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Happy Friday!
I’m hoping everyone is staying in clean air and avoiding any parasitic lettuce.
Welcome to the second newsletter of this draft season! Let’s identify some draft values and prepare our strategies for draft season.
One thing has stood out clearly through the first two weeks of draft season: this is shaping up to be a punt-QB year in a big way. ESPN and Sleeper draft rooms are letting quarterbacks fall well past where the experts have them, and it's not just a name or two - it's the whole position sliding almost across the board on both platforms.
The other side of that coin is running backs, which are getting scooped up earlier than usual as drafters redirect those early picks. If your league drafts on ESPN or Sleeper, keep that in mind: don't be shocked if a startable QB is still sitting there in the double-digit rounds, and don't expect a screaming RB bargain to just fall into your lap. BUT, it’s still early.
Let’s get to drafting.
In this week’s newsletter:
🏷️ This Week's Draft Values
🔍 Draft Room Trend Watch
🥇 Top-10 WRs
📊 Quick Poll
📝 Draft Day Cheat Sheet
Another year, another update to my draft cheat sheet - JuiceSheets!
These sheets pair nicely with my Abusing Draft Rankings as it includes projections and a value column for Standard, Half PPR and PPR scoring on ESPN, Sleeper and Yahoo. Check it out as a tool to use as you draft.
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🏷️ This Week’s Draft Values
Every week I’ll highlight draft values found in draft rooms, primarily using my Abusing Draft Rankings tool to help find these players.
MIN QB Kyler Murray - Sleeper Standard
FantasyPros ECR: 114 overall | Sleeper ADP: 172
Landmine Score: 2.1
Murray's dual-threat upside keeps getting priced like a backup in Sleeper rooms. A 58-pick gap between his overall consensus rank and where Sleeper drafters are actually taking him is one of the widest in the sheet this week.
ARI RB Tyler Allgeier - ESPN Standard
FantasyPros ECR: 131 overall | ESPN ADP: 166
Landmine Score: 3.3
With RB running expensive almost everywhere else in ESPN rooms right now (see the trend note below), Allgeier is one of the rare backs actually falling instead of getting reached for - worth a bench stash if you need depth late.
GB WR Matthew Golden - Sleeper Standard
FantasyPros ECR: 136 overall | Sleeper ADP: 177
Landmine Score: 2.2
Golden's quiet rookie year (29 catches, 361 yards) is keeping his price down, but the depth chart has cleared out since - Romeo Doubs left in free agency and Dontayvion Wicks got traded, leaving Golden and Christian Watson as the boundary starters in Green Bay. Sleeper drafters haven't caught up to the new opportunity yet.
BUF TE Dalton Kincaid - ESPN Half PPR
FantasyPros ECR: 114 overall | ESPN ADP: 148
Landmine Score: 2.6
Another case of TE depth getting overlooked in ESPN rooms specifically. Kincaid has real target-share upside in Buffalo's offense and is going three-plus rounds later than his overall consensus rank suggests he should.
🔍 Draft Room Trend Watch
The QB/RB split from last issue is still holding. ESPN Half PPR and PPR rooms are still pushing QB well below the normal baseline (3.74-4.19 average Landmine Score vs. the usual 5.5-6.5 range), and Sleeper Standard is doing the same thing (4.40). Meanwhile RB is still running hot on those same platforms - ESPN and Sleeper drafters are still reaching for backs earlier than expert consensus suggests.
Yahoo continues to track closely with expert consensus across every position, no real skew either direction. If you're drafting on Yahoo, don't expect the same kind of value hunting that ESPN and Sleeper reward right now.
Bottom line: this isn't a one-week blip, it's shaping up as a real seasonal pattern. If you're on ESPN or Sleeper, keep leaning into cheap QBs and be ready to pay a little extra for RB depth.
🥇 2026 Top-Ten WRs
The first draft of my 2026 rankings are LIVE! Here's a look at my top WRs, powered by FantasyPros ECR. Feel free to view all player ranks at the link below. Ranks will continue to be updated.
Rank | Player | Team |
1 | Ja'Marr Chase | CIN |
2 | Puka Nacua | LAR |
3 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA |
4 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET |
5 | Drake London | ATL |
6 | CeeDee Lamb | DAL |
7 | Justin Jefferson | MIN |
8 | A.J. Brown | NE |
9 | Rashee Rice | KC |
10 | Nico Collins | HOU |
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