Predicting Future NFL Draft Capital for Wide Receivers
Image Credit: Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire. Pictured: Ja'Marr Chase.

First off, predicting the NFL Draft pick by pick is truly impossible. That’s not what we’re trying to do here. When it comes to fantasy football we like to see wide receivers drafted in Rounds 1-3 of the NFL Draft. Those receivers typically produce fantasy points at a much higher rate than those drafted later or not at all.

“Okay, cool. Yeah. Draft capital matters. But how in the world do we actually predict future NFL Draft capital? And why does that matter?”

Great questions!

Last year I introduced a new production metric called the Adjusted Production Index. It’s a pretty simple combination of just three impactful production metrics:

  • Dominator Rating (Receiving Yardage and Touchdown Market Share)
  • Yards Per Team Pass Attempt
  • Touchdowns Per Team Pass Attempt

And as I’ve covered in a few different pieces, Adjusted Production Index (API) has shown to be predictive for future NFL production. But as it turns out, Adjusted Production Index is perhaps even better at predicting draft capital. We’ll dig into that here shortly, but first back to the “why does predicting draft capital matter” question. There are at least a few reasons, but it probably differs for many of you reading.

One, you might just like sports betting. Any edge can help there. Two, your dynasty league might hold their rookie draft before the NFL Draft, and “knowing” likely capital would definitely help. Three, you’re into devy fantasy leagues, where you can roster college players years before they’re actually in the NFL. Or lastly, you just simply understand that digging into any and every variable that affects the NFL future of wide receiver prospects gives you an edge over your league mates, regardless of league format.

I already broke down the 2020 NFL WR Class by Adjusted Production Index, if you’re interested. But now it’s time to look ahead to the 2021 and 2022 NFL Draft classes to try to predict the future.

So, to start out, I looked at Adjusted Production Index scores from the several hundred wide receivers in my database. I split them up into ten percentile groupings (deciles). Then I looked at the draft capital for all the receivers within each range. Here’s what I found.

Please subscribe For Full Access to all RotoViz content and tools!

 

What’s included in your subscription??

  • Exclusive Access to RotoViz Study Hall
    • A treasure trove of our most insightful articles that will teach you the metrics that matter, time-tested winning strategies, the approaches that will give you an edge, and teach you how to be an effective fantasy manager.
  • Revolutionary Tools
    • Including the NFL Stat Explorer, Weekly GLSP Projections, NCAA Prospect Box Score Scout, Combine Explorer, Range of Outcomes App, DFS Lineup Optimizer, Best Ball Suite,and many, many, more.
  • Groundbreaking Articles
    • RotoViz is home of the original Zero-RB article and continues to push fantasy gamers forward as the go-to destination for evidence-based analysis and strategic advantages.
  • Weekly Projections
    • Built using RotoViz’s unique GLSP approach.
  • Expert Rankings
  • And a whole lot more…

NFL Prospects Weekly: The Best Running Back and Tight End in College Football Extend Their Leads on the Field

Welcome to the third edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more devy fantasy football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

NFL Prospects Weekly: Two Elite Quarterback to Wide Receiver Duos Set to Dominate College Football

Welcome to the second edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more devy fantasy football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

NFL Prospects Weekly: Surprisingly Efficient Quarterbacks and a Pair of Top Running Backs Just Boosted Their NFL Draft Stock

Welcome to the first edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more Devy Fantasy Football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

NFL Prospects Weekly: The Best Running Back and Tight End in College Football Extend Their Leads on the Field

Welcome to the third edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more devy fantasy football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

NFL Prospects Weekly: Two Elite Quarterback to Wide Receiver Duos Set to Dominate College Football

Welcome to the second edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more devy fantasy football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

NFL Prospects Weekly: Surprisingly Efficient Quarterbacks and a Pair of Top Running Backs Just Boosted Their NFL Draft Stock

Welcome to the first edition of the 2022 NFL Prospects Weekly series! If you’ve been a RotoViz fan for a while, you may already be familiar with the series, but we’re back again with more Devy Fantasy Football and NFL Draft analysis this year! Every week of the college football season, we dive into the top future NFL studs who recently improved their draft stock…...

The Blitz

Connect
Support

rotovizmain@gmail.com

Sign-up today for our free Premium Email subscription!

Data provided by

© 2021 RotoViz. All rights Reserved.

Welcome Back to RotoViz...

– IF YOU HAVE ISSUES LOGGING IN PLEASE CONTACT ROTOVIZMAIN@GMAIL.COM

– PLEASE NOTE THAT ROTOVIZ USES WORDPRESS FOR ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT. IF RESETTING YOUR PASSWORD YOU MAY BE FOWARDED TO A WORDPRESS PAGE.