Fantasy Football Players

When To Draft Specific Fantasy Football Players

Snake drafts differ from auction drafts when it comes to the strategy of drafting a specific player. In, snake drafts you are given your order and presented with options as players come off the board. In auctions, you have the chance to capture the players you want. Your more expensive auction players or early draft picks are going to be the higher-floor fantasy players. These are the guys you want to invest in because they will give you that solid outcome each week you can rely on. This is why you see bellcow backs fly off the board early on. They can be relied upon to get you 18+ touches each week, and in this era, there aren't many backs that get that type of work anymore. You also see the WR1s on teams go first, and volume is another reason. They tend to lead their teams in targets, and where there are targets, there are fantasy points.

If you are curious about where to take chances on players with a little more risk, you can do that in later rounds. There will be plenty of players after you established a strong core to your lineup where you can take some risks and create plans if they don't pan out. Taking risky players early in drafts or spending higher on risky players could still pay off, but limiting your weekly floor is not usually a recipe for success. Some players will be labeled a handcuff, which means that they are the backup to a player who has a strong role on the team. These players are considered ones to really keep an eye on because they can pop right into a valuable role if the player in front of them gets injured. These players are usually taken later in drafts.

When it comes to drafting kickers and team defenses, this needs to be done within the last three rounds of a draft or in auctions. They are your usually your cheapest adds. This is because they are easily expendable, and you can play the matchups and waiver wire throughout the season. They are not as high scoring when it comes to the overall numbers and offers up the least value out of any other positions. If you feel good about your current roster and want to add an elite defense a round or two early, that is a call for you to make.

Different Types Of Fantasy Football Players

Every position has sets of players that operate in different ways for scoring fantasy points. You have your pocket passers who rely on big yards and touchdowns to put up their numbers at the quarterback position, but you also have more mobile quarterbacks who can provide rushing stats and give them an edge in fantasy football. For example, the Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, and Russell Wilson crowd are still considered non-running quarterbacks, yet they can add 30-40 yards on the ground and have an edge with rushing touchdowns. With rushing yards being a point per ten yards and six points per touchdown, this is more than passing stats for fantasy points.

Running backs have evolved over the last two decades to be more involved in the passing game. We see some running backs exclusively used in rushing and receiving roles. This can lead to frustrating committees, but if utilized correctly by an offense, they both can have value. There are also the full-workload running backs who handle all three downs and see over 300 touches in a given season. As long as they stay healthy, they tend to be the higher scoring players because volume gives them an edge over others. The early down backs will have more rushing potential and can be used more in the red zone. A receiving down back tends to see more time in games where their side is losing or on passing downs.

Wide receivers and tight ends have very different roles at times, and it can reflect in their fantasy potential. If you are an elite tight end or wide receiver, the volume of targets will be there consistently each week, and the fantasy production will usually follow. These types of players are solid regardless of scoring structure, and you can start them in any matchup. When you start to get a player or two down the depth chart at wide receiver, they can be used in red zone roles only or are shorter route players that rely on yards after the catch to be productive. This applies to tight ends as well. Some of the older tight ends in the league are still a mismatch size-wise but don't have that same speed to get past defenders. This is where we see a high red zone usage. In PPR leagues, you can rely more on the slot-receivers that are a bit smaller and may not find the end zone as often.

What To Look For In Fantasy Football Players

When it comes to evaluating players from a fantasy perspective, we can look at their production to see how well they did after the games have finished. There is often a story to tell about how they got those points, especially if there is an eye-popping fantasy score from a player that you wouldn't expect to have it. This is why we need to look at the game flow, and if a player saw a lot of targets, was it because he was just simply better, or was it because his team had to throw 50 times that game. This is how we weed out those one-week wonders and not fall for any recency bias. It is important to understand how players scored their points and learn from the week-to-week data.

The term volume means targets or touches for the skill position players like receivers and running backs while passing attempts are volume for quarterbacks. Volume is crucial for fantasy points because it gives players the opportunity. A receiver can't record reception or yards if they are not thrown to. This is why we want to look at targets and rushing attempts for players. If they are getting lower volume on a team, they will have to be very productive with it, but you also likely can't rely on them week-to-week to hit their mark. As for a player like Davante Adams of the Packers, he sees 10+ targets each week, and even if he doesn't find the end zone, he usually generates a strong score. Tight ends and receivers that can carry a strong percentage of team targets each week will be more reliable.

With the running back position being quite different from 20 years ago, it has led to only a few backs being used in a heavy-touch role. You have a few names like Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey, who see 20+ touches a week, and that is the main reason they are the first few players off the board. Because there are now only a few running backs like this compared to 12-15 like we used to have, it makes them more valuable. We are seeing a lot of committees these days, which means 2-3 running backs used almost equally in a game. Some will have their own unique role, but sometimes we might see a strategy used by the coach where they ride the hot hand or split touches equally regardless of their role.

Overall, volume should outweigh efficiency when it comes to decision making time on what fantasy players to draft or start. Volume correlates more with steady fantasy points, and that is what we are after. Efficiency can be weighed a bit more when it comes to quarterbacks because 40 attempts aren't going to matter much if you are completing only 50% of them. Targets and rushing attempts on the higher side are what you need to key in on first. This helps narrow down your targets or make weekly decisions when it comes to your starting lineup.

FAQ

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