You can play the percentages all you want in setting your fantasy football lineup each week, but luck also plays a large role in determining whether you make the playoffs in your league. Some of that luck comes in the form of a late-round pick who breaks out or whether you were able to land a difference-maker off the waiver wire.
As we list the most popular players on the rosters of 2016 ESPN fantasy playoff teams below, though, it's also clear that it's nice to have a first-round pick turn out to be the beast you hoped he'd be. To that point, we give you Exhibit A: versatile Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson.
Johnson, whose average draft position (ADP) of 9.2 as of opening night ranked eighth, is on the roster of a fantasy playoff team in two-thirds of ESPN 10-team standard leagues. While it's an impressive rate, it shouldn't come as a big surprise. Johnson has not only scored double-digit standard fantasy points in all 12 games thus far, he's eclipsed 20 points seven times, including each of the past four weeks.
In all, 21 players are on rosters of playoff teams in at least half of ESPN 10-team standard leagues. Here they are, along with their preseason ADPs:
The list above includes quite a range of entities, including 2015 first-round fantasy bust DeMarco Murray, who has enjoyed a bounce-back season with his third team in as many years, as well as four who were undrafted in 2016, led by Robert Kelley, the most off-the-radar player to gain fantasy-relevance among those on the list.
Below are the five most popular players at the four key positions on the rosters of ESPN standard playoff teams:
Wondering where some of this season's biggest disappointments come in? Among those who have missed little or no time, DeAndre Hopkins (ADP of 8.4) stands out the most, as he's on the roster of a playoff team in just 30.9 percent of leagues, ranking 107th overall. Allen Robinson (90th overall at 33.6 percent), Todd Gurley (88th overall at 33.7 percent) and Cam Newton (34.2 percent, 12th among quarterbacks) are also not big surprises to be on so few playoff rosters. Playoff-bound owners who have these players have gotten this far in spite of receiving significantly less production than expected from them to this point. After all, each of them were among the top 15 in ADP at the start of the season.
In a couple of weeks, we'll revisit this topic to see who are the most common players to lead their teams to the finals in ESPN leagues. Last season, the likes of Tim Hightower and Charcandrick West played key roles in the fantasy playoffs. Who will emerge this year at this key juncture? Stay tuned ... and, of course, good luck if you're still in the mix.