantasy football team.

UK Fantasy Football vs types of American Fantasy Football

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, via Twitter

The fundamental difference between UK fantasy football and fantasy football in the USA (fantasy NFL henceforth) is that in the tradition UK version, everyone is on a level playing field with the same budget and same players available, whereas fantasy NFL – and all other USA fantasy sports leagues for that matter – is greatly dictated by the initial draft at the start of the fantasy season. Teams are put into a draft order, and then the teams select the players in that order. Even though the teams at the top of the draft get to pick the perceived best players, the draft often follows a snake order where the selection order is flipped in each round. Any players that aren’t selected in the draft go into free agency, from which teams can pick up players from at set times of the week. The draft builds the foundations of the team, but making moves in the free agency each week is equally as important. How you replace an injured player, or who you drop to pick up an in-form player can make the world of difference. If you want a player who’s on another team, however, you’ll need to either wait for their team to drop them or trade them one or more of your players for them. So, as you can see, draft fantasy leagues like fantasy NFL are much more communal games.

While the season-long version of fantasy NFL is very popular in the USA and increasingly in the UK, the most popular form of fantasy NFL is in the form of daily fantasy sports. It was found that in 2017 over 59 million people played fantasy sports in the USA and Canada, with much of that audience participating in the daily fantasy sports. Online sports betting is illegal in the USA, but daily fantasy sports are a grey area. In DFS, you create your lineup to compete against other teams in the community or in head-to-head cash games, for which going with proven players has been the most successful route to victory. However, in guaranteed prize pool (GPP) tournaments, players need to defeat hundreds or thousands of other teams. People compete for multi-million dollar prize pools every year and are effectively placing bets on the players who they think will do well in each set game window. The rules for going for tried-and-trusted players in the head-to-head games is the way forward in many traditional draft leagues, but if it’s done on an overall points record, going for the GPP approach is often the way to go. What impacts both forms of the USA’s favourite fantasy formats is injuries. Keeping up to date with the latest news, likely through social media, is key, and often the best move is to pick up the injured player’s backup, or the player set to replace them in the lineup.

It’s very much like the traditional fantasy football in the UK regarding team selection, and it’s surprising that it hasn’t become as big with a Premier League version, given that the gigantic popularity of the sport coupled with the UK’s most recent gross gambling yield came in at a whopping £13.8 billion. It seems like the perfect match, but before that comes about, the UK must first find the many benefits of playing the non-betting fantasy sports in the way that players in the USA do, with a draft.

Football and American football are wildly different sports: one sees the game played for the duration of the time whereas the other involves a lot of time management and is played in quick phases. So, this makes the intricacies of the equivalent fantasy sports very different, with a lot of what needs to be considered in fantasy NFL not transferrable to fantasy football. However, sometimes loosely, the fundamentals of fantasy NFL can help to build a successful fantasy football season in a drafted league.

Tips to take from fantasy NFL in the draft

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When in the draft, it’s important that you don’t simply focus on who did well last year, or even the individual player: you need to consider the players around the target player as well. In fantasy NFL, you wouldn’t select a wide receiver who’s very good unless you have a good quarterback to pass them the ball and that quarterback has a strong offensive line that gives them time to make plays. It’s not as cut and dry in fantasy football as it is in fantasy NFL, with the game being far more fluid, but it’s important to consider the team around the target player. For example, at the start of this Premier League season, Everton had many great playmakers like Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson, but without a strong leading striker, they weren’t able to be used to their full potential and collect a high number of assists.

Another key in the draft is to target high-value players. Now, that doesn’t just mean the players who will get you the most points; it means the players who are the best in their position. In standard fantasy NFL there are very few high-scoring tight ends, so the best few will often be taken in the first couple of rounds. In a league as competitive as the Premier League, it takes an elite-level goalkeeper to accumulate some serious points. There are perhaps two or three goalkeepers who stand well above the rest, such as the world-class David de Gea.

Research is key in draft fantasy football

kane tips

Source: BBC Sport, via Twitter

Research is key to getting an edge. Anyone who has played fantasy NFL will know that there is an ocean of information, statistics, and facts that are given to players every week, as well as expert takes on who will play well in the upcoming week. The information includes the number of points that a certain defence has conceded against a certain position, as well as other interesting factoids like player history against certain teams. Statistics aren’t as well recorded in the Premier League through mainstream services, but services such as WhoScored and Squawka can provide the more intricate information. You may have to do a lot of your own research and analysis of statistics to get the benefits that fantasy NFL players get given to them, and work out your own key areas, such as teams versus corners, but all this can give you a major boost when selecting your team or looking to pick up a new player.

Staying on top of the free agency is possibly the most crucial post-draft part of playing in a drafted fantasy football league. With those who sit lowest in the fantasy table getting first picks in the free agency each week, the right pickups can revive a season. The research comes in very handy here, as while a player has been strong to that point, they may traditionally drop off, or may have recently seen a very influential player on their team get injured, so checking the potential of the player is just as important as what they’ve achieved to that point.

With a strong draft strategy, shrewd free agency pickups, and good research throughout, you can take these tricks of the fantasy NFL trade and have a strong showing in your drafted fantasy football league. A lot of luck is required concerning injuries, but your reactions to those injuries could define your season.