Fantasy football has its own language, and if you are somewhat new to fantasy football, there may be some common fantasy abbreviations that are confusing you.
It’s very difficult to understand industry advice if you do not understand what these terms mean.
In this article we are going to define several common fantasy football terms and discuss how they impact your team and fantasy season.
What does BE mean in Fantasy Football? What Does BN mean in Fantasy Football?
In fantasy football, BE and BN both stand for “Bench”.
If you are looking at your roster online, you will see these spots listed below your starting positions.
These spots will not count towards your active score for the week, so this is where you will put your players that you do not want in your starting lineup.
What Does D/ST or DST Mean In Fantasy Football?
In fantasy football, D/ST and DST both stand for “Defense and Special Teams”.
Most fantasy leagues include a defense and special teams unit in their active roster. The defense and special teams cannot be a different team.
For example, if you chose the Chicago Bears, you would have the Chicago Bears defense and the Chicago Bears special teams as a part of your fantasy roster.
How defenses and special teams are scored can vary from league to league, so you will want to research and make sure you are up to date on the specifics of how your league scores.
For example, some leagues credit special team touchdowns (like punt return TDs or kickoff return TDs) not only to the D/ST, but also to the actual player who scored the touchdown.
What Does OPRK Mean in Fantasy Football?
If you are browsing fantasy football sites, one term that you might often run in to is OPRK. What does OPRK mean in fantasy football?
In fantasy football, OPRK stands for “Opponent Rank”.
OPRK Draftkings
When discussing OPRK in fantasy football, it is hard not to discuss OPRK DraftKings. Draftkings is a site that incorporates OPRK as a way to help users judge the matchup that a certain fantasy player faces.
For example, if Patrick Mahomes has an OPRK of 1, that means the defense that he is facing that week is ranked number 1 in the league in average fantasy points given up to quarterbacks.
In other words, the defense he is facing has given up the least amount of fantasy points to QBs in the league (on average), and therefore it is likely a bad matchup.
OPRK is intended to help common fantasy players better understand the matchups that players face on a weekly basis. OPRK can, however, be quite flawed if you do not put it in perspective.
For example, to add on to the Patrick Mahomes matchup from above, what if that “OPRK 1” defense had faced some of the worst QBs in the league for much of their schedule.
This would be a way for the results to be misleading a bit. So although OPRK can be an effective tool in analyzing matchups, it must also be held in proper perspective.
It is best used alongside other helpful metrics and tools so that you can have the clearest picture possible on what matchups are best.
What Do PF Mean in Fantasy Football? What Does PA Mean in Fantasy Football?
If you are looking at standings in your league, you might come across “PF”. What does PF mean in fantasy football?
In fantasy football, PF stands for “Points For”. It is the amount of total points your fantasy team has scored throughout the fantasy season.
Another abbreviation you may come across in your league standings is “PA”. What does PA mean in fantasy football?
In fantasy football, PA stands for “Points Against”. It is the amount of total points that have been scored against you throughout the fantasy season.
Some fantasy football leagues will use PF and PA as league tiebreakers (most leagues use PF). For example, if the last playoff spot comes down to two teams that have the same regular season record, the tiebreaker is often “Points For”.
These categories can give you a rough, overall view of where your team stacks up against the rest of the league.
If you are in third place, but have the most “Points Against” (meaning your team has had the most points scored against it, which is out of your control since you don’t play defense against your fantasy opponent) you have a decent idea that your team may actually be as good or better than the leaders.
Of course, this is a very unscientific way of evaluating where you stand, but it does give you something to base your overall trajectory on, and help you determine whether or not you should reshape your roster heading in to the trade deadline.