Making the most of ADP, Average Draft Position

The wheel. Modern medicine. Fantasy football. We have reached the summit of human innovation.

The tangible greatness of fantasy football is its ability to conceive new passions from previously unremarkable elements of the National Football League. When one is an owner of a fantasy football team, once meaningless statistics become vital, once irrelevant matches become nail-biters, and once unknown players become deified.

Fantasy football is a renaissance of fanaticism — part statistical perusal and part gut-instinct.

When you have drafted a fantasy team, you will feel an inescapable fondness and commitment to the new names on your roster. This feeling is fantasy fidelity. Savour it. This week’s debut column will focus on ADP — Average Draft Position.

For example, a player that is 2.2 is being drafted as the second pick in the second round.

ADP STEAL DEALS

Be the criminal Britney loves — and the fearsome opponent that your league hates. Below is a list of players with a heinously low ADP that you should draft in their current position.

D.J. Moore. ADP — 11.01

In this list of steal deals, Moore is nothing less than grand theft. Moore was the first WR taken in this year’s NFL draft and all he has to do to be the No. 1 WR for the Panthers is beat out Devin Funchess? Checkmate.

Dion Lewis. ADP — 6.03

In Fantasy football, visualizing a player’s floor (his lowest projected statistical output) and ceiling (his highest) is extremely helpful. While Lewis’ floor is a spotty flex spot, his ceiling is the Sistine Chapel. DeMarco Murray’s departure from Tennessee leaves the ex-Pat to do considerable damage alongside Derrick Henry — yet you can draft Lewis a full three rounds later than his slower counterpart.

Marshawn Lynch. ADP — 5.10

A caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly. Beastmode becomes a Gruden Grinder. One of the previous two sentences is a thing of beauty. The other is a bug fact. Though Lynch’s productivity may be hampered by the presence of Doug Martin, everyone and their uninformed mother expects his hard-nosed style to be loved by Oakland’s new coach.

ADP INFLATION VACATION

Don’t hop on these hype trains. Travel elsewhere on the draft board to avoid a value so bad it belongs in Pete Carroll’s goal-line playbook. Below is a list of players with an egregiously high ADP that you should not draft at their current position.

Deshaun Watson. ADP — 4.02

Watson rampaged into the league last year like a lustful poacher, punishing rival Colts and Jaguars alike. Drafting quarterbacks early in fantasy is almost never worth the reward — it’s comparable to diving for dimes in a tank full of angry sharks that have Hepatitis B.

There are better ways to earn value. Never draft a QB this early.

Rashaad Penny ADP — 3.12

There is change on Seattle’s roster. Because Penny will likely not be a starter for Week 1, taking him in the third round in front of other rookie RBs such as Royce Freeman (ADP 5.02) or Kerryon Johnson (ADP 6.11) is an unnecessary risk.

Christian Mccaffrey. ADP — 2.10

Christian’s vice last year was ineffectiveness. Finishing without a single 100-yard game or even more rushing yards than passing yards, McCaffrey’s sinfully high price is unjustifiable unless you are drafting him in a PPR format.

Draft Panthers’ CJ Anderson instead, whose ADP of 8.02 is devilishly low.

Toby Collis Handford is a fourth-year English major at UBCO, a flag football wide receiver, and a fantasy football champion. Email toby.collishandford@gmail.com.