Fantasy Football Dictionary: Every Word You Need To Know

Michael Fabiano | Jul 29, 2025

Ravens RB Derrick Henry is the 12th overall player coming off the board based on 2025 average draft position data. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

When I was a kid back in the 1980s, we used to use a lot of slang terms to describe things around us. If you were “rad,” that meant you were cool or hip. In the northeast, we liked to use the term “wicked” to describe something that was really rad or cool. Oddly enough, being called “bad” was actually good, and you addressed everyone as “dude.”

Of course, times have changed. Nowadays, you’re no longer “rad” … you’re fire. If you’re at a cool event like a party, now you’re at a “lit” party. Something that’s mediocre is now “mid,” and someone who had game with the ladies has “rizz.” (I guess I never had rizz!)

In the world of fantasy football, there are also plenty of words and slang terms that we all use to describe different things. So, if you’re a newbie to our great game, sit down and take in my list of fantasy terms you should know … I promise it’s fire and won’t make you cringy.

Fantasy Football Dictionary

ADP (Average Draft Position): A ranking of players listed based on where they’re being drafted, on average. This is a great tool to determine where a player should be drafted in an effort to keep a newbie fantasy manager from taking a player way too soon or lose one too late.

Auction Draft: A fantasy draft where owners bid on players to build their roster. Each manager is given a certain amount of money to spend on players, and each player goes to the highest bidder. Owners take turns nominating players until the draft concludes.

Bench Players: Players who are not in your starting lineup in a given week. These are also called reserve players. Obviously, you receive no points for players who are on your bench.

Boom-or-Bust: A term that describes a player who could either perform at a high level or fail to reach expectations. This type of player is also often described as “risk-reward.” This term fits a player like 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey to a tee heading into this season. That’s because he has a chance to put up huge numbers, but he’s been very injury prone.

Breakout: This term describes a player who produces a high-end statistical season for the first time in his NFL career. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Seahawks wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba broke out in 2025.

Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba enjoyed a breakout fantasy football season in 2025, scoring 253 points. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Bust: This term describes a player who does not live up to his statistical expectations. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. and Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill were considered two of the biggest busts (or disappointments) in fantasy football last season.

Buy: This term is used to describe the act of trading for a player in a fantasy league.

Bye Week: This term describes a week when an NFL team and its players are off/don’t play. Each team has one bye week per season, playing in 17 of the 18 regular-season weeks.

Byemageddon: This term defines a week when six NFL teams are on a bye. Typically, bye weeks include either two or four teams, so a byemageddon is tougher for fantasy managers to navigate due to the absence of more players who might otherwise be in starting lineups.

Ceiling: This describes the height of a player’s talent, statistical production and value.

Cheat Sheet: This is a draft tool that ranks players, overall and per position, to make it easier to keep tabs on players who have already been drafted or are still available.

Collusion: This term refers to a scenario where two fantasy managers get into cahoots and make moves that benefit one or both teams. It’s basically considered cheating and will have to be dealt with by the commissioner. Make sure rules are in place for cases of fantasy collusion before the regular season starts in order to avoid problems if it does happen.

Commissioner: The individual who is responsible for creating, building and maintaining a fantasy league. He/she sets the rules, scoring system, lineup requirements, etc., and is also in charge of collecting league fees and settling any disputes within the league.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): These types of leagues don’t last for a full season but are instead contests that are played based on the stats for either a day or a week/weekend.

Deep League: This is a fantasy football league that includes more than 12 teams.

Depth Chart: Each NFL team has a depth chart at every position, which ranks players from the starters down to each level of backups. For example, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III is first on the team’s backfield depth chart, and Zach Charbonnet is second.

Draft: The draft is the event before the start of the NFL’s regular season where managers build their teams. Drafts can be held in a snake (serpentine) format or in an auction.

Draft Order: This is the order in which each team will make its draft picks, from 1-10 in a 10-team league or 1-12 in a 12-team league. Draft orders can be determined based on random selection by the commissioner, a fun competition (maybe the player who scores the best in a round of golf get the first pick, for example), or based on a platform’s picks.

Drop: This term describes the act of dropping a player from your fantasy roster. This is also known as a cut or release. Dropped players go straight to the league’s free-agent list.

D/ST: This is the abbreviation used for a defense/special teams unit in fantasy leagues.

Falcons RB Bijan Robinson will be a top-five overall pick in both redraft and dynasty startup fantasy leagues in 2025. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Dynasty League: A league in which you have one draft that includes all NFL players and subsequent drafts that include rookies or rookies and free agents. In a dynasty league, you keep your entire roster from one season to the next. It’s a long-term commitment and is the closest fantasy league you’ll find that resembles an actual NFL team and franchise.

Fantasy Postseason: In most leagues, the fantasy postseason (or playoffs) lasts for three weeks, beginning in Week 15 and ending in Week 17. Six teams make the postseason in this format. Some leagues start their postseason in Week 16 and last only two weeks.

Featured Running Back: This describes a starting running back who sees the majority of his team’s carries and touches during the season. Ravens running back Derrick Henry and Eagles running back Saquon Barkley are both good examples of a featured running back.

Flex: A spot or spots in your starting lineup that allow you to use more than one position to fill. Typically, a flex spot allows a manager to use a running back, wide receiver or tight end.

Flier: A term that describe a player, typically drafted in the late rounds, who is considered worth a “roll of the dice.” This player doesn’t have a high level of fantasy value at that time, but he is considered a player to take a chance hoping for a best-case scenario.

Floor: This describes the bottom of a player’s talent, statistical production and value.

Free Agent: A player who is not on any of the teams in your fantasy football league. They are available to be added to any roster via the waiver wire or a FAAB bid. Once this act occurs, that player is no longer a free agent but instead becomes a starter or reserve.

FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget): A popular method of adding free agents where each manager is given a budget for the season that is used to bid on available players.

Hero-RB Strategy: This is a draft strategy that suggests a fantasy manager only drafts one running back in the early rounds (1-5). All the picks in these rounds would be a mix of wide receivers (mostly), a single tight end or a single quarterback. Additional running backs aren’t drafted until the middle to late rounds (Round 6 and beyond until the draft ends).

Half Point PPR (Point Per Reception): This term describes a league that employs a scoring system that rewards half of a point for each time a player catches the football in a week. For example, player who catches six passes in a given game would receive three points.

Handcuff: This term describes the act of drafting the immediate backup of an NFL starting running back. This is an insurance policy of sorts. For example, 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo would be the “handcuff” for the manager who drafts Christian McCaffrey. So, if CMC should fall prey to an injury, his/her manager can use Guerrero in his absence.

IDP (Individual Defensive Player): This term describes using defensive players instead of a defense/special teams (D/ST) unit. In these leagues, each owner starts a predetermined number of defensive linemen (DL), linebackers (LB) and defensive backs (DB). Defensive backs include cornerbacks and safeties. Some IDP leagues also have an EDGE position.

IR (Injured Reserve): In the NFL, each team has the option of placing an injured player on IR. In fantasy football, this is a roster spot that doesn’t use a spot in a starting lineup or a reserve (bench) spot. Requirements for which players are allowed to be placed in an IR spot depend on the commissioner’s rules or the platform (ESPN, Yahoo!, etc.) guidelines.

Keeper League: A type of league where managers can keep a predetermined number of players on their roster from one season to the next. For example, if a manager labels Josh Allen as his/her keeper, Allen is not available to be drafted by anyone else in the league.

League Winner: This term describes a non-elite player who scores a high-level of fantasy points down the stretch of the regular season and into the fantasy postseason. For example, Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan scored at least 16.7 points in his final five games of the NFL’s regular season. Due to his sudden production spike, which in this case came out of nowhere, no shortage of fantasy managers ultimately won their league.

Buccaneers WR Jalen McMillan was a fantasy football league winner for countless managers last season. / Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Manager: The person or people who run a fantasy football team. A manager is responsible for drafting the team, setting weekly lineups, making trades and adding/dropping players.

Matchup: This term describes two fantasy teams playing against one another in a given week, and it also defines a player’s upcoming game against that week’s new opponent.

Mock Draft: If you follow the actual NFL Draft, then you’ve heard the term “mock draft.” It’s basically a fake draft that is used to predict the actual draft. Managers can also do mock drafts in an effort to practice and prepare themselves for their actual fantasy drafts.

Out (O): This is a designation set by an NFL team for a player who will not play in a given week. Players who are designated as out can sometimes be eligible to be placed in an IR spot, but that player must be removed from IR once his designation has been updated.

Perimeter Receiver: This term describes a receiver who runs most of his routes on the outside (closer to the sidelines) on either side of the field. Many of the best fantasy wide receivers, including Washington’s Terry McLaurin, run most of his routes on the perimeter. If you hear a player lines up “out wide,” this is the same thing as a perimeter receiver.

PPR (Point Per Reception): This term describes a league that employs a scoring system that rewards a full point for each time a player catches the football in a week. For example, a player who catches six passes in a given game would receive six points for those catches.

Projections: These are statistical projections and can be based on a full season, a week or a game. Projections are often times used to help a fantasy manager draft a successful team and make decisions on the best players to start based on the weekly matchups.

QB1: This abbreviation describes a starting quarterback in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be the top 10 quarterbacks in a 10-team league or the top 12 quarterbacks in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s starting quarterback.

QB2: This abbreviation describes a backup quarterback in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be quarterbacks 11-20 in a 10-team league or quarterbacks 13-24 in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s backup quarterback.

Queue: This is a list of players a manager sets during a draft that are considered the most desirable left on the board. For example, if George Pickens is available and you want to pick him next, you can place him in your queue as a reminder that he’s still on the board.

Questionable (Q): There is about a 50 percent chance that this player will play this week.

RB1: This abbreviation describes a starting running back in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be the top 10 runners in a 10-team league or the top 12 runners in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s starting running back.

RB2: This abbreviation describes a backup running in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be running backs 11-20 in a 10-team league or quarterbacks 13-24 in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s backup running back.

Vikings RB Aaron Jones Sr. could find himself in a backfield committee with Jordan Mason this season. / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

RBBC (Running Back by Committee): The term describes an NFL offense that doesn’t employ just one running back in its backfield. Instead, it uses at least two backs based on their differing skill sets. For example, the Detroit Lions use both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in prominent, yet different roles in the offense during the 2024 season.

Sell: This term is used to describe the act of trading away a player in a fantasy league.

Sniped: This is the term used to describe a situation when, during a draft, the manager ahead of you selects the player you had next on your list. For example, if I have DeVonta Smith ready to be drafted but the team ahead of me drafts him, then I have been sniped.

Standard Scoring: In this type of fantasy league, offensive skill position players receive points for yardage gained and touchdowns, but not for receptions. This used to be the most popular fantasy format, but it has now been replaced by PPR and Half-PPR leagues.

Superflex: In this format, which is growing in popularity, a manager can start a second quarterback in what is called a superflex spot. Managers can also start a running back, wide receiver or tight end in this spot, but quarterbacks are the most attractive superflex options since it’s the position that will typically score the most points each week.  

Snake Draft: Also called a “serpentine draft,” this begins in Round 1 with the first overall pick and ends with the 10th or 12th overall pick (depending on league size). In Round 2, the draft order “snakes” where the manager with the 10th or 12th (last) overall pick gets to make a selection at the top of that round and all other even-numbered rounds. So, the manager with the first pick of the draft gets the last pick of Round 2 and the first pick of Round 3.

Sleeper: A player who has not recorded a fantasy-relevant season who suddenly emerges into a viable starter. These players are not typically drafted very highly based on ADP data. Last season, Sam Darnold was a late-round pick who became a fantasy starter for the first time in his career. That made Darnold a fantasy sleeper. Once a player has been labeled as a sleeper once and meets expectations, however, I don’t think that label applies again.

Slot Receiver: This term describes a receiver who runs most of his routes in the slot, or close to the offensive line and tight end. Giants wideout Wan’Dale Robinson is an example.

Starters: These players are those who are active and in a starting fantasy lineup in a given week. For example, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is a high-end fantasy starter.

Streamers: If a fantasy manager doesn’t have a set starter at a particular position, he/she can use a player based on that week’s matchup. That player is called a streamer. This is a popular term used as it pertains to defenses, as many managers don’t have an elite unit and will instead “stream” different defenses each week based on the matchups.

Stud: This term describes a player who produces at a high-end level on a regular basis and holds a lot of fantasy value. A player who is considered a stud going into this season is Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who is the consensus No. 1 overall draft pick.

Team Defense: While many leagues have eliminated this position, it’s still a requirement to start a team defense in most traditional leagues. This is the lone fantasy position that is not an individual player but is instead the culmination of points scored by an entire unit. So, if you started the Ravens defense and they combined for five sacks, two interceptions and a defensive touchdown, you would receive the points tied to each of those categories.  

Team QB: There are some leagues out there that don’t start an individual quarterback but instead start a Team QB. This eliminates losing points in the situation where a player gets hurt or benched. So, if you have the 49ers Team QB and Brock Purdy gets hurt, you’ll then get the points his backup, Mac Jones, scores in his absence. This isn’t a common format.

Third-Round Reversal: This term is easy to define. In a traditional snake/serpentine draft, the team with the last pick in the second round gets the first pick in the third round. But in a third-round reversal scenario, that team would get the last pick in the second round and the last pick in the third round (so, as it’s defined, the third-round order is reversed). Once the third round is over, the draft snake back into its original order for the rest of the draft.

Veteran WR DK Metcalf was traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason. / Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

Trade: Simply put, this is the act of trading a player or players to another team in exchange for another player or players. For example, you can trade CeeDee Lamb for A.J. Brown and David Njoku or Patrick Mahomes for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Once you trade away a player, he is no longer on your team and has been replaced by the player you acquire.

Transaction: The NFL has a transaction list and so do fantasy leagues. It’s a running list of players who have been added, dropped, traded, etc. in a week and during the season.

Undroppable: Many fantasy platforms will label elite players as undroppable in order to keep there from any shenanigans. For example, there is never a reason to drop a healthy Justin Jefferson … unless a manager colludes with another manager so he/she can grab him off the wavier wire or bid FAAB on him. It’s a way to keep people from cheating, or keeping novice fantasy players from making an uneducated and foolish decision.

Value-Based Drafting (VBD): This is a fantasy football draft approach that helps determine a player's value by comparing their projections to a baseline total at their position. This sort of strategy pushes managers to draft players with the most value relative to other players at their position, instead of simply focusing on the players who scored the most points.

Waiver Wire: This term describes a list of players who are not on any fantasy rosters and are available to be added based on a predetermined guideline. That might be first-come first serve (whoever picks up the player first gets him), waiver priority (whoever is at the top of the priority list gets first dibs on a player) or FAAB (highest bid gets the player).

Waiver Order: When a player is dropped from a fantasy roster, he goes on waivers (see above). That player is then available to be added based on the league’s waiver order. So, if I have the second spot on the waiver order and put in a claim for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, I would add him to my roster unless the player with the first spot claims him.

WR1: This abbreviation describes a starting wideout in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be the top 10 receivers in a 10-team league or the top 12 receivers in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this term describes the team’s best wide receiver.

WR2: This abbreviation describes a No. 2 wideout in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be receivers 11-20 in a 10-team league or receivers 13-24 in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s second-best starting wide receiver.

WR3: This abbreviation describes a No. 3 wideout in a traditional fantasy league. So, that would be receivers 21-30 in a 10-team league or receivers 24-36 in a 12-team league, all based on the number of points each player has scored to that point in the season. In terms of NFL depth charts, this describes the team’s third-best starting or slot wide receiver.

Zero-RB Strategy: This is a draft strategy that suggests a fantasy manager does not draft a running back in the early rounds (1-5). All of the picks in these rounds would be a mix of wide receivers (mostly), a single tight end or a single quarterback. The manager would then focus on drafting running backs starting in the sixth round, hoping to find a few hidden gems. It is a strategy that is growing in popularity in leagues that reward points for catches (favoring wide receivers and tight ends), but it can also come with a lot of risk.