Overview
Gridiron5 is a modified NFL Pick'em pool where you select the winner of five games of your choice each week - all against the spread. Pools are private and can only be viewed by players who have joined. Game matchups, spreads, scores, and standings are all available within Gridiron5.
Creating a Pool
- From the Home screen, tap + Create a Pool. Name your pool and choose your own Player Name.
- Whoever creates the pool becomes its Pool Admin - they invite players, manage the roster, and are responsible for the pool's season fee.
- Gridiron5 generates a Pool ID and Password for you. Share them directly, or send the invite link, which fills in both automatically.
- New pools must be created before the season starts. Pool creation closes 24 hours before the first kickoff of Week 1. Once that deadline passes, no new pools can be created until next season.
- Joining is not affected by that deadline. Existing pools stay open to new players all season long - see Joining a Pool below.
- Players play free. The Pool Admin is invoiced once Week 1 picks lock - see the Pricing page for the current rates.
Joining a Pool
- From the Home screen, tap Join a Pool.
- Enter the Pool ID and Password provided by your Pool Admin, or use the invite link they sent you.
- Enter a Player Name - this is how you'll appear to others in the pool.
- Tap Join Pool to confirm.
- You can join a pool at any time during the season, even after it has started. Weeks that have already locked can't be picked, so a late start means beginning without those weeks' results on your record.
Making Your Picks
- Go to My Picks each week and select the winner of five NFL games from the weekly game schedule.
- Also select one backup game. If one of your five chosen games is cancelled, the backup automatically steps in as your fifth pick.
- To swap a game after all six selections are made, you must unselect a game before choosing a new one.
- If you have multiple players, repeat the process for each one.
- Weekly picks lock five minutes before the first game kicks off. See Deadline below for what happens if your picks aren't complete by then.
Deadline
Picks lock five minutes before the first game of the week kicks off. The first game is typically Thursday night but may fall on a different day during holiday weeks or special NFL scheduling. Check My Picks for game times each week. If you miss it, any picks you haven't made are filled in at random on your behalf and locked - including your backup, and including the remaining slots if you saved only some of your five. Picks you did save are never changed.
Spreads
All picks are made against the spread. Spreads are posted every Tuesday morning and are visible under My Picks. They do not change after being posted, regardless of line movement elsewhere.
The spread is the margin a team must win or lose by to cover. It is deducted from the favorite's final score - or equivalently, added to the underdog's final score - to determine the against-the-spread result.
Every spread includes a half point, so a pick can never end in a tie - each game is always a win or a loss against the spread.
| Favorite | DAL |
| Underdog | MIA |
| Spread | 3.5 - deducted from DAL's score, or added to MIA's |
| Final Score | DAL 30, MIA 27 |
| Adjusted Score | DAL 26.5, MIA 27 or DAL 30, MIA 30.5 → MIA wins against the spread |
In the example above, Dallas won the game outright but did not cover the spread. A player who picked Miami would win; a player who picked Dallas would lose.
Winning the Week
Win all five of your selected games against the spread and you're a winner for that week. In the Pool view, weekly winners appear at the top, you appear next (your row is highlighted), and the rest of the pool follows in alphabetical order.
Leaderboard
The Leaderboard tracks each player's total wins and losses throughout the regular season. Players are ranked from most to least total wins. Pick % is shown as a supporting statistic and is calculated using completed picks:
Pending games are excluded until they are completed, and cancelled games are excluded entirely. Your row is highlighted so you can find your position quickly. The top three records are also highlighted. Players with the same number of wins share the same rank.
Regular Season Only
Gridiron5 covers the 18-week NFL regular season only. Playoff games are not included. The pool concludes at the end of Week 18.
Navigating Gridiron5
- My Picks - make and view your weekly pick selections.
- Pool - see all player picks for the week. Weekly winners are listed first, then you, then the rest of the pool. Everyone's picks stay hidden until the deadline, five minutes before the first game kicks off.
- Leaderboard - view season standings for all players in your pool.
- Season Archive - browse past seasons: final standings, weekly schedules, and every player's picks from previous years.
- Profile - update your personal information, change your password, and access resources.