It’s not just who you draft, it’s when you draft them. You’ve probably heard this or some variation 100 times, but it’s definitely true. Fantasy owners really need to be on their toes to guess when their competitors will take a certain player. There are a lot of things that can affect the general perception of a specific player. For instance, if every single “expert” is raving about the same guy as a great target in the middle round, you’re going to have to be very aggressive to pick him up.
Melvin Gordon ADP: Why Yahoo! fantasy football ranks him higher than ESPN
Rookie running backs are always a touchy yet interesting subject in fantasy football. Where should you draft Melvin Gordon based on your platform?
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Additionally, the platform for your draft is going to affect the average draft position. Not all sites feel exactly the same, so there will be some discrepancy on the ADP. For instance, if Yahoo! ranks Player X at 25 and ESPN ranks him at 75, his ADP on Yahoo! will be much higher than on ESPN. If some sneaky commish wanted to, he could choose his platform based on the rankings alone. If ESPN has his favorite guys higher than Yahoo!, he would want to do it on Yahoo!.
One other thing worth addressing is that ESPN uses two receivers and one flex while Yahoo! uses three receivers and no flex. This has very little impact on the rankings, but it’s just something to think about.
There tends to be a difference on rookie players and that's no different with San Diego Chargers running back Melvin Gordon.
ESPN rank: 37Yahoo! rank: 26Fantasy Football Calculator (FFC) ADP: 38
You really can't mention Gordon without thinking about Ryan Mathews in 2010 after the Chargers grabbed him in the first round. A number of fantasy owners invested a first-round pick on Mathews, but they were highly disappointed due to injuries and not being very productive. Plus, a number of first-round rookie running backs have struggled to get it going.
On the other hand, multiple backs have been able to hit the ground running in their first season. The Chargers figure to give Gordon most of the work on the early downs while running back Danny Woodhead gets some work on the passing downs.
Yahoo! was very aggressive at 26, which is in the same neighborhood of LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore, Mark Ingram and Lamar Miller. It's hard to trust Gordon among those guys. If you're in a Yahoo! league, you almost have to hope he falls until 34 or so. As for ESPN, 37 is a fine spot for him.
