How to Get the Most out of the Subvertadown Website -- Welcome to Week 1, 2026!
By Subvertadown Updated September 22, 2026
Tagged under
Current Season , How to Use , Updates / News
Hello everyone, and welcome to a new season at the Subvertadown website!
My favorite thing here is honestly the FUN — It’s an analyst’s dream for decision-making!
Every number you see is a modeled output.
Every sensitivity is contextualized— with a visual!
Tools are designed for decision-making. There’s no stats dump here!
To enjoy to the max, let’s understand the intended to use the offerings here.
How things have changed!
When I launched Subvertadown.com a 4½ years ago, the set-up was simple: a bunch of ranking tables with projection numbers.
After constant development, this space has filled with insightful nuggets and valuable nuances.
I don’t want you to feel lost, so here’s how to use the site and make your selections each week.
Step 1: Looking at Projections instead of Rankings
It’s a running theme: Don’t just grab players “at the top of the list”.
Me numerical model outputs— the projections— are more useful than mere rankings.
They’re better at telling you how close players are. Among other benefits, this gives you more freedom in your choices!
The problem with plain rankings is that players often have very similar outlooks.
Maybe a certain player is closer to rank # “2½”— instead of being ranked #3.
Treat closely ranked players more like a “Tier”. Just more precise.
What does this mean in practice?
When 2 players are ranked within <0.5 points, don’t need to take the ordering so literally.
Have FUN! Feel some liberty in applying your own discretion to the options.
Use some of the other tools (described below) to “break the tie”.
Step 2: Looking Ahead at Future Week Forecasts
Streaming (D/STs, Kickers, and even QBs) is usually for a single week— and then add/drop.
The only issue is that you need to win the player on waivers.
You could stash an extra, to plan for 1 week ahead—- However bench space is precious!
You could use waiver priority…. However you might be also fighting for a break-out WR, or an RB handcuff etc.
So instead, look ahead to see if your choice is a hold.
Looking ahead by at least one week could alleviate some of this headache.
Claim a player who appears to have a good matchup for 2 weeks in a row. You might decide to sacrifice the current week just a little bit. For example, you might accept a D/ST projected to score 7.8 instead of 8.5, because you can see that the following week might be risky for you. The point is, build the look-ahead into your selection, and don’t necessarily just grab “the top player”.
Step 3: Looking ahead even more
If you happen to have the Long Range view, you should also keep an eye on players you might even consider holding. Holding through a bye, or holding through 1 week of bad matchup. The players who appear best to hold will always fluctuate through the season, so you need to keep up.
Step 4: The Pros and Cons (“Why so High / Why so Low”)
If you hover over the little “up/down” arrows, you’ll see a pop-up list of reasons why the player is ranked high or low.
These are not meant to be perfect explanations, but they’re mean to contextualize the choice, to help you think.
Does the explanation make sense to you? Does it sway you towards one player over another?
Your thought process might sway you to end up with a different player than you expected.
You might even have reasons (or intuition) that the model’s suggestion is off. In which case you can “disregard the pro” / “disregard the con”, based on your own feeling for why you think the model might not be completely right.
Either way, this can help inform your choice, when deciding on a players within 1 fantasy point difference or so.
Step 5: The Explanatory Charts — “How They Make Points”
For Kickers, D/ST, and QB, there are currently 2 very useful (and very cool) charts that both explain HOW the fantasy player is most likely to rack up points.
For D/STs and QB: A simple bar chart explains “what type of metrics” give that D/ST an advantage.
These aren’t mere “averages” of past sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries, points-allowed, or TDs. Every parameters is modeled— by its own predictive model— using many inputs to get the best estimate.
Usefully, the chart tells you the “bonus” fantasy point contributions from each factor, relative to the league average.
For Kickers: The “Kicker Utilization Curves” represents the team’s likelihood (relative to league average) of STOPPING a drive at each labeled yard-line.
You need to consider, not every drive ends with a successful kick. They can end in: turn-overs, punts, failed 4th downs, or even missed kicks.
Still, the usefulness of the tool is helping us question whether the outlook of team field advancement is aligned with our expectations.
Step 6: Historical Matchup Comparisons
This is a special option, and I hope not an overlooked feature!
The tool identifies “most similar games” between 2015-2025, and it gives 2 very useful outputs:
It generates a second opinion. You get a different view on the score projection, through this different lens.
You get to quickly observe the true range of likely outcomes.
Your D/ST could always score 8 points lower or 8 points higher, any time. But the risk might be different, for different teams.
Integrate that into your thinking, to help you feel more freedom making the D/ST selection that you want.
Step 7: Review the Details and the Risk Level
The “Details” charts, available for all positions, shows additional factors to feed into your decision making.
Observe the “Error” column. This is mathematically simulated “error level”, which means it’s a higher number if the model thinks it’s more of a “boom or bust” option. A low error indicates a less volatile option.
D/ST. Check the trendline for D/STs. A small line graph shows how the fantasy score projection has moved during the week. Use this as a reference to know when there’s been a trend— or to know when an update has been made (to account for injury etc.).
Kickers have their own Details table (FG distances) and Risk table (Boom/Bust, missed kicks, etc.). Scan these as you make your decision.
Step 8: Make Sure You’ve Chosen the Right Scoring Setting
D/ST. Subvertadown uniquely offers D/ST rankings tailored for 3 different scoring settings. The default is Yahoo. Last year we added the setting known as “YDB”, “You Deserve Better” D/ST scoring. The projections produce different ordering of players, compared to the standard that others in the industry use. The ESPN setting penalizes D/STs for allowing yards to the opposing offense. Make sure to choose the “ESPN” setting instead of the “Yahoo” setting, if this applies to you.
Kickers. My website also uniquely offers dedicated rankings for Decimal Kicker Scoring. Increasing number of leagues are rewarding their kickers 0.1 points for each yard of distance that the ball is successfully kicked. The ordering of players can be very different between the two settings.
Step 9: Check the Discussion on the Reddit Forum
The Reddit fantasyfootball subreddit is where I post for most of my discussions with the community. Often I will make a weekly post about D/STs and/or Kickers, and you should definitely check out what people have to say!
Other Nice-to-Haves
There’s more to the website that doesn’t all fit in a check list. Here are examples:
Turn on “Dark Mode”. At the bottom right of the screen, there is an icon that will flip the display from WHITE background to BLACK background. That might be easier on the eyes at night.
Use the Injury Inquiry Tool. If you’re in doubt that I have accounted for a specific player’s injury, in my models, then check the list of players that other users have asked about. You’ll see a response next to each player’s name telling you whether it’s included or not. If you don’t see the player you’re really concerned about, you can submit your own request.
Don’t miss the Strength-of-Schedule charts for RB / WR / TE.
Thanks for reading, and I really hope everyone feels an elevated level of engagement with your Fantasy Streaming picks, using all these features!
/Subvertadown