Start/Sit Decisions in Fantasy Football
Comparing two players
The sportsbooks post lines for a player's yards, catches and touchdowns every week. Turned into fantasy points under your scoring, those lines give each player a number you can compare. The fantasy helper's compare page does this for any two players and says how far apart they are.
- Player A, books' number
- 14.2 points
- Player B, books' number
- 13.5 points
- Gap
- 0.7 points: a toss-up
The helper calls a gap under a point a toss-up, because the numbers are too close to separate them.
When news should decide
Injury reports, weather and lineup news arrive late in the week and can change a player's role. For a toss-up, that news is the better tiebreaker than the numbers. These are the market's numbers in fantasy terms, not a prediction.
Questions and answers
- What does start/sit mean?
- Start means play a player in your lineup this week. Sit means leave him on the bench.
- What is a toss-up?
- A choice where the two players' numbers are within a point, so the numbers alone do not separate them.
- Where do the numbers come from?
- From the sportsbooks' player prop lines for the week, converted into fantasy points with your league's scoring.
Read next
- FLEX spotA FLEX spot is a starting spot in a fantasy football lineup that any running back, wide receiver or tight end can fill.
- PPR scoringPPR scoring, short for points per reception, gives a fantasy football player one point for every catch on top of his yards and touchdowns.
- Bye weekA bye week is the one week of the NFL season in which a team does not play, so its players score no fantasy points that week.
- Fair lineA fair line is the average chance of the over across several sportsbooks quoting the same number, with each book's margin removed.
This page explains arithmetic and vocabulary. It does not recommend a bet, a side, an amount or a sportsbook, and the examples are illustrations. For information only, not betting advice. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.