A taxi squad in fantasy football allows fantasy teams to stash extra players that will not count against their roster limit. Taxi squads are usually used in dynasty leagues to keep rookies and other potential talents on your team as they develop.
In most leagues, taxi squads are only going to allow fantasy managers to add rookies but some leagues may not enforce this rule.
Players on your taxi squad will not earn you any fantasy points unless they are promoted to your active roster. It helps to think of your taxi squad as a practice squad or scout team.
These players are under your possession and once they are performing well enough they can be called up to your active roster.
Generally, taxi squad players are not going to be in high demand as these are the players that are not sitting on an active roster. But every once and a while a taxi player will find his way to a productive NFL career.
To learn some other fantasy football terminology see our guides to what bye mean in fantasy football or what ECR means.
How long can you hold a player on the taxi squad?
The duration a fantasy manager can hold their taxi players is going to be decided by your commissioner. In most cases, players can only be held on the taxi squad in their first few years in the league.
Popular options in fantasy leagues include removing players from a taxi squad once they have played one full year in the NFL or two full years in the NFL.
Poaching from an opponents taxi squad
In some leagues, fantasy managers will be allowed to poach a player from another team’s fantasy taxi squad. Similar to the real NFL if a player is on the practice squad another team has a chance to sign him to an active roster.
Leagues that allow poaching of taxi players often allow the fantasy manager to stop the poaching attempt by promoting their player from the taxi squad to their own active roster before he is taken.
The majority of fantasy football leagues that utilize taxi squads do not allow for poaching.
What sort of players are added to a taxi squad?
Now that you know what a taxi squad is you may be wondering what kind of players you should add to this portion of your team. Keep in mind all the top players in the league will already be on active rosters.
Backup to an injury-prone player
One of the most common tactics with taxi players is to target backups to injury-prone players. The most difficult task of rookies drafted late is getting reps.
When the player in front of them has a history of injuries there is a good chance that this player is going to see the field at some point.
Targeting players like this may allow a day three draft pick to become one of the main contributors to a team.
The player who produced in college
Another way that fantasy managers may choose their taxi players is based on college production. When looking for players to add to the taxi squad you will find there is not a ton of options.
Choosing players that managed to put up good fantasy numbers in college is a good place to start.
Being drafted late means teams are not expecting these players to replicate their college stats but there is something to be said about players that have shown they can produce when given the opportunity.
The Athletic Freak
Each year the NFL combine allows several prospects to show off their incredible athletic ability. Oftentimes these players are quite raw meaning they are going to need time and training in order to succeed in the NFL.
Players like this can be a great option for the taxi squad. Giving them time on your taxi squad may allow these players to find their potential and ultimately become fantasy contributors later in their careers.
That is all on taxi squads in fantasy football, to learn more check our guide to understanding serpentine drafts or the definition of a boom or bust player.
