A little over halfway through the NFL season, anything can happen regarding fantasy football. What is fantasy football? Fantasy football is where you get into a league with friends, family, or random people and draft NFL players to create your team. Once your team has been drafted, you set your weekly lineups throughout the season and watch your players run, pass, catch, or score, which leads to fantasy points. At the end of every week, whoever has the most fantasy points between the weekly matchup wins the week. However, injuries and suspensions to players you have on your team could potentially end your season.

Senior Jaxon Hadas loves the competition and competitiveness fantasy football brings to him. “I love fantasy football because it is a very competitive game that requires much knowledge to win. It puts me in the mind of a coach in the NFL to construct a winning team to beat my friends,” Hadas said.

While already halfway into the season, this is where the fantasy football competitiveness increases majorly with teams trying to make it into the fantasy playoffs.

What are the best ways to make it into the playoffs and potentially make it into the fantasy football championship? With many people fighting for a playoff spot, there are key factors that people are missing out on. One of the main factors is to stay active on the waiver wire. Players on the waiver wire are players who were not drafted or were dropped by other teams. After every week, each player has a chance to submit a claim to pick up these players. The lower-seeded teams have the first priority of picking up these players over the higher-seeded teams. Cedric Hopkins from BleacherReport states that you can “find gold on the waiver wire each year,” which can ultimately help win or make the fantasy playoffs.

Already into week nine of the NFL season, waiver wire pickups such as Puka Nacua, Raheem Mostert, Devon Achane, and Sam Laporta have given many teams a positive record along with a great chance to make the fantasy football playoffs.

Senior Isaiah Walters says Puka Nacua was “amazing” for his fantasy team. “Picking Puka off waivers was one of the best decisions I’ve made in fantasy because he’s done so much for my team and has led me to be a playoff-worthy team,” Walters said.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to fantasy football. You can be the first seed, but you’re out of the playoffs before you know it. With the playoffs coming down to the wire, it’s time to lock in and stay focused to make the playoffs and potentially win the fantasy football championship.