Continuing our series of finding the best draft deals through ranking disparities, we have 51-100.
ESPN ratings taken from their projections on: https://fantasy.espn.com/football/players/projections
Yahoo Ratings taken from Fantasy Pros and using only Yahoo experts aggregate. Will try to update this every so often as rankings change constantly.
Name | ESPN Ranking | Yahoo Ranking | Difference | Commentary
Sammy Watkins | 55 | 75 | 20 | Watkins has serious injury concerns that take him out of the 5th round for me. In addition, he will at best be third fiddle on the passing attack, behind Kelce and Hill (probably 4 behind whatever RB is out there), and rookie Mecole Hardman has a lot of hype. I don't think you can trust Watkins as a WR 2, I'd go with Yahoo here.
Tarik Cohen | 61 | 74 | 13 | Cohen is a receiving monster, but running is a totally different story. Per ESPN he ranked essentially the bottom in YPC in his two seasons. But his role shouldn't change (it may even increase if rookie David Montgomery needs time to get comfortable), and he had combined 1169 yards and 8 touchdowns last year. That's a great flex, and deserves closer to a round 5 selection to me. Yahoo users might have a steal here.
Derrius Guice | 63 | 82 | 19 | Another running back in an unknown situation, this seems way too high in ESPN for me. 63 is far too early to be taking fliers, and AP and Chris Thompson seem to have that job locked down. Guice had a lot of hype and potential, especially before tearing the ACL, and AP is far from injury immune, but 63 is too early to take handcuffs.
Sterling Shepard | 64 | 88 | 24 | Might be unfair here, as ESPN may not have updated these rankings to reflect Shepard's thumb injury, but even still 64 seems too high. You are still drafting starters at this point, and I'm not sure Shepard quite has what it takes. Of course with OBJ gone, his target share goes up. But his quality of cornerback also goes up. He only posted a 66/872/4 line in a full season's work last year, and has possibly the worst QB situation in the league. Add in a thumb injury that may cause a couple missed games, and I'm not drafting Shepard in the early 6th.
Miles Sanders | 69 | 87 | 18 | Sanders is too much of an unknown for me at 69. Howard is the assumed starter, and he is an every down back. They have Clement and Sproles for passing downs, and Josh Adams is presumably in the mix. Early reports of Sanders camp has been positive, but Sanders may get less than 20 total carries this year barring injuries. You still need starters in round 6, major pass.
Austin Ekeler | 71 | 93 | 22 | ESPN loves their running back handcuffs. Ekeler was extremely solid last year, posting a combined 958/6 line, which is a fine flex. He has a 5.3 YPC for his career, and Gordon is in the midst of a contract battle. Who knows how hard Gordon will go if he doesn't receive his deal, paving the way for Ekeler. I'm going with ESPN on this one, meaning a steal alert for Yahoo owners.
ESPN has a glut of QB's here, with QB's 2-5 going in a row. They seem to have very different philosophies on ranking QB's, so I'll stay away from the group, except Watson who I mentioned in last weeks post.
Dede Westbrook | 78 | 96 | 18 | The number one wide receiver on what should be a vastly improved Jags offense is more valuable than pick 96. I guess this will mostly depend on what you think of Nick Foles. He had a 21 percent target share last year, and was 13th in YAC, so a better QB could help his numbers tremendously. If he is even slightly like Philadelphia Foles, Westbrook in the 8th/9th could be a big steal.
Emmanuel Sanders | 83 | 131 | 48 | Wow, by far the biggest gap we've seen so far. ESPN considers him a possible flex play, Yahoo is saying he is essentially unplayable as WR 53. Sanders is getting up there in years, and Achilles injuries seem to be the worst leg injuries these days, overtaking the ACL. His QB situation is less than ideal, with either Flacco or Lock slinging it around. But Sanders seems confident he will be back week 1, and if he is has a enough of a proven track record and opportunity to be better than 131.
Darrell Henderson | 87 | 105 | 18 | Another handcuff for ESPN. But this one is interesting. Gurley is a big unknown. Maybe his knee issues are massively overblown and Henderson never sees a carry. Maybe they are serious, and Henderson drops into a great situation that saw Gurley score 20+ touchdowns. At 87 you are starting to get some backups, and Henderson should be one of the first handcuffs off the board. I think 105 will be too late, but this all rides on Gurley's health.
Nyheim Hines | 88 | 136 | 48 | While at this point it's clear ESPN values handcuffs much more than Yahoo and I should stop including them, this one is a dramatic enough difference to mention I feel. 88 seems much to high for Marlon Mack's backup, especially since Mack doesn't have any lingering injury issues like Gurley. To say Hines is as valuable as Gurley's back up seems like a mistake to me.
Duke Johnson | 89 | 141 | 52 | Hopefully the last one. I mention this one because Johnson has a better opportunity than many handcuffs. Miller is a solid but unimpressive back, and Johnson has a valuable skill he is one of the best at, and that is being a receiving back. Miller saw very few receptions, and Johnson will clearly supplant him there. (I think the jury is still out on Hines and Mack, so I'm not contradicting myself here.) Miller is also reaching the death age of running backs, 28, and is far from the most effective, so Johnson could even see a share of carries that many backups won't. Take him higher than 141.
Lesean McCoy | 90 | 109 | 19
Peyton Barber | 91 | 124 | 33 | Doing these two together because they are in similar situations. Both are the assumed starters, but have been total plodders in their last few seasons, and have people behind them ready to take their jobs. Ronald Jones for Tampa Bay is a second round draft pick coming into his second year, and you have to think TB wants to bring him in as soon as possible. McCoy has the ageless Frank Gore and TJ Yeldon, who was a serviceable backup to Fournette last year. Both had far superior YPC compared to McCoy's abysmal 3.16 last year. McCoy is 31 and doesn't seem to have anything left in the tank. I don't think either warrant a top 100 pick, as odds are they will have zero value 99% of the time as they both lose their starting jobs.
Latavius Murray 92 | 70 | 22 | Mark Ingram has been incredibly solid next to Kamara, and Murray looks to assume that mantle. If he can be as effective as Ingram, he is easily a flex, and possibly an RB 2. And if Kamara goes down, he is an instant RB 1. There's a lot to like here, and ESPN owners might get a steal if he does drop to 92.
Keke Coutee | 97 | 116 | 19 | As the third guy on what should be a high-powered offense, it's hard to ascertain his value. He had 10 targets per game in the five games he actually participated in, which is a ton. If he can keep that up, and you believe Deshuan Watson will have a top 5 fantasy year, he is solidly a flex, and a lot better than WR 46 like in Yahoo.
Michael Gallup | 98 | 121 | 23 | Gallup is the number 2 guy in a shaky passing attack. Prescott only throws around 22 touchdowns a year, and it's hard to know if Gallup will get enough of those to warrant play. It seems like his sealing is a 700/5 guy, if that, and I think there are guys around here with much higher ceilings and higher floors. I just can't see Gallup hitting flex worthy numbers, and I think he's more 121 than 98.