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Targeting Upside At A Discount
Who doesn't love a good arbitrage opportunity?
I have a disease.
Well, maybe not a disease, but definitely a condition.
I believe the Germans call it "Schadenbammelhagen."
Loosely translated, it means something like: "Why would I spend a lot for this thing now when I can spend a lot less for a similar and maybe slightly lesser (but also maybe better) thing later?"
Highlighting Arbitrage Opportunities
In the fantasy streets, a certain set of nerds sometimes call this idea "Arbitrage" (I'm one of those nerds).
Also, I totally made up the word "Schadenbammelhagen."
At least I think I did—but with the Germans, one can never be sure.
Anyway, in this newsletter, I want to use our Fantasy Life ADP tool and my 2025 season-long player projections (included in our FantasyLife+ package) to highlight a few of my favorite arbitrage opportunities currently available in fantasy football.
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Fantasy
Running Back Arbitrage
Breece Hall: RB12 ADP, 203.4 projected points
Alvin Kamara: RB18 ADP, 219.7 projected points
Hall is one of the guys on my do-not-draft list, whereas Kamara seems to offer a lot of value, especially for those using a Zero RB strategy.
Hall could lose work to No. 2 RB Braelon Allen, and he's unlikely to get many checkdown targets from scramble-happy QB Justin Fields.
Compare that to Kamara, who last year had a position-high 93 Utilization Score (per our industry-leading Fantasy Life Utilization Report) and now should benefit from offensive HC Kellen Moore's system.
Both guys are three-down backs with high-end pass-catching chops—but Kamara has the superior projection and is cheaper.
Why draft Hall in Round 3 when Kamara is available in Round 5?
Fantasy
Wide Receiver Arbitrage
Tee Higgins: WR14 ADP, 194.7 projected points
DeVonta Smith: WR26 ADP, 195.1 projected points
Higgins and Smith are highly comparable. Both are high-end No. 2 WRs who play in top-tier offenses (Bengals, Eagles) and alongside dominant No. 1 WRs (Ja'Marr Chase, A.J. Brown).
Higgins: 115 targets, 1,057 yards
Smith: 114 targets, 1,066 yards
But Higgins is going at the end of Round 2, whereas Smith is available at the end of Round 4.
And that makes little sense to me, especially when you consider that Higgins has missed 13 games to injury over the past four years while Smith has been sidelined for just three.
I don't actively dislike Higgins, who is a great player in his own right.
But I don't understand why I would take Higgins with a premium draft pick when I can spend less to get Smith.
Fantasy
Tight End Arbitrage
T.J. Hockenson: TE5 ADP, 118.7 projected points
David Njoku: TE10 ADP, 164.4 projected points
Both Hockenson and Njoku are veterans well past the "will he break out?" phase of their careers. They've both been Pro Bowlers, and they both have multiple top-12 positional finishes on their record.
But I think Njoku will see significantly more targets this year, which will result in notably more production.
Njoku: 113 targets | 80 receptions | 792 yards | 7.5 TDs
Hockenson: 99 targets | 69 receptions | 686 yards | 2.6 TDs
After Jerry Jeudy, the Browns are uncertain at the WR position, so I can see Njoku once again serving as the team's No. 2 receiver—and in his six games with QB Joe Flacco in 2023, he had 37-483-4 receiving on 56 targets and a position-best 95 Utilization Score.
Additionally, Njoku has played 18 games without former QB Deshaun Watson over the past two seasons, and in those contests, he has 167 targets (including playoffs).
My gut agrees with his current projection … but, honestly, if he sees the kind of target volume this year that he's enjoyed previously in his sans-Watson games, then my projection will probably prove too conservative—and I don't think that Hockenson has a similar ceiling in his range of outcomes.
And that means I want to bypass Hockenson at the beginning of Round 6 and take Njoku at the end of Round 8 instead.
Fantasy
Around the Watercooler
The latest NFL news and fantasy football analysis from our merry band of football nerds:
🤔 Great players, brutal schedules. What to do with these tough opening schedules.
💣 Explosive plays get the people going. How to leverage them for fantasy football.
📔 Dear Draft Diary, how did this RB fall to the second round?
🚀 The TE3 in ADP may have just gotten a massive boost. News out of San Fran.
📺 It’s time for a draft … of the best handcuff RBs for 2025.
🏆 A potential league-winning nugget? Dwain is giving away the answer key.
💪 RJ Harvey in the sixth round? That could make this draft amazing.
❤️ A roundup of how Matthew is turning passion for Fantasy Life into reality.
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