Have you ever had a fantasy football league that dies out after a few seasons? Or maybe your league managers complain about the style of the draft? Well no more! In this article, I am going to introduce you to three fun and unique league types that are sure to retain league managers, grow your love for the game, and increase the intense levels of competition.

Rookie Explosion League

Taking part in a rookie explosion league takes a lot of patience, a little skill, and a lot of luck. The rookie explosion drafts usually have between eight and sixteen teams and complete a normal snake draft for all participants. The format is pretty typical with all the regular player positions, one flex spot, and seven bench spots.

The real challenge for this type of a league is that one random manager, usually the commissioner of the league, takes on the role of being able to only draft rookie NFL players. No other manager can have a rookie on their team. Waivers run like normal for everyone, except the manager with the rookie team only has access to undrafted rookies. Whenever the manager with only rookie players beats a manager with a team of NFL veterans, they get to choose one player to permanently swap for the rest of the season. For example, the rookie manager could swap Velus Jones Jr. for Cooper Kupp. Leagues like this make the stakes higher and winning taste sweeter!

Vampire League

A vampire league, also known as an underdogs league, focuses heavily on the sleepers, the underdogs, and the upside certain lesser known NFL players have. The league works best with somewhere between eight and sixteen teams. The draft is a 14-round snake draft and managers have free reign to take whoever they want, whenever they want. Rosters are composed of one flex spot and five bench spots.

The interesting factor for this league is that the appointed person, again, usually the commissioner, can only have players on their roster that went undrafted in the previous years fantasy football draft, round fifteen or later. Players such as Cam Akers, J.K. Dobbins, and Amon-Ra St. Brown are valid picks for the vampire this season. Managers can then claim any players that are left over from the draft. Once more, whenever the appointed vampire wins against another manager, they get to select one player from their roster to swap out. For example, Cam Akers for Jonathan Taylor.

Switcheroo League

Finally, one of the lesser known leagues and one of my personal favorites. The switcheroo league is normal in every facet, except for when it comes time for the playoffs. These leagues run the best with eight to sixteen teams, have a normal snake draft, and normal positional spots (one flex spot and seven bench spots).

The craziest part about this type of league is that if you make the playoffs, you and the other managers who made the playoffs will do a fantasy football redraft. Meaning, you will likely be drafting from a totally new spot in the order and will likely have no or very few players from your original team. Seeing how every player performs during the season also adds an extra level of difficulty and strategy to the playoff draft. The teams that do not make the playoffs will not be included in this redraft.

Have fun implementing these unique formats into your fantasy football leagues this upcoming season!

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