Something about typical fantasy rankings has been bothering me lately. By listing all relevant players in order of draft desirability, we still don't really have anything actionable until we add a denominator of ADP. If I tell you a player is my #5 tight end, that doesn't tell you whether I would recommend drafting him or not. When you add the dimension of ADP, it becomes clear right away who my rankings recommend targeting and who my rankings recommend avoiding. This leads to an experiment idea of rethinking rankings. Instead of ranking players by draft desirability (or projected end of year finish), why not rank players by desirability of drafting them at ADP? This table will show you the rough ADP of a player, and where I would consider drafting the player. This ranking should help when prioritizing targets pre-draft and understanding the next best outcomes when targeted players go off the board ahead of you. Any and all feedback welcome!
Rank | Tight End | Team | Projected ADP | Worth Drafting in? |
1 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | 12th-13th | 9th |
2 | Jordan Cameron | MIA | 8th-9th | 7th |
3 | Dwayne Allen | IND | 10th/11th | 9th |
4 | Travis Kelce | KC | 4th/5th | 4th depending on RBs left |
5 | Ladarius Green | SD | 14th-15th | 12th |
6 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | 11th-12th | 11th |
7 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | 11th-12th | 11th |
8 | Heath Miller | PIT | 15th or later | 13th |
9 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | Early 1st | Mid 1st |
10 | Josh Hill | NO | 11th-12th | 12th |
11 | Owen Daniels | DEN | 12th-13th | 13th |
12 | Julius Thomas | JAX | 8th | 9th |
13 | Jimmy Graham | SEA | 3rd | 4th |
14 | Greg Olsen | CAR | 5th/6th | 7th |
15 | Coby Fleener | IND | 14th-15th | 15th or later |
16 | Zach Ertz | PHI | 8th | 10th |
17 | Jason Witten | DAL | 9th | 12th |
18 | Delanie Walker | TEN | 9th-10th | 12th |
19 | Antonio Gates | SD | 12th-13th | 15th or later |
20 | Martellus Bennett | CHI | 7th | 12th |