NFL glossary · YunoBall

51 terms

Football Basics

Start here. The vocabulary every other term builds on.

Down: One play. The offense gets four downs to gain 10 yards; make it and the count resets to 'first down'. '3rd & 4' means third down, four yards still needed.
First down: Gaining the 10 yards needed to earn a fresh set of four downs. Moving the chains. The basic unit of a sustained drive.
TouchdownTD: Getting the ball into the opponent's end zone. Worth 6 points, plus the try for one or two more. The stat every scoring column counts.
Field goalFG: A place kick through the uprights, worth 3 points. The fallback when a drive stalls in range.
Extra point / two-point conversionXP / 2PT: The try after a touchdown: a short kick for 1 point, or one play from the 2-yard line for 2.
Turnover: Losing possession to the defense. An interception or a lost fumble. The stat most correlated with losing.
Snap: The exchange that starts every play, from the center back to the quarterback. Snap counts measure how much a player was actually on the field.
Drive: One continuous possession. The series of plays from getting the ball until scoring, punting or turning it over.
Line of scrimmage: The invisible line where the ball sits before the snap. All yardage on a play is measured from here.
Red zone: Inside the opponent's 20-yard line, where drives are expected to end in points. Red-zone usage is a strong touchdown predictor.
Punt: Kicking the ball away on fourth down to pin the opponent deep instead of risking a failed conversion.

The four offensive skill positions YunoBall tracks stats for.

Quarterback: Leads the offense and throws (or occasionally runs) the ball on most plays. Judged mainly on passing yards and touchdowns against interceptions.
Running back: Takes handoffs and runs with the ball; modern backs also catch passes out of the backfield, which matters a lot in PPR fantasy scoring.
Wide receiver: Lines up wide and catches passes downfield. Production shows up as targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Tight end: A hybrid blocker/receiver who lines up next to the offensive line. Scored like a receiver, but usually with fewer targets.

Everything a quarterback question can ask about.

Passing yards: Yards gained on completed passes. The headline stat for quarterbacks. A 4,000-yard season is a strong year; 5,000 is historic.
Passing touchdownPASS TD: A completed pass that scores a touchdown. Credited to both the passer and the receiver.
InterceptionINT: A pass caught by the defense. A turnover charged against the quarterback. The classic risk stat weighed against touchdowns.
Completions / attemptsCOMP/ATT: Passes caught by the intended receiver versus passes thrown. Together they give completion percentage.
Sack: The quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw. Counted against the offense as lost yardage.

The ground game and the catch game.

Rushing yards: Yards gained running the ball. 1,000 rushing yards in a season is the traditional benchmark for a lead running back.
Rushing touchdownRUSH TD: A touchdown scored on a running play.
CarryATT: One rushing attempt. Yards per carry (yards ÷ carries) measures a runner's efficiency.
ReceptionREC: A caught pass. In PPR fantasy formats every reception is worth a point on its own, whatever the yardage.
Receiving yards: Yards gained on caught passes, measured from the line of scrimmage to where the receiver is downed.
Receiving touchdownREC TD: A touchdown scored by the player catching the ball.
Target: A pass thrown a player's way, caught or not. Targets measure opportunity. A high-target player has a stable role in the offense.
Fumble (lost): The ball carrier drops the ball. It's only a turnover. A 'fumble lost'. When the defense recovers it.

The scoring language behind the Fantasy page and the assistant's start/sit calls.

PPR (point per reception)PPR: A fantasy scoring format that awards one point per catch on top of yardage and touchdown points. YunoBall's fantasy numbers are full-PPR.
Fantasy points: A player's real stats converted to a single score: roughly 1 point per 10 rushing/receiving yards, 1 per 25 passing yards, 4-6 per touchdown, minus turnovers. Plus receptions in PPR.
Points per gamePPG: Fantasy points divided by games played. A fairer measure than season totals when comparing players who missed time.
Start / sit: The weekly lineup decision between two rostered players. The assistant weighs production rate, PPR floor and offense environment rather than raw totals alone.
PPR floor: The safety net receptions provide: a player who catches 6 balls banks 6 points even on a quiet yardage day. High-catch players have high floors.
Boom/bust: A volatile scoring profile. Players who rely on touchdowns for most of their points swing hard week to week. Big booms, ugly busts.
Waiver wire: The pool of unrostered players in a fantasy league, claimed in a priority order between games.

How the NFL calendar is sliced everywhere on this site.

Regular seasonREG: The 18-week, 17-game schedule (16 games before 2021) that decides playoff seeding. Stat leaderboards default to regular-season numbers.
PostseasonPOST: The playoffs: Wild Card, Divisional and Conference rounds, then the Super Bowl. YunoBall groups all four rounds under one postseason label.
Super BowlSB: The league championship game between the AFC and NFC winners. The last game of the postseason.
Week: One slate of games. Regular-season weeks run 1-18; postseason rounds continue the numbering, which is why a Super Bowl can appear as week 21 or 22.
Bye week: A team's scheduled week off during the regular season. Players score nothing that week. The classic fantasy trap.
Streak: Consecutive results of the same kind, newest game backwards: W3 means won the last three, L2 means lost the last two.
Point differential+/-: Points scored minus points allowed. A quick read on how dominant (or lucky) a team's record really is.
Win percentagePCT: Wins plus half-credit for ties, divided by games played. The number standings are sorted by: .750 beats .688.

How players enter the league and earn their roles.

Rookie: A player in his first NFL season. Rookie stats set career baselines. A 1,000-yard rookie receiver is a genuine event.
NFL Draft: The annual seven-round selection of college players, worst teams picking first. Where most stars enter the league.
Depth chart: A team's ranking of players at each position. The starter, the backup, and so on. Climbing it is how a player earns snaps and stats.
Free agentFA: A player whose contract has expired and can sign with any team. The offseason's player-movement market.
Veteran: An experienced player past his rookie contract. 'Vet' production tends to be steadier. Less upside, higher floor.

How 32 teams organize into the standings you see.

ConferenceAFC / NFC: The league's two halves. The American and National Football Conferences, 16 teams each. Their champions meet in the Super Bowl.
Division: Four-team groups within each conference (e.g. NFC West). Division rivals play twice a year, and each winner is guaranteed a playoff spot.
Franchise: The team as an organization, across relocations and renames. YunoBall folds history forward. Oakland Raiders stats live under today's Las Vegas Raiders.