Players Who Are Helped or Hurt by PPR

Jul 19, 2018

My favorite word at any fantasy draft party is ‘magazine’. I buy one each season to get into the fantasy football spirit and get fired up for the season to come.

But when somebody in my league brings only a magazine for their draft rankings, I instantly know who the dead money is.

I feel like Matt Damon in Rounders in those situations.

4for4 subscribers know very well the power of using rankings tailored to your league’s scoring settings, as we’ve had the most accurate rankings in the industry since 2012.

There’s an even more powerful tool this season for 4for4 subscribers—the ADP Bargains tool, which can be found under the Tools tab in the menu above. You can also open up two tabs in your browser and just cross-reference our standard and PPR rankings.

Below are some of the notable players I found who are both helped and hurt in PPR leagues.

*Note to subscribers - John Paulsen constantly updates his rankings throughout the offseason. Be sure to double-check his latest rankings on these players to ensure no injuries or major changes in their backfields have taken place.

PPR Winners

Chris Thompson, RB, Redskins

Thompson only played in 10 games last season, but when he was on the field, he was electric. His 15.1 PPR points per game made him the RB11 on a per game basis in 2017. Thompson was on a 62 reception pace in 2017, which would have been top five at the position, ahead of names like LeSean McCoy, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley, and James White. Sure, the presence of Derrius Guice is cause for concern, but at his RB34 ADP in the eighth round, there’s value here in PPR leagues. We currently have him ranked as a low-end RB2 in PPR but outside the top 30 RBs in standard leagues.

Tarik Cohen, RB, Bears

The small, speedy complement to Jordan Howard (with hands not made of stone like Howard’s) gets a massive passing game upgrade with Matt Nagy taking over as head coach. Despite brutal playcalling last season in negative game script situations, Cohen still ranked 13th at the position in both receptions and targets with 53 and 71, respectively. Using 4for4’s ADP Bargains Tool for PPR formats, we find Cohen is a good value in the seventh round but is being overdrafted in standard scoring formats. He's a borderline low-end RB2, despite being the 31st RB off the board.

Christian McCaffrey, RB, Panthers

CMC’s ranking doesn’t get a major upgrade from standard to PPR, but it is still notable. Why? Because of the difference in scoring settings upgrades, as Carolina’s first-round pick from a year ago is a low-end RB1 in PPR leagues versus a high-end RB2 in standard formats. That's something to keep in mind if you’re in the market for an RB in round two of drafts and aren’t sure who to target in your PPR league. No RB had more targets than McCaffrey a year ago (113), and he was third in RB receptions (80) behind LeVeon Bell and Alvin Kamara.

Dion Lewis, RB, Titans

The former Patriots runner gets bumped into RB2 range in PPR formats this season when studying John Paulsen’s draft rankings, compared to his RB25 ranking in standard formats. Offensive Coordinator Matt LaFleur heads to Tennessee after helping Todd Gurley to 57 receptions (top-10 numbers at the position) with the Rams last season. Derrick Henry does not seem to be a threat to Lewis’ targets in the Titans passing game, as the big back has not seen 20 targets in either of his first two seasons. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick used Lewis extensively in the passing game, with 3.5 targets per game from Week 11 on last year.

Theo Riddick, RB, Lions

Despite the Lions drafting Kerryon Johnson out of Auburn, Riddick is expected to maintain passing-down duties, after ranking 11th at the position with 53 receptions a year ago on 71 targets. Riddick is outside the top-40 RBs in our standard rankings but enters FLEX territory in PPR. Riddick is one of the best values in all of fantasy football based on our ADP Bargains tool. His 12th-round ADP is well worth the gamble, especially in PPR best-ball leagues.

Michael Crabtree, WR, Ravens

Continue reading to see why Michael Crabtree gets a boost in PPR leagues as well as which other players Steve touts as PPR winners and losers for 2018 fantasy drafts...