Average Draft Positions - Fantasy Football ADPs

What is ADP? In fantasy football, ADP is Average Draft Position. ADP is the average place where players are getting selected in fantasy football drafts across many leagues.

ADP is important in understanding fantasy football player values, and where to expect a player to be drafted. It's also important to check ADPs for the platform you will host your league on as ADPs may vary between the major providers. Click here to see FFPC ADPs (Fantasy Football Players Championship) for FFPC leagues.

Below you will see the average ADP across multiple platforms. As you will see below, a player's ADP compared to their rankings can vary, which may change your draft strategy and where to target or avoid certain player on draft day based on their ADPs.

Fantasy Football ADPs (Average Draft Position)

Introduction to Fantasy Football ADP

Many are familiar with the basics of fantasy football after the game has been around for decades, but understanding how average draft positions (ADP) can help you get an edge over your opponents who simply use rankings.

The best fantasy football strategies include drafting a roster of studs, sleepers, and later-round values

Whether you are competing in a PPR, half-PPR, or standard league, staying updated on the latest draft trends is key to competing for your league's top prize. Fantasy managers who continue to follow ADP changes are practicing a simple yet effective strategy to make the most informed selections in each round.

Among the countless fantasy football platforms, the most popular places to play fantasy football include ESPN, NFL Fantasy, Yahoo, CBS, Fleaflicker, Sleeper, and Underdog.

Understanding Average Draft Position (ADP)

Average Draft Position (ADP) refers to the average position a player is drafted in fantasy football drafts. ADPs can be platform-specific, but there are also consensus ADPs that combine data from several platforms.

Fantasy Football ADP is calculated by taking the average draft position of a player across several drafts and dividing it by the total number of drafts. As an example, if "Player X" is drafted with the No. 3 overall pick on Draft A, the No. 4 overall pick in Draft B, and the No. 7 overall pick in Draft C, their ADP would be 4.67 (3+4+7)/3 + 4.67.

ADP data is a resource to be used in conjunction with rankings. Two players may be ranked in the same range of drafts, but if their ADPs vary by double-digit picks, that tells a fantasy manager that they could land both players. Targeting players who have ADPs much lower than their rankings is how fantasy managers can find and land several fantasy football sleepers. The strategy of collecting undervalued players sets a high floor and ceiling for your team.

On the flipside, a player that you might be interested in based on rankings could have an ADP several rounds ahead, signaling that the player is overvalued. This is the quickest and simplest way to identify potential fantasy football busts.

Fantasy football ADP varies week-to-week based on platform, the time of year, recent player news, and more. ADP starts to settle around July, but that doesn't mean major developments can't shake up the pecking order for important players at QB, RB, WR, TE, D/ST, and kicker.

Key Trends in ADP Data

Recent ADP data shows that top wide receivers, such as Ja’Marr Chase, are being drafted early in fantasy football drafts. Unless something major happens, his ADP is unlikely to change much based on his status as an elite fantasy asset.

However, if news comes out that a mid-level running back who was fighting for a starting job in training camp suffered a notable injury during a Friday practice, there could be a significant fall in his ADP.

Injuries, team depth charts, coaching changes, and more influence ADP, and those changes should help you decide who to select in your fantasy draft.

Because various platforms host a wide range of player demographics and often have different scoring settings, ADP can vary widely from platform to platform. The broader audience of fantasy football gamers plays on sites like ESPN, so ADP data for a player could be slower to rise or fall. Meanwhile, a platform consisting of fewer players made up of a high percentage of fantasy analysts will likely show more extreme and quicker ADP changes.

Fantasy Football ADP In Action

To demonstrate how you can use fantasy football ADP (average draft position) to crush your drafts, let's look at a real-life example.

In RotoBaller's Half-PPR rankings, running back Omarion Hampton is ranked two spots ahead of Kenneth Walker. However, Walker's ADP is one spot higher. The platform you are drafting on will likely suggest you pick Walker in the late-fourth round, but your trusted rankings tell you Hampton is the better pick in that slot. That's a simple yet effective way to use ADP to build the best roster.

You will notice more extreme ADP versus rankings variances as the draft goes into the later rounds, and using the average draft position data throughout will leave you with a roster based on draft values and sleepers.

Remember, it's always key to understand your league's scoring settings to ensure you are using the right set of ADPs. If you are using the ADPs for PPR scoring while participating in a standard draft, that will hurt your team's chances of competing throughout the season.

Practicing the use of ADP data during mock drafts is a great strategy to get familiar with your league's scoring and set yourself up for the best chance to draft a high-level team. Mock drafts are never a way idea to ease into the new season.

Changes in Fantasy Football ADP

Just like rankings and projections, you’ll notice minor or major shifts in player ADP based on several factors. A small change in ADP isn’t always notable, but major ADP risers or fallers signal that you should check into a player’s recent developments and/or status changes ahead of the season.

Reasons for dramatic ADP shifts include:

• Projected positive role change - new position, increased scoring opportunity
• Projected negative role change - new position, decreased scoring opportunity
• Uncertainty with a new team - fit with a new team in question
• New or updated injury outlook - newly suffered injury, positive or negative injury update
• Preseason hype - constant positive outlooks by beat writers/fantasy analysts/coaches
• Preseason concerns/red flags - constant negative outlooks by beat writers/fantasy analysts/coaches
• New team signing - competition for starting role added, complementary player added
• Off-field incidents - arrests, legal trouble, public incidents, suspensions
• Age-related projected decline in performance - output expected to decline based on age curve
• Perception of player (right or wrong) - player reputation causing value increase or decrease based on irrelevant factors/data
• Coaching/scheme change - change in philosophy/scheme/player usage