The Preseason is finally upon us and it’s officially redraft season. Now that we have a few weeks of training camp in the books as well as Week 1 of the preseason, let’s take a look at Dynasty Risers & Fallers (2024 Preseason Edition). Here we will see some of the players that have seen the biggest change in their value over the past few weeks, many of these will be related to injury so let’s get right into it.
Risers
Tyjae Spears, Titans
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter a rookie season behind Derrick Henry in which fantasy managers were concerned over his ACL fears, Spears has seemingly gotten a fresh start. Henry has moved on to Baltimore and his replacement, Tony Pollard has been less than impressive in his only season as a starting running back.
This Titan’s backfield may be going to be a committee backfield, but Spears is easily the more explosive player of the two. Spears wasn’t featured in a large role as a rookie but did manage to stay healthy for the duration of the season. Factor in Pollard’s tendency to breakdown as his workload increases and this has been the perfect storm for a rise in Spears’ value.
At his current cost, Spears is going to beat his ADP easily even if he is part of a committee with Pollard. If he does manage to be the 1A, he could be a massive steal and a league winner. Spears is a value for as long as he stays healthy.
George Pickens, Steelers
Embed from Getty ImagesThis one is based on an early report (that could prove to be inaccurate), but at this time Ian Rapport is reporting that the San Francisco 49ers have a deal in place to send Brandon Aiyuk to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If this is the case it’s a massive hit to the value of George Pickens.
Pickens is never profiled to be a high-volume target monster and is instead a human highlight machine, so this move makes sense. The Steelers appear to also believe that Pickens isn’t a true WR1 and that they needed to acquire someone capable of massive volume. That’s where Aiyuk comes into play. With Aiyuk becoming a target hog and being the first option in the offense, Pickens is likely to be used as a field stretcher as he was last season.
Once again, Pickens will put up a consistent stream of beautiful catches, but the chances of him being top 10 in the league in targets go out the window once this trade is confirmed and executed.
Fallers
Jordan Addison, Vikings
Embed from Getty ImagesJordan Addison has been viewed as the definitive WR2 in Minnesota since the Vikings drafted him, and with Justin Jefferson in front of him, that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Consider Addison, the cheaper edition of Tee Higgins, with a much worse quarterback.
Despite being stuck behind Jefferson on the depth chart, many managers were still in on Addison as they believed he could still produce in a meaningful way much like Higgins did.
Things went off the rails for Addison’s value this month though. After being arrested and charged with felony DUI earlier in the offseason, Addison’s value plummeted similar to what we saw when Rashee Rice was arrested for a similar charge. This legal issue has killed Addison for fantasy leagues of all formats.
Then, to make matters worse, rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy was diagnosed with a meniscus tear this week and will miss significant time with surgery. As if the prospect of a rookie quarterback throwing to the second receiving option on a team wasn’t scary enough (third when TJ Hockenson is healthy), it now appears it will be perennial dud Sam Darnold throwing to the Vikings receivers. This has been such a negative development that not only has it impacted Addison’s value, but it’s even moved Justin Jefferson down a few spots.
Kimani Vidal, Chargers
Embed from Getty ImagesKimani Vidal was quickly shooting up the draft board as the Los Angeles Chargers backfield appeared up for grabs. A band of misfits that include the likes of aging Gus Edwards, injury-plagued JK Dobbins, and Kimani Vidal appeared to be a prime spot for the rookie to earn a major role.
Sadly, reports out of Chargers camp are that the coaching staff was unimpressed with Vidal to this point and it’s likely he will be a preseason cut that will not make the team for Week 1 of the season.
Vidal shouldn’t be considered dead just yet, but just be prepared that for those of you who stockpiled Vidal shares as I did, they could all be worthless very shortly.
To see how far these players have risen and fallen in our rankings, head over to the Fantasy Football Universe Rankings Home Page.
