When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football players below. And you can check out which experts are higher or lower than our expert consensus rankings using our Fantasy Football Rankings Comparison Tools.
Fantasy Football Draft Advice
Let’s dive into players Derek Brown likes more than the expert consensus rankings.
Players to Target
Running Backs DBro Likes More Than ECR
| Derek Brown’s Rank | Player | ECR | Diff. |
| 6 | Bucky Irving TB – RB | 10 | 4 |
| 10 | Kenneth Walker III SEA – RB | 15 | 5 |
| 12 | RJ Harvey DEN – RB | 23 | 11 |
| 14 | James Conner ARI – RB | 19 | 5 |
| 17 | Tony Pollard TEN – RB | 24 | 7 |
It will fly under the radar that Kenneth Walker was the RB12 in fantasy points per game last season. Unfortunately, his season was cut short by injuries, but if Walker can stay healthy in 2025, he could finally put it all together with a top-five running back season. Walker proved last year that not only is he still one of the best pure rushing talents in the league, but he is also a true three-down back with passing-catching chops. Among 45 qualifying backs, Walker ranked third in first downs per route run, sixth in target per route run rate, and sixth in receiving yards per game (per Fantasy Points Data). Add all of that on top of leading the NFL in missed tackles forced per attempt and ranking tenth in yards after contact per attempt, and Walker could be a league-winner in 2025.
RJ Harvey is set to explode in his rookie season. The runway is clear for takeoff. Sean Payton just put second-round capital behind a back that enters a room with Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin, and J.K. Dobbins. No, I’m not worried about Estime or McLaughlin when they couldn’t carve out consistent roles last year with only the ghost of Javonte Williams standing in their way. Dobbins will assist Harvey on early downs so Denver doesn’t run their talented rookie into the ground, but I don’t project him taking away passing down work or high-leverage opportunities. It’s hard not to love a player like Harvey, who has ranked inside the top 20 among FBS running backs in each of the last two seasons in breakaway percentage and elusive rating (per PFF). Add in Payton’s running back usage, and Harvey looks primed to smash. Over the last two years, Payton has ranked fifth and first in running back target share. Harvey is a strong RB2 who could finish as an RB1 this season.
Tony Pollard had a strong 2024 season as the Titans’ workhorse starter. He ranked ninth in snap share, opportunity, and weighted opportunities. Pollard finished as the RB22 in fantasy points per game while ranking 18th in explosive run rate and sixth in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). The pitiful nature of the Titans’ offense last year outside of Pollard crushed his season. He was only 22nd in red zone touches and was the RB15 in expected fantasy points per game. If Cam Ward can elevate this offensive ecosystem and Pollard can retain this awesome role, he could finish as a high-end RB2 this season.
