One of the best advantages you can take into your fantasy football draft is understanding the platform that you’re currently playing on. It may be incredibly easy to knock out 1,000 mock drafts on a platform like Sleeper over the offseason, but that doesn’t help you when your league plays on ESPN!
With that in mind, we’ve assembled an ESPN cheat sheet for you right here to help you get ready to dominate your league this season! You’ll find everything from default settings to value picks, sleepers, busts, and more below.
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ESPN Fantasy Football Default Settings
ESPN’s default settings for this season are a full-PPR scoring format and 1QB. This means that players receive one point per reception, which provides a boost to wide receivers or pass-catching running backs. Additionally, fantasy managers are only required to start one QB versus formats like Superflex that allow you to start multiple players at that position.
This is important to note because ADP (average draft position) will shift dramatically if you’ve been running mock drafts on a different scoring format, which would influence your draft strategy. However, it’s always best practice to check the league settings page to see if your commissioner has tweaked any of the default settings.
ESPN Fantasy Football ADP Values
There’s a sense of panic that sets in if you enter your league’s draft room to find the player list looks significantly different than what you’ve been practicing with all year long. Below, you’ll find several players that are values in ADP on ESPN compared to other platforms.
Derek Carr, QB, New Orleans Saints
Derek Carr looked sharp in his first game action with the Saints and appears to currently be flying under the radar in ESPN leagues. Fantasy managers may have been burned by Carr last year, or they feel like he’s nearing the end of his career, but it’s shocking to see him being drafted as the QB22 off the board.
For example, in Underdog Fantasy, Carr has a current ADP of QB19. This still feels too low, but if you’re interested in completely waiting on drafting a quarterback, Carr can be scooped up in the final round of your draft.
David Montgomery, RB, Detroit Lions
David Montgomery experienced a dip in production last season in Chicago, but a scheme change over the prior offseason certainly played a role in him not performing to the same level fantasy managers had come to expect.
Now, Montgomery finds himself a member of the Detroit Lions and walking into the same role that Jamaal Williams just found immense success in last year. From a talent standpoint, Montgomery’s a much better NFL running back than Williams, and this offense promises to be a powerful unit again in 2023.
Montgomery’s going off the board as RB23 in Underdog drafts, while he’s all the way down at RB27 in ESPN’s Live Draft Trends. Even with Jahmyr Gibbs in this backfield, Montgomery’s in for a substantial workload this season running behind a terrific offensive line. Scoop him up while you can.
Chris Olave, WR, New Orleans Saints
Let’s double down with the Saints’ offense, shall we? Chris Olave showed big-time playability right out of the gate, despite having questionable quarterback play week in and week out. Now, Carr provides a significant QB upgrade, and Olave appears to be in line for a massive breakout campaign.
According to ESPN’s Live Draft Trends, Olave’s going off the board as the WR16. Meanwhile, over on Underdog Fantasy, he’s being drafted as a top-12 WR!
Can Chris Olave be a league-winner this season with Derek Carr?@FieldYates & @KyleSoppePFN break down that possibility on the latest episode of The PFN Fantasy Football Podcast! pic.twitter.com/O1QXlinEh3
— Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL) August 9, 2023
Adding Olave as your second WR on your fantasy roster — which is feasible given his ADP — seems like thievery.
Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots
Hunter Henry isn’t exactly a selection in fantasy football drafts that gets the blood pumping with excitement, but it just might be the right one.
Henry is now the primary option in a tight end room that has played a significant role in Bill O’Brien’s offenses over the years. While Mike Gesicki is also in New England’s offense — and is currently being drafted well above Henry — all signs point to Henry being the tight end to target in this offense for 2023.
Henry’s ADP is a shockingly low TE29 off the board in ESPN drafts right now. If you want to completely wait on the position, he’s a fantastic dart throw in the final rounds.
ESPN Fantasy Football Sleepers
Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love looked like he belonged in the NFL during Week 1 of the preseason, but it’s important to not overreact too much due to the fact that it still was just preseason action.
However, with a QB25 ADP right now on ESPN, Love can easily be secured with one of your final picks to see how everything shakes out. He has the playmakers around him to succeed, and he could wind up being a solid weekly contributor for your fantasy lineup.
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
It was telling that Kenneth Gainwell didn’t suit up during the preseason’s Week 1, while Rashaad Penny was playing significant snaps well after the starters had been removed. With very little guaranteed on his contract, there’s no telling how Philadelphia views the oft-injured RB, and Penny may very well end up riding the bench for the majority of this season.
Meanwhile, Gainwell has familiarity with this coaching staff, and he’s proven to be a solid fantasy option when given the opportunity in the past. It’s simply that that opportunity has been hard to come by over the past few years.
Currently the RB45 on ESPN, fantasy managers don’t have to spend a ton to get Gainwell onto their roster. It’s worth it to see how this backfield shakes out before the start of week one.
Gabe Davis, WR, Buffalo Bills
Fantasy managers were burned badly by Gabe Davis last year…or were they?
The expectations for Davis as the WR2 in Buffalo may have gotten a bit out of hand, but Davis finished within one spot of his ADP by the end of the regular season last year. Yes, he was certainly a boom-or-bust option, but he wasn’t a disappointment when it was all said and done.
Despite this, Davis’ ADP is absolutely in the basement this season as he’s currently being drafted as the WR47 off the board. Now that he’s fully healthy — Davis battled through an ankle injury last season — we could see him dramatically outproduce that shockingly low ADP.
Even if Davis is a boom-or-bust option again in 2023, his ADP allows him to be a Flex option in your lineup on a weekly basis where you can live with that inconsistency. He may end up winning you some weeks, though.
Hayden Hurst, TE, Carolina Panthers
There’s a legitimate chance that Hayden Hurst leads this entire Panthers team in targets at the end of the season. With DJ Chark and Adam Thielen not having the most durable track record over recent years, Hurst could quickly establish himself as Bryce Young’s favorite target over the middle of the field.
Right now, Hurst has an ADP of TE25 in ESPN leagues. If you play in a deeper league, he’s a solid target. Otherwise, you can take Hurst with your last pick in drafts right now or wait to see how he performs in Week 1 and then scoop him up off of the waiver wire.
ESPN Fantasy Football Busts
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
You would think that I wouldn’t have to include a QB who’s currently injured and most likely won’t be on the field until late in the season on a busts list, but here we are.
Kyler Murray is currently being drafted as the QB24 in ESPN leagues. This means that fantasy managers are very optimistic that he’ll be back on the field sooner than later and that he’ll be operating at full speed.
In this offense, Murray’s value for fantasy football is going to continue to come from his rushing ability, but that’s highly unlikely to be right back to 100% right away. Additionally, this Cardinals roster carries significant concerns with it going into 2023.
If this team is well below .500 halfway through the year, does it make sense to rush Murray back? With the possibility that this team is in the running for Caleb Williams or Drake Maye in the 2024 NFL Draft, they may very well keep Murray on the sideline for the entire year.
There are better quarterbacks to target at that point in drafts.
Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
Derrick Henry will continue to be a very relevant fantasy asset in 2023. He should be in line for a substantial workload yet again this season, and we know that he can be incredibly productive with that opportunity.
However, remember that ESPN plays with a default scoring of full PPR. This is noteworthy because Henry’s current ADP is RB5 off the board, which is just a bit too high when you consider his receiving volume over recent years.
Henry should still be drafted as a top-10 RB this year. However, for him to be going above players like Nick Chubb, Tony Pollard, and Josh Jacobs, it seems like an unwise decision.
DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks
DK Metcalf is a dominant NFL wide receiver. We all know that. However, an ADP of WR12 off the board is just a bit too rich going into 2023.
The addition of Jaxon Smith-Njigba to Seattle’s offense makes it incredibly difficult to project Metcalf for a significant target share this season. There are plenty of other mouths to feed in Seattle, which means that Metcalf may be completely dependent upon big plays downfield each week to return value on that aggressive ADP.
For context, Metcalf sits at WR16 in our current PFN consensus rankings. And there’s an argument to be made that he should be even lower than that.