Now that the fantasy football finals are upon us, here's a look at the most common players on the rosters of finalists in ESPN standard 10-team leagues, as of Tuesday morning.
There are 13 players/defenses on at least 30 percent of finalists' rosters. Odell Beckham Jr. is, as you might expect, among this group (13th overall), so his suspension -- if upheld -- will have an impact on lineup decisions in many leagues in Week 16 (remember, in ESPN standard leagues the championship takes place during Weeks 16 and 17, so he'll still be a factor in the finals). It's worth noting that Beckham and Antonio Brown are the only players to find themselves on at least 30 percent of finalists' rosters in each of the past two seasons. Here are the 10 players with the highest such ownership numbers:
It might surprise you that players who were injured or underperformed in the past week or two (like Tyler Eifert in the list above and Javorius Allen and Allen Hurns in the positional list below) are on such a high percentage of rosters, but remember that they were waiver-wire additions in many 10-team standard leagues this season, so they might have helped put a team in playoff position but simply were not in starting lineups in the past week or two. Below are the five most popular players at four key positions on the rosters of championship participants in ESPN standard leagues:
In case you're wondering where some of this season's first-round draft picks fall on this list, Adrian Peterson is eighth among running backs (26.8 percent), while other backs are -- not surprisingly -- much lower: Eddie Lacy (17.2 percent, 24th among RBs), C.J. Anderson (11.3 percent, 30th) and DeMarco Murray (15.3 percent, 28th). The top quarterback taken in drafts, Aaron Rodgers, is just 11th among signal-callers, appearing on just 18.1 percent of finalists' rosters.