How to Get Power Rankings for Your ESPN Fantasy Football League
At some point in the season, someone in your league is going to argue that they're better than their record. Maybe they're right. A string of tough opponents can make a good team look pretty ordinary in the standings.
I'd start by looking at how they've actually been scoring. ffwrapped's power rankings put that alongside their record, so you can compare teams with a little more context. Below, I'll show you how to import your ESPN league, pick a week, and open the breakdown behind each rank.
The core rankings are free. They're ffwrapped's own calculations from your league data, and they don't change ESPN's standings or playoff seeding.
Open your ESPN power rankings → You'll need your league ID and season to get started.
1. Find Your ESPN League ID and Season
Open your league on ESPN's website. Look for the number after leagueId= in the URL. Copy that number, then choose the season you want to analyze in ffwrapped.
The season is worth double-checking. Your ESPN league can keep the same ID across years while the rosters and results change. If you load the league and wonder where a manager went, or why there aren't any completed matchups, I'd check the year first.
The link above selects ESPN for you and takes you to Power Rankings once the league loads.
2. Import Your Public or Private League
If your league is public, enter the league ID and season, then submit the form. That's all you need for the import. You don't need an ffwrapped account to see the core rankings.
Private leagues take an extra step. The form walks you through finding two values, SWID and espn_s2, from an ESPN session that can open your league. You can keep the league private. Just keep those values private too, including when sharing screenshots or asking for help.
Without an account, ffwrapped stores those credentials in your browser and sends them through its service to ESPN when loading the league. If you sign in and save the private league, ffwrapped can encrypt its ESPN access in your account so you can reopen it from My Leagues. The form explains the available setup options.
If you'd like more detail on the setup, the ESPN league-analyzer guide covers it. Once your league is loaded, public and private leagues use the same ranking calculations.
3. Open Power Rankings and Choose a Week
If you used the link above, Power Rankings opens after import. Otherwise, select your league and choose Power Rankings under League Analysis. On a phone, open the navigation menu first.
Look for the week selector in the Ranking score card. The word to remember here is through. Choosing Week 4 includes Weeks 1 through 4, so you're looking at the season up to that point. One big Sunday counts, but so do the weeks before it.
Before the season, you may see a preseason ranking when the necessary roster projections are available. That uses projected starting-lineup strength. Once completed games are available, the in-season rankings use actual scoring and results. I'd give those early rankings some room to move. After one or two weeks, there isn't much history to balance out an unusually good or bad game.
4. Expand a Team's Ranking Score
Click or tap a team in the ranking list. You'll see its average score, best and worst weeks, and record through the week you selected. This is the part I'd spend time on, especially if a rank surprises you.
Here's the ranking breakdown in ffwrapped's demo league. The interface is shared with imported ESPN leagues, but these are sample teams and results. Yours will have their own story.
In this example, Saquondo is first through Week 8 at 6-2. The team averages 118.3 points, with a best week of 151.7 and a worst week of 99.4. That gives you a much better feel for its season than the ranking score of 58.5 does on its own.
About that score: 50 is the league average on the displayed 1-100 scale. A 60 means the underlying ranking score is 20% above your league's average. It doesn't mean a 60% chance of winning. I'd keep comparisons within your league, since a 60 in another league uses a different baseline.
The in-season calculation combines average weekly scoring, best and worst weeks, and win percentage. The power-ranking formula guide walks through a numerical example.
5. Find Something Worth Sharing
Go back to that manager who says the standings are unfair. Where does their team rank? If they're near the top despite a losing record, open the breakdown. Have they been scoring well most weeks, or did one enormous game pull up the average?
Then I'd check expected wins and all-play record. Those help explain what the same scores would have earned against different opponents. Power rankings give you a useful starting point, but they can't settle the schedule-luck argument by themselves.
If the next question is whether that team can still make the playoffs, take a look at playoff odds. And if looking at your own rank has you reconsidering your starters, the start/sit walkthrough can help with the next lineup decision.
For the league chat, I'd send a screenshot with one observation: "Third in power rankings, sixth in the standings. What's going on here?" Include the selected week so everyone knows which results they're looking at. That's usually enough to get the conversation going.
ESPN Power-Ranking Questions
Are these ESPN's official power rankings?
No. ffwrapped calculates its own rankings from the ESPN league data it can import. ESPN remains the place where your league's official results and standings are managed.
Why is the latest week missing?
The available weeks depend on the completed results loaded for the league. If games are still in progress, use the latest completed week. After results are available, refresh the league data and check again.
What if my private league will not load?
Check the league ID and season, then follow the private-league setup instructions in the form. The ESPN session providing access must be able to view that league. Use the displayed import error to guide the next check, and do not post the access values when asking for help.
Can I use the same rankings with Sleeper?
Yes. Follow the Sleeper power-rankings walkthrough for its username and league-ID import options.
Get your ESPN league's power rankings → Open your own team's breakdown first, then compare it with the team just above you. See whether the numbers change your mind.