Fantasy 101

By Justin Hume (JibJab)

Many of you are fantasy veterans who are spending your free time tabulating preseason targets or trying to decipher how much Mike Bell will affect Pierre Thomas's workload. However, if you're brand new to fantasy football then you're missing out on a lot of fun, and I'm here to bring you up to speed. Let's get started.

What is Fantasy Football?

Fantasy football takes you from watching your favorite game to being an active participant. You will select real players from real NFL teams for your roster. If they fail on the field, you fail. If they succeed, you succeed. You'll soon learn that it's this basic premise that will take you from where you are now to a full-fledged fantasy addict.

What is Survivor Football '09?

If you're new to fantasy football you've come to the right place. Our game gives you all the excitement of a traditional fantasy league without requiring you to spend countless hours poring over every detail. You don't need to know whether or not Justin Davis is getting goal-line carries in Cleveland this weekend. You simply need to pick one player at each position who is going to have a good week. Note that you can only use each player once. Also, if you fail, you lose the chance to pick that position for the rest of the season. Even a complete fantasy noob knows that Peyton Manning is likely to light up the Rams defense. If you need any help though, we'll be right here all season long giving you tools to help you make the right pick.

Alright, this sounds pretty fun, but how can I compete with people who have been doing this for years?

The beauty of our game is it levels the playing field. Don't get me wrong, you do need to think strategically, but you don't need to be an expert. In fact, sticking to the basics may give you the edge over some of us fantasy veterans who will spend 6 hours agonizing over match-up details only to take some middle-of-the-road player with a good match-up while the no-brainer superstar goes out and lights it up like always. Take a few minutes each week to look at who is playing at the highest level at each position. Now look at who among those guys is playing against weak defenses. Make your choices and then wait eagerly for Sunday morning, and who knows? Maybe you'll walk away $1,000,000 richer.

That's all for now. If you have any questions you can contact me at my personal email, justin@fantasyworld.com or leave a comment on my profile. Good luck out there!