As the National Football League began its 100th season, owners are closely observing how their players perform each week. On Sundays these owners check to see how many completions, catches, yards and touchdowns their players got.

They compete every week of the NFL season, and their goal is to outscore their opponent.

These are not NFL owners. They are Fantasy Football aficionados.

Fantasy Football allows fans to be engaged in the sport beyond following their favorite team or even their divisional opponents.

“It makes every game more interesting to watch because it might not be your favorite team playing, but you can have a player on your Fantasy Football team playing and that gives you a reason to watch,” junior Austin Talmadge said.

Owners build teams with players from all around the league, so they might have a player involved on Thursday, Sunday at 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and Monday.

Owners join leagues of 8,10,12 or more teams. They hold a pre-season draft to fill out their teams.

When selecting players for their teams, owners utilize many resources and stats.

“I picked Tom Brady because he puts up points like he did last year,” freshman Andrew Brower said.

Depending on their preference, owners favor certain positions over others in their league.

“The running back is the most important player because they get used in all aspects,” freshman Drew Whitfield said.

Every league has different rules and ways to get points, so owners have to be strategic in their picks.

“My key players are Patrick Mahomes, Derrick Henry and Micheal Thomas. The running back is the most important position in my league because I can have three in my line up,” sophomore Josh Latvala said.

The various players and positions are able to receive points in many different ways.

In certain leagues points are awarded for each catch and yardage gained, making a running back like the Carolina Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey a coveted pick because he catches a lot of passes, typically rushes for 100+ yds. and scores a lot of touchdowns.

“Running backs that can run as well as receive are considered highly valuable in the fantasy football world,” Talmadge said.

Most Fantasy owners are familiar with the occurrence of injuries and how to effectively deal with them.

“Injuries can happen to anyone, so if an injury happens, I have backups that can replace my starters so I can put up as many points as possible,” Brower said.

Fantasy Football is just another way for football lovers to dive deeper into the game we all love and know and a way to find even more enjoyment.

So how did they do? We followed up with our previously interviewed owners to see how successful their seasons were.