What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of fantasy football?
Chances are it has something to do with value and draft strategy. Luckily, this piece contains each of the two aforementioned topics. Despite it being the end of June, fantasy football preparation is well underway, and the best players start now, with hopes to be the most prepared for August.
As we all know, PFF Fantasy's own Mike Clay publishes some of the best rankings on the Internet. Take a look, as he has been among the industry's most accurate in the last few years.
These are PFF Fantasy's official projections that are updated almost every day, so be sure to bookmark it and keep it handy for your drafts in the coming months.
In addition to these projections, it's a good idea to look at ADPs (average draft positions) for each position, and for the draft board as a whole. Ignoring ADPs will lead to a lot of reaches, or missing out on a few steals.
The following chart is a tool that shows current projections and current ADPs. What can you do with them? Value. This shows our projections, the current ADP for each player, and a number representing each player's value at those projections with current ADP. For those players who lack ADP data, an ADP of 165 will be used.
There are two sets of values, one is for players who have more than the average fantasy points, the other is for those with less than average. The higher the number, the more value that player holds.
Player | Team | Yards | Touchdowns | Rushing Yards | Touchdowns | Fantasy Points | ADP (FFC) | Fantasy Points Above Average | Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tier 1 | |||||||||
Peyton Manning | DEN | 5395 | 41 | -15 | 1 | 424 | 11.6 | 109.75 | 127.3 |
Drew Brees | NO | 5217 | 38 | 48 | 1 | 403 | 23.2 | 88.75 | 205.9 |
Aaron Rodgers | GB | 4522 | 31 | 262 | 2 | 373 | 21.5 | 58.75 | 126.3 |
Matthew Stafford | DET | 4907 | 32 | 83 | 1 | 362 | 45 | 47.75 | 214.9 |
Nick Foles | PHI | 3883 | 32 | 240 | 5 | 359 | 65 | 44.75 | 290.9 |
Tom Brady | NE | 4663 | 30 | 28 | 2 | 356 | 74 | 41.75 | 309.0 |
Tony Romo | DAL | 4846 | 29 | 41 | 1 | 351 | 92.9 | 36.75 | 341.4 |
Matt Ryan | ATL | 4767 | 30 | 77 | 1 | 349 | 78.8 | 34.75 | 273.8 |
Andrew Luck | IND | 4206 | 27 | 347 | 2 | 345 | 52.7 | 30.75 | 162.1 |
Robert Griffin III | WAS | 3934 | 23 | 597 | 2 | 344 | 68.8 | 29.75 | 204.7 |
Philip Rivers | SD | 4204 | 30 | 68 | 1 | 323 | 107 | 8.75 | 93.6 |
Jay Cutler | CHI | 4010 | 29 | 201 | 1 | 319 | 106.7 | 4.75 | 50.7 |
Cam Newton | CAR | 3440 | 21 | 605 | 4 | 318 | 82.4 | 3.75 | 30.9 |
Colin Kaepernick | SF | 3286 | 23 | 674 | 2 | 317 | 87.8 | 2.75 | 24.1 |
Tier 2 | |||||||||
Alex D. Smith | KC | 3911 | 22 | 351 | 1 | 311 | 165.7 | 26.95 | 446.6 |
Andy Dalton | CIN | 3901 | 27 | 167 | 2 | 308 | 129 | 23.95 | 309.0 |
Johnny Manziel | CLV | 3382 | 21 | 526 | 3 | 296 | 138.4 | 11.95 | 165.4 |
Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | 4040 | 24 | 103 | 295 | 126.8 | 10.95 | 138.8 | |
Russell Wilson | SEA | 3020 | 25 | 454 | 1 | 290 | 117.3 | 5.95 | 69.8 |
Ryan Tannehill | MIA | 3728 | 21 | 246 | 2 | 289 | 157.9 | 4.95 | 78.2 |
Jake Locker | TEN | 3753 | 22 | 289 | 1 | 288 | 165 | 3.95 | 65.2 |
Teddy Bridgewater | MIN | 3864 | 22 | 204 | 2 | 287 | 165 | 2.95 | 48.7 |
Jacksonville (Henne and Bortles) | JAX | 3980 | 17 | 144 | 1 | 287 | 165 | 2.95 | 48.7 |
Joe Flacco | BLT | 3905 | 23 | 108 | 1 | 286 | 165 | 1.95 | 32.2 |
Tier 3 | |||||||||
E.J. Manuel | BUF | 3618 | 18 | 254 | 3 | 281 | 165 | 9 | 148.5 |
Eli Manning | NYG | 4183 | 23 | 43 | 1 | 281 | 151.8 | 9 | 136.6 |
Carson Palmer | ARZ | 4104 | 22 | 44 | 1 | 279 | 154.7 | 7 | 108.3 |
Tampa Bay (McCown and Glennon) | TB | 3881 | 21 | 97 | 277 | 140.7 | 5 | 70.4 | |
Geno Smith | NYJ | 3340 | 17 | 368 | 4 | 274 | 165 | 2 | 33.0 |
Sam Bradford | SL | 3853 | 20 | 91 | 1 | 272 | 165 | 0.0 |
As you can see, there are three tiers of quarterbacks. Each tier is represented by an average of the tier below them. For example, the first tier's average is 314.25, which is why Alex Smith is in the second tier, because his total points are below that average. This shows what each player's value was compared to the rest of the players in his respective tier.
The value shows what the player's value is corresponding to his current ADP. Alex Smith has the highest value based on ADP since he has the highest amount of fantasy points in tier two, but is not far off of tier one. But, his ADP is among those in tier two, so keep an eye on Smith for your late round quarterback needs.
Among the top-tier quarterbacks, Tony Romo has the highest value, as he is projected to finish as QB7, but his ADP is currently 92.9, or anywhere from the 7th to the 9th round, depending on the size of your draft. Keep in mind, players like Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers are listed at the low end of tier one, but their ADPs are currently in tier two, so despite a low value rating, they are still projected to be good values.
Use this chart for your fantasy leagues drafting soon, because as we all know, value drafting is among the most common strategies, and what better to show value than a value chart?