Glossary

The language of fantasy analytics

Clear, jargon-free definitions of the terms you'll see across Benchlytics, so the numbers always make sense.

Projections & outcomes

Projection: Our best estimate of a player's expected production for an upcoming game, expressed as a range rather than a single number.
Median: The balanced midpoint of a player's projected range, the most-likely outcome.
Floor: A conservative outcome: roughly what a player produces on a quiet night when things don't break their way.
Ceiling: An optimistic outcome: the version of the game where usage, matchup and game flow all line up.
Boom / bust: A player with a wide range, a low floor and a high ceiling. High reward, higher risk.
Consistency: How tightly a player's outcomes cluster around their median. High consistency means fewer surprises.
Variance: The natural game-to-game randomness in sports. Even a good projection is 'wrong' on individual nights more than people expect.
Regression: The tendency for unusually hot or cold stretches to move back toward a player's true baseline over time.
Sample size: How much data a read is based on. Small samples are noisy; conclusions from them are less reliable.

Usage rate: How much of a team's opportunity flows through a player, a core driver of fantasy production.
Snap share: The percentage of a team's plays a football player is on the field for.
Target share: The percentage of a team's passing targets that go to a given receiver.
Minutes: Playing time, especially in basketball and soccer, often the single biggest input to a projection.
Depth chart: A team's ordering of players by role, which signals expected opportunity.
Role: How a player is used within their team, starter, rotation piece, specialist, which shapes their opportunity.

Matchup rating: A summary of how favorable a player's opponent and situation are for production this slate.
Pace: How fast a game is played. Faster games create more opportunities for everyone on the floor or ice.
Game script: How a game is expected to unfold, for example, a team trailing may pass more, changing player opportunity.
Strength of schedule: How tough a player's or team's upcoming matchups are, taken together.
Park factor: In baseball, how a specific ballpark tends to help or suppress scoring and offense.
Handedness split: How a hitter or pitcher performs against left- versus right-handed opponents.

Lineup optimizer: A tool that builds balanced, rules-aware lineups for your format in seconds.
Positional scarcity: The idea that some positions have a steep drop-off in quality after the top options, so they're worth prioritizing.
Correlation: How players' outcomes move together, teammates in a high-scoring game can lift each other.
Value: Production relative to cost or expectation, getting more than you 'paid' for a roster spot.
Slate: The set of games available to build lineups around on a given day or week.
Streaming: Rotating players through your roster to take advantage of favorable schedules and matchups.
Start / sit: The decision of which players to put in your active lineup and which to bench.
Bye week: In the NFL, a week when a team doesn't play, meaning its players score nothing that week.

Questionable / GTD: An injury designation meaning a player's status is uncertain (GTD = 'game-time decision').
Out: An injury designation meaning a player will not play, opening opportunity for others.
Load management: Planned rest for a healthy player, common in basketball, that removes them from a given game.

Want to go deeper? Our blog and methodology page put these ideas into practice.

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