If you are new to the game of fantasy football you may be finding yourself overwhelmed by the numerous terms and acronyms that come with this game. One of the often asked-about acronyms in fantasy football is BN.
BN in fantasy football stands for bench. Much like a real-life sports team fantasy football has a bench for players on the roster that are not included in the starting lineup.
When on the bench these players cannot score points for your fantasy team. These players will remain on your roster and cannot be used by other fantasy managers.
A player can switch from your bench to your starting lineup at any point during the week prior to playing their game.
The number of bench spots on a fantasy football team is going to affect the quality of players on the waiver wire. When a league has a large number of bench spots per team the talent on the waiver wire is going to be quite low.
When teams have a small number of bench spots you will find higher quality players will be able to be added to your team from the wire.
Benefits Of BN In Fantasy Football
Now that you know what BN stands for in fantasy football it’s time you learned how to get the most out of these roster spots. Below we will break down some of the top ways you can use your bench spots.
Handcuffing
Handcuffing in fantasy football refers to owning a player that will become their team’s starter if an injury occurs. For example say you have Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants on your fantasy team.
If you wanted to get his backup you would place Devontae Booker in one of your BN spots. Booker is Saquon’s backup so if he gets hurt Booker would become the starter.
This allows you to get some insurance on your player’s health. You can also handcuff running backs that you do not own on your fantasy team.
Holding onto a backup that will become an immediate starter if an injury occurs can be a wise investment for your fantasy team.
Breakout Candidates
Another option for your bench spots in fantasy football is breakout candidates. These are players that have the potential to score lots of fantasy points and become starters in your lineup.
At this point, these players have not yet broken out meaning they are not currently scoring many fantasy points. This makes it more likely that these players will still be available on your waiver wire.
By acquiring these players before the breakout you can keep them on your bench until they start producing enough to enter the starting lineup.
In most cases, these breakout players are going to be rookies or second-year players.
Depth For Bye Weeks
One more way you can use bench spots to your benefit in fantasy football is by holding onto depth players.
Throughout the year each NFL team is going to have one bye week. This means each of your starters is going to have at least one week in which they will be unavailable for your lineup.
By having quality backups in your BN spots you will be able to handle bye weeks with ease.
Additionally, injuries are likely to pile up throughout the year. Having a few solid depth players on your bench can be handy for covering these injury-heavy weeks.
In most cases, these depth players are added during the draft and will maintain their spot on your roster throughout the season.
That’s everything on BN in fantasy football learn what starting percentage is in fantasy football or what opp rank stands for in our guides to learning fantasy football.
