Fantasy Football Draft Values: Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud

It’s important to identify fantasy football draft values as you prepare to make your picks in your different leagues. However, these values can vary depending on the commissioner site you use for your fantasy football draft. We’ll have you covered this fantasy football draft season as we’ll explore the fantasy football draft values and players that are overvalued for each specific fantasy football commissioner site. Today we’re diving into fantasy football draft values on ESPN.

Fantasy Football Draft Values: ESPN Leagues

Growing up, my father always told me that it never hurt to get a second opinion when trying to gain perspective on something. Obtaining an additional quote before having work done, shopping at another dealership and reading reviews based on an expert’s opinion are all beneficial ways to acquire perspective. Combining one’s viewpoint while being open to others allows your mind to consider alternatives, play the proverbial devil’s advocate role and see the alternative “what if” scenarios.

Enter Fantasy Football.

You might be exceptionally high on a player this year and feel they are destined for a breakout season. Someone else may be inclined to rank them lower based upon factors that you haven’t begun to consider — coaching changes, impending contract years or the team drafting a rookie that could contend for snaps. A third set of eyes will notice that the player has a track record of performing better in domed stadiums versus outdoor arenas or runs more crisp routes on artificial turf instead of grass.

Comparing and contrasting opinions and rankings can lead to finding common ground that proves more accurate in the long term, especially when experts within the field formulate shared ideas.

Enter the FantasyPros expert consensus rankings (ECR) — our version of a think tank.

On our site, when a fantasy manager clicks on the “2024 rankings” page, they are shown an average of over 60 experts provided by our industry’s best and brightest minds. These composite figures can then be compared to a particular site’s default rankings and recent average draft position (ADP) data to determine players that present a value based on their expressed cost.

Why? Not all fantasy managers are as savvy as you. Most home league players use default rankings to guide and determine team structure and pick selection. Often, the default rankings are created by a handful of pundits rather than three packed classrooms of the most accurate talent assessors. Time to benefit by comparing rankings and ADP to find value. Today, our focus is on ESPN. Here are fantasy football draft values on ESPN.

Quarterback

Josh Allen (QB – BUF) | ECR – 19th Overall, ESPN – 29th Overall
Patrick Mahomes (QB – KC) | ECR – 31st Overall, ESPN – 45th Overall
Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL) | ECR – 32nd Overall, ESPN – 44th Overall
C.J. Stroud (QB – HOU) | ECR – 47th Overall, ESPN – 62nd Overall

Realistically, several more top-tier options could be listed here, but these stuck out immediately due to the level of discrepancy and quality. It is important to note that ESPN’s generic settings have four points per passing touchdown rather than six, so perhaps that is partially to blame for the rankings drop. Still, it seems the site devalues the position compared to ECR. ESPN has just eight quarterbacks ranked within their top 75 players, while ECR has 11. In “expert league” drafts, it is common for quarterbacks to fall in non-Superflex formats, with the position being addressed higher in “home” leagues.

The quarterback lapse allows managers to fill other spots within their roster — namely RB2 and WR2 — before the default rankings begin recommending and highlighting signal-callers.

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