There is just over a month to go (exactly 41 days until the kickoff game on September 5th if you can handle it) before the NFL season is back in action. In anticipation of this, you probably find yourself prepping for at least one Fantasy Football draft. If you’re like me, you have at least two leagues, just so you don’t have to put all of your eggs in one basket—but that’s not something I recommend to anyone wanting to keep a tight grip on their sanity. For the average player, one team and one league is enough, and you definitely should stick to one team if you’re relatively new to the game.
If you’re a fan of the Seattle Seahawks (and if you’re a resident of the pacific northwest, the statistics say you are), your draft strategy will need to be a little different this year if you are planning on using any Seahawks players. What’s extra confusing is that where they’re ranked and where they’re actually being drafted are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
For example, projected starting running back Chris Carson is an especially tricky case, as he was one of the most reliable backs in real football and fantasy last year. Carson should be going in the top 4-5 rounds based on his production, yet he’s currently going in the 7th round, and even though he is coming off the draft board first, Carson is ranked behind his backup Rashaad Penny.
Tyler Lockett is another interesting case. He is currently graded as the 40th-best wide receiver, yet he’s ranked as the 111th best player overall. If you had Lockett last season, he averaged just over 13 points per week for your team based on one-point-per-reception scoring. Granted, some weeks he had higher scores, but then some weeks he also had lower scores. If you believe he is capable of producing somewhere closer to 20 points on a weekly basis, you might draft him higher than his current rank, but you won’t be alone since the average person is taking him 71st overall.
This means that if you are locking in on Lockett being an under-the-radar selection in the 11th round, he’s going to disappear somewhere around 40 picks ahead of schedule. And if you’re trying to snag him a few rounds early, you’ll have competition even though the rankings say you should be alone in the hunt.
And that, my friends, is what makes preparing for a fantasy draft so confusing.
Often times, the math simply doesn’t work out; it’s a guessing game you play against your league opponents, and it all happens in real time and cannot be undone. Yahoo! does a fantastic job of correctly grading and ranking the top 40-50 players, but after that, it’s a roll of the dice, and anyone telling you different is keeping something from you.
To help give you a head start on your research, I’ve gathered Yahoo’s current player rankings and average draft positions for enough Seahawks players to fill out a standard starting lineup of QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, TE, D/ST, and K.
Something you usually have to find out the hard way, but I’ll tell you here, is that simply waiting on players because of where they are ranked doesn’t work. Someone else will be interested in said player and snag them ahead of schedule, so if you are targeting a player you believe will net the same points as other guys in the round in question, go for it. Just make sure you aren’t leaving points on the board by passing on proven players to snag a sleeper a round or two early. Sleepers are called sleepers for a reason: We don’t know what they will actually do; we just like their potential.
A good rule to live by is that potential doesn’t always equal production. Take a hard look at the 2018 tale of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman if you need more clarity on the subject.
Below is a breakdown of select players, their Yahoo rank by position, their current average draft position (ADP), and where they would be drafted based on their overall rank.
Keep in mind that a 10-person draft with 9 starting roster spots and 6 bench spots will result in 15 rounds of 10 players each, so any player ranked 151 or higher is not projected to be drafted no matter how high on them you might be. Also included are a few players you’ll notice hanging around them on the draft board to give you an idea of when to reach and when to keep your finger off the button.
Good luck this year. If any of this helps you, we gladly accept donations, and if you get burnt by any information listed, we never had this discussion.
QB Russell Wilson – Yahoo Rank QB #7
Average draft position – late 6th or early 7th round
Player rank – 8th overall (1st round)
Currently being drafted after Andrew Luck and Baker Mayfield and before Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. Yahoo has Wilson ranked lower than Cam Newton and Baker Mayfield and ranked higher than Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz.
RB Chris Carson Yahoo Rank RB #43
Average draft position – 7th round
Player rank – 174th overall (undrafted)
Currently being drafted after Mark Ingram and Kenyan Drake, and before David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen. Yahoo has Carson ranked lower than Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson Jr, and higher than Rex Burkhead and Royce Freeman.
RB Rashaad Penny Yahoo Rank RB #32
Average draft position – 11th round
Player rank – 116th overall (13th round)
Currently being drafted after Kareem Hunt and Latavius Murray, and before Jerick McKinnon and Darrell Henderson. Yahoo has Penny ranked lower than Tevin Coleman and Dion Lewis, and higher than Lamar Miller and Mike Davis.
WR Tyler Lockett Yahoo Rank WR #40
Average draft position – late 7th or early 8th round
Player rank – 111th overall (12th round)
Currently being drafted after Jarvis Landry and Mike Williams, and before Alshon Jeffrey and Calvin Ridley. Yahoo has Lockett ranked lower than Mohamed Sanu and Tyrell Williams and higher than Devin Funchess and John Brown.
WR David Moore Yahoo Rank WR #86
Average draft position – free agent
Player rank – 227th overall (undrafted)
Currently not being drafted at all, and is ranked behind Richie James Jr and Antonio Callaway, and ahead of Corey Coleman and Demarcus Robinson.
W/R/T DK Metcalf Yahoo Rank WR #134
Average draft position – 13th round
Player rank – 371st overall (undrafted)
Currently being drafted after Curtis Samuel and Anthony Miller, but before Demaryius Thomas and Robert Foster. Yahoo has Metcalf ranked lower than Deebo Samuel and Trey Quinn, and higher Andy Isabella and AJ Brown.
TE Will Dissly Yahoo Rank TE #23
Average draft position – free agent
Player rank – 211st overall (undrafted)
Currently not being drafted at all, and ranked behind Dallas Goedert and Chris Herndon and higher than Blake Jarwin and Matt LaCossee
Defense/Special teams Yahoo Rank D/ST #12
Average draft position – 15th round
Player rank – 246th overall (undrafted)
Currently being drafted after New York (Jets) and San Francisco, and before Arizona and Washington. Yahoo has the Seattle defense ranked lower than Minnesota and Buffalo, and higher than Houston and Jacksonville.
Kicker Jason Myers Yahoo Rank K #5
Average draft position – 14th round
Player rank – 167th overall (undrafted)
Currently being drafted after Chris Boswell and Aldrick Rosas, and before Mason Crosby and Michael Badgley. Yahoo has Myers ranked lower than Ka’imi Fairbairn and Harrison Butker, and higher than Stephen Gostkowski and Brett Maher.
