With the third week of the preseason behind us and the biggest week of fantasy drafts upon us, now is the best time to give one final stock up/stock down report, as draft board ADPs settle in.
Most players we’ll be drafting in the top 200 won’t be seen in action again until it’s for real in Week 1 of the regular season. Barring an injury in practice or suspension to a player over the next week, we have a pretty firm grip on where we can expect players to come off of draft boards.
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Stock up: Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette
I put these running backs together because they seem to be the apples of drafters’ eyes, and although McCaffrey and Fournette aren’t moving up multiple rounds like other players we’ll discuss later, they are the biggest movers in the top 20 overall.
Welcome to the first round, Christian McCaffrey ! CMC is the running back drafters are obsessing over this preseason, and high stakes players have driven his cost into the late first round of drafts, at the turn, on most draft boards. With 75+ catch potential as well as 200+ carry expectations, it’s hard to argue a now-first-round price in PPR formats.
Leonard Fournette is also on the move as he pushes himself into the mid-first-round and into the discussion of which back should come off the board after the Big Four. Big Len has looked great this preseason and with the expected heavy workload on his plate and a great defense to keep game script on his side most weeks, it’s no wonder Fournette’s name has gone from the first round turn weeks ago to being in the discussion for the fifth running back off the board alongside Saquon Barkley and Alvin Kamara.
Stock up: Carlos Hyde
Hyde was flying up draft boards this past week into the 7th and 8th rounds of drafts, all the way from an ADP of 100+ a couple weeks ago. He’s looked the part and seems to have a grasp on lead back duties in Cleveland; he’s also been helped by a slow start from rookie running back Nick Chubb. Hyde is a nice option for drafters to get a starting running back at his current price.
Stock down: Ronald Jones
Or should I say the Titanic? Whoa. No player’s ADP has taken a bigger tumble than this rookie running back. Early in draft season it was no surprise to see Jones going in the 4th and 5th rounds of drafts. This week it’s a shock to see him go inside of the top 100 overall of drafts! Fellow rookie running backs Rashaad Penny and Sony Michel have also seen their stocks plummet these past couple weeks — creating a nice buying opportunity for drafters at their reduced ADP.
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Stock up: Peyton Barber
The more Jones goes down the more Barber goes up. Probably the biggest ADP riser this month, and with head coach Dirk Koetter saying Barber is his starting running back, drafters have moved him up into the 7th and 8th rounds of drafts hoping it’s not just coachspeak and that the volume pays off on drafting this Bucs running back.
Stock down: Mid Round Tight Ends
Both Evan Engram and Delanie Walker have seen their ADPs take a hit recently, both due to injury. Walker with a toe injury and Engram with a concussion from this past weekend’s game. Both are expected to be ready for Week 1 and the dip in price presents a nice buying opportunity at the tight end position at a better draft round price, especially with the position being as shallow as it is.
Stock up: Jaguars wide receivers
The big injury of Week 3 happened to Jacksonville’s top wideout Marqise Lee, as his knee injury sent him to season-ending I.R. The Jaguars already had a nice stable of receivers but it was tough putting them in a pecking order after Lee, even when he was still healthy. It still might be, but drafters have moved Keelan Cole up the most, believing he will benefit and take over as the top wide receiver in Jacksonville. Cole has moved into the 10th and 11th rounds; fellow Jaguars wide receivers Dede Westbrook and Donte Moncrief have received multiple-round boosts to their ADP, as well, but still lag behind Cole overall.
Stock down: Alshon Jeffery
The shoulder injury that has threatened to force the Eagles to send Jeffery to the P.U.P list, causing him to miss the first 6 games of the season, has sent Jeffery tumbling down draft boards about three rounds to his current ADP of about 80. Even if he misses the first two games, as ESPN reported, he is still heading in the wrong direction on boards (for more in-depth analysis on the situation, check out this story by Sheil Kapadia). Jeffery will be a bargain if he manages not to miss more than two games and drafters get him in round eight or later.
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Stock up: Adrian Peterson
I had to include AP (or is is AD?) in this article; the man just won’t go away! From being totally undrafted weeks ago to his Washington debut this past week — which showed he still had something left in the tank and could be the lead back — he’s jumped into the 11th round of drafts. What it tell me? People are hoping to squeeze one more productive season out of the future Hall of Famer. Our friend Emory Hunt believes it can happen.
(Top photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)