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One of my favorite things about fantasy football is the tracking of average draft position (ADP). I don’t care that it’s only mid May and the NFL draft is only a couple weeks in the books. I am always interested in seeing were the mind of the so called “experts” and the “average Joe’s” (me) are at when it comes to valuing certain players. I believe it’s never to early to being able to spot trends among players or positions that will be of valuable information come your draft or drafts. Now that we got that out of the way, I would like to talk about one trend that seems to have caught my eye in early drafts. It has to do with the wide receiver group, in particular, the older players and them being undervalued that is looming large at the moment.

The first player on the list is . Did you know that in six games with Carson Palmer (missed 10 due to injuries), he caught 5.3 passes, for 80.5 yards and .3 touchdowns on 6.8 targets per game? He caught at least five passes and recorded 70 or more yards in four of those games. Right now, I see that Fitzgerald is the 43rd WR off the board in points per reception (PPR) drafts.

The second player on the list is Anquan Boldin. He has been in a San Fransisco 49ers uniform for two years now. In those two years, he has averaged 5.3 catches, 70 yards and 0.4 touchdown,s with 8.1 targets per game (32 games). He has had 20 games with at least five catches and 15 games with 70 or more yards. As of right now, he is coming off the board as the 47th WR in PPR drafts.

The third player is Steve Smith for the Baltimore Ravens. To start the year, he caught 5.8 passes, for 95.5 yards and 0.7 touchdowns with nine targets per contest (weeks 1-6). He caught no less then five balls in every game, recorded at least 101 yards and one or more touchdowns in four of those games. I would like to note there is no more Torrey Smith (49ers) and I wonder, will Dennis Pitta even play? Plus, you have to add in the fact that they brought in Marc Trestman to be the offensive coordinator (he likes to throw the football… a lot). Right now, he is the 50th WR off the board.

The final player is Marques Colston for the New Orleans Saints. From weeks 12-17 (six games), he provided us 4.2 catches, with 61 yards and .7 touchdowns on 6.7 targets per game. He caught four or more passes and at least 65 yards and one touchdown in four of those games. I would also like to add that the Saints have traded the likes of Jimmy Graham (Seattle Seahawks) and Kenny Stills (Miami Dolphins). Right now, he is the 60th WR off the board in PPR drafts.

It’s the same cycle every year, the headlines are always about the players with a new team, the rookies coming into the league or that sleeper nobody knows about. These players will be widely overvalued, causing many teams to fall out of contention quickly. Yet, all along we have a group of players who are not changing teams, they might be long in the tooth and are not on any drafter’s sleeper list… These are the players that will end up being core pieces for teams that are in contention for the championship. That’s what these four players can and will represent come draft day. I will be targeting them to fill my WR depth, and I’ll probably be getting a great discount on my returns.

 

You can follow Dase on Twitter @F_w_DaseorDays.