It’s fantasy football draft SZN, and cheat sheets are changing every day. Whether it’s off-field distractions or on-field performance, it doesn’t take much to move a player’s ranking up or down. Below are a few examples of the latest movers before your draft and their current average draft position (ADP).
Fantasy Football Players Trending Up & Trending Down
Trending Up
Kyren Williams (RB – LAR) | ADP: RB10
How can a player already ranked in the top 10 at their position be trending up even more? Because that player secured a contract extension, thereby reinforcing the faith his team has in him. Rams running back Kyren Williams was eligible for an extension after the season ended, but nothing initially came of it. Even after the Rams drafted Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft to go along with their third-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, Blake Corum, nothing happened on the Williams extension front. Not until this week did the Rams extend Williams on a three-year deal for $33 million, with $23 million of it guaranteed. Los Angeles has now locked up their workhorse for the short term and is ready to go for the season.
Williams is not a flashy player. He’s a grinder whom head coach Sean McVay entrusts with the run game to the tune of 19 attempts per game the last two years. That’s led to at least 1,100 and 12 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons and top-six fantasy finishes in each.
There was some doubt whether Williams was going to keep the same workload going forward after the Rams spent decent draft capital on backs in each of the last two drafts. But that appears to be for depth purposes as Williams projects to run it just as much as he has. He’s one of the last true bell-cow backs and is on a great offense. Despite Matthew Stafford‘s health issues, we won’t have to worry about Williams. His arrow is pointing up.
Emeka Egbuka (WR – TB) | ADP: WR51
When the Buccaneers first drafted receiver Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, it was thought of as a move for the future. The Bucs already had veterans Mike Evans, fresh off another Pro Bowl appearance, and Chris Godwin, who had re-signed a month before the draft to a new three-year, $66 million extension. There was also 2024 third-round pick Jalen McMillan, who had a year of experience under his belt and was primed to get on the field more. But a funny thing happened on the way to the season.
Egbuka has looked like a veteran in camp so far, doing it all from pro-level route running, blocking, gaining yards after the catch and more, and has seemed to surpass McMillan on the depth chart. There’s also the matter of Chris Godwin’s injury and subsequent recovery, or lack thereof. Godwin dislocated his ankle midway through the 2024 season and only ended up playing in seven games. But his recovery has been slow following a ‘clean-up’ procedure and has resulted in him still not getting on the field.
So what’s the range of outcomes for Egbuka? If he simply takes over for McMillian, he’d already be a top-45 fantasy receiver. McMillian ended his rookie season with 37 receptions, 461 yards and eight touchdowns, despite missing a month of the season. But if Godwin misses any time, Egbuka could easily slide behind Mike Evans into the second receiver role — just like he did at Ohio State behind future studs Marvin Harrison Jr.and Jeremiah Smith — and still be productive. He would far surpass his current ADP and could be extremely fantasy relevant in his rookie season.
Trending Down
Davante Adams (WR – LAR) | ADP: WR15
Davante Adams has been a fantasy stud for most of his career. Six 1,000-yard seasons, six Pro Bowls, three All-Pro selections. And while he is getting older — he’ll be 33 by the end of the 2025 season — he’s still producing at a high level. When he signed with the Rams this offseason, there was optimism he could continue to be a WR1.
But it hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns this offseason for Adams and his future fantasy managers. For starters, it’s been established that fellow Rams receiver Puka Nacua is at the top of the depth chart. And Nacua is healthy, at least to start the season, which would hamper Adams’ target share.
More of a concern is the health of quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford has been held back from practicing because of a sore back that was later revealed to be an aggravated disc. Stafford has now received an epidural to deal with the pain, just one month before the season is set to start. Yikes. Not only is Adams not the top target, but we could be looking at Jimmy Garoppolo taking snaps and trying to feed both Adams and Nacua. There’s no doubt Adams will be a solid fantasy contributor, just maybe not a top-15 one.
Justin Fields (QB – NYJ) | ADP: QB11
After a transition year in Pittsburgh, quarterback Justin Fields returns to the field as the unquestioned starter of an NFL Franchise. Granted, he’s now viewed as a transition plan for the New York Jets, who only signed him to a two-year deal, but he’ll at least lead the offense to start this season. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it doesn’t appear Fields has gotten any better in the passing game. Fields’ fantasy value has always come from his legs, rushing for over 2,500 yards throughout his four-year career. Coincidentally, 2,500 is also about the total of his career high for passing yards in a season, when he threw for 2,562 in 2023. He’s never averaged more than 200 passing yards per game and has just 45 passing touchdowns in four seasons. Clips from training camp didn’t help matters, and now people are remembering why Fields is on his third team in three years.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
