Fantasy Football Glossary: 30 Terms Every Manager Should Know

Fantasy football has a vocabulary all its own, and nothing makes a new manager feel more lost than a draft chat full of jargon. Here are the 30 terms that actually matter, in plain English.

Draft & value terms

• ADP — Average Draft Position; where a player typically gets picked. See what is ADP.
• Tier — a group of interchangeable players; draft by tiers, not exact ranks.
• Reach — drafting a player well ahead of their ADP.
• Value pick — a player who falls past their ADP.
• Sleeper — a late pick with breakout upside.
• Bust — a highly drafted player who underperforms.
• Handcuff — the backup to your starting RB, insurance against injury.

Format terms

• PPR / Half-PPR / Standard — points (1 / 0.5 / 0) per reception.
• Superflex — a flex slot that can start a QB, making QBs premium.
• Best ball — no lineup decisions; optimal scores count automatically.
• Dynasty — keep your roster year to year; draft only rookies.
• Keeper — retain a limited number of players between seasons.

In-season terms

• FAAB — Free Agent Acquisition Budget; a blind-bid waiver system.
• Waiver wire — the pool of unrostered players you can claim.
• Streaming — rotating a position (like DEF or QB) weekly by matchup.
• Buy-low / Sell-high — trading based on temporary value swings.
• Snake / Auction — the two main draft types.

Why the language matters

Every term here maps to a decision. Learn the vocabulary and the strategy stops sounding like a foreign language.

Ready to put the terms into practice? Run a free mock draft and watch ADP, tiers, and value play out live.