This is another round of the biggest risers and fallers by ADP over the past week. I’ve excluded players previously written about in this series from appearing again. Otherwise, I’m forced to write about De’Zhaun Stribling and Ja’Kobi Lane every week. For last week’s article, click here. The ADP comes via DraftKings, though most sites have the same general group of players moving up and down boards.
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▶ ADP Risers
Keenan Allen, WR, Colts (+69)
The easiest hack for getting CLV is to simply draft free agents before they sign.
CLV, or closing line value, is the difference between what a player cost when you drafted them and what they cost in the final drafts before the season starts. Getting positive CLV usually means you made a good pick.
Like clockwork, fantasy managers see that a player who was almost certainly going to play football for another season has decided to once again play football, and said player rockets up draft boards. Allen is no exception. He joins a Colts team that just got Alec Pierce back at practice, though in a very limited capacity, and is once again without Josh Downs. Downs is dealing with a very minor injury that shouldn’t keep him out long. Still, Allen is a year-in, year-out target earner on a team in need of, at minimum, a No. 3 receiver. I have been buying Allen as he climbs up the later rounds.
Kaelon Black, RB, 49ers (+30)
Jordan James was banged up and Black looked strong in the preseason after missing some time with an injury of his own. I have the benefit of foresight versus ADP and can look at the 49ers’ preseason game from Thursday night, in which both backs played. Black got the start alongside Mac Jones, followed by James later in the game. Both backs looked good, with Black averaging seven YPC on four attempts and James posting 4.4 YPC on eight totes. James also caught a 20-yard pass. Based on the tape and the preseason usage, Black appears to be the 49ers’ RB2. This rise is warranted and won’t stop at his current 16th-round price.
Devaughn Vele, WR, Saints (+30)
Vele has been the riser corresponding with Jordyn Tyson’s fall. In last week’s article, I wrote that Week 9 looked like the most likely return date for Tyson. That gives Vele half a season to run as the Saints’ No. 2 receiver. On the downside, he wasn’t very good last year. He was targeted on 16 percent of his routes and averaged a measly 1.2 yards per route run. Juwan Johnson operated as the team’s de facto WR2 and was quite successful, finishing as the TE8. Johnson should be the biggest mover after the Tyson injury, and rookie Bryce Lance deserves some 20th-round looks as well.
Malachi Fields, WR, Giants (+21)
Fields looks locked in as the Giants’ No. 2 receiver based on his preseason usage. That shouldn’t be too surprising given that the team spent the No. 74 overall pick on him. They also lost Calvin Austin to a torn ACL. Austin was slated for slot duties while Fields is an outside receiver, but the injury could still result in a few extra targets for the rookie. The fact that the Giants will be starting a rookie and one of Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney, or Odell Beckham alongside Malik Nabers makes me want to keep buying Nabers, as he hasn’t pushed meaningfully past the 2/3 turn.
Emmett Johnson, RB, Chiefs (+18)
This one is weird. Johnson was reportedly the second running back up during practice, and Kenneth Walker is now a little banged up with an ankle issue, but we have more data than just one report from practice. The Chiefs have played two preseason games. Walker briefly appeared in both. Of the three backs contending for the backup job, Johnson is the only one who hasn’t gotten the RB2 treatment in one of those preseason contests. Johnson might be the RB2 right now, but that’s not something I would bet on.
Bonus: Travis Etienne, RB, Saints (+7)
If you look at the value of the draft picks instead of just the number, Etienne is the biggest riser who I haven’t already mentioned. Alvin Kamara is hurt and he was the main threat to Etienne seeing the bulk of the work on passing downs. At this point in his career, an injured Kamara might not even be of any use as a receiving specialist. He averaged .74 yards per route run. That was easily a career low for Kamara and was just the 49th-best mark by a running back. Etienne was at a solid 1.1 YPRR. That should still be enough to keep him on the field over Kamara if the latter isn’t fully healthy.
The top players for 2026 at running back, wide receiver, quarterback, and tight end with explanations for every rank.
▶ ADP Fallers
Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints (-35)
On August 19th, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Kamara was expected to miss “at least the next month.” That alone would keep him out for Week 1, and the “at least” in his report suggests it could be much longer than a month. The team strong-armed Kamara into taking a pay cut, likely with the threat of releasing him outright despite gaining no meaningful cap space from such a move. Now he has to board a moving train at some point beyond Week 1. Kamara is not a bet I have made much this summer and I won’t be doing so for the rest of drafting season.
Tyrone Tracy, RB, Giants (-24)
Tracy missed a block in the Giants’ first preseason game that resulted in a pass-rusher de-cleating Jaxson Dart. He was evaluated for a concussion following the hit. The team signed Najee Harris after that debacle. Then, in the team’s second preseason contest, Tracy fumbled in the red zone. Tracy entered the summer as the clear backup to Cam Skattebo, who was recovering from a catastrophic ankle injury. Skattebo seems to have recovered as well as Giants fans could hope for and Tracy may not even be the backup anymore. He’s a clear avoid in drafts, even as his price plummets.
Oronde Gadsden, TE, Chargers (-16)
Gadsden is another one of the preseason’s biggest fallers. The Chargers rested their starters in the first week of preseason action. Gadsden played with the reserves. They played the starters the following week. Gadsden did not see a snap with Herbert. He finally played alongside Herbert in Thursday night’s bout with the 49ers but was still the TE3, only seeing the field for LA’s lone 13-personnel snap. Mike McDaniel is screaming from the top of the mountain that Gadsden is a backup. He’s a player I’m willing to buy as the price continues to drop because of how impressive his rookie season was, but the fall is deserved.
Travis Hunter, WR, Jaguars (-16)
Hunter didn’t get any snaps with the offense in some practices and people are freaking out.
I will admit, I would rather see a player I’m drafting loads of practice with the offense, but this also isn’t that surprising. The Jags have been adamant throughout the offseason that Hunter will play both ways. In some practices (and probably some games), that will entail playing exclusively on defense. Going in the 15th-round of Best Ball drafts, Hunter needs a pair of spike weeks to pay off. That’s still easily attainable, even if he spends some games playing mostly on defense.
Kyle Monangai, RB, Bears (-14)
Monangai went down with a hyperextended knee just under two weeks ago and has yet to resume practicing. Bears coach Ben Johnson has since called him week-to-week. He should be ready to go for Week 1, but that isn’t guaranteed. With a good camp, Monangai might have forced more of a true backfield by committee in Chicago, but that ship has sailed. Johnson has also been effusive in his praise of D’Andre Swift.
Swift is locked in for a strong workload out of the gates and could hold on to the bulk of the Bears’ touches for the entirety of the season.
Bonus: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Raiders (-7)
It’s hard for Jeanty to fall more than a dozen picks, but his seven-spot drop through the second round is a bigger value loss than almost anyone over the past week. The team hasn’t given us a clear timeline for his return, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport could only say it was a sprain that’s “more low than high.” To make things worse, Mike Washington Jr. has looked phenomenal in the preseason. If the Raiders want to ease Jeanty’s workload early in the year, they have a guy who can handle some extra touches.
Patrick Daugherty
