They will be playing preseason football, believe it or not, in under three weeks. The Bills and Giants will kick it off in the Hall of Fame game.

This also means that entries are due soon for the Fantasy Index Open. This is the competition that gives you the opportunity to show you’re the ultimate fantasy football genius in all the land. Just jot down your top 20 at each position, and we’ll handle the rest – carefully scoring each entry at the end of the season.

This is a free contest.

The overall winner receives a gigantic trophy from the team at Affordable Trophies. They joined this contest two years ago, offering to send a showcase trophy to whoever comes out on top.

The top 2 overall finishers (the trophy winner and the runnerup) also win spots in the regular Experts Poll in our magazine, where they will compete against 18 industry experts in the same style of competition.

This contest is open to everyone. You need not be a Fantasy Football Index subscriber, and you need not be an officially sanctioned fantasy writer or expert. It’s an “Open” – as in open to everyone. Probably 15-20 of the entries will be professional fantasy football writers, but most will be regular guys who just enjoy playing and studying fantasy football on the side.

Tom Deskovitz of Michigan won the championship last year. He’s an advertising executive. The previous year, it was Sam Hendricks; you probably recognize him as the author of multiple fantasy football books – he’s been in our regular Experts Poll for years.

Tom Duggan of Tewksbury, N.J., won the original Fantasy Index Open competition in 2011.

To enter this contest, send an email to FantasyIndexOpen@gmail.com. Within 24 hours, you’ll receive an email including the full and complete rules and an entry form for your picks. It’s an Excel file; you put the ranking numbers next to player names, picking 20 guys at each position.

This is a maintenance-free competition. No starting lineups, and no in-season adjustments. At the end of the NFL season, we’ll score all the entries and let everyone know how they did, via email and by posting the results at the website.

If this competition sounds like it’s up your alley, send an email to

—Ian Allan