I’d make a lot of changes if I was King of the fantasy football world. But my No. 1 priority would be eliminating the default rankings from the online draft applets.
These default rankings are the enemy of hard work and preparation. If the defaults are efficient, owners can just show up the day of the draft, use the site’s rankings as their “research”, and emerge with a reasonable team.
At a minimum, we know our opponents use the default rankings as a crutch. That means they may be afraid to pull the trigger on X guy in the second round because he’s listed as a fourth-rounder in the applet. Or maybe they take Y guy earlier than they should because his name is on top of the applet. Even auto-drafters can have success if the draft applet rankings are solid.
The good news for us is that these default rankings are not particularly efficient. So there are edges for us to exploit against opponents who are relying on them. The best process for us is to draft off of our own personal rankings, but also be aware of and adjust to what’s going on in the applet.
Below is what you should be aware of heading into drafts on Sleeper. Do NOT rely on these rankings; use our ETR rankings as your cheat sheet:
* These rankings were found within the Sleeper draft applet as of Thursday, Aug. 24.
PLAYERS LISTED HIGHER THAN EXPECTED
13. Patrick Mahomes
19. Josh Jacobs
30. Najee Harris
32. Travis Etienne
34. Joe Burrow
35. Breece Hall
43. T.J. Hockenson
47. Justin Herbert
50. Dameon Pierce
54. Trevor Lawrence
60. Kyle Pitts
62. D’Andre Swift
64. Alvin Kamara
74. Isiah Pacheco
84. Pat Freiermuth
98. Aaron Rodgers
112. Cole Kmet
ADJUSTMENTS: The important note here is Sleeper defaults are very high on quarterbacks. We can easily counter that by not reaching. In a season-long managed league, once most people take their QB they are done. During the draft, we’ll be able to find pockets where we can pick a QB off at a good price. … Easy passes on Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, Breece Hall, and basically all the RBs listed here. Someone else will reach. … Speaking of reaches, these are weird defaults on Kyle Pitts and Pat Freiermuth. I have no problem just knowing I won’t get either going into the draft, and setting up other plans. … Note that Sleeper does have some inverse tendencies going on here. For example, Najee at 30 (way too high) and Jaylen Warren at 159 (way too low). We need to capitalize on that.
PLAYERS LISTED LOWER THAN EXPECTED
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