Fantasy Football
Megan Otchet '22 Staff Writer
Early September brought many sports fans the entertainment they had been missing during quarantine: Football. While competition resumes on the field, fans compete online with weekly fantasy football matches.
At the beginning of the season, many students at Howard High School joined one or multiple leagues. Every week, two people in the league go head-to-head and try to get more points than their opponent. Prior to the kickoff of the first game each week, the player must create their ideal team out of players that they think will make the best plays from any NFL team. The player must also choose a collective team defense and special teams unit that can put up points. |
Points can be scored on both sides of the ball through offensive plays like touchdowns, gaining a certain number of rushing yards or receptions and defensive plays such as fumble recoveries, interceptions or sacks. Points can also be deducted from a player or group if they make a mistake, like a turnover. The players that have been the most successful in earning fantasy football points from different positions are Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks quarterback), Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints running back) and Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs tight end).
A junior at Howard High School, Dominick Mizer, explained his strategy for picking players: “In the first two weeks, I like to pick solid running backs. As the season progresses, I start to look for quarterbacks who have been putting up a lot of points.” Some of his biggest point scorers so far include Austin Ekeler, a running back for the LA Chargers, and Calvin Ridley, a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons. Another Howard High junior, Chris Verderame, uses different websites and corroborates the predictions in order to pick his best team. He relies on the calculations of multiple sources, so he does not depend on a single prediction. The most impactful player for Verderame has been Dalvin Cook, the Minnesota Vikings’ running back. “Dalvin Cook. He just kept finding ways to get involved in the play against the Texans and ultimately ended the game with two touchdowns and ran for 130 yards. He was a beast in there!” he said about his biggest asset.
Many leagues play fantasy football for money and place bets on who will win, which increases the players’ competitiveness. In the league Verderame plays for, the loser of each matchup must buy the winner a dinner of their choice. Many other leagues will go as far as bizarre, embarrassing dares. Once the football season ends, a common penalty is for the winners to pie the losers in the face.
A junior at Howard High School, Dominick Mizer, explained his strategy for picking players: “In the first two weeks, I like to pick solid running backs. As the season progresses, I start to look for quarterbacks who have been putting up a lot of points.” Some of his biggest point scorers so far include Austin Ekeler, a running back for the LA Chargers, and Calvin Ridley, a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons. Another Howard High junior, Chris Verderame, uses different websites and corroborates the predictions in order to pick his best team. He relies on the calculations of multiple sources, so he does not depend on a single prediction. The most impactful player for Verderame has been Dalvin Cook, the Minnesota Vikings’ running back. “Dalvin Cook. He just kept finding ways to get involved in the play against the Texans and ultimately ended the game with two touchdowns and ran for 130 yards. He was a beast in there!” he said about his biggest asset.
Many leagues play fantasy football for money and place bets on who will win, which increases the players’ competitiveness. In the league Verderame plays for, the loser of each matchup must buy the winner a dinner of their choice. Many other leagues will go as far as bizarre, embarrassing dares. Once the football season ends, a common penalty is for the winners to pie the losers in the face.