Fade

In fantasy sports, like football and baseball, fade is when you disregard a player on purpose. For example, you may fade a player in a draft when they are projected too high for their value, or you may fade a player out of your lineup when they aren't supposed to score many points in their matchup.

There are various reasons you may fade a player. A common one is when you believe another player will outscore them, even if the player you are fading is projected to outscore them. In this case, you may have a "gut feeling" or take other circumstances into account, such as the playing conditions and the offensive and defensive schemes.

Another common reason for fading a player is if they are returning from an injury. For this reason, fantasy owners may fade players when drafting and setting weekly lineups. For example, if a WR is returning from an ACL injury, you may not trust that they will be back to full health and fade them in your draft approach. When doing this, you may take them in a later round (past their ADP) if they are still available.