Some Rookie questions

[Irishsaint18]

Never played fantasy football before this season but love the sport and got into a league with 12 friends that are pretty hardcore about it. I have a few questions. On your Def's bye week do you just lose that spot because it seems like most in my league only have 1 defense. As far as a starting line-up goes, do my "starters" mostly play every week unless off or hurt? Do you mix your starting line-ups a lot or leave as is? Any hints and tips would be great, thanks!

[stomperrob]

During the Def's bye week, some people will just drop their Def if there's one of equal value on the WW. If you have a particularly good Def that you don't want to lose, then drop someone else from your team (for example a WR that's not helping your team), then bench your regular Def and start the one you just picked up. After your bye, drop the extra Def you picked up and pick up a positional player. Alot of people only carry 1 TE and 1 Kicker as well and do the same thing with these positions during bye weeks.

And yes, normally you always start your "studs" unless they are hurt or on a bye. But sometimes you will have guys on your bench that may be performing as well as your starters, so then you play matchups (start the player who going against a weak opponent, and bench the guy going against a tough team). Also sometimes one of your stars may be on a real cold streak, or one of your bench players may be on a real hot streak, so that will help decide who you want to go with - but keep a close eye on them and be ready to take action if their streak ends.

Hopefully that's of some help and good luck.

[bluebledthesea]

stomperrob answered it, but as far as who to start it's basically as much time and effort as you want to put into it. Your stud starters are usually the safest bet, but if you want to spend time researching it you can play match ups and figure out who is playing against a weak team. That's how you can get an edge and surprise a lot of people.

You may also want to look at your league's scoring system because certain players may give you more points than you might expect. For example, Point Per Reception (PPR) and yards can add up even if the guy doesn't get in the end zone.