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.
Giovani Bernard ADP: Why Yahoo! fantasy football ranks him higher than ESPN
Bernard is a forgotten man these days. Is it worth it to take him based on where he’s going in fantasy drafts?
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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.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard is certainly a strange case when it comes to his ADP.
ESPN rank: 79Yahoo! rank: 70Fantasy Football Calculator (FFC) ADP: 75
Here’s a look at his ADP trend over the past month, too:
That's a very sharp drop since Aug. 9. Obviously, you have heard about some guy named Jeremy Hill, who was arguably the most valuable back to have in fantasy football in the second half of the season. Consequently, Gio Bernard won't be the featured back anymore.
However, the Bengals should have enough points and yards to go around to help create some value for Bernard. He did get 16 touches per game last season, so even double-digit touches close to 10 could make him a mid-level RB3. Of course, he’s not getting any goal-line work.
One thing to remember here is that he should not be going this late in PPR drafts. Generally, fantasy owners will want to try and pick him up in the late-fifth or early-sixth round for that format. For standard, ESPN is a shade lower on Gio than Yahoo!, but it’s not a big difference. Depending on who else is out there, picking him up close to No. 80 might be worth it in a standard. He won’t be highly coveted.
