Kickoff of the 2024 NWSL season is just a couple of weeks away, so it’s time to start creating your fantasy team! Whether you’ve been playing FNWSL since the beginning, or this is your first season, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind as you build your roster.
Also, take a look at Marran’s Top Ten tips for the WSL side – many of them will help you out with NWSL too!
1) Don’t let the new premium prices scare you!
This is the first season of Fantasy NWSL with player prices above $400k. Superstar strikers Lynn Williams and Sophia Smith are both priced at $500k, and Mallory Swanson is at $450k. But don’t let that price increase prevent you from choosing one of them! These three forwards (along with the now-retired Megan Rapinoe) were by far the most valuable fantasy players last season in terms of fantasy points per match played. There’s no reason to think either Williams or Smith will not return huge fantasy scores again in 2024, and though Swanson is coming off injury, she is an elite goalscorer and is slated to have a massive role in the Red Stars attack.
2) Consider spending some extra money at midfield.
Last season, one of the biggest challenges faced by FNWSL managers was finding value at the midfield position. Only one midfielder (Sam Coffey) appeared in the top 16 fantasy players, and only three midfielders made the top 25. Even with the increased costs of the elite forwards this season, you may want to save a few dollars at the other positions to pay for one or two of the elite midfielders, or at least to stock up on three or four of the mid-price midfielders.
3) Take a chance on some rookies!
All this spending means that you’ll have to save some money somewhere. The good news is, all rookies in FNWSL are priced at the minimum level of $75k. That means that you can find some incredible fantasy value from the NWSL’s first-year players.
In 2022, midfielder Savannah DeMelo’s first season, she scored 234 fantasy points to finish in a tie for third overall with $400k forward Mallory Swanson, and first amongst all midfielders. Fellow rookie (then-defender) Alex Loera finished in a tie for 23rd in overall points with $400k forward Trinity Rodman. In 2023, Paige Metayer, who had gone undrafted, was seventh among midfielders and the highest scoring rookie, finishing one point above Savannah DeMelo herself.
So if there’s a rookie you like, take a chance! They could be exactly what your team needs.
4) Great fantasy players can be found on every NWSL team.
Any friends joining us from ShePlays Fantasy WSL will be familiar with the divide between the Big Four clubs and the rest of the league, and how that separation can affect fantasy decisions. In the NWSL, there isn’t a split in relative team strength. Over the last couple of seasons, Portland, San Diego, and Seattle have returned the most fantasy value as a whole, but parity makes the NWSL notoriously unpredictable and competitive. The top five players in Fantasy NWSL in 2023 only included one player from those three teams – Sam Coffey.
Also, to add to the fun, there are two new teams this year! In 2022, the last time the NWSL expanded, teams scored an average of almost three more goals over the course of the regular season, even though the schedule was shortened by two games. It could be a big year for goal-scoring again in 2024, so identifying players with goalscoring upside is probably more important than loading up on players from specific teams – at least until we have a better idea of what the season will look like.