2018 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
Draft Strategy
For 2018 fantasy football drafts it is suggested not to go into your draft with a predetermined draft strategy. Rather the prudent thing to do is to stick to your cheat sheet and attempt to identify draft values. Waiting for a QB is fine but if Aaron Rodgers somehow slips to the seventh round is it really still strategic to pass him up? The Zero-RB strategy has gained popularity but if your picking ninth and Ezekiel Elliott or David Johnson is on the board due to other managers utilizing this strategy is it still wise to pass on a running back? This is why value based drafting regardless of position is the more logical route to employ when evaluating options.
Positional Depth and Point Variance by position should help you dictate where you want to focus with each pick. With all positions but quarterbacks the point variance between the truly elite and the very good to great is large enough to warrant focusing on these positions first, especially when it comes to wide receivers and running backs. The 2018 crop of fantasy relevant receivers and running backs is larger than ever but still remains very top heavy. With that said grabbing an elite tight end or quarterback option early will in all likelihood not hurt the strength of your remaining starters as much as it may have in previous years.
Of course we should all remember the league specific settings that may make one player more valuable than another. For example a player like Trey Burton is ranked third overall in PPR but finds himself at seventh overall in our standard format rankings. League size, draft position and positional runs will also undoubtedly influence your draft strategy as these correlative factors may accentuate the need to draft one player or position over another.
Avoid the standard rankings given to you by your fantasy league provider
Fantasy league providers such as Yahoo and ESPN’s default draft client rankings are notoriously unreliable so you should take the time to do your own pre-rankings; also take a look at the rankings done by the writers as opposed to the rankings the fantasy game provides.
Rankings
We have you covered for 2018 fantasy football draft rankings, there may be some surprises such as Carson Wentz in the top three of our Quarterback rankings, Joe Mixon in the top ten of our Running Back rankings, Trey Burton in the top five of our Tight End Rankings or Corey Davis in our top 20 of our Wide Receiver Rankings but remember rankings are not a substitute for your cheat sheet or an ADP list, rankings reflect where we think these players will rank in total fantasy points at the end of the 2018 fantasy season.
Dynasty Keeper Rankings
Dynasty and Keeper leagues are something no fantasy manager should be without. I personally prefer dynasty but keepers are the preferred option to curb owner attrition if your league opts for a money league. In dynasty and keeper leagues wide receivers have increased value due to their shelf life versus running backs and age, in this case, is more than just a number. We have prepared dynasty rankings for the 2018 fantasy football season which include Saquon Barkley in the top three for running backs; Mike Williams in the top-20 for wide receivers; OJ Howard in the top five for tight ends and Lamar Jackson in the top five for quarterbacks.
Sleepers to Know: Mike Gesicki, OJ Howard, Hayden Hurst, Michael Crabtree, Jordy Nelson, Donte Moncrief, John Brown, Martavis Bryant, Josh Doctson, John Ross, Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley, D.J Moore, Antonio Callaway, DeDe Westbrook, Taywan Taylor, James Washington, Phillip Dorsett, Derek Carr, Patrick Mahomes, Jaylen Samuels, Aaron Jones, Adrian Peterson, Kenneth Dixon, Kalen Ballage, LeGarrette Blount, Jordan Wilkins, Frank Gore
Players not getting enough love who may finish at the top-15 at their position: Allen Robinson, Corey Davis, Mike Williams, Alshon Jeffery, Marquise Goodwin, Josh Gordon, Trey Burton, Hayden Hurst, Christian McCaffrey, Rashaad Penny, Royce Freeman, Aaron Jones, Sony Michel, Isaiah Crowell, Kerryon Johnson
Players we are avoiding at their ADP even though they have upside: Adam Thielen, Brandin Cooks, Jack Doyle, Cameron Brate, Jordan Reed, Chris Hogan, Alex Collins, Lamar Miller, Dion Lewis, Kenyan Drake, Tyreek Hill, Demaryius Thomas, Robert Woods, Sterling Shepard, Devin Funchess, Rishard Matthews, Kenny Stills, Mohamed Sanu, Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, Jared Cook, Tyler Eifert, Jay Ajayi, Tevin Coleman, Jamaal Williams, Ty Montgomery
Rookies to know: Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson, Rashaad Penny, Royce Freeman, Nick Chubb, Kerryon Johnson, Ronald Jones, D.J Moore, Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley, Dante Pettis, Courtland Sutton, Michael Gallup, Anthony Miller, Tre’Quan Smith, Kalen Ballage, Jordan Wilkins, Calvin Ridley, Antonio Callaway, Mike Gesicki, Hayden Hurst, James Washington, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, J’Mon Moore, Chris Warren, John Kelly, Chase Edmonds, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen. You can also take a look at our complete dynasty league rookie rankings here.
Super Backups: This year there are quite a few super backups who could find themselves with top-20 value if their teams starter goes down, the most important names to know this year include: John Kelly, Tevin Coleman, Bo Scarbrough, James Conner, TJ Yeldon, Chase Edmonds, Chris Ivory, Jamaal Williams, Doug Martin/Chris Warren, Latavius Murray, Kalen Ballage, Nick Chubb, Kenneth Dixon, Dion Lewis
Bold Predictions
We put together twenty of our bold predictions a little while back and some are already not looking as bold as they did at the time of writing. Take a quick look and file the information away in your mental fantasy Rolodex.
IDP
Most leagues these days have abandoned kickers and defensive/special teams in favor of IDP while others use a combination. If you play or have played in a custom league you likely have some experience with IDP and the added dimension it brings to fantasy football. We have our rankings for this year here and have some editors choice links to some of our favorite offseason IDP resources.
FantasyPros
FantasyPros should be an essential stop for anyone doing fantasy draft prep or looking for tips weekly in season. FantasyPros has a collection of goodies such as Average Draft Position rankings, Strength of Schedule, the all important matchup calendar, a Fantasy Football Draft Order Generator, a free agent tracker for those who may not follow the NFL all offseason, a really handy bye week cheat sheet as well as target leaders and snap count leaders. If your not using FantasyPros offerings you are actually at a competitive disadvantage because you can bet some of your rivals are.
Projections
Similar to what FantasyPros does with their Expert Consensus Rankings our friends at FP have compiled some of the best projections on the web into a consensus projection, and as always you can choose which sources you trust most to get your own custom projection based on those you chose.
Mock Drafts
Mocks are an essential part of any serious draft prep but there is one common problem; they take too long and are unreliable as many owners fail to show up or purposely go vanilla with their picks. Fortunately we have you covered with the help of FantasyPros; you can mock draft directly on our site or head over to the mock draft lobby. For the quickest mock draft experience however you can use the Mock Draft Simulator which allows you to draft against you choice of ADP, ECR or custom cheat sheets. Participating in at least two of each is suggested to get a more objective view of what may happen on your draft day or days. You can customize settings or even connect to your league to get the most accurate mock draft possible to mimic what you may actually see on draft day.
Auctions
Though they can be painfully time consuming at times auctions are an incredibly fun and in some minds a much more equitable draft experience. A sound draft auction however requires all managers to be present and willing to sit through the duration of the draft which could run up to a few hours. FantasyPros has compiled a Auction Calculator which serves as an Auction value ADP type of list identifying average auction prices for players. They also have a helpful mock draft tool in the Auction Simulator. Auctions are a draft method many fantasy veterans have yet to partake in but we recommend, time permitting of course, that everyone take some time to see what all the fuss is about.
Draft Day
On draft day aside from having this page open there are some tools from our friends at FantasyPros that we highly recommend such as the draft wizard which has unbeatable tools to give you a competitive advantage in your draft prep and draft such as the draft assistant. The Draft Assistant is something you connect to your league provider once your draft room is open that offers suggested players to consider while also keeping track of which players have been taken similar to what you have seen in the mock draft simulator. You can load your custom ECR cheat sheets and use them directly in this application or even use multiple sheets to look at different slants during your draft. Creating custom cheat sheets based on your favorite experts and overall ECR is a good place to start when using the cheat sheet creator.
Post Draft
Post Draft there are two things you will want to do immediately.
The first thing you’ll want to do is have FantasyPros analyze your draft based on ECR and any cheat sheets you may have developed with cheat sheet creator. The Analyzer will give you projected standings and a ranking of your leagues teams starters and bench while also identifying potential values and reaches for each team. This is a useful tool and if you create your own custom cheat sheet you’ll likely notice you rated better based on the sheet or sheets you used versus overall ECR.
The next thing you’ll want to do is load your team into MyPlayBook which is a tool that among other things will suggest optimal starting lineups while also helping identify the top potential free agent or FAAB adds throughout the season.
Now that your drafts are complete it’s time to start preparing for week one.
