One of the most common questions new fantasy football players have is, “do bench players get points in fantasy football?”.
Only players in your starting lineup can earn points for your team in fantasy football. Bench players earn points but do not count toward your score.
You will be declared the winner if you receive more fantasy points than your opponent.
Therefore, you want to make sure your best players are in the starting lineup.
Using expert projections for the upcoming week can help you decide who to start and bench.
In Fantasy Football, Why is there a Bench?
Since bench points won’t count towards your score, you may be wondering why there is a bench at all.
Injuries
In fantasy football, you have a bench mainly because of injuries. Just like in real life, you will need players to step up when a starter gets injured.
Choose a player from your bench instead of going to the waiver wire and selecting any available player.
Your bench usually has higher quality players than waiver wire players, otherwise you would add them.
Fantasy football players placed on the IR won’t take up roster or bench space.
You will be able to pick up another player from your bench instead of moving them to IR.
Holding on to Potential Starters
Some players simply need time to acclimate before they can produce fantasy points for your team.
A rookie finding his footing in the league would be a great example.
In the first few weeks, you may not be able to win with this player on your fantasy team.
It is common for fantasy managers to keep players on their bench until they are able to produce more consistently.
Players who are not quite ready to start can be kept on the bench.
Similar to how affiliated sports teams keep players in the minors for professional teams.
Bye Weeks
In a seventeen-game NFL regular season, each team will get one bye week. This is another reason why benches are used in fantasy football.
As a result, there will be no games this week, giving the players a chance to rest.
During the course of the fantasy season, every starter will miss at least one game. When this happens, you will need to fill the void with players from your bench.
When one of their starting players has a bye week, fantasy managers often add players with favorable matchups to their bench.
Is there Any Use to Bench Points?
It is unlikely that bench points will help you win a matchup, but they can be somewhat useful.
Taking a quick look at your bench points after a matchup is a helpful way to assess your team’s performance.
You can determine if starting any of these bench players would have improved your matchup by seeing how they performed.
As a result, your starting lineup may change before the next game.
Furthermore, some leagues rank fantasy managers based on bench points.
Coaches who leave the most points on their bench are considered the worst, whereas those who leave the least are considered the best.
To learn more about bench players in fantasy football, check out our guides to GB or learn what a player’s ceiling is.