Everywhere you look these days, you see fantasy football. On Yahoo! alone there are millions of fantasy football players checking their team and setting their roster monthly. You’ve probably thought about jumping in, but you may be thinking—there is no way I could possibly pay attention to all of the minutiae of every NFL team’s roster enough to succeed in fantasy football, and still keep up with my weekly NFL betting schedule. Well, think again my friend; not only is it easy—but Fantasy Football will make you a better NFL bettor. Here’s how:

Even though fantasy values are skewed from actual value, the stats can give you insight into a player’s value to the team, and the way in which the team uses that player. Fantasy makes you pay attention to the teams’ focus on individuals.

It’s easy to follow injury news in a fantasy league. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to avoid injury news in a fantasy football league. The player news is prominently posted on league websites, and in combination with knowing the value to the team of the injured player, can give you an idea of which side you want to bet. If you’ve already bet the favorite early in the week, and the dog’s starting RB is sidelined later in the week, then your position is strengthened, ahead of the line move. In the same scenario, you might want to bet the dog close to game time if the public money (and the line) overreacts to the injury, or if you think the backup is legit.

Knowing the unheralded, go-to guys in any league can be invaluable, especially in the case of receivers and tight ends. If an unknown rookie TE has a nose for the end zone, and a good working relationship with the QB, then he could become a go-to guy in the red zone and be an important factor for betting sides and totals. Similarly, if a team has a strong short-yardage back, that could make all the difference between punching it in at the goal line on 4th down and settling for a field goal.

When you’re deciding who to start and who to sit, you have to consider match-ups—receivers vs. corners, RB vs. run defense, etc. Match-ups are integral to handicapping, because the team getting the best of it with regard to match-ups should have an edge—with all else being equal—and that discrepancy may or may not be reflected in the spread.

Who really are the best defensive teams in the NFL? Which team had the most takeaways last year? Who has the lowest total points allowed? These are some important considerations, especially for totals betting—and some of the teams you come up with may really surprise you.

Fantasy football makes you follow games that you don’t bet and wouldn’t interest you otherwise. That is definitely a good thing, because as you know—watching the NFL is just good, clean fun. Plus, it gives you an excuse to hang out with your buddies on Sunday and Monday and then talk trash on the league website the rest of the week.

Fantasy football is not gonna make you a perfect bettor, or answer all of your handicapping prayers, but it can’t hurt as a small part of an overall betting curriculum (including websites, books, tv shows, experience, etc.) and it can be a fun way to supplement your handicapping knowledge…not to mention the sheer bliss of destroying your friends in a head-to-head matchup.