A 12-pack of Value for 2008 Aug 12, 2008 | More

Fantasy football drafting is all about value. In this edition of Digging Deeper, we’re going to look at guys who are going too low in drafts or will provide excellent value for where they’re being drafted all things considered. Because of this, they should be reasonably easy to obtain if you really want them, regardless of your draft position. This is slightly different than a sleeper list in that we’ll talk about early round guys as well as mid- to late-round prospects. When draft rounds are mentioned, I’ll be referring to 12-team leagues based on My Fantasy League’s ADP as of August 11^th, 2008.

QB’s

Philip Rivers
Is L.T. better now than he was last year, or the year before last? Probably not. Does Philip Rivers have better receiving options around him than he has ever had? That’s a safe bet when you consider he’ll be tossing to the likes of Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates (I know about the injury, but we’re still talking about a Top 3 TE here), and one of the best receiving RB’s (and arguably the best overall RB) in the league in L.T. Not to mention the fact that he plays in one of the best overall offenses in the league, and he’s entering the prime age for QB’s in the NFL (he’ll be 27 in December). Don’t forget, just two years ago, Rivers scored the same amount of fantasy points as Tom Brady.

Grab Rivers in the 9^th round of your draft instead of taking guys like Marc Bulger, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, David Garrard and Aaron Rogers too early.

Jon Kitna
Many people think Kitna’s numbers are sure to decline with the departure of Mike Martz (he was still the 13^th-best QB in standard scoring leagues last year despite a terrible season, ahead of Eli Manning), but it could be a blessing in disguise. In fact, Marc Bulger was the third-best QB in standard scoring leagues the year after Martz left St. Louis. Also, don’t forget Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson pose one of the most talented WR duos in the league. The Lions defense will still be horrific, so they’ll still need to pass a lot, but they should have more balance, and that should cut down on Kitna’s turnovers. Those worried about Drew Stanton shouldn’t, he’s looked shaky at best up to this point in camp and preseason.

If you end up waiting on a QB, don’t feel bad about taking Kitna in the 11^th round, as he’s currently going in the 12^th and should be available. I’d rather have Kitna over Garrard, Rogers, Vince Young, Jason Campbell or Jeff Garcia.



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