Getting the most value for each pick should be your goal every time you’re up to make a selection. That’s just a solid draft strategy. Knowing who to draft is great, but knowing when to take your guys is both an art and a science. Take your guy too early, and you risk grabbing him at his ceiling and passing on other players who have more upside baked into their cost. Wait on your athlete too long, and someone else might grab him.
Taking a look at our average draft position (ADP) and practicing mock drafts in Draft Wizard’s Mock Draft Simulator are great ways to develop a sense of when the players you seek might come off the board. Not only that, but understanding each player’s range of outcomes will allow you to judge whether each one is fairly priced, undervalued or overvalued relative to their ADP.
Which players do our featured analysts believe are going too late? Read on to see some of their favorite undervalued draft targets. It’s fair to say the analysts are IN on Cam Akers at his current ADP.
- More Fantasy Football Advice
- Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
- Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Best Fantasy Football Draft Value Picks by ADP
Who is the best value pick at RB based on his current half-PPR ADP and why?
Cam Akers (RB – LAR)
“Cam Akers at RB21, 61st overall. We crave workhorse usage for our running backs, and Akers is coming off the board at the top of the sixth round despite being in line for a heavy-duty role. Akers led the NFL in rushing over the final six weeks of the 2022 regular season, ranking RB4 in half-point PPR scoring over that stretch. He had more than 100 rushing yards in each of his last three games. Akers averaged 19.2 touches over the Rams’ last six games and had a snap share of 72% or higher in five of those contests. His primary competition for touches will come from Zach Evans, a rookie drafted late in the sixth round, and Kyren Williams, whose 4.65 in the 40-yard dash at 194 pounds gives him a 10th percentile speed score, per PlayerProfiler.com. Akers is a bargain value at his current price.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
“Cam Akers is the RB22 in ADP. Absurd. Akers eventually emerged as the team’s RB1 and finished the season as the RB4 in the final 6 weeks leading the NFL in rushing yards (85 yards/game). His potential for high volume makes him an appealing option in fantasy football. Akers played every snap in the Rams’ season finale, and the team did not select any running backs until the sixth round of this year’s draft.”
– Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros)
“Cam Akers at RB21 overall doesn’t come without downside, but the ADP mitigates a good portion of that risk. Akers eventually won back Sean McVay down the stretch and the Rams need to run the football to keep Matthew Stafford from being over-extended. Without any clear threat to his workload, Akers is a solid value who could even scratch RB1 territory by season’s end.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
Rashaad Penny (RB – PHI)
“Rashaad Penny’s RB2 upside with an RB4 price tag is a chef’s kiss. Miles Sanders proved last year that there’s RB2 value to be mined from the early down grinder role in the Eagles’ offense, as he finished as the RB21 in fantasy points per game. It’s not a hot take to say that Penny is immensely more talented than Sanders as a rusher. Over the last two seasons among rushers with at least 50 attempts, Penny has ranked second and first in explosive run rate and eighth and ninth in missed tackles forced per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Drafting Penny is a smash pick that fits any roster build.”
– Derek Brown (FantasyPros)
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