8 Fantasy Football Risers & Fallers After Preseason Week 2

Aug 21, 2018

The volume and variety of metrics used in fantasy sports have grown on a daily basis as the industry continues to blossom. One of the most popular measurable ways to track player rankings and how each player is being perceived is by their Average Draft Position (ADP).

As we move closer to the kickoff of redraft leagues, when the majority of your home or friends and family drafts take place, analyzing MFL10 ADP from week-to-week during the preseason is helpful to gather an overall impression of where players are being drafted. Drafters of MFL10 best-ball leagues tend to be sharper than your average fantasy football participant, so you may find players will slip a bit further in some leagues than others.

In other words, ADP data is very useful but is not everything, so don’t ride or die with it.

In this piece, I’ll take a look at some of the biggest risers and fallers from the Week 2 of the preseason, comparing their ADP from August 13th to August 21st and how you should approach them moving forward. A player’s ADP can change for a plethora of reasons and diving into the cause of that movement can certainly help come draft time.

Note: ADP data is courtesy of FantasyInsiders. The number in parenthesis represents their overall +/- ADP jump.

Biggest Risers

RB Peyton Barber, Buccaneers (+27 overall ADP)

Up another two rounds from just a week ago, Barber’s ADP has now risen 51 spots in just two weeks. Rookie Ronald Jones isn’t off to the start the Bucs were expecting and it appears the starting RB job belongs to Barber. Head Coach Dirk Koetter has expressed his potential to be an every-down back but has also said he sees more of a one-two punch with Barber and Jones this season.

As the 49th rusher off draft boards, the third-year RB is still in great value territory, but I don’t expect him to stay there for too long.

WR John Brown, Ravens (+23 overall ADP)

A standout among the WR corps at Ravens' camp, Brown is a captivating playmaker when on the field, but has spent a decent chunk of the past two seasons dealing with complications from a sickle-cell trait. If he can remain healthy, the 28-year-old can be a deep threat for QB Joe Flacco and easily slip into the Ravens' No.1 WR role.

Brown’s ADP has jumped nearly two rounds this past week—from the mid-15th-round to the late-13th-round—in MFL10 best-ball contests. He’s still draftable at this point, but I would be wary to pay much more for Brown due to his potential time missed. Also, there’s Flacco.

RB Rob Kelley, Redskins (+21 overall ADP)

Kelley didn’t do so much to deserve this ADP spike, but we’re still dealing with the aftermath of the season-ending injury to rookie RB Derrius Guice. Samaje Perine incurred an ankle injury Thursday night, leaving just Kelley, Chris Thompson and Kapri Bibbs in Washington’s backfield. Or, at least so we thought. They added Adrian Peterson to the mix on Monday, making things a tad more curious.

It will be interesting to see what impact, if any, Peterson’s presence will have on the collective ADPs of the Washington backfield, but for now, Kelley is leaving draft boards in the late-14th round, up about a round-and-a-half in the past week.

RB Bilal Powell, Jets (+21 overall ADP)

Continue reading to see why Bilal Powell is a Week 2 preseason riser, as well as who made Jen's list of preseason fallers and two charts highlighting all the biggest preseason Week 2 risers and fallers...