With Week 8 in the books, it is the perfect time to conduct a mid-season review of players’ performance in relation to their average draft position. I won’t penalize players on this list because of injuries, but I will reward players that had stepped in and showed out.
Insufficient Funds
Swing and a miss. It’s okay, we can’t always draft the right player, but these have not lived up to their draft position.
| Position | Player | ADP | Draft As | Playing As | Overall in Scoring | Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Lamar Jackson | 17.2 | QB2 | QB13 | 23 | 100% |
| Drew Brees | 72.9 | QB9 | QB16 | 30 | 87% | |
| RB | Kenyan Drake | 18.1 | RB11 | RB25 | 88 | 92% |
| Cam Akers | 64.6 | RB24 | RB81 | 296 | 31% | |
| Le’Veon Bell | 49 | RB21 | RB73 | 272 | 93% | |
| WR | JuJu Smith-Schuster | 36.7 | WR12 | WR29 | 76 | 96% |
| T.Y. Hilton | 72.6 | WR26 | WR84 | 187 | 64% | |
| A.J. Green | 91.3 | WR32 | WR65 | 146 | 74% | |
| TE | Tyler Higbee | 61.7 | TE5 | TE16 | 142 | 61% |
If you are one of the managers still holding on to these underachievers, I commend your commitment to the process. Although they may have had rough outings thus far, some still positive outlooks moving forward. The Kansas City Chiefs seem determined to get Bell involved in their offense and Brees has a favorable stretch of games coming up in a few weeks. Jackson might be the toughest to evaluate midseason because he has shown glimpses of fantasy stardom this year, but he has not been without the dreadful lows. At this point, you may want to explore the possibility of moving on from Drake, Akers, Hilton, and Green.
Diamonds in the Rough
These are the players that you drafted and are currently making you appear as if you could take Mel Kiper Jr.’s job.
| Position | Player | ADP | Drafted As | Playing As | Overall in Scoring | Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Kyler Murray | 52.1 | QB5 | QB3 | 4 | 100% |
| Josh Allen | 70.9 | QB8 | QB4 | 5 | 99% | |
| RB | Ronald Jones II | 83.2 | RB30 | RB13 | 58 | 97% |
| Darrell Henderson Jr. | 123.5 | RB54 | RB21 | 81 | 93% | |
| Antonio Gibson | 109.4 | RB42 | RB19 | 78 | 89% | |
| WR | Tyler Lockett | 50.4 | WR18 | WR1 | 14 | 99% |
| Calvin Ridley | 51.3 | WR19 | WR2 | 15 | 99% | |
| Robby Anderson | 122.8 | WR48 | WR11 | 37 | 95% | |
| Justin Jefferson | 126.1 | WR54 | WR22 | 60 | 92% | |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 130.2 | WR63 | WR28 | 75 | 81% | |
| TE | Jonnu Smith | 129.3 | TE23 | TE8 | 104 | 90% |
This is where fantasy football leagues are won. Getting a player this late in the draft wasn’t going to hurt you, but if you hit on them you feel like you just won the jackpot. Now, that’s not saying you need to hold on to them because these are prime sell-high candidates as you look to round out your roster for the playoffs. Jones II and Henderson Jr. might be the easiest to move on from not because of their ability, but because of who else is in their backfield. Smith has put up back-to-back disappointing games in favorable matchups.
Undrafted Breakouts
Sometimes you wish you would’ve known. These players all appear as if they should have been drafted but instead, they were left to be picked up on waivers over the last eight weeks.
| Position | Player | Playing as | Overall in Scoring | Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Ryan Fitzpatrick | QB21 | 43 | 10% |
| Justin Herbert | QB12 | 16 | 86% | |
| RB | James Robinson | RB5 | 29 | 93% |
| Mike Davis | RB8 | 45 | 91% | |
| Myles Gaskin | RB17 | 70 | 87% | |
| WR | Chase Claypool | WR24 | 64 | 86% |
| Travis Fulgham | WR26 | 73 | 82% | |
| TE | Robert Tonyan | TE5 | 90 | 66% |
Now, these players weren’t expected to carry your team into a deep playoff run, otherwise, they would have been drafted. So we assumed any success they had was most likely temporary. Fitzpatrick has been replaced as the starter and Davis is getting every yard he can before Christian McCaffery returns from IR. The ones that will continue to have starting appeal for the rest of the season are Herbert, Robinson, Gaskin, Claypool, and Fulgham.
