We're in the middle of August, which means Fantasy drafts are starting to happen for real. With that in mind, we can study the CBS Sports Average Draft Position data since it's now a good representation of what's happening in your drafts.
Some of the picks make a lot of sense. Others, well, I'd love to play in some of these leagues.
Let's go through each position and find some good value picks, some players who are being drafted too soon and predict which players might rise -- and fall -- over the next several weeks. I love breaking down the ADP, and we'll do it each week prior to Week 1.
Knowing the ADP is a good guide to help you on Draft Day, but don't follow it verbatim. Instead, use rankings and tiers from your favorite Fantasy analyst. That's the best way to build your team.
Wide receivers
What stands out?
1. Only four receivers in Round 1
There are only four receivers being drafted in Round 1:
- Ja'Marr Chase: 4.1
- Puka Nacua: 4.6
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 6.4
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 8.8
This isn't a surprise given the uncertainty with some of the other top-tier receivers. The next seven guys in ADP are CeeDee Lamb (14.7), Justin Jefferson (15.7), Drake London (17.3), Rashee Rice (22.5), George Pickens (22.7), A.J. Brown (23.4) and Nico Collins (26.2), and most of them should be drafted in Round 2.
The only other receivers I would consider drafting in Round 1 are Lamb and Jefferson. With Lamb, he has to prove he's better than Pickens, who outplayed him in 2025. And Jefferson has to rebound from his disastrous 2025 with McCarthy, which hopefully will happen now that Murray is the starter.
This also makes Round 2 amazing for receivers. And Malik Nabers (34.4) could creep into the top 24 overall picks if he continues to trend in the right direction coming off last year's torn ACL.
2. Round 4 is loaded with value picks
While Round 2 is great for receivers, so is Round 4. The list of guys drafted in that round based on the ADP is awesome. They are:
- Emeka Egbuka: 37.3
- DeVonta Smith 37.4
- Zay Flowers: 38.5
- Tee Higgins: 38.9
- Tetairoa McMillan: 46.2
- Ladd McConkey: 47.1
- Garrett Wilson: 47.3
Now, in most drafts that I've done, we typically get Egbuka, Smith and Flowers being selected in Round 3. Higgins also sometimes is a Round 3 selection.
But I've also seen other receivers get drafted in Round 4 that have a lower ADP, including Terry McLaurin (51.4), Jaylen Waddle (53.2), Luther Burden III (56.9) and D.J. Moore (63.5). It's just a great range of wide receivers, who all have top-15 upside.
What this tells me is that you can start RB-RB, especially from the back end of Round 1, and still get two quality receivers in Rounds 3-5. For example, I would love if my first four picks from No. 10 overall were Chase Brown, Walker, Smith and Flowers. Sign me up for that all day.
3. Five receivers who will rise in ADP
Here are five receivers who I expect to see their ADP rise over the next few weeks:
- Parker Washington: 87.0
- Chris Godwin: 95.7
- Josh Downs: 108.1
- Jayden Reed: 121.7
- Jalen Coker: 138.8
Washington could creep into Round 5, but I expect his ADP to end up in Round 6. He's been the star of training camp, and he's coming off a ridiculous finish in 2025 when he averaged 22.3 PPR points per game in his final four outings. Washington is my favorite Jaguars receiver to draft this year.
Godwin has been limited to 16 games the past two seasons due to injury, but he's healthy now and having a strong training camp. Egbuka should be the No. 1 receiver this season, but Godwin should maintain a prominent role and could challenge for the lead in targets. I'd love to draft him in Round 8, but I'm expecting his ADP to rise into Round 7.
Downs is dealing with a groin injury, but he should be fine for Week 1. When healthy, he should be second on the Colts in targets behind Tyler Warren, especially with Alec Pierce (ankle) still injured. Michael Pittman is gone, so there are 111 vacated targets in Indianapolis, and Downs averaged 13.1 PPR points per game in 2024. His ADP should climb into Round 8 and maybe even Round 7 depending on how long Pierce will be out.
I expect Christian Watson to be the No. 1 receiver for the Packers, but Reed should be No. 2. When healthy, he's been fantastic, and he should have an expanded role this season. He has 23 games in his career, including the playoffs, with at least five targets, and he has scored at least 13.5 PPR points in 15 of those outings and averaged 16.1 PPR points per game over that span. I would draft Reed as early as Round 8.
Coker is one of my favorite late-round targets, and he was great at the end of last season. He averaged 14.1 PPR points per game and 6.0 targets per game in his final five outings, including the playoffs, which was better than McMillan (9.8 PPR points and 6.2 targets per game) over that span. I would draft Coker as early as Round 9.
