Welcome back, managers. A new year, a new look, and a new set of rules to come with the new season.
First and foremost, we are welcoming our newest member of the BEN Fantasy Football League, Ava.
And say hello to the new website and new branding.
At the Manager's Meeting, we voted on the newest set of proposed amendments. Here are the ones that were approved:
Amendment 1 - Banning "trade-back" trades
- This would prohibit managers from trading players one week and then trading them back the following week.
- Any series of transactions that attempts to circumvent this rule (e.g. including a third party) will be reviewed and potentially will be voided by the commissioner.
- This does not restrict any other team from trading for that player at any time.
- This amendment does not restrict a player from returning to their original manager, but the timing must be reasonable and is up to discretion by the commissioner. Ultimately, the league has entrusted discretion onto the commisioner in enforcing this amendment, so I will be on the lookout for this activity.
- The goal of this amendment is to stop trades that are the sole purpose of helping out the other manager via one-week rentals.
Amendment 2 - Keeper Player
- This year, you get to choose one player from your team last year to keep for this upcoming season, in exchange for the pick that you drafted that player in this year's draft. (ex. if you drafted Lamar Jackson in round 5 and decided to keep him, you would give up your round 5 pick in this year's draft).
- If the player you choose was traded to you, you will forfeit the pick that was used by the other manager to draft that player.
- If the player you choose was undrafted, your Round 16 pick (the last round) will be forfeited.
- The player you decide to keep must be a player that was on your final roster. If you dropped a player you drafted during the season (and he did not end up back on your roster), you will notice that he is absent on the list to be picked.
- Keeper players can be selected in the ESPN Fantasy App and website. If for some reason you can't find it, you can also let me know who you want to keep. You have until 1 hour before the draft (date and time yet to be set) to select a keeper player.
- Players in the top 4 rounds are EXEMPT from this system, meaning you cannot select a player as your keeper if they were drafted in the first four rounds of last year. The commissioner will reverse your pick if you choose a top 4 player and you will have to pick again.
- You do not have to pick a keeper player if you don't want to.
Amendment 3 - Points for Milestones
The following scoring additions have been made:
- 100-199 rushing yards = 3 points
- 200+ rushing yards = 5 points
- 300-399 passing yards = 3 points
- 400+ passing yards = 5 points
- 100-199 receiving yards = 3 points
- 200+ receiving yards = 5 points
It's important to note that if a player accomplishes, for example, 200+ rushing yards, the manager does not receive 8 points from the two categories, just an additional 2 points which leaves them at 5 points. This applies for passing and receiving too.
In other words, if a player exceeds the first threshold and into the second, the first bonus of 3 points is removed and the second bonus of 5 points replaces it.
Draft Order
We also drew the draft order, so here it is:
- Mohit
- Johnny
- Caden
- Luke
- Sudais
- Carson
- Eric
- Ryan
- Isaac
- Ava
As a reminder, you are free to trade your draft pick(s) prior to the draft.
You can also start mock drafting in ESPN as of today, as the draft order is updated.
A New Trophy
This year, the winner of the fantasy league will receive a new and improved trophy (along with a ring and the jersey).
This trophy will now travel from winner to winner each year, with each winner having their name and the year they won engraved on the trophy.
The trophy will be backdated to include Mohit and Isaac as the previous winners.
New to the league: Lineup Protection
This year, if a player is officially marked as "Out" or put on the IR prior to a game, ESPN will automatically swap that player with an eligible player off the bench. ESPN will choose automatically based on position eligibility and projected score. You will not be able to designate a specific player to replace another player.
This option has been automatically enabled for every manager. You can obviously still edit your roster prior to the games starting, even if Lineup Protection was used to replace a player.
I would suggest having a look at your roster prior to the games to see if anyone got replaced, and if so by who. This way you can be sure you have the lineup you want before the action starts.
If you want to opt out of Lineup Protection, you must login to ESPN Fantasy on a browser (not the app), go to your team tab, and find the "Lineup Protection" button and click "None."
League Dues
League dues have been increased from $15 to $30.
To my surprise, it's against Venmo's (PayPal's) TOS to use the platform to collect fantasy league dues, and can potentially freeze an account and its funds based on automated scanning of payments related to fantasy football. So I will be moving off from that.
This year, you can directly send me the league due via Zelle. You can send via my phone number. If you don't have Zelle, get someone else in the league to pay on your behalf while you send them money.
Or you can navigate to the link below and follow the instructions to pay online:
This is where I will be holding all the league dues for book-keeping and transparency.
Please have these dues in before the first game of the season. Work needs to be done throughout the season to get the new and improved trophy and other items and I need access to the funds.
Additional Information
The schedule is now live. You can see it in the ESPN Fantasy app. Here it is below:
Be on the lookout for an official date and time for the Fantasy Draft! I will keep everyone updated. Right now, the tentative date and time is Saturday, August 15th, at 8:30 PM EDT. That is subject to change.
Also, the loser of the consolation bracket this year will have to spin a “mini” Wheel of Punishment with milder punishments, and potentially fund the other half of the Super Bowl Party.
We are emphasizing activity and participation this year.
We are all aware that our lives are busy at times, but it does not take much to be active in a group chat and respond to people when they reach out to you for something, like a trade request.
The BEN Fantasy Football League · 2026 Season
Fantasy Rules Acknowledgment
Please acknowledge below that you have read this post in its entirety and understand all of the changes and updated information.
Signed.
I'm excited to kick off another year of Fantasy Football. Let's get the show going.
Thank you for being in this league.
Fine Print
By participating in this league, you agree to follow the rules. The commissioner reserves the right to issue rulings regarding league matters so long as they don’t conflict with pre-existing rules or previously proposed, but rejected, amendments. These rulings include, but are not limited to: vetoing trades despite public vote, collusion, tanking, and inactivity.