Reference
Fantasy Football Glossary
The terms your league uses, defined by people who have used them.
Understanding Dynasty
Format definitions for dynasty players, newcomers deciding whether to commit, and commissioners setting up their first long-term league.
Best Ball
A fantasy format where your starting lineup is set automatically each week using whichever of your rostered players scored the most points at each position. There are no lineup decisions, no waiver wire moves, and no weekly management after the draft. It's popular as a low-commitment alternative to season-long leagues and common in paid tournament formats.
Contract League
A dynasty variant where players are assigned contract lengths and salaries and teams operate under a cap. Unlike straight salary cap dynasty, contract leagues often include mechanisms for extensions, franchise tags, and free agent auctions. The added structure creates more commissioner overhead but also more strategic depth for leagues that want it.
Devy League
A dynasty format that allows managers to draft and roster college players before they enter the NFL. When a devy player declares and goes pro, they move from your taxi squad to your active roster. It extends the dynasty timeline further than standard formats and rewards managers who follow college football closely.
Dynasty League
A fantasy football format where you keep your entire roster from season to season instead of starting over every year. Redraft rewards whoever drafted best in August. Dynasty rewards whoever builds best over years. Joining one means signing up for the long haul, not just a single season.
Guillotine League
A format where the lowest-scoring team each week is eliminated and their players are released to the waiver wire for surviving teams to claim. Rosters grow as the season progresses and the player pool consolidates among fewer teams. Surviving early matters more than winning outright, which creates a very different strategic dynamic than standard leagues.
IDP
Individual Defensive Players, a format where managers roster and start individual defenders instead of a team defense. Linebackers, cornerbacks, and pass rushers score points based on their personal stats rather than their team's performance. It adds significant roster depth and complexity, and it's worth clarifying whether a league uses IDP before you join.
Keeper League
A format where managers retain a limited number of players each season before redrafting the rest. It sits between redraft and dynasty in terms of commitment. The practical distinction: if your league keeps fewer than half its players, it functions more like redraft with memory. If it keeps most or all of them, you're playing dynasty whether the league calls it that or not.
Rookie Draft
The annual draft held each offseason where managers select incoming NFL rookies to add to their rosters. Most leagues hold it shortly after the NFL Draft, with draft order based on the previous season's standings and the worst team picking first. Rookie picks are tradeable assets year-round, which makes them one of the primary currencies of dynasty trading.
Salary Cap Dynasty
A dynasty format where every player has a contract value and every team operates under a salary cap. Managers negotiate extensions, let players walk in free agency, and manage cap space across multiple seasons. It's the most complex dynasty format and the closest simulation to running an actual NFL franchise. Not recommended as a first dynasty experience.
Startup Draft
The initial draft that launches a dynasty league, where every NFL player is available and every manager builds their roster from scratch. It runs much longer than a redraft draft, typically 20 to 30 rounds depending on roster size. Your startup sets the foundation for years, so the age and trajectory of players matters as much as their current production. Before it starts, you need a draft order.
Superflex
A starting lineup position that can be filled by any offensive player but in practice almost always gets filled by a quarterback. In a standard league, QBs carry relatively low positional value because only one starts per team. In superflex, every team needs two, which makes quarterbacks the most scarce and valuable position in the format. If you're joining a superflex league for the first time, draft accordingly.
Roster and Strategy
Core concepts for building and managing a dynasty roster — useful for new players learning the language and veterans double-checking their vocabulary.
Age Curve
The general trajectory of a player's fantasy value relative to their age, rising through their mid-twenties, peaking around 25 to 27, and declining from there depending on position. Running backs curve earlier and fall faster. Quarterbacks and tight ends peak later and hold value longer. In dynasty, buying players on the right side of their age curve is one of the most consistent paths to long-term success.
Contention Window
The stretch of seasons when a dynasty team's core is old enough to produce but young enough to still be improving. For most skill positions that window sits roughly between ages 24 and 28, and it closes faster than it feels like it should. When you're in it, you trade future picks for proven veterans. When you're not, you do the opposite.
FAAB
Free Agent Acquisition Budget, a set amount of in-season currency each manager uses to bid on available players throughout the year. Instead of waiver priority determining who gets a player, the highest blind bid wins. In dynasty, FAAB matters less than in redraft because the player pool is thinner, but it's still the fairest waiver system available and worth using if your league doesn't already.
Handcuff
The backup behind a starter you already own, most commonly applied to running backs. In redraft, handcuffing is straightforward insurance. Dynasty makes it more complicated because holding a backup long-term costs roster space, and most handcuffs have little standalone value if the starter stays healthy. Quarterback handcuffs exist but are far less common given how deep most dynasty QB rooms already are. It's usually only worth it at any position when the starter is injury-prone or the backup has real upside on their own.
Orphan Team
A dynasty team whose original manager left the league, leaving a full roster of players and picks behind for the commissioner to fill. Orphan teams get a bad reputation because inheriting a struggling franchise feels like a consolation prize, but they're often the fastest way into an established dynasty league without waiting for a startup. The roster is usually worse than it looks on paper and better than the asking price suggests. Looking for one? The CommishHub Dynasty League Finder is being built to make that easier.
Positional Scarcity
The relative availability of productive players at a given position. In superflex formats, quarterback is the scarcest position because every team needs two. In standard formats, tight end is often the scarcest because elite production concentrates in just a few players. Scarce positions deserve a draft and trade premium. Abundant ones don't.
Rebuild
The deliberate decision to trade established veterans for younger players and future draft picks, accepting short-term losses in exchange for long-term upside. A real rebuild takes two to four years minimum. The mistake most managers make is starting one without committing to it, or ending it too early when the team gets competitive before it's actually ready to win.
Reload
The opposite of a rebuild. Instead of tearing down and starting over, a reloading team makes targeted moves to stay competitive without sacrificing long-term assets. It usually involves trading aging veterans before their value falls while replacing them with younger players at the same position. The risk is misjudging how close your window actually is.
Stash
Rostering a player who isn't currently producing with the expectation that their opportunity will increase later. This usually means a young player waiting behind a veteran or a receiver on a bad team. In dynasty, stashing is a core strategy — you're buying low on future value before the rest of the league recognizes it.
Tanking
Intentionally fielding a weak lineup or making moves designed to lose, typically to secure a better draft pick position. Some leagues tolerate it as a legitimate rebuild strategy. Others treat it as a violation of competitive integrity, especially when it affects playoff races. Commissioners should have an explicit policy on tanking in the league constitution before the first season, not after the first accusation.
Taxi Squad
A separate roster section for holding developmental players, usually rookies or second-year players, who don't count against your main roster limit and can't be started until promoted. Think of it as your practice squad. Most leagues limit how long a player can stay on the taxi squad before you're forced to promote or cut them, and once promoted they generally can't go back.
Waiver Priority
The order in which managers can claim available players when multiple teams want the same one. Most dynasty leagues use FAAB bidding rather than straight priority, but leagues that do use a priority order typically reset it based on standings or rotate after each successful claim. How a commissioner sets this up affects league competitiveness more than most realize.
Commissioner Setup and League Management
For new commissioners and anyone inheriting a league mid-stream. These are the terms you'll need before the first dispute lands in your inbox.
Commissioner
The person responsible for running the league, from setting up the platform and managing the draft to resolving disputes and keeping things moving when managers go quiet. It's an unpaid job that nobody appreciates until something goes wrong. A good commissioner sets clear rules before the season, stays neutral during it, and doesn't disappear when things get complicated.
Collusion
When two or more managers coordinate trades or lineup decisions to benefit one team at the expense of the rest of the league. It can show up as a single egregiously lopsided trade between the same managers or as a pattern of suspect decisions over time. It's the most serious integrity violation in fantasy football and the hardest to prove. Commissioners should document their reasoning thoroughly before taking any action.
Draft Order
The sequence in which managers select players during the draft. In dynasty rookie drafts, order is typically determined by reverse standings with the worst team picking first. For startup drafts, most leagues randomize it. How the commissioner reveals and sets draft order is one of the few moments of genuine ceremony in a dynasty league, and it's worth treating it that way. The CommishHub Draft Order Randomizer handles the reveal.
Entry Fee and League Dues
The buy-in each manager pays to participate, funding the prize pool and sometimes platform costs. Dynasty leagues typically collect dues annually rather than as a one-time payment. Using a third-party payment platform rather than collecting cash informally creates a paper trail and signals that the league is run seriously.
Inactive Team
A manager who has stopped setting lineups, making moves, or engaging with the league. Inactive teams damage competitive integrity because other managers are effectively playing against an autopilot roster. Commissioners should have a written policy before it happens, including a warning timeline, a process for removal, and a plan for filling the spot through an orphan team pickup.
League Constitution
The written rules document that governs your league before anyone has a reason to argue about them. Trade policies, playoff format, punishment rules, what happens when someone goes inactive — all of it lives here. Most leagues skip it until the first real dispute lands in the commissioner's lap, at which point everyone remembers the rules differently. Writing one before your first draft takes an hour and saves years of headaches.
Platform
The software your league runs on. Sleeper has become the standard for most dynasty leagues because of its taxi squad support, tradeable pick functionality, in-app chat, and mobile-first design. MFL (MyFantasyLeague) is the preferred platform for more complex or customized leagues and has the deepest commissioner toolset available. ESPN and Yahoo work well for redraft but lack dynasty-specific features. The platform decision affects everything from draft experience to trade processing, so it's worth getting right before your startup.
Punishment League
A league format where the last-place finisher faces a predetermined consequence at the end of the season, agreed upon before the year starts and enforced by the commissioner. It keeps losing managers engaged through the end of the year and creates side entertainment for the whole league. The best punishments are embarrassing enough to motivate but not so severe that managers quit over them. Need ideas? The CommishHub Punishment Wheel has plenty.
Trade Deadline
The point in the season after which no more trades can be processed. Most leagues set it around Week 10 or 11, late enough to allow meaningful in-season trades and early enough to prevent playoff manipulation. Commissioners should establish this in the league constitution before the season starts rather than announcing it mid-year.
Trade Veto
A mechanism allowing league managers to block a trade — but it exists specifically to address collusion, not to block deals that look unfair on the surface. Lopsided trades happen for legitimate reasons: rebuilding teams sell veterans, contenders overpay for a playoff push. Using a veto to block trades you disagree with strategically damages league integrity more than the trade itself. A well-run league should only veto when there's a genuine case for coordinated manipulation, and that threshold should be defined in writing before the season starts.
Finding and Joining Leagues
For anyone trying to get into dynasty for the first time, or looking to fill an open spot without spending a week in Reddit threads.
Discord League
A dynasty league organized and often managed primarily through a Discord server rather than a traditional fantasy platform. Some run entirely manually with commissioners tracking rosters and scoring by hand. Others use Discord for communication while running the actual league on Sleeper or a similar platform. Discord leagues offer more flexibility and customization but require a more hands-on commissioner.
Finding an Orphan Team
Taking over an abandoned dynasty team rather than joining a startup. It's usually the fastest path into dynasty if you don't want to wait for a new league to form, and you skip the startup draft entirely. The team you inherit is rarely in great shape — that's why it's available — but the player and pick assets are already there. Evaluate the roster honestly before committing. The CommishHub Dynasty League Finder is being built specifically for this.
Free League vs. Paid League
Free leagues have lower stakes and higher dropout risk. Managers who aren't paying anything have less reason to stay engaged through a losing season, and in dynasty that matters more than anywhere else because you're counting on the same people for years. A modest entry fee is worth it even if the prize pool is small.
Finding a Dynasty League
Most managers find leagues through Reddit communities like r/findadynastyleague and r/dynastyff, Discord servers, or personal networks. The process is more scattered than it should be for a format this popular. The CommishHub Dynasty League Finder is being built to fix that.
League Size
The number of teams in your league, which affects roster depth, player availability, and how much research actually pays off. Ten-team leagues are shallower and more accessible for newer players. Twelve-team leagues are the most common standard. Fourteen-team leagues create deeper scarcity and reward roster management more heavily. Bigger isn't automatically better — it depends on how many committed managers you can actually find.
Slow Draft
A draft format conducted asynchronously over days or weeks rather than in a live session. Each manager has a set window, usually 8 to 24 hours, to make their pick before the clock expires. Slow drafts work well for dynasty startups where coordinating a live draft across 12 to 14 managers in different time zones is impractical. The tradeoff is that they take longer and lose some of the live draft energy.
Startup vs. Established League
A startup is a brand new league where every manager drafts from scratch simultaneously. An established league already has seasons of history, existing rosters, traded picks, and managers who know each other. Startups give you full control over your roster from day one. Established leagues, usually accessed through orphan team pickups, are harder to read but faster to join.
Running a dynasty league? The rest of the toolkit is here.