A Girl's Guide To Fantasy Football 10 Key Facts

Okay, I'm going to start this off with a bit of a disclaimer - countless women play, and adore, fantasy football. They form special ladies' only teams where they can battle it out on a weekly basis, maybe gathering on Sundays for some beer or wine and snacks just like the guys. They know their stuff and could talk your ear off about who they're thinking of picking up off the waiver wires every week. Their league is every bit as competitive as a male league. This one isn't for you ladies who already have your draft strategy locked and loaded.

It's for all the girls who, quite simply, just don't care about fantasy football. In fact, the thought makes them kind of angry, because they know that come football season their guy will get sucked into that world. Constantly checking his phone for trade updates, trash talking his friends, and blocking out hours and hours on Sundays for important games. If you absolutely don't care about football, it would be positively foolish to start up a fantasy team to try to understand your babe's obsession - why do something you don't enjoy? However, you still have to be around your guy, and while you don't need to engage in 30 minute strategy sessions, he'll probably appreciate if you know the bare minimum of that pseudo-sport that's become so important to him.

Now, before you go running off to do exhaustive research, trying to familiarize yourself with the basics - don't. Girl, we got you. Read this article, and when your cutie is discussing fantasy football as his draft day approaches, you'll have a good handle on the basics.

10 Legion of Boom

Don't bother learning much about a team's defense when it comes to fantasy football - you're not picking individual players, you're just picking the defense of a team when it comes to filling that spot on your roster. In this case, the thing you need to know is that the Seattle Seahawks defense is often referred to as the Legion of Boom. In fact, if someone is talking about the Seahawks defense, they pretty much always refer to them as the Legion of Boom. Why the name? Well, simply put, they're amazing - while a team's defense is pretty low priority when it comes to fantasy, having the Seahawks defense is usually a pretty solid, safe bet. There you go, girl - now, if anyone asks something about defense, you have a great response complete with in-the-know lingo.

9 Purple Jesus Rises

If your guy drafted Adrian Peterson in the first round last year, he'll likely still be feeling a little sore when it comes to this subject, but it's one of the most buzz-worthy topics when it comes to fantasy this year. If you follow celebrity gossip, you've probably heard about this guy - he was all over the news when he was indicted on child abuse charges. He missed basically the entire season as he dealt with his off-the-field issues. Now, he's back, and while Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata developed tremendously in his absence, until Peterson proves otherwise, he's pretty much the number one running back for the Minnesota Vikings. Some say all that time off might affect his game, that he might not be the same guy when he returns after so much time away. Others say he's going to decline now that he's hit 30, which in running back years is pretty ancient. However, others say he's had time to rest and will return in top fighting form. Whatever your opinion, just know that his return is a big deal.

8 Strategy - Running Backs Rule

The biggest position on the team is the quarterback, right? That's probably the one your guy will be picking first, so you should ask him a question about what quarterback he took in the first round, right? Wrong. Yes, quarterbacks are usually the ones who get the most screen and media time - if you know any football players' names and you're not an NFL fan, it's probably going to be the quarterback. However, when it comes to fantasy, a pretty common draft strategy involves taking the good running backs early. A couple names for you this year? Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Eddie Lacy, Matt Forte, Le'Veon Bell. They'll probably be the most discussed when it comes to early picks.

7 The Sleeper

What exactly is a sleeper? In simple terms, a sleeper is a player who the team owner thinks will have a surprisingly incredible season. It's kind of like that little black dress that looks super blah on the hanger, but when you put it on, completely transforms. A sleeper is a guy who no one is hurrying to draft because they don't expect they're going to be any good. Sometimes a sleeper will be a rookie, but in all honesty, most of the best rookies are pretty hyped and the average fantasy owner will grab one or two in the late rounds based on that. If everyone ridicules a certain player that you pick because they figure they'll be garbage, and then he turns out to produce a lot of points every week? That was a sleeper.

6 Crack the Roster

Why is your guy debating between a low first tier wide receiver and a high second tier running back? What's all that he's talking about his 'flex' guy? Let me break it down for you. The average fantasy football team in a standard league will have a specific roster structure. You get one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one team defense, one kicker, one flex player (who can be either a running back, wide receiver, or tight end) and then a few bench positions. That one varies upon your league, but a standard bench will usually be two or three players. Your team will be bigger than that roster, which is why your guy is fretting - you need to decide every week who would score the most points in each of those slots, otherwise you'll lose your points on the bench (meaning you picked a player who performed poorly, and left a player in the same position sitting on the bench who ended up killing it).

5 The Name Game

Okay, this one is less technical and more plain old fun, so you might even enjoy this one. When it comes to fantasy football, a good name counts for a lot. Sure, you could just call it 'Scott's Team' or something like that, but why on earth would you go with something so boring? When it comes to fantasy team names, it's all about wit and puns. If you're looking for a classic name, the safe bet is to create a pun based on a player's name. Trash talking another team in the NFL or poking fun at someone else in your fantasy league are also solid name material. So, if you really want to impress your guy, scroll down a roster and think up some punny names - he'll earn a lot of respect in his league if he comes up with the best one.

4 Bye Bye Bye

What exactly is a bye week? We're so glad you asked. Okay, in a regular season, NFL teams will play 16 games in 17 weeks. That one week where they're not playing? That's their bye week. So why does it matter? Well, if a team isn't playing, that means (obviously) none of their players are playing, which means they're guaranteed to get you zero points. If you have a well crafted team, you can usually survive without one or two players per week depending on when their bye weeks are. However, what you don't want is to craft a team where half the players have the same bye week, or where your best guys in the same position have the same bye week - if you make that mistake, you'll be forced to dip into the sub par players to fill out your roster. Don't get bitten by the bye.

3 Arian Foster's Injury

You know that blonde, dreamy beast, J.J. Watt? You've probably seen him in the media. Well, he plays for the Houston Texans - the same team that Arian Foster plays with as a running back. Foster has been with the Texans for his entire NFL career and has become a crucial element to their success. While no team is built on one person, it's safe to say that he's one of their stars and they don't play quite the same without him. He's had a history of injury, and has had to miss several games for both hamstring and back issues. This season, everything was looking great for the Texans… and then Arian pulled his groin and had to undergo surgery. It's going to be really tough for the Texans to recover from missing one of their best running backs for an undetermined amount of games.

2 Manziel Mania

Okay, you've probably heard of the wild quarterback from Texas, Johnny Manziel - or, as he likes to call himself, Johnny Football. Why does he matter? Well, from a fantasy perspective, he's not the most important guy on the board. However, from a football perspective (and future perspective), everyone is watching his every move. That's because he totally killed it in his college football career, and everyone figured his antics were just a college kid having fun. Then he came to the NFL - and continued his antics, getting fined for things like flipping the bird in the middle of a game. A lot of the great quarterbacks in the league are beginning to reach that age where they're considering retirement, so young quarterbacks are an important part of the equation. With Manziel, everyone is still wondering - is there potential, or did he peak in college?

1 Tom Brady's Suspension

Ah, deflategate. Since Tom Brady is constantly in the media, partly due to his good looks and partly due to his supermodel wife Gisele, you might have heard of this one. Basically, in a game last season, the team that Brady is quarterback for (the New England Patriots) was found to be using balls that were slightly deflated. A ball in that condition can often be easier to grip, so it would have been an advantage for the Patriots, and for Brady. The scandal has gone through court and been highly publicized, from the drama over Brady destroying his cell phone to the hilariously inaccurate court room sketch of the handsome star. He's always been a solid quarterback to add to your team in fantasy, but the NFL is still a bit confused as to what to do with him - he currently has a four game suspension, but that could decrease or increase based on how things develop. The point is, Brady is a bit of a risk to draft this season thanks to all that scandal, so fantasy team owners will be keeping an extra close eye on him to see if he's worth it.