Ceiling is one of the key fantasy football terms you need to get to grips with if you are to compete regularly for big cash prizes in tournaments.

The ceiling of a fantasy football player is exactly what it sounds like – it is the highest number of points they are likely to be able to score for your team in a particular gameweek.

Ceiling is a term that has been around in the US for some time – particularly relating to NFL fantasy football games – but it is increasingly being used for fantasy football games around the world to describe players.

While ceiling is quite similar to upside – as it describes the potential point-scoring ability of a player – there is a subtle difference between the terms that it is important to learn.

Whereas upside refers more to the potential of a player, ceiling is more about their talent now and how it will be reflected in the number of fantasy football points they are able to score. Upside is typically talked about more in terms of the percentage growth of a player, relating specifically to point production, compared to the prior expectations of their performance.

Players with low ceiling are unlikely to score a big number of points, perhaps by hitting a hat-trick for their team, but they can be solid selections for certain types of daily fantasy football games, for example a double-up where you only need to finish in the top half of the table to win.

Stars with a high ceiling are useful in massive tournaments where you need to beat a huge number of people to get paid, but as always finding the right balance is the key to success.

As many new fantasy football players will have already guessed, in fantasy football terms the opposite of ceiling is floor.