4 Undervalued Players to Target in FFPC Fantasy Football Drafts

Aug 30, 2023

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The FFPC has a variety of entry points with massive prize pools. I personally love getting into the Main Event because there are few things better than a Week 17 sweat with a million dollars on the line. That type of upside doesn't exist in most other leagues. If you want to hop in an FFPC draft, sign up here. For those of you who are new, The FFPC leagues are PPR/TE-premium scoring. You can start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 2 FLEX players, 1 Kicker, and 1 D/ST. Tight-end premium means that all tight-end catches are good for 1.5 points versus the standard one-point in PPR settings.

As we enter the final week of fantasy draft prep time, let's look at a few undervalued players worth your attention. This isn't a sleepers list because I'm not sure that sleepers exist in this day and age of non-stop coverage, and the premise of sleepers often focuses on late-round picks. On the other hand, undervalued could come as soon as the back-end of the first round.

Undervalued FFPC Draft Targets

RB Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys (14.8 Overall ADP, RB6)

So long as Tony Pollard has a second-round ADP, he'll fit the mold of undervalued. Pollard has very little meaningful competition in Dallas this season and has thrived in a part-time role since entering the league. We've seen glimpses of his potential league-winning upside anytime he saw an increase in workload, including weekly RB1, RB3, and RB7 finishes in his three career starts without Ezekiel Elliott. Even with Elliott scoring double-digit touchdowns last season, Pollard finished the season as a top-10 running back.

An increase in high-value touches is imminent and something that fantasy gamers have been calling for since the Cowboys first selected Pollard back in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. With Elliott now out of the picture, Pollard's set to marry his elite efficiency, three-down skill set, and bell cow-style workload. Leaving him on the board at the 1/2 turn is a crime.

RB Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans (51.6 Overall ADP, RB18)

Dameon Pierce's strong rookie season was derailed by a late-season injury. His recovery, along with the offseason coaching change and addition of free agent running back Devin Singletary, gave some pause to Pierce drafters early in the process. Fast forward to late July, and Pierce is gaining steam, though still outside the top 50 overall and barely inside the consensus top 20 at running back.

After an outstanding preseason, I have Pierce inside my top 15 at the position and just inside the top 40 overall. I'm excited about Pierce's potential three-down role in first-year coordinator Bobby Slowik's offense. Pierce was on the field for 89% of C.J. Stroud's preseason snaps and saw all of the short down and distance work, along with a surprisingly high 67% route participation. It's a small sample, but the Texans have an improved offensive line for Pierce to be working behind, and if he's garnering that much work on passing downs, that insulates his floor a bit, considering Houston's game script won't always be conducive to massive rushing workloads. We've seen broken tackle rate and yards after contact be one of the more sticky stats for running backs over the years, and Pierce ranked inside the top five in both metrics as a rookie.

WR Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders (76.9 Overall ADP, WR33)

I absolutely love Jahan Dotson, and I'm not alone. I've been here, though, on the pro-Dotson corner, and it's great to see everyone come around. If you haven't stopped by yet, there's still plenty of room!

I want to bank on Dotson's talent winning out and quieting any concerns some might have regarding his situation in 2023. Those concerns primarily rest on the right shoulder of second-year quarterback Sam Howell, along with first-time offensive play-caller Eric Bienemy, who's looking to showcase his coaching prowess outside of the larger-than-live shadows cast by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. I'm not personally concerned about either.

Dotson played in one of the league's run-heaviest offenses as a rookie (24th in pass rate at 56.3%), with just 67.9% of his targets deemed catchable. Questions about Howell's ability to be a starting-caliber quarterback are fair, but the downside can't be much worse than Washington's quarterback room in 2022. While some will call for touchdown regression after his seven scores last year, I'd argue that Dotson's ability to create separation is his greatest skill, making him a bankable red-zone target for any quarterback. His 34.8% end zone target share ranked 17th out of 84 wide receivers in the league last season (min. 50 targets), far exceeding teammates Terry McLaurin (23.3%) and Curtis Samuel (6.7%).

Jahan Dotson can win out wide, in the slot, against man-to-man or zone coverage. The Terry McLaurin toe injury has led to a spike in Dotson's ADP, but he's still going outside of the top 30 at wide receiver, and I believe that's a mistake. Don't rule him out for being the WR1 in Washington this season.

TE Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys (150.3 Overall ADP, TE22)

Jake Ferguson walks into the void left behind by Dalton Schultz's departure to Houston, and while there are other tight ends on the roster, like second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker, Ferguson is the clear passing-game option for a quarterback who loves to utilize his tight end. Dak Prescott targeted a tight end on 25.1% of his dropbacks last season, and Schultz's 31% end-zone target rate was the third-highest in the league at the position and nearly double that of star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.

Ferguson flashed in limited reps last season, but the drumbeat out of Cowboys camp has been steady all offseason. In his first preseason game, Ferguson hauled in all three of his targets for 38 yards and has since been given the starter treatment in terms of playing time and rest. Playing ahead of a Schoonmaker, a rookie who's missing time due to injury, only extends Ferguson's window to put a stranglehold on this job. He's a massive buy at his current ADP and a viable early-season starter if you skip the position at the top of the board.