Bench backups and injury subs

Last updated October 30, 2026

Your bench is not just waiting room. Before the lock, any bench player can be named as a backup for a starter, and that is the main protection against a lost slot.

Naming a backup

Before the week locks, open a starter in your lineup, choose a bench player as his backup, and pick one of the backup’s games. You can name a backup for every starter, and each bench player backs up one starter at a time.

After the lock, the lineup is set, with one exception: once a starter lands on the injury report, you can still name, change or remove his backup until the starter’s game tips off. The backup’s game must not have started yet, and once it has, that choice is settled.

When the backup counts

The backup’s game replaces the starter’s when the starter:

is listed out,
is inactive at tip-off, or
never gets in the game.

Rest days and postponed games count as out. If the starter plays at all, even three minutes, his game counts and the backup doesn’t. The backup’s game has to come on or after the starter’s, which is why an early circle leaves more room for a backup.

Injury subs

If you didn’t name a backup and your league allows injury subs, you can still put another player in for one of his games that hasn’t started yet. It is a second chance, not a plan: by the time you see the news, the best replacement games may already be gone.

Getting the most from your bench

Keep at least one bench player whose team plays late in the week, so he can back up anyone.
Name backups for every starter with an injury tag, and for veterans on a back-to-back.
Players ruled out for weeks belong on injured reserve, not the bench: IR slots don’t count against your roster. See the injured reserve guide.

More guides

The full rules are on How to play, and every guide is listed on the guides page.