Fantasy Football Targets: Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, Dallas Goedert

Like sand along a shoreline, players’ rankings will continue to ebb and flow throughout the summer. Training camp news, beat reporter tidbits, contract negotiations and the threat of holdouts will cause shifts towards viewpoints, causing some players to be a prospective value and others to be selected too early.

ESPN, one of the most popular hosts/providers within the fantasy landscape, also has its own default rankings that managers tend to gravitate towards, which has an obvious underlying effect on when players are selected.

As I mentioned in last month’s article (located here for those interested in comparing trends), ESPN has significantly devalued the quarterback position compared to our Expert Consensus Rankings on FantasyPros, which resulted in significant opportunities for savvy managers to capitalize on. Knowing that they could wait for a round (or, in some cases, several) before addressing quarterback presented the prospect of filling out the RB2 and WR2 slots instead.

Back in late June, running backs were the polar opposite. ESPN had 17 running backs ranked within its first 33 players, while our ECR formerly had just eight. A clear emphasis was placed upon loading up at running back to avoid the common pitfalls associated with the position-namely injuries and committee situations.

So, have things changed as training camps open and we are a month closer to the start of the season? Let’s check ESPN’s fantasy football draft values.

Fantasy Football Draft Values in ESPN Leagues for July

Quarterback

Josh Allen (QB – BUF) – ECR – 23^rd overall / ESPN – 35^th overall
Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI) – ECR – 25^th overall / ESPN – 42^nd overall
Kyler Murray (QB – ARI) – ECR – 65^th overall / ESPN – 82^nd overall

For the top tier at the quarterback position, it appears that ESPN continues to have a slight drag in rankings by a full round, give or take. The divide tends to diminish slightly within the middle of QB1 territory (around Dak Prescott and Joe Burrow) before becoming even more egregious later. Jordan Love (ECR – 71^st overall) is an excellent value, with ESPN ranking him 101^st overall along with Brock Purdy (ECR – 84^th overall) falling to 141^st overall in their rankings. Love and Purdy may not possess the same upside as the top portion of the group, but they can be acquired at a significant discount. Keep in mind that Love finished as the QB5 last season and Purdy is one spot behind him at QB6.

Tight End

Dallas Goedert (TE – PHI) – ECR – 109^th overall / ESPN – 135^th overall

The tight end position mirrors the wide receiver in ECR vs. ESPN rankings, with the top-tier options being identical. For those managers willing to play the waiting game at the position and explore alternatives with upside, Goedert is a flier worth taking a shot at.

When Goedert can stay on the field, he presents quarterback Jalen Hurts with a short-to-intermediate range safety net that outmuscles defenders in the secondary. A clear-cut third fiddle in the target pecking order behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Goedert will search for a rebound year in new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s scheme. Health remains a central sticking point in projecting his final totals since Goedert has been unable to play more than 15 games in a season just once in the last four years. Our projections have him finishing with a 68/718/4 split, in line with his career averages.

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