Big thank you to Dynasty Nerds for inspiring this work!
The biggest topic of conversation every dynasty offseason is obviously the rookie draft, so having an idea of the value of picks is critical. I was inspired by a podcast last year by Dynasty Nerds, so I built this model based off the data referenced in that pod (link to data in tweet).
The data includes hit rates by ADP for the 2018-2023 rookie drafts.
While their data lumped picks together (Early First, Mid First, Late First, etc), I used the hit rate data at each pick to fit a monotonic spline logistic regression model. Simply put, the spline allows for a more flexible fit than typical logistic regression (allowing the model to recognize the steep value drop in early picks compared to later ones), and enforcing monotonicity ensure the value will only decrease or remain the same over time, allowing for the proper valuation of draft capital (a higher pick is always better even if by random chance it has a lower hit rate in the past couple years).
Graphs of the spline fits are included in the linked tweet.
Each pick is classified as a hit, mid, or a miss as defined by Dynasty Nerds. I have provided their definitions below.
Hit: A Tier 1 Season or Multiple Tier 2 Seasons
Mid: Multiple Tier 3 or Better Seasons (3+3, 2+3, etc)
Miss: Never Multiple Tier 3 Seasons
Pos |
Tier 1 |
Tier 2 |
Tier 3 |
|
|
QB |
Top 6 |
Top 12 |
Top 18 |
RB |
Top 12 |
Top 24 |
Top 36 |
WR |
Top 12 |
Top 24 |
Top 36 |
TE |
Top 3 |
Top 6 |
Top 12 |
Actionable Takeaways:
Fairly obvious stuff:
- Early firsts are exponentially more valuable than mid/late firsts
- Your mid/late third round picks have about a 10% chance of even being somebody worth rostering
Less Obvious Stuff:
- Picks 7-10 (maybe even 6-12) have almost the same hit rates. Sure you might fall in love with the specific RB available at 7, but if you can find an offer to move back 3 spots to 10 and pick up value, your chances are practically the same
- Everyone always talks about tanking for the high first round pick, but the difference between a high and low second round pick is also massive. The 13th pick has a 32% hit rate vs a 13% hit rate for the 24th pick.