FantasyPros prides itself on many things. One of the most unique aspects we bring to fantasy football content is our expert consensus rankings (ECR), a collection of over 100 aggregated industry expert fantasy football rankings.
While ECR can often be wildly different from average draft position (ADP) data of different sites, it is helpful to see where potential values and pitfalls may lie. In this article, we’ll take a look at the players whose values are significantly different in Underdog ADP versus ECR.
FantasyPros prides itself on many things. One of the most unique aspects we bring to fantasy football content is our expert consensus rankings (ECR), a collection of over 100 aggregated industry expert fantasy football rankings.
While ECR can often be wildly different from average draft position (ADP) data of different sites, it is helpful to see where potential values and pitfalls may lie. In this article, we’ll take a look at the players whose values are significantly different in Underdog ADP versus ECR.
Best Ball ADP vs. ECR
Players ECR Is Lower On
Kyle Williams‘ ADP being 50 spots higher on Underdog than it is in the ECR is incredibly eye-opening. The Patriots aren’t blessed at wide receiver, making it tempting to use the ‘someone has to catch the ball’ argument, but ECR rankers seem more negative.
After all, we’ve seen this argument fall flat plenty of times before. At cost, though, Hunter Henry feels like he might be the smarter pick.
Quentin Johnston lands much lower in ECR despite his seven touchdowns in 2024. We know touchdown production can be tricky to predict year over year, so it makes sense drafters are wary, particularly with the Chargers bolstering their running back room.
Rashod Bateman being ranked 31.4 spots lower in ECR is interesting, as the Ravens did very little to enhance their receiving room, outside of the addition of the soon-to-be 33-year-old DeAndre Hopkins.
Bateman firmly established himself as the No. 2 WR in Baltimore last year and has played 33 games over the past two seasons, distancing himself from the perhaps unfair injury-prone label he had to start his career. Bateman finished as the WR46 in half-PPR points per game, ahead of Jaylen Waddle, Michael Pittman and Rome Odunze, among others. He could prove to be a solid value once again if ECR is incorrect.
Jayden Higgins was drafted by the Texans with the second pick in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft, giving him excellent draft capital and an ADP of 105.6. However, ECR seems concerned, with him ranked almost 30 spots lower. It’s easy to see both sides of the coin here with Nico Collins similar to Higgins in build and firmly entrenched as the No. 1 WR.
The Texans also recently traded for Christian Kirk, and Higgins himself will be competing with fellow Iowa State teammate Jaylin Noel, who was drafted a round after Higgins. The positive spin would be that Higgins will likely rarely see top cornerbacks thanks to Collins and the Texans could be pass-heavy if their poor offensive line forces them to abandon the run.
Deebo Samuel has a change of scenery with his trade to Washington, but instead of ECR thinking it could be a good thing, they seem down on his chances.
It’s fair to point out that Samuel has never played for anyone but Kyle Shanahan, but Kliff Kingsbury, despite his head coaching faults, is also a good offensive coordinator and should make big efforts to get the most out of Samuel. Perhaps the true value lies somewhere in the middle of these two numbers.
It seems ECR is firmly done with Kyle Pitts, despite Underdog ADP propping him up 19 spots higher. Pitts has done very little to deserve any faith at this point, and his best ball selection feels more due to a lack of other options than a true reflection of his potential worth.
Players ECR Is Higher On
Evan Engram headlines players ECR loves compared to ADP, with him ranked almost four full rounds higher. Engram landed with the Broncos after being cut by the Jaguars in an offseason where Sean Payton couldn’t help but talk about needing a joker in his offense.
Many ECR rankers expect that to be Engram, but maybe this price is a little high for a player who ranked 28th among tight ends in yards after the catch per game last year (13.5).
Matthew Stafford is another player ECR is aggressive on, with the Rams quarterback remaining in Los Angeles for at least one more season and having no worse of a situation now that the team acquired Davante Adams.
Last year, Stafford failed to score more than one touchdown in 10 games and surpassed two touchdowns just twice. If he takes a step forward, finding more touchdowns will likely be key to that.
Travis Etienne seems to be out of favor in Jacksonville, with Bhayshul Tuten the clear desire of the new coaching staff, but it’s worth remembering that Tuten is still a fourth-round rookie and Etienne once upon a time was a first-round pick.
Etienne has his flaws, but ECR is expecting him to be the most useful back in Jacksonville this year and he is ranked two rounds ahead of his ADP.
The Steelers moved on from George Pickens and cleared the path for Pat Freiermuth to be the second pass-catching option in Pittsburgh. It seems ECR is confident the Steelers will figure out the quarterback situation and currently have Freiermuth ranked 15 spots ahead of ADP. If Aaron Rodgers signs in Pittsburgh, we can expect Freiermuth’s ADP to catch up to this ranking.
Justin Fields is an ECR favorite, ranking 14.3 spots ahead of ADP. Fields will be grateful for his new start in New York after spending the last 12 games of the season on the bench while Russell Wilson took over starter duties.
Fields was up and down for fantasy in his time as the starter, scoring over 18 points in three games and averaging 13.1 in the other three. Fields had career bests in completion rate (65.8%) and interception rate (0.6%), but he managed only a disappointing five passing touchdowns in six games.
Fields was very much playing things safe at times. However, he was one of only three quarterbacks with multiple rushing touchdown games last year. The other two were Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen. That upside is hard to ignore.
Joe Burrow‘s ECR ranking of 38.8 feels very aggressive for a non-rushing quarterback. His ADP is at 49.9, and he tends to stick to that because he lines up nicely to stack with either Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins or both
Burrow is an excellent quarterback, but almost every year, one of the non-rushing options gets elevated near the top tier, and it becomes very difficult for them to pay off their ADP.
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