An IR spot in fantasy football is an extra roster spot for a player who is temporarily unable to play because of injury or another qualifying status, as Sleeper's injured reserve page describes it. IR stands for injured reserve. Moving an eligible player into the spot opens a place on the roster, and ESPN said that "when you place an eligible player into the IR/IL slot, you gain an open roster slot."
Who is eligible for an IR spot
Each platform keeps its own list of the designations that qualify, so a player can be eligible in one league and not in another.
| Platform | Eligible for the IR spot |
|---|---|
| Yahoo | IR, NFI-R, NFI-A, O (Out) and PUP |
| ESPN | Players with the IR, IL or O tag |
| Sleeper | Out, Suspended, PUP, NA, DNR, Doubtful, or on a real team's IR list |
The Yahoo row comes from Yahoo's injured and inactive players page, the ESPN row from ESPN's page on moving players on and off IR and the Sleeper row from Sleeper's injured reserve page.
Yahoo lists the designations that do not qualify in its football leagues: D (Doubtful), NA (Not Active), P (Probable), Q (Questionable), CEL (Commissioner's Exempt List) and SUSP (Suspended). NFI stands for Non-Football Injury and PUP for Physically Unable to Perform.
Sleeper said some of its eligibility options must be turned on by the commissioner in the league settings.
How an IR spot works
Yahoo said players in the IR position do not earn any points, even if they are earning stats in real games.
On Yahoo, a manager clicks the position next to the injured player on the roster, and the IR position appears as a choice if the player is eligible for it. Yahoo said a player cannot be added directly to the IR spot unless the commissioner has turned that ability on in the league settings. To bring the player back, the roster must have an opening for an active player.
On ESPN, the system places the IR tag on a player automatically once ESPN receives the league report. A manager then uses the IR button on the team page, which shows the players who are eligible and a "To IR/IL" option for each. If every IR slot is full, one player has to be activated first.
Whether a league has an IR spot
The league's settings decide whether the spot exists and how many there are. ESPN said the slot is available in all of its Standard leagues, and that a league manager can turn on IR slots under the LM Tools tab by selecting Edit League Settings. Sleeper said commissioners can set the number of IR slots in the league settings, up to 10.
Yahoo said a manager with no IR position available uses bench spots to hold injured players, and that in a league that does not allow benched players, the manager needs to drop the injured player to pick up another one.
What happens when the player is healthy again
A player who no longer qualifies can stay in the spot, but he limits what the manager can do next, and the rule differs by platform.
| Platform | Rule once the player no longer qualifies |
|---|---|
| Yahoo | No transaction that adds a player until he is activated |
| ESPN | No new players can be added to the roster |
| Sleeper | The roster locks: no adds, waiver claims or roster changes |
Yahoo said a player can stay in the IR spot for the entire season, even if he returns to real action. Once he is activated in real life, the manager cannot complete any transaction that adds a player until he is activated on the fantasy team. Moves within the roster, such as switching players between the bench and active spots, and drops are still allowed.
ESPN said a manager with a healthy player in an IR slot cannot add any new players and gets a message to clear the slot before making a claim. A waiver claim made while the player still qualified goes through as normal if he becomes healthy before it processes.
Sleeper said the roster of a manager with an ineligible player in an IR slot becomes locked. The manager frees it by moving the player out of the slot, dropping another player to make room or completing a trade if the league settings allow it.
Why eligibility can change during the week
On Sleeper, an "Out" tag is a gameday designation that lasts for one NFL week. Sleeper said the player's status reverts to its previous designation early Wednesday morning unless he has officially been ruled out for his next game. A player on a bye the following week keeps the designation through the bye.
Yahoo said its designations are given as soon as possible and typically appear after its overnight update. In private Yahoo football leagues, a commissioner can also choose to apply an injury status to players whose game is postponed, which makes them IR eligible for the week the game was originally scheduled.