Fantasy Football: Most undervalued players in every round of drafts

• Jalen Hurts is worth a second-round pick: Hurts should be the first quarterback off the board in fantasy football drafts, but he’s often not.

• Jonathan Taylor’s holdout has impacted his ADP: Taylor has been falling to the third round during his holdout, but he should be back soon leading the Indianapolis Colts.

• Several rookies are worth gambling on late: While a few rookies are getting picked within the first 10 rounds, there are several more worth considering when you get to the second half of the draft.

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Every NFL offseason, players are overlooked for one reason or another, causing them to be drafted later than they actually deserve.  It could be a veteran that some fantasy football managers are ready to give up on or a rookie on a bad team, but for whatever reason, these players are being drafted too late.

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Player Profiles | Depth Charts
Rankings: PPR | Half-PPR | Standard | Superflex | Best Ball
Dynasty Rankings: PPR | Rookie | Superflex | Superflex Rookie
Position Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE
Sleepers: Top-10 | QB | RB | WR | TE
League Winners: Top-5 | QB | RB | WR | TE
Breakouts: QB | RB | WR | TE
Position Draft Strategy: QB | RB | TE

 14-Team Draft Strategy: Overall strategy
12-Team Draft Strategy: Overall strategy | Picks 1-3 | Picks 4-6 | Picks 7-9 | Picks 10-12
10-Team Draft Strategy: Overall strategy | Picks 1-3 | Picks 4-7 | Picks 8-10

Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, August 22

Round 2: QB Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles | ADP: 2.05

Hurts recorded 25.6 PPR fantasy points per game last season, which was the best among quarterbacks.

• Hurts is the only player in PFF history with a PFF passing and rushing grade above 83 on at least 75 passes and 75 runs in a season.
• He’s known for his rushing ability, and his 0.87 rushing touchdowns per game ranked second among all players regardless of position last season.
• Hurts put up plenty of big plays in the passing game but also limited bad plays. His 2.0% turnover-worthy plays per rate ranked second-best among quarterbacks.
• His competition for the top spot is with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
• Hurts is three years younger than the other two and is more likely to see improvement in his passing than the other two, and the other two are unlikely to improve their rushing.
• He has both more stability and more youth among his top receivers. A.J. Brown (26), DeVonta Smith (24) and Dallas Goedert (28) accounted for 69% of Hurts’ targets last season and remain at the top of the depth chart.
• Allen’s top target is a 29-year-old Stefon Diggs while two of the top five players in targets are no longer on the roster. 
• Similarly, Mahomes' top target is Travis Kelce (33), and he also lost two of his top five targets.
• The Philadelphia Eagles have a top-10 schedule for quarterbacks during Weeks 15-17 while the Buffalo Bills have the most difficult schedule during this stretch.
• Hurts is typically the third quarterback off the board on ESPN and second at Underdog.
• While every other player in my league winner series is someone who I think could be the top player at their position, Hurts should be the favorite to lead his position fantasy points, but isn’t getting drafted that way.

Round 3: RB Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts | ADP: 3.05

Taylor looks to bounce back after a disappointing 2022 season, but his talent should keep him among the league’s best.

• Taylor has been clearly among the league’s best running backs on a per-game basis over the last two seasons. His 95.4 rushing yards, 0.79 rushing touchdowns and 13.9 rushing fantasy points per game all rank second among running backs.
• The Colts offensive line had a top-10 run block grade in 2020 and 2021 but fell to average in 2022.
• The line should be healthier this season, and it brings back its top-five players, giving the line some continuity.
• Taylor also dealt with injuries throughout the season, including an ankle sprain, but in Week 10-13, he still averaged 18 fantasy points per game.
• He is expected to be back with the team this week, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s not at practice until right before the season.
• The Colts announced that Taylor could seek a trade, but they are looking for a first-round pick.