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NFL kickoff is rapidly approaching with just one more week of preseason games. The season’s start is just around the corner and we cannot wait until the league and fantays football are fully underway. As we inch closer to the Thursday night showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, we’re eager to get fantasy managers as prepared for their drafts as they can be.
We here at NBC Sports EDGE are excited to provide you with all the information you need to be successful from draft day until the last day of the fantasy season. With an abundance of content at your disposal -- from positional rankings, season-long projections and ADP reports, to mock drafts and draft cheat sheets -- we are as proud as we’ve ever been of what we have to offer and are thrilled to continue sharing these features with you. Regardless of what format or size your league is, we are confident we can provide the tools you need to secure your coveted league title.
We have already shown off a variety of tools and colums from our latest Draft Guide, including: RB Half-PPR rankings, WR Receiving Yards projections, expert mocks, undervalued players and so much more.
Today, we’re giving a sneak peek at a column called ‘Leveraging the Default Rankings’ to unearth hidden value in your fantasy drafts. The purpose of this column is to isolate players your league-mates may overlook based on ADP. See for yourself:
A player can be a reach on one platform and a value on another. Because of that, it’s important to go into your draft with an idea of who’s valued incorrectly on the website you’re playing on. Your league-mates may lean too heavily on default rankings, creating an opportunity for you to take players at a depressed cost. Here, we’ll look at ESPN, Yahoo and NFL.com to identify misvalued players on each platform.
Players NBC Likes vs. ESPN
| Player | ESPN Rank | NBC Rank | Difference |
| Chris Godwin | 52 | 29 | -23 |
| Brandon Aiyuk | 97 | 73 | -24 |
| AJ Dillon | 86 | 61 | -25 |
| George Kittle | 61 | 41 | -20 |
| Chase Edmonds | 85 | 67 | -18 |
| Christian Kirk | 95 | 77 | -18 |
Our rankings are fairly confident that Godwin, who is now practicing in some team drills, isn’t missing much time this year. He finished as the WR7 by points per game last year. Trey Lance‘s takeover is a big shakeup for the San Francisco offense, but he has all of the tools necessary to be an above-average thrower and a coach who can get the most out of him. NBC is buying all 49ers coming at a discount.
Players NBC Likes vs. Yahoo
Player | Yahoo Rank | NBC Rank | Difference |
103 | 29 | -74 | |
144 | 93 | -51 | |
99 | 58 | -41 | |
146 | 106 | -40 | |
118 | 84 | -34 | |
75 | 41 | -34 |
All receivers, all the time. MVS as a WR4 is a slam-dunk pick. His skill set is different from every other receiver in Kansas City, making him the clear deep option for Patrick Mahomes. Lockett led the Seahawks in air yards share last year and fell four percent short of DK Metcalf in target share. The gap between the two is not as wide as many casual drafters think.
Players NBC Likes vs. NFL.com
Player | NFL.com Rank | NBC Rank | Difference |
102 | 48 | -54 | |
101 | 64 | -37 | |
95 | 59 | -36 | |
100 | 66 | -34 | |
63 | 33 | -30 |
Sanders, Stevenson, and Gibson all have strong profiles, but it’s unclear how much their teams want to use them. Gibson and Sanders are likely to have receiving work poached from them, but that has been factored in heavily by fantasy drafters. Stevenson has been a trendy breakout candidate all offseason, but NFL.com’s rankings haven’t kept up with the hype. Moore is the only receiver with 1,200 yards from scrimmage in each of the past three seasons. Baker Mayfield is somehow going to be the best quarterback he’s played with.
To see even more rankings comparisons and our entire offering of exclusive columns, check out the 2022 Football Draft Guide!
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