There are multiple tools and strategies a fantasy drafter, beginner or experienced, can and should go into a draft with. We’ve provided you with every angle for multiple league types and setups on Fantasy Points, but when you get down to it, fantasy is a simple game: draft the right players. Even Jimmy Johnson, who wheeled-and-dealed the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in the early 90s, said that was his big “secret.” There’s no use having a ton of draft picks if you don’t use them correctly.
It’s a lot easier said than done, but let’s examine our methodology for doing just that.
A “VALUE” is a player who is likely to outperform his ADP, and those players are useful when building a roster. These players are often overlooked in drafts because they lack the upside to be true game-changing players on a championship roster. They’re very appealing at their cost, though.
A “TARGET” is, essentially, a player the market has read correctly. This player is priced fairly but provides enough equity at ADP that drafters should not go bargain-hunting — you need to pay market value to get their championship-level production on your team. “Targets” are players who provide the meat-and-potatoes foundation for your roster.
A “LEAGUE-WINNER” is the select few players we’ve identified who provide the championship-level production you need to take bragging rights. In a day when the fantasy community is sharper than ever, these are the least common of the three categories. A “league-winner” has more in common with a “target” than a “value” — “league-winners” are players for whom we will occasionally go above market value to secure.
A good Fantasy Points-endorsed roster will have a mix of these players. We’re more willing to pay at or above market value for an outstanding player than to try to go bargain-hunting constantly. But securing those values at the right time — especially if the player has massive upside — is what’ll get you across the finish line.
We broke this article down by position and ordered players by ADP. Based on that ADP, our projections, and any news and notes that have come out, we'll let you know if that player is a value, target, or league-winner.
This article will be constantly updated throughout the preseason, and ADP in this article is based on our ADP tool’s PPR setting, which pulls from Sleeper drafts over the last 14 days…We don’t list the most obvious players at the very top of drafts.
Quarterbacks
LEAGUE-WINNER: Jayden Daniels (Was, ADP 31 QB3, PROJ QB1)
We begged our subscribers to draft Daniels in the middle rounds last season, and the rookie didn’t disappoint. He technically finished as the QB6 with 21.5 FPG, and his FPG rises to 23.7 FPG when you remove the two games when he left in the first half. Daniels has won the Heisman Trophy and the Offensive Rookie of the Year in back-to-back years, so why not add an MVP trophy to his haul in 2025? He set QB rookie records for rushing yards (891), completion percentage (69%), and team points per game (28.5). He also tied Ben Roethlisberger for the most wins as a rookie QB with 14 (postseason included), and he reset rookie QB postseason records in passing yards (822), passing TDs (5), and rushing yards (135).
Daniels averaged the second-most rushing FPG (7.4) at the position, and he easily led the league in scrambles (72) and scramble yards (577). He has some room to improve on designed carries after averaging just 3.6 YPC on those totes. Daniels also put together an efficient rookie season as a passer, ranking sixth in catchable pass rate (77.5%) and sixth in turnover-worthy throw rate (1.9%) among 46 QBs who attempted 200+ passes. Kliff Kingsbury’s fast-paced offense pushed the Commanders to run the most plays per game (66.0), and the franchise maximized his rookie contract by trading for Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil. We’re projecting Daniels for the most FP (341.5) and FPG (22.8), but we can select him as the third quarterback in the third round.
TARGET: Jalen Hurts (Phi, ADP 40 QB4, PROJ QB2)
Hurts authored a near-perfect performance to win the Super Bowl MVP in the last game of the 2024 season. Saquon Barkley did the heavy lifting for the offense for much of last season, but Hurts still finished as a QB5 with 21.7 FPG in 15 games. His FPG average jumped to 22.9 in his 14 full contests, but he crushed teams in the fantasy playoffs when he suffered a concussion 12 snaps into Week 16, which forced him to sit out the rest of the regular season. Philadelphia’s 47.5% pass rate was the lowest over the past four seasons, but the offense should move toward a more balanced attack. Hurts will see an uptick in fantasy production with more dropbacks after finishing behind only Lamar Jackson with .74 FP/DB.
Hurts had his lowest designed rushing share of his career at 20.7%, which was still higher than any other QB. He averaged 9.3 YPC on scrambles (39/365/0 rushing), which was the third-highest average in the Fantasy Points Data era. He’s reached double-digit rushing TDs in four straight seasons and is leading the league in rushing TDs since 2021 with 52. We have him projected for the fourth-most rushing TDs (11.4) thanks to the tush-push play surviving for at least this season. Hurts has finished as a top-six option in terms of FPG in four straight seasons, and he’s in a great position for another elite fantasy campaign. He’s playing behind Scott DeBenedetto’s best offensive line and throwing to one of the best WR duos in what should be a more balanced offense, and we can draft him as the fourth QB off the board.
