Frequently Asked Questions
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you calculate projections, tiers, etc.?
Why R?
Do stats help in fantasy football?
How can I learn R?
How can I download and run your R scripts from GitHub?
How can I download your projections?
How can I print your projections?
Do you have an API to access your projections?
How can I customize the projections to the scoring system of my league?
What is FFA Insider, and how do I sign up (or cancel)?
Do you have projections for dynasty/keeper leagues?
How can I handle 2-QB leagues, flex positions, and other roster variations in the apps?
Do you offer DFS advice?
How do I use the apps?
What is the difference between the Lineup Optimizer and the Projections tool?
How can I interpret the graphs and charts?
What sources of projections do you include?
When do you release season projections?
When do you release weekly projections?
How often do you update the projections?
Do you update the season projections after the season begins?
Do you calculate projections through the playoffs?
Can projections be generated from rankings?
What algorithm do you use to create the lineup optimizer?
Where do you obtain estimates of players’ injury risk?
There seems to be an incorrect/inaccurate projection for a player, what gives?
Do you collect historical projections?
Do you collect historical performance (actual fantasy points), in addition to projected points?
Where is the source code for the webapps?
Where can I submit a feature request?
What do I do if I get an error in the app?
What do I do if the app doesn’t load?
What do I do if I have trouble logging in to use the apps?
How can I share my scripts with the community?
How can I donate to the project?
How can I donate projections to the project?
Still have an unanswered question?
How do you calculate projections, tiers, etc.?
See here.
Why R?
R is free and open source, and has great flexibility for advanced statistical techniques and graphics. You can download it here. For info on how to learn R, see here. We strongly recommend the RStudio text editor for working with R scripts. R scripts and data files for this website are located in our GitHub repository. For info on how to download and run our data and R scripts, see here. For reasons why R is better than Excel, see here.
Do stats help in fantasy football?
See here.
How can I learn R?
For info on how to learn R, see here.
How can I download and run your R scripts from GitHub?
See here. For info on our ffanalytics R package, see here.
How can I download your projections?
You can download current and historical projections from our apps. For more info how to download current and historical projections, see here. You can also scrape projections using R (see here). Our ffanalytics R package can scrape and calculate projections. Note that in order to download historical projections, you’ll need an FFA Insider subscription. You can also access our projections programmatically using our API.
How can I print your projections?
First, download projections from our apps (see here). Second, open the .csv file in a text editor that can read comma separated values (.csv) files—we recommend using spreadsheet software like Excel to print the projections. Alternatively, you can scrape projections using R (see here), and print the projections from R.
Do you have an API to access your projections?
Yes! You can learn more about the API here.
How can I customize the projections to the scoring system of my league?
In the app, click “Change Data Settings” and modify the “Scoring Settings” section. For more info, see here.
What is FFA Insider, and how do I sign up (or cancel)?
FFA Insider is a subscription service with premium content for helping you win your league. For more info about FFA Insider, including what you get, how to sign up, and how to cancel, see here.
Do you have projections for dynasty/keeper leagues?
Not currently. Let us know where we can get projections or rankings for dynasty/keeper leagues and we may be able to include them in the future.
How can I handle 2-QB leagues, flex positions, and other roster variations in the apps?
In the Lineup Optimizer (aka Auction Draft) tool, you can specify how many players to include at each position (including flex positions) by clicking “Change Data Settings” and modifying the “Number of Starters by Position.” In the Projections (aka Snake Draft) tool, you can specify different VOR baseline numbers to account for 2-QBs, flex positions, and other roster variates. For more info on VOR and how to determine different VOR baseline numbers, see here.
Do you offer DFS advice?
Several of our articles offer advice that is applicable and useful for DFS. A few examples are:
How do I use the apps?
We have tutorials for:
- The Lineup Optimizer (aka Auction Draft) tool
- The Projections (aka Snake Draft) tool
What is the difference between the Lineup Optimizer and the Projections tool?
The Lineup Optimizer is for selecting the best lineup to draft in an Auction Draft or to select in Daily Fantasy Leagues. It identifies the optimal starting lineup by selecting the players that maximize the lineup’s sum of projected points within the cost constraints and your risk tolerance.
The Projections tool is for calculating custom projections for your league, and for selecting the best players to draft in a Snake Draft.
How can I interpret the graphs and charts?
The most common plots we use are density plots, scatter plots, and line charts. We use density plots to depict the distribution of projections from different sources (see “Graph” tab in the apps). Density plots can be helpful for visualizing the proportion of players at varying levels of projected performance and for identifying sources of projections that are considerably different from the others. We use scatter plots for depicting the association between projected fantasy points and actual fantasy points (see “Accuracy” tab in the apps). Scatter plots can be helpful to examine the correlation between two variables, and in this case, for examining the accuracy of projections. We even have interactive scatter plots to help you examine the accuracy of projections for individual players. We use line charts to depict the range of plausible projections for each player in the optimal lineup (see “Graph” tab in the Lineup Optimizer tool). The dot represents the average estimate of projected points for each player. The line shows the range from a player’s floor to ceiling.
What sources of projections do you include?
The sources of our projections are listed in our apps (select an app and click “Change Data Settings”): http://apps.fantasyfootballanalytics.net. For more info on these sources, see here. See here for more info on how we aggregate and calculate custom projections for your league.
When do you release season projections?
We release season projections when there are sufficient sources of projections available to generate “wisdom of the crowd” projections. Most sources wait until after the NFL Draft to release projections, so we aim to release projections soon after the NFL Draft.
When do you release weekly projections?
We release weekly projections on Wednesdays during the season, and update projections regularly until Sunday.
How often do you update the projections?
We update the projections regularly, especially more often as the NFL season approaches. You can see the date the projections were last updated in the top right of our Projections tool.
Do you update the season projections after the season begins?
We calculate weekly projections throughout the season. We do not alter the season projections after the season begins so we can test the accuracy of the season projections after the season ends. We do not generate “rest of season” projections after the season begins because very few sources provide such projections (let us know if you find multiple sources). We recommend using our season projections for drafting and using our weekly projections for setting your daily/weekly lineup.
Do you calculate projections through the playoffs?
Yes.
Can projections be generated from rankings?
It’s easy to calculate rankings from projections but it’s considerably more challenging (and less accurate) to reverse engineer projections from rankings. You could impute a projection estimate from the ranking based on the historical average of projections for a given position rank, but it would be fairly inaccurate because of the considerable year-to-year variability in fantasy points by position rank. We strongly recommend using projections over rankings for a multitude of reasons.
What algorithm do you use to create the lineup optimizer?
We use the Rglpk() package in R to find your optimal starting lineup by selecting the players that maximize the lineup’s sum of projected points within the cost constraints and your risk tolerance. For more info, see here.
Where do you obtain estimates of players’ injury risk?
We get estimates of players’ injury risk from Sports Injury Predictor.
There seems to be an incorrect/inaccurate projection for a player, what gives?
We calculate projections using the “Wisdom of the Crowd”. That is, we calculate projections from the average of many other sources. Our projections are only as accurate as (the aggregate of) the underlying sources of projections. Nevertheless, the “wisdom of the crowd” is the most accurate of all fantasy football projections, and accounts for about one-half to two-thirds of the variance in players’ performance (see here). If you disagree with a projection, you might look at the individual projection sources using our webapps to see which one(s) you disagree with, and you can exclude them or give them less weight. For more info, see here. You might also consider changing your VOR baseline values (see here).
If a projection is way off, this could be more many reasons. For example, one of the sources of our projections might not account for a player being injured or suspended. If you see a weird projection, let us know and we can make sure the projections are calculated correctly. To let us know, please fill out the questionnaire here. We need to be able to reproduce the projection in order to fix it, so please provide adequate detail. It’s much easier for us if you can provide just the changes you made (i.e., not all settings in the tool). It’s especially helpful if you can pinpoint which specific change caused the weird projection. It is inevitable that some projections will not be accurate because of the high week-to-week variability of players’ performance.
Do you collect historical projections?
Yes, we collect both current and historical projections. Our historical seasonal projections go back to 2008. Our historical weekly projections go back to 2015. You can download them from our apps. For more info how to download current and historical projections, see here. In order to download historical projections, you’ll need an FFA Insider subscription or access to our API.
Do you collect historical performance (actual fantasy points), in addition to projected points?
Yes, you can download historical actual seasonal fantasy points from our apps (see here), and examine historical accuracy of projections (see here), as well. Our historical seasonal performance data go back to 2008. Our historical weekly projections go back to 2015. In order to download historical projections and examine their accuracy, you’ll need an FFA Insider subscription.
Where is the source code for the webapps?
The code for the apps is not open source, but the functions/R scripts they use are open source in our GitHub repo. For more info how to download our scripts, see here. For info on our ffanalytics R package, see here.
How can I submit a feature request?
Please fill out the questionnaire here.
What do I do if I get an error in the app?
Do the following steps in order:
- If using Chrome, disable SameSite behavior by typing “chrome://flags/#same-site-by-
default-cookies” in a new Chrome tab, then changing the SameSite behavior from Default to Disabled - Disable your ad blockers and script blockers—this is crucial as our apps rely heavily on Javascript, whose functioning can be destroyed by ad blockers and script blockers
- Verify that your ad blockers are OFF using this test
- Verify that your Javascript is working using this test
- Clear your browser’s cache
- Log out of the apps and then log back in
- Try a new browser—we recommend trying Google Chrome in Incognito Mode; many users have reported success with Microsoft Edge
- Try a different computer and operating system
If it’s still not working even after successfully completing the above steps, please fill out the questionnaire here. We need to be able to reproduce the error in order to fix it, so please provide adequate detail. It’s much easier for us if you can provide just the changes you made (i.e., not all settings in the tool). It’s especially helpful if you can pinpoint which specific change caused the error. If it’s during peak (evening) hours during the peak of draft season (late August to early September), it’s possible that the app is down due to heavy traffic (for more info see here).
What do I do if the app doesn’t load?
Do the following steps in order:
- Try waiting for a few minutes to let it load. Sometimes the apps can take a while to load upon first initialization.
- If using Chrome, disable SameSite behavior by typing “chrome://flags/#same-site-by-
default-cookies” in a new Chrome tab, then changing the SameSite behavior from Default to Disabled - Disable your ad blockers and script blockers—this is crucial as our apps rely heavily on Javascript, whose functioning can be destroyed by ad blockers and script blockers
- Verify that your ad blockers are OFF using this test
- Verify that your Javascript is working using this test
- Clear your browser’s cache
- Log out of the apps and then log back in
- Try a new browser—we recommend trying Google Chrome in Incognito Mode; many users have reported success with Microsoft Edge
- Try a different computer and operating system
- If you just see a blank white screen, please wait patiently. During peak usage, it can sometimes take a minute or longer for the app to load.
If it’s still not loading even after successfully completing the above steps, please fill out the questionnaire here. If it’s during peak (evening) hours during the peak of draft season (late August to early September), it’s possible that the app is down due to heavy traffic (for more info see here).
What do I do if I have trouble logging in to use the apps?
Do the following steps in order:
- If using Chrome, disable SameSite behavior by typing “chrome://flags/#same-site-by-
default-cookies” in a new Chrome tab, then changing the SameSite behavior from Default to Disabled - Disable your ad blockers and script blockers—this is crucial as our apps rely heavily on Javascript, whose functioning can be destroyed by ad blockers and script blockers
- Verify that your ad blockers are OFF using this test
- Verify that your Javascript is working using this test
- Clear your browser’s cache
- Try a new browser—we recommend trying Google Chrome in Incognito Mode; many users have reported success with Microsoft Edge
- Try a different computer and operating system
If you haven’t received the verification email to register to use the apps, please make sure the following email is whitelisted: noreply@fantasyfootballanalytics.net. For how to whitelist an email address, see here. Also, check your spam folder. If you’re still not able to login after successfully completing the above steps, please fill out the questionnaire here. If you have already verified your email and you are still asked to verify your email, then try to sign in again with the credentials you registered with. For more info how to contact us to make sure you can login, see here.
How can I share my scripts with the community?
We make all of our scripts available for free. By making our scripts freely available, we feel that more people in the community will learn R/stats and contribute to the project. If you create new scripts or make changes to our scripts, you are encouraged to share them with the Fantasy Football Analytics community. This is why we make the scripts available to you for free—so the community can collectively use and improve them. This benefits everyone. For info on how to share your scripts with the community, see here.
How can I donate to the project?
You can donate here. Thanks so much for your support!
How can I donate projections to the project?
In order to include projections in our apps, we need account access so we can update our projections when the site updates their projections. To donate funds for additional sources of projections, go here. To send account access, you may contact us personally (see here).
Still have an unanswered question?
If you have questions best suited for the community, please ask them in the site’s comments section below an article (so we can answer other people if they have the same question). To contact us about FFA Insider, see here. To contact us with other matters, see here.
