Yahoo Fantasy Football Rankings and ADPs to Target

One of the most important factors in fantasy football is where you host your league. Sure, all the bells and whistles offered by various platforms are fun—remember when live scoring was a premium feature?—but that’s not what I’m talking about. No, I’m talking about the default rankings.

You might come in with a well-researched list of tiers and rankings and a strategy of certain positions to target in specific rounds. How many of your league mates do the same thing? My guess is not many. Or those that do have a great plan for a few rounds but wing it after that.

That’s where the site’s default rankings come in. Not sure what running back to take in Round 9? Just click whoever is on top of the internal rankings. At least, that’s what less-prepared drafters do.

These rankings tend to vary heavily from site to site—particularly in the middle and late rounds—creating opportunities for well-prepared drafters to get players at bargain prices. This is especially true if you’re in multiple leagues on multiple platforms, since you can draft Player A where he’s lower ranked and fade Player B, but then reverse it elsewhere.

First up in this series of articles, we’ll take a look at players Yahoo is lower on than our season-long projections indicate they should be. We’ll be using the consensus half PPR rankings unless otherwise noted.

And don’t forget to sign up for your fantasy football league on Yahoo Sports!

Quarterbacks

While they’re the most important position in real football, quarterbacks might be the least important in fantasy football. Not because they don’t score many points, but because their points are fairly predictable and steady. There’s also not as big of a difference between the best starting QB and the 10th or 12th (outside of non-standard scoring systems) as there is at other spots.

Due to that, we won’t have as many QBs listed here as other positions. I’ll also include a few players to avoid on Yahoo, since they’re being overdrafted based on their relative value. In my experience, QBs in general are drafted too high in redraft leagues, so waiting for the 10th or 12th option is often the best strategy.

Josh Allen: Yahoo Ranking 28 – Labs Ranking 24

I almost didn’t include Allen on this list, since his typical ADP of 20.4 actually makes him a fade based on our season-long rankings.

However, if your league is more interested in rankings than ADP, Allen could become a value. Our projections have him as the top QB in the league by 14 total points, a small but not insignificant edge over Lamar Jackson. Jackson is ranked ahead of Allen on Yahoo, giving Allen a potential slight edge.

I’m not going out of my way to reach for Allen (or any other QB, frankly) but if you have a late second-round or early third-round pick and Jackson is off the board, it makes sense to take Allen early.

Caleb Williams: Yahoo Ranking QB13 – Labs Ranking QB10

While Williams ranking on Yahoo is ahead of our overall ranking at Labs, his 116 ADP at Yahoo makes him a target as well. That’s because Yahoo has him ranked as their QB13—and with most leagues being either 10 or 12 teams, once everyone gets a starter, the pace of drafting QBs slows drastically.

Assuming you didn’t get Allen, the sharp strategy is to wait on QBs. There’s really not a significant difference between our QB 10 (Williams) and the next few players. We’re projecting a smaller gap between QBs 10 and 13 than between QBs 1 and 2, so by waiting until the rest of your league has their first QB, you can get stronger at other positions and still get a similar player.

Plus, there’s plenty of reason to believe Williams will take a huge step forward this season. He has Ben Johnson as head coach, the former Lions offensive coordinator who turned Jared Goff and the Lions into a fantasy goldmine. Plus, the Bears used their first two picks on weapons for Williams (tight end Colston Loveland in the first round and wide receiver Luther Burden in the second) and their extra second-round pick on an offensive tackle.

Williams already had Rome Odunze and DJ Moore at receiver, giving him an embarrassment of riches. With the Bears defense likely to be an issue, that could lead to some pass-heavy game scripts for Chicago. It wouldn’t shock me if he finished as a top-five QB.

Dominate your Best Ball and season-long fantasy football leagues with our brand-new app that’s available in the Apple App Store and on Android!

Running Backs

Paradoxically, running backs are one of the least important in real football—but remain the most important for fantasy. Despite the passing revolution the league has undergone over the past decade or so, the true separators in fantasy football remain the running backs.

Pro Football Reference has a stat they call “Value Based Drafting (VBD)” points. It works similarly to WAR in baseball, in that it takes a player’s total fantasy points and subtracts the points scored by the worst (fantasy) starter at the position. For running backs, that means RB24 since most leagues force teams to start two backs.

Last season, the top player in VBD was Saquon Barkley, who outscored the RB24 by 163 points. The second and third spots were also occupied by running backs, and six of the top 10 overall.

Here are some backs going too low on Yahoo that we can look to target.

De’Von Achane: Yahoo Ranking 16 – Labs Ranking 11

While we aren’t that far ahead of Achane in our overall rankings, we’re fairly optimistic about him from a positional standpoint. Yahoo ranks Achane as their RB8, three spots behind our RB5 placement. The biggest takeaway is that we’re a bit more aggressive on wide receivers than Yahoo, but that doesn’t help us pick backs to draft.

Achane has been dominant in terms of points per touch throughout his NFL career. The issue with him from a fantasy standpoint has been staying healthy and his workload. Miami has moved on from Raheem Mostert, however, which could lead to less touch competition for Achane.

While he’ll never be a true workhorse, his breakaway speed gives him elite efficiency. I’m looking to draft Achane early in the second round of redraft leagues, and he could be available even later.

Kyren Williams: Yahoo Ranking 25 – Labs Ranking 17

On the other hand, Williams was the definition of a workhorse last year for the Rams. Sean McVay has long preferred to rely on a single running back rather than a committee approach, and last year Williams finished third among all backs in carries.

Which makes his placement as the RB12 on Yahoo somewhat surprising. Volume is typically king for fantasy production, and the Rams should remain one of the better overall offenses in the league. That’s important for running backs, as we want players who are likely to get plenty of touchdown opportunities.

Williams is typically going at the Round 2/Round 3 turn on Yahoo, making him an excellent target for teams drafting out of one of the first two spots, which typically take a wide receiver with their first pick.

James Cook: Yahoo Ranking 34 – Labs Ranking 25

The nine-spot differential between Cook and Williams seems like a lot, but our projected points have the two running backs separated by just five points in projections.

Cook is unlikely to see the same level of workload as Williams, but the touches he gets could be more valuable. That’s because of his connection to the high-powered Bills offense, which was second in points per game last season.

Cook gets dragged down by his quarterback (Allen) stealing so many of the rushing touchdowns in Buffalo (12 in 2024). However, Allen’s overall rushing attempts have declined for three straight seasons, a trend that will likely continue. That makes Cook a back-end RB1 or an elite second back in the middle of the third round.

Kareem Hunt: Yahoo Ranking 231 – Labs Ranking 199

One of my favorite season-long strategies is drafting backup running backs that are one injury away from a starting role. Unlike wide receiver, where less talented players are unlikely to earn targets, running back touches are given.

That strategy gets bonus points if those backs are part of good offenses, since they’ll have more opportunities to convert touchdowns. All of that applies to Hunt, who has some standalone value on passing downs but likely steps into a significant role if starter Isaiah Pacheco misses time.

Based on his ADP, there’s a good chance that Hunt will go undrafted in plenty of home leagues. Depending on the depth of your bench, he’s a valuable last pick to stash in case he gets some reps as a starter at some point.

Wide Receivers

It’s particularly important to be aware of your league’s scoring settings at wide receiver. High-volume possession receivers like Amon-Ra St. Brown are more valuable in full-PPR, while in non-PPR leagues a player like Brian Thomas is relatively more valuable—since he totaled more yards than ASB on 38 fewer receptions.

We’re attempting to split the difference by using half-PPR rankings here, but be sure to check out our rankings for other formats if that’s the system you’re playing under.

Justin Jefferson: Yahoo Ranking 5 – Labs Ranking 2

This is mostly a function of Yahoo elevating running backs relative to wide receivers in their default rankings. They have three backs ranked between consensus top pick Ja’Marr Chase and Jefferson, while our experts rank Jefferson no lower than No. 3 overall.

This is where understanding your league’s scoring settings are important as well. In full PPR leagues, Jefferson should be the second player off the board. If you’re drafting anywhere from #2 to #5, he’s a near-automatic pick. I would probably still take him at #2 in half-PPR leagues, but elevate the running backs in non-PPR.

From a strategy standpoint, having an early first-round pick also puts you in a position to potentially draft Kyren Williams or James Cook in the second and third rounds, so passing on one of the top backs isn’t as painful.

DJ Moore: Yahoo Ranking 48 – Labs Ranking 37

This is one of the bigger gaps between an early-round player from Yahoo and our rankings and, by extension, Yahoo and other hosts default ranks. Most of the reasons to be high on Moore were covered in the section on Caleb Williams, where we touched on the general optimism around the Bears offense.

Moore was their leading receiver last season, and while he faces increased competition, he could easily end the year in that role again. The younger players Chicago are relying on will likely take some time to get up to NFL speed, so Moore, at a minimum, should be the standout early in the season.

With Moore’s ADP on Yahoo into the 50s, you can likely wait until the fourth round to take a player we have as a borderline Round 3 value. I wouldn’t pass that opportunity up.

Jameson Williams: Yahoo Ranking 56 – Labs Ranking 47

Jameson Williams has made steady improvements in each of his three years with the Lions. Most importantly, he’s been able to stay mostly healthy and out of trouble, appearing in 15 contests in 2024 and going for over 1000 yards.

Part of our optimism on Williams is based on continued improvement for the fourth-year player. The other part is based on the Lions likely taking a step back. With the loss of both coordinators and key pieces on the offensive line, Detroit might not be nearly as dominant as they were when they went 15-2 in 2024.

Since that record led to a lot of leads late in games, Detroit passed at the 25th-highest rate last year. If they spend more time trailing or losing, they’ll logically be forced to throw the ball more. That elevates their entire passing offense, but especially Williams — since his deep-ball ability is more useful when you’re trying to score in a hurry.

Based on his ranking and ADP, you can probably grab Williams somewhere around the Round 5/Round 6 turn.

Keon Coleman: Yahoo Ranking 135 – Labs Ranking 94

It’s not clear who will be the #1 option in the Buffalo passing attack this year, with the general market consensus leaning slightly towards Khalil Shakir.

Sean Koerner, whose rankings make up half our consensus marks and who is a multiple-time winner of the FantasyPros ranking contests, disagrees. He has Coleman ranked ahead of Shakir, while our other expert has them closer together than their ADP or Yahoo rankings suggest.

Josh Allen and the Bills were the #2 offense in the NFL last season without producing any truly elite fantasy players outside of Allen. Coleman was something of a letdown in his rookie season, but that was partially due to missing a handful of games with an injury.

Now fully healthy coming into 2025, the former 33rd overall pick should be in for a big step forward. At worst he’s a solid WR3/Flex option late in drafts, and at best he’s a solid WR2.

Tight Ends

Just like quarterbacks, most fantasy leagues require just one tight end to be started. Also, like QB, there’s typically not a huge difference between a back-end starter at tight end and one who can be picked off the waiver wire.

For that reason, the optimal strategy is to draft a star tight end early and truly separate from your competition — or punt the position entirely and hope to find a diamond in the rough. With that in mind, here are some players who fit more with the latter strategy and could win you your league.

Colston Loveland: Yahoo Ranking 133 (TE15) – Labs Ranking 143 (TE10)

More important than the overall rankings is how we have players ordered within a position. Loveland is Yahoo’s 15th-ranked tight end, while we have him as the #10 option.

That means Loveland will go undrafted in plenty of redraft leagues, as many players don’t draft a backup tight end. His ADP puts him past the tenth round, into the part of the draft where team defenses start going off the board.

The Bears first-rounder compares athletically to Trey McBride and is likely to be a major part of new head coach Ben Johnson’s offensive plans this season. That’s the same Ben Johnson who turned rookie tight end Sam LaPorta into the top fantasy tight end in 2023 as offensive coordinator in Detroit.

Tyler Warren: Yahoo Ranking 160 – Labs Ranking 156

Warren, like Loveland, was drafted in the first half of the first round in the 2025 NFL draft. He had slightly better combine numbers than Loveland and won the Mackey Award for the nation’s best college tight end.

From a fantasy perspective, he’s slightly easier to trust though. That’s largely due to the situation in Indianapolis, where both Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones are likely to get time under center. With both QBs known more for taking off and running than checking down to tight ends, he’ll have a tougher go of it than Loveland.

Still, at his price tag, he could be a game changer. Warren is effectively free in most redraft leagues, but the Colts wouldn’t have used such a high pick on him if he wasn’t a major part of their plans.

I like drafting Warren late in drafts as a second tight end. As with Loveland, he’ll probably need some time to get up to NFL speed before we see the best of him. If he breaks out, he could be a valuable trade piece to a tight-end-needy team or an excellent flex option once injuries and bye weeks begin to pile up.

Pictured: Justin Jefferson

Photo Credit: Imagn