Fantasy Football 2021: Early Cheat Sheet for Choosing Best Team Names

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NFL training-camp season is in its full stride, and the start of the preseason is only days away. The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday.

With the start of the preseason comes the beginning of fantasy-draft season. Experienced fantasy managers know that the time for preparation is now, as camp battles, preseason performances and injury updates will influence their draft decisions—and the most experienced know that drafting before the final week of preseason can be problematic.

While managers are busy digging through all of the available intel, they may also be kicking around ideas for team names. Fantasy is serious business, but it is meant to be fun, after all. The goal is to win a fantasy championship, but there's nothing wrong with wracking up some chuckles, groans and facepalms along the way.

Fortunately, there are several avenues that managers can explore when it comes to conjuring creative, catch and humorous team names. We'll explore some of those ideas here.

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Fantasy squads are often built around one or two key players who only leave the lineup during bye weeks. While these players are usually running backs or wide receivers, high-end quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers can headline a team.

More often, though, you're going to build around a skill player like Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook or Stefon Diggs.

Focusing your team name around a centerpiece player—most likely, your first-round selection—can be a great way to show which star to whom you are hitching your fantasy hope. Feel free to get a little silly here, and don't be afraid to deliver the pun-ishment to your weekly opponents.

Here, you'll find a few position-specific examples.

Quarterbacks

• What's Up, Mahomes
• Brady's Bunch
• Roethlisbergers with Cheese
• You Mad, Burrow?
• Justin Credible
• Action Jackson
• Baker's Delight
• Kyler, the Creator
• Rainbow Herbert

Running Backs

• O'Henry
• Dalvin and the Chipmunks
• Hot Chubb Time Machine
• Zeke and Destroy
• Kamara Here Often?
• Put Some Mostert on It
• Mixon Up Success
• Barkley Up the Wrong Tree
• Lights, Kamara, Action

Wide Receivers

• Can You Diggs It?
• A Hopkins and a Jump Away
• Storm Coopers
• CeeDee-Rom Enabled
• Pop Lockett, Drop It
• Tee-ing Up a Win
• I Tyreek of Victory
• In It to Godwin It
• Thank Evans

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Managers typically only highlight rookie players in dynasty and keeper leagues, though there are exceptions. Some will make an early gamble on a rookie and hope he becomes the next Saquon Barkley (over 2,000 scrimmage yards as a rookie) or Justin Jefferson (1,400 receiving yards in year one).

With this in mind, here are a few suggestions based on rookies like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Kyle Pitts and Ja'Marr Chase:   

• Trolling with Trevor
• Lawrence and Order
• Fields of Dreams
• Chasing Glory
• Najee, I'm Good
• Up Pitts Creek
• Mac Attack
• Zach Daddy
• DeVonta's Inferno
• Bateman Begins
• Golden Trey Warriors
• Waddle Ya Want?
• Moore Wins, Please
• Punched in the Freiermuth
• Heartbreak Eskridge

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What better way to show off a little personal flair than to combine your favorite music with a player or two from your draft-day roster. This one's fairly simple. Take a well-known or personally beloved song title or artist and mesh with a player name.

Given the wide variety of musical acts throughout the years, the possibilities are nearly endless. And don't worry if the results are a little silly. Weird Al Yankovic's career has spanned more than four decades because musical puns just work.

Here are a few examples, though it's best to mix and match to your liking:

• Dak's Treat's Back, Alright
• Country Roads, Take Mahomes
• Peaceful, Easy Thielen
• JuJu-Tang Clan
• Tua Legit to Quit
• Knockin' on Evans Door
• Luck Be a Brady Tonight
• Hotel, Motel, Golladay Inn
• Liquid Schwartz
• Everyday I'm Russlin'
• Belichick Your Head
• For Whom Odell Tolls
• Roethlisbergers in Paradise
• Derrick of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

If you're looking for a funny team name that is likely to land, exploring the world of film and television can be a terrific route to explore. Even if an opponent hasn't seen a particular show or movie, they've likely heard of it.

Going with an easily recognizable property tends to work best, though there's nothing wrong with utilizing a niche show or cult classic for inspiration and a personal flair. Here are a few suggestions, though, again it's always more fun to apply your own tastes:  

• The Big Gronkowski
• Pretty Kittle Liars
• BoDak Horseman
• The 'Boys
• Mayfield of Dreams
• Cowboys Bebop
• Game of Jones
• Tua and a Half Men
• The Goffice
• I see Dez People
• O-Chark
• The Hunt Fournette October
• Regarding Henry
• Silence of the Lambs
• DeVante's Peak
• Dez's and Confused
• The Empire Strikes Mac
• Dude, Where's my Carr?