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.
Julian Edelman ADP: Why Yahoo! fantasy football ranks him lower than ESPN
Julian Edelman is another guy who has his value vary based on format, but even with a similar scoring system the two big sites have very different views on his ranking for fantasy football.
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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.
You have probably heard all about deflated footballs with the New England Patriots, but how about some of their players? Let's talk receiver Julian Edelman.
ESPN rank: 41Yahoo! rank: 60Fantasy Football Calculator (FFC) ADP: 55
These rankings are for standard leagues, so keep that in mind. Plain and simple, it's really hard to get on board with Edelman at 41 unless it's a PPR. If Tom Brady is indeed suspended, that's likely going to hurt Julian. Plus, the Patriots have a healthy Rob Gronkowski this season, which should hurt Edelman's targets, especially in the red zone.
Edelman has not been practicing to a full capacity since Aug. 2, so he might be hurt -- the Patriots do not give out this information. His ADP on FFC is much closer to Yahoo!, which makes sense. You’re probably going to want to think about pouncing around pick 50 in either format.
