Fantasy Football is in full swing, and your money, pride, and most importantly, your league’s championship hopes are on the line. According to the New York Post, there are over 75 million of Fantasy Football players each year vying for that top spot their respective leagues. Whether for fun or cash, there are simple methods you can follow to boost your odds at that trophy. Right off the bat, forget sleepers: focus on the Waiver Wire, the system fantasy uses to give each team rights to free agents, instead. The term Sleeper is probably the number one word that fantasy articles sites use to attract readers, and that’s the exact reason why experts such as the Washington Post’s Fantasy Guru Neil Greenburg doesn’t use the word. “I say formerly known as sleepers because it is tougher to find a player no one knows about, what with this being the age of information and all.” As of now, The Waiver Wire, is a much better place to focus on getting productive players. As well as focusing on the wire, you also need to acknowledge circumstances for players. Even though a player could have amazing talent, a situation outside of their control could turn a star into a dud. Take Wide Receiver Antonio Brown: highly regarded as the league’s top receiver. He’s been forecast as the number one pick in the majority of leagues; however he might underperform initially. With star running back Le’veon Bell suspended for the first four weeks, opposing defenses can afford to focus more on Brown, cutting his points. Also, despite whatever you and other league members think about how your draft went, it’s best not to start dropping players who underperformed in week one. Stick with the decisions you made, only make fundamental changes after truly waiting to see what’s best to change. If an example is needed on why you don’t tinker, just look at Rodney “Ruxin” Ruxin on The League. He’s lost more games than anyone, switching and trading and sitting players who then put up big numbers. In Fantasy Football, not only are strategies constantly changing, but the way games are played have changed throughout its entire history. When the concept of Fantasy Football was first created by Wilfred Winkenbach in 1962, the only way to score points for a team were touchdowns. That meant if Johney Unitas threw for 400 yards, but didn’t have a touchdown pass, he wouldn’t score any points for a team. The main problem back then was the delay and unorginization of information; a problem that definitely no longer plagues leagues. With instant updates, leagues have been able adjust and specify rules. The rules different leagues have is tremendous. For starters, intead of scoring by touchdowns and yards, Points per Reception leagues score by the number of receptions or runs a player has in a game. While seemingly minor, this can affect the game quite a lot. According to sbnation.com, a leader in fantasy sports information, Fullback Danny Woodhead is ranked 32nd in normal leagues, while 21st in PPR leagues! Changes like this show that different rules lead to different players which lead to different champions. In any case, it’s only the beginning of a long fantasy season. Just make sure you get out there, have fun, and follow this advice to win yours.