It’s OK, you can be honest: Is fantasy football not really your thing? We’re cool either way.
Whether it’s something for you to connect with coworkers or a new passion you’ve never explored before, trying to compete in a league for the first time can be tough. We’ve all been there before. It’s even more difficult when most of the content on the web about fantasy football is geared toward folks who’re already familiar with the game and associated lingo.
Where do you go then? Who understands where you’re at and can help you sharpen your skills? That’s where this series comes in.
Fantasy Points has trusted me to be your “beginner’s guide” this season. Each week, we’ll talk through the five most important things to be aware of for the NFL week ahead and how it matters for fantasy. Down the middle, no fancy words, and most importantly, teachable.
By the end of the year, my goal is for you to elevate from beginner status to a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, your grasp of fantasy will improve to the point that you’ll be able to move on to the more “advanced” content on this website. Sound good? Cool beans.
Let’s attack Week 1 of the 2025 fantasy football season together. Here’s what you need to know and what to watch out for:
Thing #1: How Players Are Utilized On Offense
On the real, half the battle of fantasy football is just staying active, making roster moves, and paying even the slightest attention to what’s happening in the NFL. Lots of folks can’t even do that, so if you can swing it, world’s your oyster.
The key to fantasy success is having players who are both on the field a lot and touch the ball a lot. A word that I repeat a nauseating amount daily is “volume” — that’s the thing you’re ultimately chasing. We all know what that word generally means, but specifically in fantasy, it refers to the number of touches (carries or receiving targets) a player gets. You need players who get a ton of volume. The odds of scoring points are directly correlated with having the ball.
As you watch the games, take mental note of the players you observe getting attention. Which running backs are handed off to frequently, how often a wide receiver is out there running routes and thrown to, etc.? All of that stuff is key to remember.
Thing #2: Fantasy Points Has Regular Weekly Content For Advice
If you’re ever unsure of what’s important or not, that’s perfectly fine. Becoming a self-sustaining manager isn’t something that will happen immediately. The good news is that we have a wealth of content being released daily here at Fantasy Points that can help cut through the noise.
Interested in waiver wire advice? We’ve got that covered. Trying to make tough lineup decisions, but can’t figure out who to start? Hop in on one of our live shows on YouTube and ask one of our analysts. Our main aim is to ensure that the most critical information is in your hands.
Check out this page with the complete weekly content schedule here at Fantasy Points. Mind you, many pieces of our content require a subscription, but we also offer a range of free resources. Let us help do some of the heavy lifting. Consider starting with one of our podcasts.
Thing #3: It’s Only A One-Week Sample Size Of Information
Look, the NFL season is long. Most leagues play all the way into Week 17 if you make the playoffs. The results of Week 1 will be telling in certain ways, but remember that patience is vital, and overreacting to one game is bad.
Consider, for example, one of your wide receivers plays on a team that gets significantly ahead of its opponent this weekend and spends the majority of the second half of the game running the ball. It stinks that your player isn’t being thrown to, but in a blowout situation, it makes the most sense for a football team to pound the ground, run out the game clock, and secure a win.
You can expect a more balanced approach in competitive affairs. Don’t let a one-week scenario give you the false impression that certain teams will always trounce their opponents and stop throwing in the second half. It’s a small sample size. Next week might be totally different.
Thing #4: Rookies Typically Take Time To Get Going
A key item to keep in mind as you watch games this weekend, and honestly for the first several weeks, is that first-year players who are new to the NFL don’t always immediately get featured by their teams. That’s not to say all rookies will struggle early, but it’s not uncommon.
Let’s use a specific example for this one: the Jacksonville Jaguars have a rookie running back named Bhayshul Tuten. He generated a lot of buzz this offseason and was frequently selected in the later rounds of drafts. If you’re someone who picked up Tuten, be prepared for the reality that he may not get a lot of work right away. Jacksonville already has two incumbent veteran backs in Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby. We'll likely see them more often to start the year.
Bummer? Absolutely, but that risk of a slow start comes with the territory of rookies. Try to remain patient with young players. Don’t drop them after Week 1 just because you didn’t get an immediate return on investment. By Week 5 or 6, maybe we can think about a change, but acting too hastily won’t benefit you. Last thing you want to do is give up early, drop a rookie, and watch another manager add them later on once they’ve broken out.
Thing #5: Pay Attention To Who Gets Dropped By Other Managers Next Week
Expanding on that last point, we’ll conclude with an item to keep in mind once this weekend’s games are over. The next edition of this series comes out after your league’s waiver wire process runs. Obviously, I’m not a fortune teller and can’t tell you who to pick up for your roster now, but there’s a good chance you might be able to scrape value from the mistakes of others.
Not everyone in your league is necessarily going to be good at staying measured and avoiding overreaction. It’s entirely conceivable that other managers will drop quality players who are off to slow starts based on a one-week sample. Look for those names and attack. If there’s a player you recognize who went early in your league’s draft and is inexplicably available all of a sudden, that’s probably an error you’ll want to take advantage of.
Obviously, if this player were badly injured in Week 1 and wouldn’t play for a while, that would be a different story, but let’s say it is a rookie like our friend Tuten from the last section. Go ahead and pick them up! You know that patience is essential in fantasy football. That manager shouldn’t have given up so soon. What’s that old saying, another person’s trash is another person’s treasure?
Conclusion
To recap, your only job this weekend is to pay attention and not overreact — easy peasy. If you can manage to accomplish those two things, you’re already taking your fantasy game to the next level.
Feel free to reach out to me on social media (link to my X profile is below, and I’m also @herms.bsky.social on Bluesky) if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to offer up my help. Best of luck, and here’s to Week 1! Let’s get that dub.
