7 Tools To Help Build A Winning Fantasy Football Roster
Matthew Freedman shares the seven tools that he uses most frequently both in fantasy football content creation and as a player looking to build a winner.
True story: An editor asked me last week about the tools I use for research when I'm writing articles and making rankings and projections.
By the way, our 2025 season-long player projections, as well as our 2025 fantasy football rankings (applicable for best ball, redraft, and Guillotine Leagues™), are available via our FantasyLife+ package. Check it out. And when you do, use the promo code FREEDMAN for 20% off.
I sent him a list of the tools with some notes, and he said, "Great, let's turn that into an article."
So this is that article.
Also, that's not a true story: I just needed an intro of about 100 words.
And I got it.
Seven Fantasy Football Tools to Be a Better Player
Here are seven of the tools I use while researching and writing. If you use these tools, I think you'll become a better fantasy player.
No. 1: Fantasy Life Utilization Report
Our Utilization Report is an absolute banger.
First of all, it contains our industry-leading Utilization Score, which uses a 1-100 scale to quantify the fantasy-impactful usage earned by RBs, WRs, and TEs. If I had to pick just one metric to help me predict how guys will perform in the future, that would be the one.
Additionally, it contains three tabs I consult incessantly.
I especially love the graphics and modules in the Game Logs and Comparison tabs.
No. 2: RBs Don't Matter Defensive Stats Page
At RBs Don't Matter, you can see the expected points added per play and success rates (overall, dropback, and rush) for all 32 defenses.
That makes it a tremendous resource to use when evaluating weekly matchups.
Speaking of which …
No. 3: Fantasy Life DvP Tool
While a metric like EPA can give general information about a matchup, our Defense-vs.-Position Tool highlights how specific position groups have done in the past against all 32 defenses.
As an example: Last year, the Vikings allowed the most Half-PPR fantasy points per game to opposing WRs (30.8), who got a collective Fantasy Boost of +6.3 in the matchup.
If you want to know the raw stats, that info's there too: In 2024, WRs averaged 21.4 targets per game (+5.0 boost) and 173.1 yards receiving (+36.9 boost) against the Vikings.
You can find similar DvP info in the tool for all QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs.
Although I think that sometimes fantasy managers can put too much emphasis on the matchup, at the tails (in the top five and bottom five), it matters a lot.
No. 4: Fantasy Life Air Yards Tool
Air Yards. YAC. WOPR. RACR.
The good advanced stuff that matters for WRs and TEs—you can see it all in our Air Yards Tool that will be debuting soon.
No. 5: RotoViz Game Splits App
This is an oldie but goodie. I've been using the RV Splits App for years, and it's perfect for quickly answering basic splits-related questions.
Example: Let's say that you want to know how WR Justin Jefferson did in 2023 in games without QB Kirk Cousins vs. the games without him.
It takes almost no time at all to set up the query, and …
- In Split: 22.2 PPR | 10.8 targets | 7.2 Recs | 114.2 yards | 0.6 TDs
- Out Split: 18.9 PPR | 9.4 targets | 6.4 Recs | 100.6 yards | 0.4 TDs
You can get an automatic subscription to RotoViz (as well as Fantasy Life) with a RotoPass bundle.
No. 6: Fantasy Life ADP Tool
As I'm writing this piece, it's the heart of draft SZN.
If you're not using our ADP Tool to monitor the market movement of various players and compare their markets across various platforms, then you're not as sick as you think you are.
No. 7: Fantasy Life Draft Champion
If you're not using our Mock Draft Simulator, presented by Gopuff, to play out all the different scenarios for how your home league drafts might unfold, are you even alive?
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