NFL season begins with fantasy football craze and changes in the league

Timothy Jones, Writer|October 11, 2021

“The NFL is my happy place,” stated Nate Zschunke, an eighth-grader and Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Fans are ecstatic to be back in the stadiums after that difficult Covid-19 year and back cheering on their team. Even if your team isn’t playing you still have players to cheer for on your fantasy football team.

One of the most popular football activities actually doesn’t involve any physical movement. We’re talking about fantasy football. If you don’t know, fantasy football is where you draft real-life players onto a team where you go head-to-head against another player, with points being related to how well the player does in real life. It’s a great way to get into football and start watching games.

 “Fantasy football is how I started watching football,” said Nicholas Picorelli, a seventh-grader and Philadelphia Eagles fan.

The top fantasy football players (up to Oct. 5) are:

  • Running backs (or RB) Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, Cordelle Patterson of the Atlanta Falcons, and Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings.
  • Wide receivers (or WR) Mike Williams of the Los Angeles Chargers; Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, and Terry McLaurin of the Washington Football Team.

A few really good players who weren’t expected to be good are Jalen Hurts Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback (or QB), Tony Pollard, RB for Dallas Cowboys, and Mike Williams, WR for Los Angeles Chargers.

Over the off season of the NFL there were some huge changes to teams that have made them a 3-0 team. A great example of that is the Matthew Stafford trade, which included the La Rams giving up Jared Goff and a second-round pick, and the Detroit Lions trading Matthew Stafford. So far this season, Matthew Stafford has been a true leader and the Rams are currently 4-0 against some pretty good teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Other new playoff contenders are: the Tennessee Titans, the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Football Team, and the Buffalo Bills.

Josh Boyce, an eighth-grade Philadelphia Eagles fan, says, “The NFL is back and as big as ever.”