How to use Yahoo’s default fantasy football rankings to your advantage when you’re in the draft room – Yahoo Sports

Id make a lot of changes if I was King of the season-long fantasy football world. But my No. 1 priority would be eliminating the default rankings from the online draft applets. These default rankings remove a lot of the hard work and preparation that is otherwise necessary when building your own ranks.

If the defaults are solid, fantasy managers can just show up the day of the draft, use the sites rankings as their research, and emerge with a reasonable team. At a minimum, we know our opponents use the default rankings as a crutch. That means they may be afraid to choose X guy in the second round because hes listed as a fourth-rounder in the applet. Or maybe they take Y guy earlier than they should because his name is on top of the applet. Even auto-drafters can have success if the draft applet rankings are solid.

The good news for us is there are edges for us to exploit against opponents who are relying on the defaults too much. The best process for us is to draft off of our ownpersonal rankings, but also be aware of and adjust to whats going on in the applet.

Below is what you should be aware of heading into drafts on Yahoo.

*These rankings were found within Yahoo draft applet as of Friday, August 21.

23.James Conner

27.Adam Thielen

30.Chris Carson

40.Mark Ingram

49.DAndre Swift

56.Ronald Jones

70.Jordan Howard

75.Matt Breida

84.Matthew Stafford

96.Ben Roethlisberger

ADJUSTMENTS:No stealingAdam Thielenon Yahoo as hes listed WR9. It will be much easier to show a profit on the ADPs of WRs likeCalvin Ridley(42 overall) andDK Metcalf(53) Im hoping to be able to getJames ConnerorChris Carsonin Round 3 of a lot of drafts. Yahoo will make that difficult with these aggressive rankings Speaking of aggressive,Mark Ingramis a whopping 41 spots ahead ofJ.K. Dobbinsin the applet. I know Evan disagrees, but I actually prefer Dobbins straight up DAndre Swifts projected Kamara-esque pass-catching is exciting, but this is a steep tag given the WRs available in the 40-60 range Yahoo has somehow locked onto theRonald Joneshype machine. Its going to be really hard to get him without investing a high draft slot here Hopefully, someone else bites on these wildly high rankings forJordan HowardandMatt Breida Almost all the QBs on Yahoo are pushed up high. Still,Matthew Staffordahead ofCarson Wentz,Tom Brady, andAaron Rodgersisnt what I want to see. Expect the QB run to start early in Yahoo formats.Ben Roethlisbergerin the Top 100 speaks to that.

80.Will Fuller

89.Darren Waller

98.Evan Engram

129.Rob Gronkowski

141.T.J. Hockenson

144.Christian Kirk

159.Jalen Reagor

165.Golden Tate

170.Henry Ruggs

181.NKeal Harry

ADJUSTMENTS:Yahoo hasnt adjusted for theWill Fullerhype, meaning we could try to wait until Round 7 to grab him against applet-drafters There are a lot of edges in this Yahoo applet, but the TE rankings are a big one.Darren WallerandEvan Engramare somehow well behindTyler Higbee(62),Jared Cook(71), andHunter Henry(73). Dont be afraid to jump ahead a little here If waiting on tight end, theT.J. Hockensonranking means he should be available very late. Same withIan Thomas(see below) I definitely dont agree with some of these WR rankings, but perhaps the most egregious ranking is onChristian Kirk, who shouldnt last past the 10th round in any circumstance.

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37.Terry McLaurin

67.Marquise Brown

85.Diontae Johnson

94.Antonio Gibson

109.Zack Moss

117.Damien Harris

138.Chris Herndon

151.Curtis Samuel

164.Mecole Hardman

167.Teddy Bridgewater

ADJUSTMENTS:I regret to inform you that a lot of the buzz guys are pushed up to an appropriate place. Were not stealingTerry McLaurin,Diontae Johnson, orAntonio Gibson There is room to getZack MossandDamien Harrisat a very reasonable draft investment, two guys with major up-arrows during camp. I wouldnt hesitate to take either in the 10th round if they are there Speaking of camp buzz,Chris Herndonis listed appropriately here but its tough to get too excited given the ranks ofEvan EngramandDarren Waller, discussed above You may not need Teddy Bridgewater if youre in a 12-team, 1-QB league. But if you do, he should be close to free against applet-drafters.

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192.Allen Lazard

198.DeAndre Washington

207.Parris Campbell

212.Sammy Watkins

226.Ian Thomas

233.Laviska Shenault

243.Brandon Aiyuk

246.DeSean Jackson

259.Irv Smith Jr.

ADJUSTMENTS:Evan Silva hasBrandon Aiyuk76th overall and hes 243rd here. Silva hasDeSean Jackson83rd overall and hes 246th overall here. Be aware that you dont have to take Aiyuk and Jackson where Silva has them listed given the applet rankings; we can likely get them in the 100s A lot of the tight ends are pushed up on Yahoo, but notIan ThomasorIrv Smith DeAndre Washingtonis a nice piece of a RB Anchor or Zero-RB team and can likely be had in Round 12 or 13 against common opponents.

Adam Levitan has been writing about Fantasy Football professionally since 2008 and is a two-time FSWA award winner. A podcast host since 2015, his podcasts have been downloaded over 5 million times.

Establish The Run is a premium football analysis website. Don't miss their freefantasy football podcast. ETR will be providing exclusive content for Yahoo Fantasy Sports players leading into the 2020 NFL season.

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How to use Yahoo's default fantasy football rankings to your advantage when you're in the draft room - Yahoo Sports