Holy hell... I'm making a blog post. What year is it?
Apologies to my readers. I've been slack on the posting here. Hopefully by now you're
following me on twitter; I'm much more active over that way this time of year.
I was trying to relieve the draft anxiety of a fellow fantasyhead over at
r/fantasyfootball today. Over the course of the afternoon we walked through some of my favorite fantasy players to target in drafts; slowly but surely he came down off the ledge and began actually looking forward to his draft (as he should!). What follows is the quick and dirty version of some of the things I shared with him:
Note: "ADP10" data is included because the guy I was helping was drafting in a 10-team league. That said, I typically play in 12-team, so most of my thoughts will reflect that. Also, arguably the
most important thing you can do for your draft day prep is to compare "default" ADP data (
from FFC) against the ADP data/default rankings of the site you are drafting on. Knowing which guys will go too early and which guys will slip a round or two (or three+ in the case of
Adrian Foster) will give you a massive leg up on your competition. So many players are slaves to the default ranks. Know where the bargains are. Find the value!
In
standard, my top ranked
RBs are:
| RB | Rank | ADP10 |
|---|
| Adrian Peterson | RB1 | 1.01 |
| Le'Veon Bell | RB2 | 1.02 |
| Eddie Lacy | RB3 | 1.03 |
| Marshawn Lynch | RB4 | 1.06 |
| Jamaal Charles | RB5 | 1.04 |
| C.J. Anderson | RB6 | 1.09 |
| Jeremy Hill | RB7 | 2.01 |
| Matt Forte | RB8 | 2.03 |
| DeMarco Murray | RB9 | 2.06 |
| Lamar Miller | RB10 | 3.02 |
| Frank Gore | RB11 | 3.07 |
| Justin Forsett | RB12 | 2.09 |
| Mark Ingram | RB13 | 3.10 |
| Jonathan Stewart | RB14 | 5.02 |
| LeSean McCoy | RB15 | 3.01 |
| Latavius Murray | RB16 | 4.03 |
| Alfred Morris | RB17 | 4.05 |
| Arian Foster | RB18 | 6.09 |
| Chris Ivory | RB20 | 6.07 |
I love pretty much all of those guys except for
LeSean McCoy (hurt),
Latavius Murray (bad O), and
Alf Morris (bad O), but the way I have them ranked here they are usually taken by someone else. Not counting those three guys that I'm shying away from, if you can get at least three of the guys on the above list in the first six rounds as your RB1 RB2 and Flex, I think you will be in very good shape this season.
FYI,
Frank Gore is my most-owned player on this list, so that should tell you how I feel about him as my RB2 in the third round. I also love
Lamar Miller if he's still there in the third, or
Mark Ingram/Jonathan Stewart later in the 3rd or early 4th in 12-team standard leagues.
Arian Foster is still criminally under-rated on most sites' default rankings. Abuse this. Take him in the 6th and sleep like a baby. If one of your league-mates is sharp and snipes you on that move,
Chris Ivory should be there too, and in my opinion either of those guys makes a fantastic third back to snag before the 7th round of 12-teamers.
In terms of
WRs my thoughts in
standard are as follows: I'd be happy with anyone in the top6 as my stud WR1. I rank them:
- Antonio Brown
- Demaryius Thomas
- Odell Beckham Jr.
- Dez Bryant
- Julio Jones
- A.J. Green
Mid/Later round WRs I really like as my WR3/WR4/WR5:
| WR | myRank | ADP10 |
|---|
| Davante Adams | WR17 | 5.07 |
| Jarvis Landry | WR18 | 5.08 |
| Jeremy Maclin | WR19 | 6.03 |
| Andre Johnson | WR22 | 4.10 |
| Allen Robinson | WR23 | 7.02 |
| Charles Johnson | WR30 | 8.01 |
| Nelson Agholor | WR31 | 7.03 |
| John Brown | WR32 | 8.06 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | WR27 | 9.07 |
| Steve Smith | WR32 | 9.02 |
| Devin Funchess | WR36 | 10.06 |
| Anquan Boldin | WR26 | 10.08 |
Davante Adams will be taking over Jordy's role in Green Bay. Love that kid at that price; I've been trying to snag him everywhere... 4th round in 12-team, which means you should be able to target him in the 5th in 10-team. Big fan of
Allen Robinson in the 6th. And I'm loving the value of the old dudes late; I'm putting one of
Larry Fitz,
Anquan Boldin or
Steve Smith on my roster in the 9th/10th. I'm also a fan of sprinkling in young guns
Charles Johnson,
Nelson Agholor,
John Brown and
Devin Funchess as well.
My targets at QB are simple: Tom Brady in the 8th, or Ryan Tannehill in the 10th. Full disclosure I am a Pats fan, but I believe Brady's suspension will get removed (possibly as soon as tomorrow). His value will skyrocket after that, so get him now while you can. If you do take Brady, just take Carson Palmer later on. He's got a fantastic first 5-week schedule and should serve as a great fill-in for Brady should the suspension be upheld.
On TE, my target is Travis Kelce, BIGTIME. Love this kid. He's basically Gronk on the Chiefs. He's a bully. Take him in the 5th round and smile like TRich knowing he has guaranteed money (somehow). If I miss on that, Delaine Walker can usually be snapped up near the tenth. I also really like Tyler Eifert in the 11th round.
My final piece of advice:
Have fun; draft a team you'll love. That's the joy of fantasy football. Don't be a slave to the rankings of others. Trust your gut. Good luck.
