We understand that this might be your first year playing fantasy football. Or maybe you are a long time player but have always been a little embarrassed to ask. No matter what level of player you are, we thought that providing a fantasy football glossary of abbreviations and statistics could benefit everyone.
Feel free to let us know if we’re missing anything in the comments section below. The more you know…
2PT or 2PM - two-point conversions made
2QB - Two Quarterback League, in these leagues the fantasy owners will start two quarterbacks each week
A/G - Attempts per game, this could refer to rushing or passing
Ast - Assists on tackles
ATT or AT - Attempts, this could refer to passing, rushing, field goals, etc. Make sure you know which category is being represented.
BENCH or B - Bench Player, The players you did not play in your starting lineup. Bench players do not count towards your team’s final score. You will also experience extreme frustration when one of those players outscores a player in your starting lineup.
Blck - Blocked kicks or punts
CMP or CP or Com - Passing completions
CMP % or PCT - Percentage of completed passes (really this is just completions divided by attempts)
DB - Defensive Backs, Used in IDP leagues only
DEF - Defense, in fantasy football you play the entire defensive team *unless you play in a IDP league
DL - Defensive Lineman, Used in IDP leagues only
DVOA – Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent. Learn more from Football Outsiders.
FA - Free Agent, these players are available in your league for any fantasy player to pick up and play on their team
FantPos - Fantasy position, In some leagues a player may be eligible to play at more than one position
FantPt - Fantasy points, gold…
FF - Forced fumble
FGA - Field goal attempts
FGM - Field goals made
FUM - Fumble, this usually represents all fumbles (including those recovered by the offense), but sometime it will only represent fumbles lost. It’s tricky.
FUMB - All fumbles including those recovered by the offense
FUML - Fumbles lost
FLEX or F - Flex Player, A spot in your starting lineup that you can play more than one type of position player. Most Flex spots can only be filled by RBs and WRs, but some leagues will allow TEs or QBs in the roster spot as well.
FR - Fumble recoveries
G - Games played
GS - Games started
IDP - Individual Defensive Player, Rather than a defensive team earning points as a whole, in these leagues the fantasy owners draft and start defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs.
INT - Interceptions
INT% - Interception percentage (interceptions divided by pass attempts)
IR - Injured Reserve, In some leagues an injured player can be sent to the IR for a certain number of weeks. The player cannot earn the owners any points until the set number of weeks pass. However, the IR player does not count against your league player limit, so the benefit is that you can pick up an additional player to fill in during the IR player’s absence.
K - Kicker, It is what it is.
LB - Linebacker, Used in IDP leagues only
LNG - Longest gain, this could be for passing, rushes or receptions
OvRank - Overall Rank, This is the football player’s rank among all players, not just his position
PPR - Point Per Reception, Fantasy owners earn one or .5 points per player reception.
PNT - Punt
POS - Position
PosRank - Position Rank, the fantasy football rank for that player in comparison to the other players at his position
QB - Quarterback (QB1 is your weekly fantasy starter, QB2 is your backup)
RAT or Rate - QB or Passer Rating (calculated by funny math)
RB - Running Back (RB1 is your stud running back, RB2 is your second best RB, RB3 the next, and so on)
REC - Receptions
R/G - Receptions per game
RRTD - Rushing and receiving touchdowns calculated as one big total
SK or SCK - Sacks endured by the quarterback
SK% - Sack Percentage, they take the times the player was sacked and divide that by the number of pass attempts plus the number of sacks
SYD - Sacked yards lost
TD - Touchdown, this could be passing, rushing, return, etc.
TD% - Touchdown percentage (touchdown passes divided by pass attempts)
TE - Tight End (TE1 is your weekly starter, TE2 is normally a disappointment)
TKL - Tackles
VBD - Value Based Drafting, the idea that the value of a player can be calculated by the difference between his fantasy points and a baseline of fantasy points defined by the replacement players you could get at the same position. This method was popularized by Joe Bryant of www.footballguys.com
WW or W - Waiver Wire/Waiver, Some leagues have players recently dropped by other fantasy owners go into a waiver status for one or more days. This means that owners cannot immediately pick up the player and instead they have to make a “waiver claim” for the player. Usually the worst performing team in the league gets the highest priority but check your league rules. The waiver wire is one of the most frustrating, complicated and yet imperative parts of playing fantasy sports.
WR - Wide Receiver (WR1 is the stud, WR2 is another starting guy, WR3 is a little less awesome, and so on)
XPA - Extra points attempted
XPM - Extra points made
Y/A - Yards per attempt
Y/C - Yards per completion
Y/G - Yards per game
Y/R - Yards per reception
YDS - Yards (passing, rushing, receiving, etc.)
YPA - Yards per attempt (passing, rushing, receiving, etc.)
YSCM - Yards from scrimmage
What about the initials, DVOA? Used on GrantLand.com under heading “the triangle” article on Nfl fb tm’s that need balance between off and def.
Thank you, Chuck. We added it. Hope all is well.
What about the abbrv. “ADP”
Yep. Good one. We should revisit this before preseason starts. Thanks.
Hello, just curious what actually meant. I know it’s Points VS opponents, but I don’t know what that means. hah.
Thanks!
What is PF, Avg PF, PA Avg Pa
What does TO stand for with QBs. I have not seen this before listed under forecast for QBs
In ESPN Fantasy Football, what do the following stand for (final standings)?
PF/G
PA/G
Diff