Latest news with #DaltonDelDon
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Lessons learned from 10-team half-PPR exercise
Mock drafting isn't for everyone — like people who really only enjoy draft day for the beer and childish insults social aspects, not the roster construction. It's probably not for them. But if you consider yourself a competitive fantasy player and you're looking for every edge, mock drafting is an incredibly useful tool. We recommend doing it. Mock drafts help us learn the pitfalls of the player pool; mocking helps to inform and improve our decision-making. As I see it, there are three primary benefits to participation in mock drafts: To get comfortable with different draft slots; To test-drive different draft strategies; To better understand the depth and limits at each position. Also, if you happen to be a raging diva like Dalton Del Don, then you participate in mock drafts for the sole purpose of drawing attention to yourself. Subscribe to on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. Which brings us to today's draft results. Recently, the full Yahoo Fantasy squad conducted a 10-team mock with standard default settings (half-PPR and one starting QB — also note we drafted before George Pickens was dealt to the Cowboys). Nine of us drafted honorably, as we might in an actual league. One of us was performing — shamelessly twisting the mock into a vanity exercise, a celebration of himself. On behalf of Yahoo and our corporate partners, please accept my apologies for Dalton's appalling mock habits. He picked first, selected Ja'Marr Chase, then embarked on a Zero RB journey that led him to a second-round tight end, a fourth-round quarterback and a pair of mid-draft rookie running backs. Just another classic look-at-me draft from Del Don. At this point, we expect nothing else. You can find our full mock results right here: And, well, um … yes, I did also draft two rookie running backs as my presumptive starters. But please know I did it with sincerity and authenticity, unlike Dalton. I conducted myself as an absolute professional in the draft room, laser-focused on the integrity of the mock. No, actually, Dalton and I were each messing around with different-yet-related draft strategies (see second bullet above) emphasizing receivers at the top and trusting the depth at running back. For me, it was a Hero RB approach: Ashton Jeanty in the first, then five straight receivers. I didn't take a second running back until the ninth round, at which point upside was the priority. And this leads to our first mock takeaway… Maybe it's a mirage — a product of our collective optimism regarding the rookie class — but this position looks deeper and more talent-rich than it has in many years. In the range we'd normally consider the RB dead zone, the names coming off the board in our mock included plenty of high-ceiling/high-floor backs. Kenneth Walker III, David Montgomery and James Conner were taken in the fifth round and Alvin Kamara waited until the sixth. Each of those guys has top-10 potential and none of them seems likely to faceplant, except via injury. When the non-Jeanty rookie running backs began to fly in the sixth round, it became a weird sub-category position run. Kaleb Johnson, R.J. Harvey, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins were all selected (in that order) between picks No. 51 and 63. A second wave of rookie RBs waited until rounds 9-11, when Cam Skattebo (my team), Bhayshul Tuten and Jayden Blue were taken. Honestly, the backs who were selected in our mock's final six rounds — near or beyond the first 100 picks — are of a type we'd typically consider dead zoney. Jaylen Warren, Najee Harris, Jordan Mason and Rhamondre Stevenson went in the 10th, Blue and J.K. Dobbins in the 11th, then Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby in the 12th. A few of those players are obviously doomed, but that's not really the point. We have running backs with bankable if somewhat tenuous roles getting picked where we commonly reach for lottery tickets. All things considered, this year seems remarkably well-suited to Zero RB drafting. Dalton may have accidentally stumbled onto something (while also attempting to showboat). [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] It's as if an entire tier of receivers has gone missing. One minute, we were drafting from a group of familiar, trustworthy high-quality names — players with legit WR2 credentials: Davante Adams, Zay Flowers, D.J. Moore, D.K. Metcalf. And then in an instant, it was Rome Odunze, Jayden Reed, Jerry Jeudy and Xavier Worthy at the top of the position queue. Not ideal. This, obviously, is another compelling reason to consider locking up your receiver spots inside the first five rounds. It gets late early at the position. Truly, the quarterback-to-fantasy-team ratio has never felt so wrong. Unless your league involves 16 or more teams, you should definitely be Superflexing. It's well past time to make Superflex the default format. Just look at this list of quarterbacks who went undrafted in our mock: Jordan Love Justin Herbert Dak Prescott Trevor Lawrence C.J. Stroud Geno Smith Sam Darnold Tua Tagovailoa Caleb Williams Matthew Stafford Bryce Young Opinions will vary across the fantasy community about the value of specific players, of course. But three of the quarterbacks above — Love, Prescott and Smith — have actually finished top-5 at the position at some point in the past three years. Dak is only one season removed from ranking as the overall QB3 and finishing as the MVP runner-up. Herbert was the overall QB2 just four years ago. Lawrence and Stroud both have recent top-10 seasonal finishes to their credit, and both are working with upgraded receiving corps in 2025. In reality, these guys are all among the most valuable offensive players in the game, but, in fantasy, they're all simply spare parts. It's weird and wrong to see them unattached at the conclusion of a draft. Replacement value is now so high at QB that the position isn't terribly different from kicker. No one should be happy with this situation. An argument certainly still exists to select one of the elite dual-threat quarterbacks in the third or fourth round, as happened in our mock, because those guys are often unfair. But when the consensus top four are off the board in a one-QB draft, you might as well wait until the closing rounds to fill the position. Next mock, I'm taking a premium kicker in round 14, then closing my draft with Love or Prescott.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rich Eisen Ponders Aaron Judge's Place Among Yankees' All-Time Greats
Yahoo Sports Now we have had time to set the fantasy rankings post-NFL Draft we got some beef with them. Dalton Del Don makes his return to the pod with Matt Harmon to share 15 rankings he has vastly different than expert consensus. In the first two segments, Dalton identifies 10 rookies that ECR is getting wrong and how you can take advantage of that. To end the show, Dalton and Matt discuss 5 veterans that are being ranked incorrectly heading into the summer.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
15 Post-draft rankings we have issues with: Are Jeanty and Hunter ranked too low?
Now we have had time to set the fantasy rankings post-NFL Draft we got some beef with them. Dalton Del Don makes his return to the pod with Matt Harmon to share 15 rankings he has vastly different than expert consensus. In the first two segments, Dalton identifies 10 rookies that ECR is getting wrong and how you can take advantage of that. To end the show, Dalton and Matt discuss 5 veterans that are being ranked incorrectly heading into the summer. Advertisement (3:30) - Dalton's Top 5 debates vs. Fantasy Pros consensus rankings: Rookie RBs (30:20) - Dalton's Top 5 debates vs. Fantasy Pros consensus rankings: Rookie WRs + TEs (49:05) - Dalton's Top 5 debates vs. Fantasy Pros consensus rankings: Veterans Now we have had time to set the fantasy rankings post-NFL Draft we got some beef with them. Dalton Del Don makes his return to the pod with Matt Harmon to share 15 rankings he has vastly different than expert consensus. In the first two segments, Dalton identifies 10 rookies that ECR is getting wrong and how you can take advantage of that. To end the show, Dalton and Matt discuss 5 veterans that are being ranked incorrectly heading into the summer. (Credit: Jason Jung) (Jason Jung) 🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Forget Barkley and Chase — CeeDee Lamb could be the No. 1 fantasy football player of 2025
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.) When building a dominant fantasy football roster, nailing your first-round pick is essential — and, according to the recent debate between Matt Harmon and Dalton Del Don on the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, nobody is better set up to explode as the top overall player than Dallas Cowboys receiver, CeeDee Lamb. Advertisement Let's break down exactly what sets up Lamb for a fantasy football takeover this season. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Dalton Del Don put it simply: Lamb had "135 catches, 1,750 yards and 12 TDs' in 2023. That's already elite territory. But take a look at what's happened in Dallas since then. The entire Cowboys receiver room behind Lamb is a collection of question marks. DDD lists the names: Jalen Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks, KaVontae Turpin, Ryan Flournoy. It's honestly hard to imagine a bigger gulf between a WR1 and the rest of a depth chart in the NFL right now. That leads to possibly historic target volume. DDD even says, 'I think he could approach 200 targets this season.' For context, any WR pushing near 200 looks is an automatic top-three option — think peak Davante Adams — especially when you have Lamb's elite mix of route-running and separation skills. Advertisement Lamb doesn't just project to earn targets; he cashes them in. Harmon points out that, with no other true alpha options and quarterback Dak Prescott throwing his way, the Cowboys have every incentive to funnel the offense through Lamb: 'This is the type of situation too where it's like, who else are they going to throw to? ... why would they throw to other guys when they have CD Lamb there?' It's not just about opportunity. Over the last couple of years, Lamb has already proven he's one of the top playmakers in the league. As DDD notes, 'CeeDee Lamb has the most PPR points per game among all wide receivers since 2003', even while playing through quarterback injuries at times. Last year, he was the focal point, and this offseason only made the picture clearer. Usually, you can nitpick a No. 1 receiver's situation — maybe there's a new star rookie added, or a veteran threatening to siphon targets, or a running game strong enough to limit volume overhead. That's not the case here. Harmon and Del Don both repeatedly stress just how much this offense is set up to lean completely on Lamb: No WRs drafted this season Other pass-catchers on the roster are purely dart throws Even if someone like Amari Cooper is theoretically added, Lamb would still 'comfortably clear like 160 targets.' Fantasy drafters have spent all offseason lining up Justin Jefferson or Ja'Marr Chase as their unquestioned No. 1 WR picks. Dalton Del Don? He's 'closer to moving [Lamb] to my WR1 than I am No. 3.' Advertisement Why? The Jefferson–Lamb debate is especially interesting this year. While both are awesome, Jefferson is breaking in a new rookie quarterback (J.J. McCarthy). As Harmon puts it: 'We've just never seen him play yet. It's a new variable there.' Lamb, meanwhile, has his proven chemistry with Dak, and the Cowboys offense isn't changing. Lamb is 'half a year older than Chase,' meaning he's still in his absolute physical prime. Whether you play full-PPR or half-PPR, both Harmon and Del Don agree — no receiver in football projects for a better combo of safe, elite target share and monster upside. In short? CeeDee Lamb fits the exact mold of a league-winning fantasy WR1: he's an elite player, at his peak age, with huge target share, in a pass-happy offense and zero real competition for touches.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yahoo Fantasy Plus identifies 3 of 2025's top outfield sleepers — how much value do they offer at ADP?
In case you haven't heard the exciting news, Yahoo Fantasy Plus has some major upgrades for this fantasy baseball season, giving subscribers new tools with deeper insights for a competitive edge. Among the improvements, you can access new, detailed maximum and minimum projections in points leagues to better predict a number of things when it comes to your draft prep, including which potential picks might offer overlooked fantasy value. [Unlock premium draft tools & player projections with Yahoo Fantasy Plus] Using the Fantasy Plus Experts Consensus model, we've identified three outfielders whose ADPs are 150 or above with the highest consensus projected fantasy points for 2025. AKA, the outfielders with real sleeper appeal. We've also included a wealth of data, both free (consensus projected fantasy points and 2025 season stats) as well as exclusive to Yahoo Fantasy Plus (consensus maximum/minimum fantasy points projections and highest/lowest expert rank) to give you a sample of all we have to offer. Dalton Del Don has analyzed the data and reveals if he believes each player offers fantasy value at ADP. The 6th-highest consensus projected fantasy points total at pick 150 or above among outfielders using Fantasy Plus modeling Projected fantasy points: 1,071 Consensus maximum fantasy points projection: 1,241 Consensus minimum fantasy points projection: 791 2025 Yahoo Fantasy consensus projections AVG HR RBI SB R .257 17 67 7 80 Rankings overview Composite expert rank: 190 Highest overall rank: 145 (Andy Behrens, Yahoo) Lowest: 233 (Ryan Rufe, Rotowire) Yahoo ADP: 180 Profar is an interesting case who makes perfect sense to make this list. He just posted career highs in plate appearances (668), homers (24), runs scored (94), RBI (85) and batting average (.280) as a 31-year-old last season. Profar also tied his career-high with 10 steals during his contract season. He went from going undrafted in fantasy leagues to being a top 30 fantasy hitter. While skepticism is deserved given Profar's breakout occurred so late in his career, it came with a new leg kick, and his Statcast numbers (including top 25 in Batting Run Value) back up the impressive performance. Moreover, Profar gets a boost moving from Petco to Truist Park in Atlanta, and he'll bat atop (until Ronald Acuña Jr. returns) or toward the middle of an Atlanta lineup projected to score the second-most runs in baseball. Bottom line: Profar has been dealing with a wrist injury during spring, but he's taking batting practice and expected to be ready for Opening Day. He's likely to regress some at the plate in 2025, but last year's growth looked real, and the move to Atlanta was a definite upgrade. I'm in on Profar (OF44), who has the sixth-highest projected fantasy points total after pick 150 among outfielders using Fantasy Plus modeling. The 13th-highest consensus projected fantasy points total at pick 150 or above among outfielders using Fantasy Plus modeling Projected fantasy points: 966 Consensus maximum fantasy points projection: 1,177 Consensus minimum fantasy points projection: 737 2025 Yahoo Fantasy consensus projections AVG HR RBI SB R .239 17 62 28 70 Rankings overview Composite expert rank: 200 Highest overall rank: 161 (Rufe) Lowest: 233 (Daniel Marcus, Rotowire) Yahoo ADP: 225 Mullins wasn't an everyday player throughout 2024, but he finished as a top 65 fantasy hitter anyway. Mullins racked up 18 homers and 32 steals over just 444 at-bats, and he's slated to be Baltimore's No. 3 hitter (behind Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman) against righties entering 2025. Mullins has been a remarkably similar hitter each of the last three seasons, when he's posted wRC+s of 108, 99 and 105. Mullins' BABIP has unluckily dropped each of the past four seasons, including a career-low .261 last year. That mark would've ranked 115th among 129 qualified hitters and was nearly 30 points lower than his career hit rate (.289). Bottom line: Mullins was nearly a top 25 fantasy outfielder last year despite being platooned, yet he's the OF55 in Yahoo drafts. I'm in on Mullins, who's one of only 13 hitters OOPSY projects to go 15/30 this season. The 3rd-highest consensus projected fantasy points total at pick 150 or above among outfielders using Fantasy Plus modeling Projected fantasy points: 1,048 Consensus maximum fantasy points projection: 1,242 Consensus minimum fantasy points projection: 786 2025 Yahoo Fantasy consensus projections AVG HR RBI SB R .238 20 67 14 76 Rankings overview Composite expert rank: 195 Highest overall rank: 147 (Marcus) Lowest: 227 (Dalton Del Don, Yahoo) Yahoo ADP: 238 Springer would theoretically be a target to bounce back at a lower ADP coming off a down year, but there are more concerns than just last season's performance. Springer hit mostly leadoff last year, but he's likely to bat toward the bottom half of Toronto's lineup in 2025. It's possible that leads to Springer hitting cleanup, but he just posted a .660 OPS (91 wRC+) with sinking peripherals (8.7 BB%, 21.6 K%) in the second half last year. Moreover, he's been a disaster on defense over the last two seasons, so there's even potential that fast-rising prospect Alan Roden eventually ends up taking Springer's job. Roden is having a huge spring, while Springer is batting .115/.324/.154. Bottom line: Springer has seen his slugging percentage fall from .555 to .472 to .405 to .371 over the last three seasons, so he's clearly in decline. Projections call for roughly 19 homers, 14 steals and a .240-245 batting average, so there are outfielders (Garrett Mitchell, Nolan Jones) going later with more upside. The 35-year-old isn't a bad pick given his modest ADP (OF63), but he's a fantasy fade for me. Now's your chance to gain an edge — unlock premium draft tools, player projections and more with Yahoo Fantasy Plus. Need help? Visit our FAQs to learn more.
