How to Dominate Your 2017 Yahoo Fantasy Football Draft

When drafting your fantasy team, the default settings on the site you use can frequently influence drafters. If you can look past the default rankings and simply choose the best player available, you will dominate your draft! Below, you will find my standard rankings for the top 12 rounds as well as Yahoo’s default ranking of that player.

You will also see a column labeled +/-. When you see a positive number in that column, it means I believe the player is undervalued by Yahoo. When you see a negative number, it means I believe the player is overvalued. While drafting, avoid players with negative +/- numbers (unless they fall significantly during the draft) and select players with positive +/- numbers (as long as you don’t reach for them).

*Both sets of rankings are as of 9/1/2017 at 3:00 ET

Round 1

Analysis

In round one, Yahoo did a decent job of ranking the top players. I think A.J. Green is undervalued in the first round. Green is in his prime at age 29 and should be recovered from his hamstring injury. If you exclude the game he hurt his hamstring against Buffalo, Green averaged 13.38 fantasy points and more than 11 targets per game last season.

Round 2

Analysis

Rob Gronkowski stands out as the most undervalued player in round two. I realize the injury risk with Gronkowski, but if we even get ten games of Gronkowski’s dominance, he may be worth a second round pick. Last season, in a four game stretch when Gronkowski was at his healthiest, he averaged 118.25 yards per game and 16.33 fantasy points per game. He was a vertical threat for the Patriots and has matchup winning upside when healthy.

Round 3

Analysis

Lamar Miller had a disappointing season last year and recorded career lows in yards per carry and yards per catch. He also was near the bottom of the league in many advanced metrics. When a player receives volume (299 touches), and still struggles to produce fantasy points, I find it hard to expect a bounce back performance.

Todd Gurley was another major disappointment. He played all 16 games last year and rushed for more than 80 yards just once. He finished the season averaging only 3.18 yards per carry. Gurley also struggled in some key advanced metrics and while the volume should still be there, I’m questioning the production even with the addition of Sammy Watkins to stretch the field. I won’t own Gurley or Miller in any Yahoo leagues this year.

Round 4

Analysis

In round four, Aaron Rodgers starts the trend of overvalued quarterbacks. Yahoo overvalues quarterbacks throughout the draft, but I’ll touch on it here since Rodgers will be the first quarterback Yahoo will tempt you with. The quarterback position is insanely deep this season. There are 16 quarterbacks I would be satisfied with as my QB1 in 2017 drafts, so drafting one in round four isn’t smart. Build a strong base of receivers and running backs while the rest of your league chases quarterbacks, then grab a value quarterback late in the draft and dominate your league.

Round 5

Analysis

In round five, Stefon Diggs is undervalued by Yahoo. Diggs is a talented receiver and clearly an undervalued one. NFL.com’s Matt Harmon, creator of Reception Perception, posted a graphic on Twitter in April showing Diggs’ route running abilities. In the graphic, Harmon showed Diggs is better than average in success rate vs. man coverage, zone coverage, and press coverage and also has an above average contested catch rate. There is a lot to like about Diggs as he enters his third NFL season. He should be an easy steal in Yahoo leagues this year.

Round 6

Analysis

I expected Yahoo to correct Terrance West’s ranking once the news that Kenneth Dixon was out for the year, but they still undervalue him. West will see most of the early-down work for the Ravens and his overall volume in the offense will be enough to justify a mid-7th round pick.

Round 7

Analysis

In standard leagues, touchdowns are king. If you’re receiver can score double-digit touchdowns in a season, he has a great shot at being at least a top 24 wide receiver. Donte Moncrief scored seven touchdowns last season on only 30 receptions. Obviously the 30 receptions isn’t what you want, but if Andrew Luck can get healthy, Moncrief has a shot to reach double-digit touchdowns.

Round 8

Analysis

Taking over for Brandin Cooks, Ted Ginn becomes the field-stretcher in the Saints offense. He’ll get a quarterback upgrade and will run on New Orleans’ turf for half of his games, helping his speed. Ginn will play in ten indoor stadiums this season, a big change from playing most of this games outdoors last year. While Ginn might not be Brandin Cooks, the role should be the same. Ginn has matchup winning upside with Drew Brees under center and should be a great WR4/5 for your fantasy team. The fact that Yahoo values him in the 10th/111th round allows you to select Ginn at a strong value.

Round 9

Analysis

Matt Ryan stands out as another overvalued quarterback. I don’t own Matt Ryan in a single league this year, and in my future drafts, I don’t plan to select him either. In 2016, he finished as QB2, behind only Aaron Rodgers. In 2016, Ryan had a 7.1% touchdown percentage. His career average touchdown percentage is 4.7%, and that’s after his hyper-efficient 2016 season. If we regress Ryan’s touchdown percentage to the mean, he would have thrown for 25 touchdowns instead of 38. Applying only this regression to 2016, he would have scored 52 fewer fantasy points and would have dropped to QB6. While Yahoo ranks Ryan in the 6th round, I think the Falcons offense is worse this year, so I’ve ranked Ryan outside of my top 100 players.

Round 10

Round 11

Analysis

Round 11 and 12 feature three running backs who will see plenty of receiving work. While Yahoo does not feature PPR settings, these three backs already have a role in their team’s offense, and would likely see an expanded role if the lead running back(s) on their teams were to get injured. My favorite of the three is DeAndre Washington, followed by Giovani Bernard and Alvin Kamara.

Round 12

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