Fantasy University: Course 403 — Manage your fantasy league in 58 minutes (or less) every week

During the NFL season, millions of words are written across all major sports platforms on the subject of fantasy football. Countless hours of video and audio content are produced and consumed. Tens of thousands of people will buy old-school print magazines previewing the fantasy landscape in the year ahead.

Given the astonishing volume of football-related material generated each season by the fantasy industrial complex, you might assume that the game itself must be almost unimaginably difficult — unsolvable by anyone who lacks arcane knowledge and highly specialized expertise.

In fact, fantasy football is actually a game that can be won by the laziest manager in your league, provided they get a couple of big things right. You can’t be a do-nothing manager and expect to win a competitive league, but fantasy football also isn’t the sort of pursuit that demands 100% of your discretionary time. (That is to say, it’s not fantasy baseball.) Normal humans with normal lives who are not perpetually online can find success in football leagues.

Here’s everything that will be required of you on a daily basis during the typical fantasy week:

Monday – Minimal effort. Just give the status of your head-to-head matchup a quick glance to see which players you’ll be rooting for and against in the Monday night game. Occasionally, you may want to stash someone involved in MNF as a potential lottery ticket ahead of the next week’s waiver period, but this is not necessary.

Total estimated time commitment: 4 minutes, max.

Tuesday – Modest-yet-manageable effort. There are basically two days in the fantasy football week demanding your time and energy, and this is one of them. Waivers run overnight on Tuesdays in Yahoo leagues, so you will need to set a few claims, prioritizing adds and drops. Fortunately, we offer a bunch of excellent in-game research tools as well as advice in various formats (articles, pods, videos) to help inform your decisions. If your schedule and lifestyle allow it, try to wait until Tuesday evening to consider your waiver claims to maximize available injury information.

Total estimated time: 25 minutes (but it’s often less).

Wednesday – Easy day. Great day — arguably the best day of the fantasy week. During the NFL season, Wednesday mornings are like delightful little holidays when you get to unwrap waiver wire gifts. Start the day with a quick look to see if your claims were successful, then scan the available free agents for useful scraps dropped by your leaguemates in the process.

Total time: 5 minutes.

Thursday – Again, minimal effort required. It’s a perfect day for trash talk. You will need to make start/sit decisions on players involved in Thursday Night Football, which of course can (and should) wait until kickoff is near. Let’s be sure to take any TNF players out of your flex and slot them into their true positions (RB, WR, TE) to provide maximum roster flexibility heading into the weekend.

Total time: 4 minutes.

Friday – Zero mandatory roster tinkering. It’s another stellar opportunity to talk trash to your opponent, particularly if TNF went well for your squad. We would encourage you to scroll leisurely through the content created by our analysts throughout the week — maybe scan the consensus position ranks or check your matchup projections.

Total time: None required. Research opportunities are available, though.

Saturday – Hey, it’s the non-NFL portion of the weekend, so let’s make the most of it. Get some outdoor time. Or perhaps knock out a few projects around the home. Enjoy some college football.

Total time: Zilch.

Sunday – OK, moderate effort and focus are needed. Sundays are obviously pretty important in the fantasy calendar. You will need to gather late-breaking intel, check any and all updated injury info and set the best possible lineup. Once again, your friends at Yahoo Fantasy are here to help. We will have an abundance of up-to-the-minute information available in a variety of formats. After your starters are locked in, you are free to experience gameday wherever and however you choose.

Total time: 20 minutes, give or take.

That’s it; that’s everything. Very few people on Earth are actually too busy to play fantasy football. If you’ve made it to the closing paragraph of this feature, then, well … you are probably not one of them. Give us approximately 58 logged-on minutes per week for, like, four months, then you win a ring.

Congrats, you’ve made it through our 400-level courses! If you’re still hungry for more (or, you’re an overachiever), it’s time to head to our advanced classes.