Preparing for your fantasy football draft involves strategizing about your favorite targets and thinking about roster construction.
This makes it important to understand the current market, which is why looking at Average Draft Position (ADP) is essential. Understanding ADP helps you know where each player is usually selected, allowing you to optimize your draft.
In this article, you’ll learn more about ADP, including how to incorporate it into your fantasy football prep, along with where to find this valuable information.
What is Average Draft Position for Fantasy Football?
Average Draft Position shows where each player tends to be selected. It’s the average pick over thousands of drafts, giving users a large sample of where players often come off the board.
This doesn’t mean players will always go where their ADP suggests, but it’s a good barometer to guide you through your draft.
For example, if Justin Jefferson has an ADP of 1.5, that means there’s a high probability that he’ll be selected first overall. However, there’s still an outside chance he can fall to you at the second pick.
📈 Find the best values in ADP using our fantasy football rankings.
How Should I Use Fantasy Football ADP in My Leagues?
Be sure to take a close look at fantasy football average draft position because it’s a valuable tool to help you build your roster.
Here are some tips on how to use ADP in your leagues:
Pre-Draft Strategy
Before you start your draft, it’s a good idea to map out a plan using ADP. You can think about which players to target in your early picks and which sleepers to prioritize later in the draft.
For example, if you like Rashaad Penny as a later pick, you can look at his 115.4 ADP to know that you’ll need to take him around the ninth or 10th round in a 12-team league.
Planning out your draft according to ADP can keep you on point and ensure you secure most of your targets. This also makes sure that you don’t take a player too high.
Target Value
As you build your team, you can access each player’s average draft position in the draft app. This will allow you to see when players are falling past their usual spot, giving you a chance to get some positive expected value.
The fantasy football draft market is sharp, as it is often accurate compared to a player’s actual production, which is why you should take advantage when a player falls past their usual price.
For example, if you see Christian Kirk (48.7 ADP) available in the sixth round, you should take him because you’ll get him 12+ picks later than where he usually goes.
Market Inefficiency
While the market is usually sharp, there are some instances where you can take advantage of inefficiencies. In other words, some players can be mispriced due to different factors like narratives or injury risks.
For example, Jeff Wilson Jr. (185.3 ADP) is the cheapest Dolphins’ running back despite being their most efficient runner last year. This is because the team drafted Devon Achane in the third round. There’s an outside chance that Wilson leads the team in carries, making this a potential misprice.
It’s difficult to determine when a player is mispriced, but if you can project this accurately, it can positively impact your roster.
Get Your Guys
Be bold and reach on your favorite players if you think they will have a productive season. In other words, taking a player earlier than their average draft position is fine as long as it’s within reason.
Sticking with a maximum of one round ahead of ADP is a good benchmark. This ensures that you’re staying aggressive without getting reckless.
For example, if I like J.K. Dobbins (57 ADP), I can reach on him at the Round 4/5 turn (48th overall) because it’s unlikely that he’ll get back to me in Round 6.
It’s also worth noting that reaching on players becomes more palatable in the later stages of the draft, since there’s less of an opportunity cost.
Best Fantasy Football ADP Sites
Underdog
Underdog is one of the fastest-growing operators in the fantasy industry. They offer a number of popular drafts throughout the offseason, including Best Ball Mania, which has millions of dollars in prizes.
What’s great about using Underdog fantasy football average draft position is that since there are hundreds of drafts happening each day, you’re getting an accurate barometer of current value. One note: Underdog uses half-points per reception (PPR) scoring.
This is one of the most active platforms in fantasy football, so be sure to take a look at their ADP because it’s among the most up-to-date in this space.
DraftKings
You may know DraftKings from daily fantasy and sports betting, as it’s among the most popular platforms in that space.
DraftKings also features season-long fantasy contests, including Best Ball tournaments with large prize pools.
When using DraftKings ADP, keep in mind that it’s catered towards their scoring system, which is full-PPR.
Sleeper
Sleeper is among the most user-friendly platforms in fantasy football. You can run your own league and personalize the scoring settings here.
The draft app is the best in the industry, featuring an interactive board that is color-coded by position.
What’s great about Sleeper ADP is that you can take a look at how it varies for different formats, like half-PPR, full-PPR, and SuperFlex.
FFPC
FFPC features numerous fantasy football leagues at various price points, including large-field tournaments with massive prize pools as well as high-stakes competitions with fewer entrants.
What’s unique about FFPC is that they have a tight end premium scoring system, where tight ends get 1.5 points per reception, while running backs and wide receivers get one point.
Keep this in mind when looking at FFPC ADP because this causes tight ends to be pushed up in drafts since they’re more valuable.
