With another week of training camps and nearly three quarters of football in the books, there have been plenty of reasons to be excited about the quickly approaching fantasy football season.

Throughout these weeks, it is important to find notable trends among players and teams, including how these teams are evaluating and using their players. This process is a key factor in deciding where players are ranked and becomes especially vital when trying to decide how to intertwine rookies and veterans within tiers.

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Unfortunate injuries are often the cause for most player movement within ranking sets, but training camp developments and preseason game usage often provide a glimmer of understanding on how to face these challenges. 

Thursday marks the start of NFL Preseason Week 1, a reliable catalyst for movement within the ranks. Through Sunday, all 32 teams will showcase a variety of players to aid them ahead of their deadline to cut their rosters down to 52 players on Aug. 27.

Until then, below are eight players who saw movement in my PPR fantasy football rankings, which assumes fantasy leagues that require starting three WRs every week. If your league assumes differently, no problem! Fantasy Life’s Draft Champion is a fully customizable mock draft simulator that efficiently prepares you for your fantasy football drafts, regardless of your league's custom settings, roster formats, or personal draft preferences!

Quarterbacks

Jayden Daniels, Commanders | QB9 ↑

I’ve moved Jayden Daniels (QB9) above Kyler Murray (QB10) and Jordan Love (QB11), and it has everything to do with the hype surrounding the rookie.

I know, I know. I just spent a chunk of pixel space last week breaking down why I’m lower on fellow rookie and first overall pick Caleb Williams (QB18), and a lot of the same could be argued for Daniels, but there’s a lot to like about what the Commanders are doing and how they are describing the second overall pick. I’m buying into it and I’m not alone either.

On Sunday, as reported by Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, Commanders HC Dan Quinn further highlighted Daniels’ decision-making, emphasizing how his rookie QB appears locked in on both the skill work and processing work of playing the position at a professional level. Geoff Ulrich  is in on Daniels at +650 for Rookie of the Year, and considering the difference in odds between him and Williams (+135), why wouldn’t anyone? Dwain is projecting him as the QB6 in scoring, highlighted by 3,457 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns with an additional 734 yards and nearly 5 touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels is expected to make his debut on Saturday for the Commanders’ preseason opener against the Jets.

Justin Herbert, Chargers | QB17 ↓

I think Ian said it best when describing the risk surrounding Justin Herbert (QB17) this season. He lost his top three offensive weapons in Austin Ekeler (RB26), Keenan Allen (WR30), and Mike Williams (WR59) to either trade or free agency, and now faces an even tougher challenge because of a non-chronic plantar fascia injury to his right foot.

Herbert is expected to be ready for Week 1, but he may still find difficulty earning the top-12 QB honors we are familiar with. On Friday, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reported that Chargers’ rookie Ladd McConkey (WR39) “came up limping after a catch in team drills,” and after missing practice on Thursday, HC Jim Harbaugh announced that the 34th overall pick is “working through something.” Until the team can shine more light on McConkey’s injury, and we can further evaluate how Herbert and McConkey work together, it’s challenging to assume a positive outlook for the Chargers offense.

McConkey’s versatility and route-running ability would be a much-needed breath of fresh air if the two can get valuable reps in together. Until that happens, Kirk Cousins (QB16) moves up over Herbert, and I’m not far from putting Williams over him as well.

Running Backs

Josh Jacobs, Packers | RB16 ↓

When the Packers offered Josh Jacobs (RB16) a front-loaded four-year, $48M contract in March to run behind one of the league’s best offensive lines, all signs pointed to a top-12 year for the 26-year-old RB. Jacobs recovered from a minor hamstring injury in time for training camp, but has since suffered a minor groin injury. While a minor injury isn’t as favorable as no injury, it sure beats the type that keeps RBs out for games at a time.

Still, I’m lowering Jacobs down a bit until we see some consistency with his health, especially considering the challenges players face when joining a new team. Packers’ veteran AJ Dillon (RB85) and third-round rookie MarShawn Lloyd (RB47) will see increased opportunity if Jacobs were to miss time, with the former being the dark horse candidate for RB2 duties behind Jacobs. I’m very interested in seeing how this backfield shapes up throughout the preseason.

Zamir White, Raiders | RB27 ↓

Despite knowing a thing or two about horses, I’m a bit more hesitant on assuming Zamir White (RB27) will actually be utilized as a proper workhorse RB. After playing in 13 games for the Packers in 2023, Josh Jacobs vacated 17.7 rushing attempts per game which accounted for a 79% opportunity share among the Raiders backfield. Unlike White, the Raiders’ sixth-round pick Dylan Laube (RB74) has shown promise as a receiving back, totaling 68 catches for 699 and 7 TDs in 10 games on top of 749 yards and 9 TDs on the ground. But it’s worth noting that Ameer Abdullah (RB71) could continue to be worked in on passing downs. To make things even messier, the Raiders added veteran Alexander Mattison (RB80) in March, and he has a knack for scoring touchdowns with limited opportunities.

There’s still much to work out on this backfield, but as much as I like White, I don’t think the Raiders’ backfield is much of a favorable pasture and I’m moving him down until I see something a bit more concrete with the pecking order.

Wide Receivers

DJ Moore, Chicago Bears | WR15 ↑

Last Tuesday, the Bears made a good-faith effort and signed DJ Moore (WR15) to a four-year, $110M contract extension, the largest in Bears history. Moore finished his inaugural season with the Bears by catching 96 passes for 1,364 yards and 8 TDs through 17 games while accounting for 43% of the team’s air yards. Moving Moore up in my rankings isn’t based solely on this contract extension, but more so a result of the Bears identifying Moore as Caleb Williams’ franchise WR1.

While the Bears did bring in star WR Keenan Allen (WR30), I expect Moore to be the main beneficiary of the Bears offense while the 32-year-old Allen acquaints himself with a new offense after spending his first 11 seasons with the Chargers. It shouldn’t take someone like Allen long to lock it in, but he’s firmly in the trenches when considering his age and change of scenery. Still, having Allen opposite Moore should create a plethora of opportunities for Williams to get creative as he hones the playbook.

DeAndre Hopkins, Titans | WR42 ↓

DeAndre Hopkins (WR42) recently sustained a knee injury that will sideline him for 4-6 weeks and may prevent him from suiting up for Week 1, but a recent update reveals that it will not require surgery.

Fantasy Points Medical Analyst Dr. Edwin Porras suggests the likelihood of an LCL injury and believes that missing Week 1 would be the worst-case scenario.

The Titans will be hosting the Jets at home after Hopkins’ fifth week of recovery, but there is reason to believe the 32-year-old will take the field in the season opener seeing how the Titans' opening betting lines for Week 1 have remained static.

I’ve dropped Hopkins slightly, but am remaining optimistic that he will recover in time for Week 1, where the Titans are 4.5-point road dogs.

As ADP adjusts during Hopkins’ recovery window, other Titans players to watch for value-based draft strategies include Calvin Ridley (WR41), Tony Pollard (RB29), Tyjae Spears (RB34), Will Levis (QB25), Chigoziem Okonkwo (TE18), and Tyler Boyd (WR65). 

If Hopkins were to miss time, I expect Okonkwo and Boyd to be the biggest beneficiaries.

Xavier Legette, Panthers | WR80 ↓

Last week, I wrote about passing on Xavier Legette (WR80) in drafts, which was heavily influenced by the Panthers team that drafted him at the end of the first round of the 2024 Draft. To make it more challenging for Legette, he suffered an injury to his foot, but X-rays and an MRI confirmed that there was no fracture.

Legette is currently considered day-to-day but considering the nature of the injuries sustained so far this offseason, which includes a hamstring strain that kept him sidelined during OTAs and the entirety of minicamp, there are too many red flags for me to consider drafting him at his 13th-round ADP. 

Tight End

No noteworthy adjustments at TE this week, with the tiers relatively steady across the board. Trey McBride (TE3) still appears to be a value in many drafts, but I expect his ADP to align closer to that of Mark Andrews (TE4) with each passing week.

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