This post is all about making sure you're ready for your draft. I've got the latest Draft Day Cheat Sheet right here for you, with everything you need from the Fantasy Football Today team to draft your best possible team. First up: My latest position-by-position and top-200 rankings, right here!
But for now, here's everything the FFT crew's got for your drafts:
Draft Day Cheat Sheet
Sleepers, Breakouts & Busts
- Jamey Eisenberg:Sleepers|Breakouts|Busts|AFC Deep Sleepers | NFC Deep Sleepers
- Heath Cummings:Sleepers|Breakouts|Busts
- Chris Towers:Sleepers|Breakouts|Busts
- Dave Richard:Sleepers|Breakouts|Busts| Don't-Wanna-Draft List
- FFT: Sleepers | Busts
- SportsLine's Draft Bible
QB Preview
- State of the Position
- Position Preview
- Tiers
- Rankings:Jamey | Dave | Heath|Chris|Dynasty
- Preseason Film Review| Early-Round QB Strategies| Meet the Rookies| Jamey's Sleepers, Breakouts, and Busts
- FFT: QB Preview|Breakout QBs
RB Preview
- State of the Position
- Position Preview
- Tiers|Dynasty
- Rankings:Jamey | Dave | Heath|Chris|Dynasty
- Preseason Film Review|All 32 depth charts|Best/Worst offenses| The Value of Targets| Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts| Meet the Rookies
- FFT: RB Preview Part 1 | RB Preview Part 2 | Breakout RBs
WR Preview
- State of the Position
- Position Preview
- Tiers|Dynasty
- Rankings:Jamey | Dave | Heath|Chris|Dynasty
- Sleepers|Breakouts| Busts | Meet the Rookies|Preseason Recap
- FFT:WR Preview Part 1 |WR Preview Part 2| Breakout WRs
TE Preview
- Position Preview
- Tiers
- Rankings:Jamey | Dave | Heath|Chris
- Meet the Rookies| Jamey's Sleepers, Breakouts, and Busts| Preseason Recap
- FFT: TE Preview | Breakout TEs
Team Previews
- AFC East:Bills|Jets|Patriots|Dolphins
- NFC East:Giants|Cowboys|Eagles|Commanders
- AFC South:Colts|Texans|Jaguars|Titans
- NFC South:Panthers|Buccaneers|Falcons|Saints
- AFC North:Ravens|Steelers|Browns|Bengals
- NFC North:Packers|Vikings|Bears|Lions
- AFC West:Chiefs|Broncos|Raiders|Chargers
- NFC West:Seahawks|49ers|Rams|Cardinals
Pick-by-Pick Strategies
- Picking from No. 1
- Picking from No. 2
- Picking from No. 3
- Picking from No. 4
- Picking from No. 5
- Picking from No. 6
- Picking from No. 7
- Picking from No. 8
- Picking from No. 9
- Picking from No. 10
- Picking from No. 11
- Picking from No. 12
Mock Drafts
- PPR: 12-team|Salary Cap|Superflex|Superflex/TE Premium| 10-team| Salary Cap Draft Tips| IDP
- Half-PPR:12-team
- Non-PPR:12-team
ADP Review
- Preseason Week 2 Review
- Best Values at CBS, ESPN, and Yahoo
- Worst Values at CBS, ESPN, and Yahoo
- Risers and Fallers
- FFT Draft Guide
Dynasty Corner
Rankings
Quarterback Rankings
Running Back Rankings
Wide Receiver Rankings
Tight End Rankings
Trade Chart and Top 150
Rookie-Only Rankings
Tiers
Quarterback Tiers
Running Back Tiers
Wide Receiver Tiers
Tight End Tiers
Mock Drafts
Dynasty Superflex ock
One-QB Start-Up Mock
Superflex Start-up Mock
Superflex Rookie-Only Mock
One-QB Rookie-Only Mock
Superflex Rookie-Only Mock
Superflex Start-up Mock
One-QB Start-up Mock
I've also got a few #AskFFT answers for you, and if you want your emails featured in an upcoming edition of the newsletter – and if I don't get to you in the newsletter, I'll respond personally – send them toChris.Towers@Paramount.com, with the subject line "#AskFFT" to be included.
And now, let's get ready to draft.
#AskFFT Mailbag
Norm: This question has been gnawing at me for some time: Which is the best general philosophy to take regarding receivers: Would you prefer a primary receiver in a weaker offense or with a weaker QB, or a secondary receiver in a high powered offense?
There's no one answer to this question, but I don't think this is necessarily the right framing for the question. Production is a function of a combination of talent, opportunity, and team context, and at least when it comes to wide receivers, I think talent is the most important aspect of the equation – more talented players tend to get more opportunities, and they can elevate their team context.Jaylen WaddleandDeVonta Smithare obvious examples of how betting on extremely talented No. 2 wide receivers can pay off, while you can look at a team like theRamsafterCooper Kupp's injury for an example of how opportunity doesn't really mean anything if the talent isn't there.
All other things being equal, I tend to prioritize talent, first with the pass-catchers and then their quarterbacks. If those two things are there, production tends to follow. Players have to get open to get the ball, and they have to have a competent quarterback to get them the ball – if you aren't getting open and your quarterback isn't good, it doesn't really matter whether you are the No. 1 or No. 4 option on your team, you probably aren't going to produce.
There are exceptions, of course – the49ersoffense scares me because they haveso many elite weaponsthat it will probably be tough for all of them to produce consistently. But hey, there's still a reason I have all of those weapons ranked higher than anyone in Houston or Carolina's passing games.
Don: How do you work out prices for players? Also, how would you adjust prices for a $200 budget?
As a general rule, the more money you have to play with in a Salary Cap Draft, the more aggressive I'm going to be with the high-end players. You can still get $1 players in a $200 budget league, so most of that increased salary should be allocated to early-round caliber players – you're not just doubling everyone's projected salary, in other words. I'm still not spending more than $1 on my kicker or DST, and I'm okay with a few $1 bench players at the end of the draft if need be, because I want to be very aggressive with stars.
As for how I come up with Salaries … that's a good idea for a column, but it would probably take several thousand words to cover, and we don't have time for that. But I will say I start from my own projections and rankings, and try to figure out how much every player is expected to provide above both the replacement-level starterandreplacement-level roster spot for every position – I'm assuming one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, and one FLEX spot – and then assign a dollar value for projected scoring above that replacement level. It's not quite that straightforward, of course – my rankings and draft strategies arenotjust based on my projections, because there are nuances about drafts that projects can't capture – but that's the starting point.This piece from Joe Bryant at FootballGuys.com from a couple of years ago is a good, in-depth introduction to some of those concepts.
Jim: I have 4th pick in a 12 team standard 2QB league. If the top 3 QBs are gone should I pick a QB Jefferson or CMC?
I haven't talked much about 2QB leagues, but I'm happy to say that Heath Cummingspublished his top-200 for 2QB/SuperFlex leagues here this week. I think there's enough of a dropoff from the top three QBs to the rest of the position that I'd take Jefferson, but the obvious problem there is you're likely going to end up with someone less appealing as your QB1 –Tua TagovailoaorAnthony Richardsonare decent picks for your next time around, but both come with obvious problems that will likely force you to draft a viable third QB just in case either busts for one reason or another. I still think Jefferson is worth that, but it's a consideration.
Drew: What is the attraction in James Connor? He will be on one of the worst offenses in the league and doesn't catch passes.
Conner is kind of a classic Dead Zone RB, in that most of his perceived value comes from what we think is a very safe, projectable role in theCardinalsoffense. It should be a bad offense, and I'm not sure Conner is much more than a slightly above average running back, if that, but if he gets 225-plus carries, he's probably going to be a decent value in drafts.
Of course, we're not just looking for "decent values," are we? A guy you draft as RB25 who finishes as RB16 is a decent value, but he probably didn't actually help you win your Fantasy league, and that would be the concern with Conner. One thing I will say, however, is that Conner has been a productive pass-catcher for the Cardinals whenKyler Murrayis out – in eight games over two seasons without Murray, he's averaged five targets and 21.3 Fantasy points per game in PPR scoring. I don't think he'll do that for a full season, obviously, but the passing game role could be better than you think. If he's going to be much more than a small-win type player, that'll likely be how it happens.
