Every year in fantasy football, there are a good number of players who, for one reason or another, have an ADP that is far too low given their potential upside for the fantasy season. In this article, I am going to list out some players I think you should target given the fact that they have immense value in the rounds they are currently being drafted in.
All ADP’s that I use are from FantasyFootballCalculator.com from a 3,500+ drafts that have occurred over the last six days. ADP can change based on the site however usually the ADP’s are essentially the same or similar across all sites.
D'Andre Swift
One of the first guys I absolutely love this year is D’Andre Swift. In 2020, Swift was 18th in total points despite playing in 13 games. He was 14th overall in points per game however which is far more telling of how productive D’Andre Swift was as a fantasy producer.
As of August 8th, Swift’s ADP is RB19 in the third round. The players going around him are David Montgomery, Chris Carson, and Miles Sanders.
To me, Swift has top ten upside. A lot of people are concerned about the potential involvement of former Packer Jamaal Williams. Williams is known as being a top tier backup who is a good pass blocker with reliable hands.
Williams has had 25+ receptions every year of his four year career. In a PPR league, many are concerned with Williams stealing receptions and third down work.
While Williams will get his work, Swift is going to lead this team in carries. People seem to forget that Swift was not even the leading rusher on his team yet still put up a ton of points. Adrian Peterson had 156 carries for 506 yards. He is no longer even on the roster. Don’t overthink it. Draft Swift.
CeeDee Lamb
Another player who is a great value this year is CeeDee Lamb. He’s a well known name as he was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Lamb had a remarkable rookie season that I would even call underrated as he had 74 receptions for 935 yards and five touchdowns. This was with 11 games of Andy Dalton at quarterback.
With Dak Prescott at quarterback, Lamb was on a 16 game pace for 93 receptions for 1386 yards and six touchdowns. In his first five career games! That pace would have put him at the WR8 behind DK Metcalf.
He is being drafted in the third round too! WR12 is not the biggest value ever but he has a very legit top five upside in one of the best offenses in all of football.
He is going at the last pick of the third round and has unlimited upside. Lamb is for real and is a steal in the fourth round if he falls there.
Tyler Lockett
The third player I want to talk about in this article is Tyler Lockett. Say what you want about his inconsistencies in the past, but when he explodes he can single handedly win you a week. Lockett was the WR8 last year and yet is being drafted as the WR23.
He is being drafted in the sixth round! Lockett is an insane value this year and it really makes absolutely no sense that he is being drafted so low.
If you can get him as your WR2, he is perfect because he provide incredible upside that many wide receivers simply cannot provide on a week to week basis.
Lockett had an awesome target share at 23.6% which is considered to be really good. He actually out-targeted teammate DK Metcalf yet is being drafted 19 spots lower.
People argue that Metcalf catches more touchdowns. Fact is that the two had the SAME number of touchdowns yet Lockett is going multiple rounds later. Was it luck? Definitely not because Lockett even caught more touchdowns than Metcalf the year before.
Lockett had just two less red zone targets than Metcalf last year. He is just as much of a red zone threat as Metcalf is and has an amazing connection with his quarterback Russell Wilson.
Chase Edmonds
The fourth and final player I want to discuss is Chase Edmonds. Edmonds is being drafted as the RB30 which is absolutely ridiculous given his current situation. Edmonds finished as the RB25 last year despite being third in rushing attempts last year.
The leading rusher? Kenyan Drake who is not even on the roster anymore. James Conner was signed for just 1.25 million and people assume he is going to get the full early down role. For one, Conner cannot stay on the field consistently due to health concerns.
Additionally, Edmonds was actually more efficient on the ground than Drake was as he averaged 4.6 yards per carry compared to 4.0 to Kenyan Drake. However, his value truly comes from his ability as a pass catcher. Edmonds was 3rd on the team in receptions and was just one behind Larry Fitzgerald who is no longer on the team either.
As the far superior third down back to James Conner, Edmonds may even get all or most of the 25 receptions Drake received last year. I do not see how Edmonds does not finish at his ADP when he finished five spots ahead of it with a much, much smaller role.
Overall, these three guys are going to be all over my draft boards because they are falling to a point that makes them an absolute steal in fantasy this year.