How Fantasy Football Works

Full fantasy football is the granddaddy of all fantasy football games. In this game, fantasy players join a league of friends or strangers and act as virtual owners controlling numerous position players on offense, defense and special teams. Players can set up leagues with head-to-head competition between teams or base them on total cumulative fantasy points. As in salary cap games, points are awarded for each player's game day performance.

Before the season begins, there is a virtual draft. All owners in a league draft players for each position from a trove of eligible athletes, who may only play for one team per league. League members can set the draft to last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. All players that aren't drafted are placed on waivers and are usually available on a first come, first served basis. There is usually a waiting period before a team owner can pick up a waived player, and sometimes leagues allow lower-placed teams first pick priority for players on waivers. Besides being able to waive and claim new players, an owner can also make trades with other owners in his league. In a keeper league, owners have the option of selecting a number of players to retain automatically for the following season.