Fantasy football is a game of managing players and building the perfect roster to win the league. If this is your first time playing fantasy football, you must have heard “IR” a lot in the fantasy football circles. Injured Reserve(IR) fantasy football is an essential concept in the course of a fantasy football season and understanding “IR” and how it works is crucial. So what is IR? The following page will give you a detailed explanation as you begin your journey into fantasy football.
What Does Injured Reserve(IR) Mean in Fantasy Football?
The NFL is an unpredictable sport. The players get on the gridiron and compete at the highest level. It’s a very physical sport. Athletes are one play away from getting injured, which could eventually be the end of the season for the player.
While playing fantasy football, these injuries have an impact on the trajectory of the league. As fantasy football managers, they will have to manage the roster and build a roster that will win you games every week.
IR stands for injury reserve. In the NFL, players are placed on the injury reserve list when they become incapable of playing. This allows the NFL teams to add a new player to fill the roster.
In fantasy football, Injured Reserve Spot is where you place the injured player once he is declared unavailable in the NFL.
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How does IR Spot work in fantasy football?
In fantasy football, the process of placing a player in the IR spot is very similar to the National Football League. If the particular player is placed on the injury reserve in the NFL, then he automatically goes to the IR spot.
This is where things get interesting. Since the player is placed on the IR spot, he will not be counted in the total number of players in the fantasy football squad. This allows the fantasy football managers to fill up that spot in the roster without having to drop any other player. While placing the injured player on the IR is inevitable, it also opens up an opportunity for the fantasy football team manager to fill that sport in a calculative manner.
IR spot also works based on different league platforms. ESPN and Yahoo usually place the player in the IR Spot once he is declared out.
Also Read: Fantasy football scoring: How does it work?
What to do when the player in your fantasy football team is in the IR spot?
Playing with injuries is hard. NFL being a tough and physically demanding sport, injuries are common.
When a player is placed on the IR spot, the fantasy football managers can bridge the gap in the roster by selecting another player. The whole purpose of Injured Reserve spot is to cushion the impact of injury and have a safety net.
When the injured player eventually returns, you need to place him back on your fantasy football squad. Now that the injured player has returned from the IR spot to the roster, you will need to drop one player from your squad to compensate for the addition.
FAQs
A. In fantasy football, a player is placed in the IR spot when he is injured and is ruled out to play.
A. When a player is placed on the injury reserve by the NFL, the fantasy football manager can place the injured player from the team in the IR spot.
A. When a player is injured and is placed in the IR spot, the fantasy football manager will have the option to fill the roster without dropping any members off the squad.
A. In such cases, the fantasy football manager will have to add the player back to the squad and drop a player to manage the addition.
A. Handcuffs are usually when a backup player is ready to take the spot of a starter in cases when the starter happens to miss games.
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