Fantasy Football Preseason ADP Risers and Fallers

We are getting close to the end of the offseason and drafts are taking place at a rapid pace. These are the guys who have made big jumps up or taken big falls down draft boards recently and why. These are the risers and fallers you need to know about. 

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Risers

Running Backs

Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears

Herbert has looked great in the preseason and has been consistently running with the first team all summer. Everything we've seen and heard out of the Bears' camp suggests that he has a stranglehold on the RB1 job in Chicago heading into Week 1. His ADP has actually risen 16 spots over the past two weeks and he's still a great value pick at 96th overall. This is the kind of running back who can turn out to be a league winner. 

James Cook, Buffalo Bills

Cook is another guy who once looked like he was going to be mired in a committee but has pulled away with the job over the past month or so. When the Bills signed Damien Harris, the expectation was that Cook would get a lot of touches in space between the 20s and be the passing-down back while Harris was pounded between the tackles and used near the end zone. That no longer appears to be the case. Harris has dealt with injuries this summer and reports out of camp have him trailing far behind Cook and possibly even Latavius Murray. Just the opposite is the case with Cook. Every report has been glowing and insists that he is the locked and loaded RB1 and will handle a hefty workload.  

Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

We have seen this with Warren before. However, he is trying to work his way into a committee. He has busted off some explosive plays in the preseason and the fantasy world is going crazy over it. Nonetheless, I'm not entirely buying his ascension. I believe that he's still a glorified handcuff for Najee Harris. The Steelers have always loved going with a bell-cow back. Even when DeAngelo Williams or James Conner looked great when they got their shot; as soon as Le'Veon Bell was back they were an afterthought. Warren will get some work in the passing game, but I'm not so sure he'll be the weekly flex option some people are hoping he will be as long as Harris is healthy. 

Wide Receivers

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

There was already a bit of groundswell of support developing for Sutton. Then Jerry Jeudy was carted off with a hamstring injury. Now the late summer hype train is once again rolling down the tracks for last year's preseason darling who fell flat on his face. Nonetheless, fantasy managers are able to wash away last year and hope new head coach Sean Payton will answer their prayers and make everything better in Denver. I had a much smaller gap than most between Jeudy and Sutton in my rankings prior to the injury; the ADP gap is now getting smaller by the day.  

Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders

Dotson is an extremely similar case to Sutton. I can practically copy and paste the same blurb. He was already a guy many thought could emerge as the top WR on his team, then the true WR1 went down with an injury with an unknown timeline and his truthers are thrilled. When Terry McLaurin went down with a turf toe injury last week the calls for Dotson grew louder as he began to climb up draft boards. Now he has slipped into the low-end WR3 range.

Fallers

Running Backs

Rashaad Penny, Philadelphia Eagles

Nothing has gone well for Penny and his fantasy value this summer. Even after the Eagles traded for D'Andre Swift during the draft, there was still a belief that Penny would be the true RB1 with Swift getting passing down work. At best it now looks like Penny will be stuck in a three-man committee. There have been rumors of two backs pulling away with the job over the past month and neither is Penny. Swift and Kenneth Gainwell have both been talked up as the potential top back in Philly while there have been talks that Penny could be cut. Already a massive injury risk, Penny has dropped all the way down to pick 110.

Samaje Perine, Denver Broncos

Perine has seen his value take a hit after Javonte Williams' miraculous recovery. The belief surrounding Perine was always that he would be the RB1 early on in the season while Williams recovered and would hold a significant role throughout the season as the team eased Williams back in. That no longer looks to be the case. Williams has already played in the preseason and saw a bunch of targets, which is where Perine's value is supposed to come from. This has been more than enough to scare off fantasy owners from drafting him close to where he was going.  

Breece Hall, New York Jets

As soon as the Jets gave Dalvin Cook more than $8 million, Hall saw his fantasy value for 2023 plummet. This was a massive red flag about both his health and usage rate. Since the signing, his ADP has dropped more than 10 spots. Some still believe he could be a late-season league winner. I find that hard to picture without an injury to Cook. This may be the toughest backfield in the league to figure out.  

Wide Receivers

Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders

McLaurin already had concerns about his quarterback and now he has suffered a turf toe injury. He looks very questionable for Week 1, and this injury tends to linger. The injury hasn't completely tanked his ADP, but it has knocked him back to WR20. At this point, any update on his injury could drastically sway his value in either direction. The general consensus is that he will miss one game and hopefully return for Week 2. That is just speculation though. 

Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos

Jeudy was already an injury concern coming off a subpar year whom people decided to give another chance, then this week he was carted off with a hamstring injury that will reportedly cost him "at least several weeks." Naturally, he is sliding down draft boards, and understandably so. Currently, he's being drafted as the WR25 and that's still too high for me. That's just in front of Brandon Aiyuk and Tyler Lockett. There is no way he should be drafted above either of them. He would have to fall past Chris Godwin, who is sitting at WR29 right now, for me to even consider him.