If you are someone who started doing mock drafts in May or July, you’ll notice how much fantasy football average draft position (ADP) fluctuates throughout the offseason.
Between training camp and preseason, several factors can influence someone’s ADP rising or falling. Whether injury or snaps are being given to unexpected players, it’s important to know why these options are moving up or down.
Risers are not guaranteed to stay there, and fallers aren’t automatically bad picks. We’ll provide why a player has moved, and you make your decisions when it counts.
We’ve incorporated a general overview from formats including FantasyPros, Yahoo Fantay Sports, and National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) to find the top risers and fallers.
Here are some of the notable players on the move for you to know before you pick your team for real.
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Fantasy ADP Risers 2025
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns
Judkins’ massive leap in drafts has nothing to do with camp or preseason games.
It has to do with an unexpected turn of events in his legal problems. Judkins will not face any formal charges stemming from a domestic violence incident.
Due to his serious legal issues, Judkins still has not signed his rookie contract as of Aug. 20. However, it is expected that the Browns will wait until the continuing investigation by the NFL is over.
It is still best to err on the side of caution when it comes to Judkins. But if you can get him at an extreme discount, he could be a league-winner.
As an early second-round pick in the NFL Draft, Judkins comes to a situation where the RB room is wide open for the Browns. Judkins has immense upside for the current draft price, though it is continuing to rise as it becomes more likely he plays this season.
PPR RANKINGS: Top 300 Cheat Sheet | QB | RB | WR | TE | DST | PK
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets
While it is still fairly unknown what Allen’s fantasy value will be in 2025, the preseason has shown us his possible role in the Jets backfield. We can’t say we’re surprised about Allen’s increased involvement; the Jets organization practically told us this was happening.
Braelon Allen is my FAVORITE SLEEPER RB for this upcoming fantasy season.
I see him taking a David Montgomery-type role in this new and improved Jets offense.
He’s a PHYSICAL downhill runner with good lateral quickness and the ability to be a THREAT in the red zone.
I predict… pic.twitter.com/2Wi2QQx5u6
— Fantasy Frenzy HQ (@FantasyFrenzyHQ) July 28, 2025
But hearing and seeing are two different things, and we saw that they were telling the truth. This won’t be the last time we talk about a Jets RB, so we’ll just mention Allen here.
In Week 2 of the preseason, the Jets saw five third-down snaps with the starters in the game; Allen played all five of them.
It’s clear the Jets value Allen as a contributor; after all, head coach Aaron Glenn came from a Detroit Lions team that had massive success with a committee.
Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
Out of pretty thin air, Brian Robinson Jr. is seemingly getting traded. The reports say that Robinson is “done with the Commanders.”
This leaves Croskey-Merritt with just 30-year-old Austin Ekeler and a few other castoffs in the RB room.
Croskey-Merritt dealt with college eligibility issues in 2024; therefore, the Commanders were fortunate to have picked a rather talented RB in the seventh round.
Though many have never heard of him, Croskey-Merritt has continued to make plays in training camp.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt is one of the best values in your fantasy drafts. Shifty, fast, elusive, and surprisingly physical ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/ZmJ6yLXVFM
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) July 28, 2025
After being under the radar to most, he’s flying up the board as of mid-August.
Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
It honestly is about time Pearsall’s ADP started to climb.
The second-year WR out of Florida has been having a great offseason with the 49ers. A friendly reminder, this is his first full camp and preseason, as last season he dealt with the horrific gunshot wound.
Pearsall somehow returned to football just 50 days after this incident and showed flashes of why he was a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
In his final two games last season, Pearsall was targeted 18 times for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. He scored 40.6 fantasy points and finished as a top fifteen receiver in both games.
Jennings has been unable to practice since July 27 due to a calf strain. Because of this, Pearsall is considered to be the WR1 and has been used as such in preseason.
Coming into this season, the available target share was already large with the departure of Deebo Samuel and the injury to Brandon Aiyuk. But now, Jauan Jennings’ calf injury is boosting Pearall up draft boards.
EXPLOIT LEAGUE APPS: Yahoo, ESPN rankings can reveal sleepers, busts
Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If you have done any research on fantasy football, you’ve likely come across Egbuka. He has been skyrocketing up draft boards, and it’s still not enough.
We talked extensively about Egbuka in our 2025 WR sleepers article. Now, as of Aug. 20, his name is too big to be considered a sleeper.
Egbuka is the second-best available WR on the Bucs, behind only Hall of Famer Mike Evans.
Jalen McMillan is going to miss a significant amount of time with his neck injury. Chris Godwin, who had a serious lower-leg injury in 2024, will likely start the year on the PUP list.
Evans is still the clear WR1 on this team, but his injury history has not been clean. Evans has suffered a hamstring strain in each of the last three seasons. Evans is one bad tweak away from missing time; Egbuka would explode.
No matter how high Egbuka rises, he’s a must-draft in 2025.
2025 DRAFT SLEEPERS: QB | RB | WR | TE | DST | Deep Sleepers | 1 From Each Team
Tyler Warren, TE, Indianapolis Colts
If they’ve shown one thing in the preseason, the Colts are going to use Warren — a lot.
Tyler Warren in 2 preseason games:
20/20 snaps (100%)
14/15 snaps (93.3%)This man isn’t coming off the field.
Commanding 3 targets (4, if you count one called back due to penalty) in roughly a quarter of action both games.
Hope you’re ready for 75+ receptions as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/YUGRoWf9C5
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) August 17, 2025
In Week 1, Warren caught all three targets for 40 yards. In Week 2, Warren was targeted 3 times again and caught one of them for 25 yards.
With Josh Downs hurting his hamstring, Warren could be the top target in this offense.
The Colts used the 14th overall pick on him in the NFL Draft. It’s clear he was their guy, and Brock Bowers broke the mold of rookie TEs not being productive in fantasy.
This is not to say he will produce like Bowers, but his ADP has started to climb for a reason. Warren is still a late-round pick for fantasy in 2025.
Fantasy ADP Fallers 2025
Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Jennings has fallen for all the reasons Ricky Pearsall is rising. Thanks to a nagging calf strain, Jennings has not practiced for just under a month, and Pearsall has taken advantage of it.
Once Jennings returns, he can still be a more than viable fantasy option. After all, last season we all saw what he could do with a large target share.
It’s no surprise he has fallen due to the injury, but still, he’s someone to monitor for late-round value.
NON-PPR RANKINGS: TOP 300 Cheat Sheet | QB | RB | WR | TE
Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Mooney was already a guy going too low in fantasy football drafts. Last season, Mooney surprised us all with a WR28 overall finish.
Mooney had two top ten performances and even an overall WR3 outing against the Bucs in Week 5.
This offense is set to be much-improved, especially in the passing game, with Michael Penix Jr. taking over as the starting QB. Mooney was sure to have benefited from this upgrade.
However, what was once labeled as an unserious shoulder injury has kept Mooney out for the entirety of training camp. He sustained this injury in the first practice of camp and has not participated in any team activity since.
Mooney’s availability for Week 1 is in question, and thus, his ADP has been slowly sliding lower by the day.
2025 FANTASY AUCTION VALUES (PPR & STANDARD): Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF/ST | K
De’Von Achane, RB, Miami Dolphins
Achane is undoubtedly the biggest name in this entire article. He sustained a calf injury in mid-August and has yet to practice since the injury.
The Dolphins’ head coach, Mike McDaniel, has stated that he is being held out of practice for precautionary reasons. His availability for Week 1 is in serious question, though the Dolphins claim the current plan is for him to suit up.
After climbing into the first round of fantasy football drafts, Achane is back down to the second round, which is a fitting value for such a player.
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
Hall is such a weird fantasy player going into 2025. Without the weird obsession with Braelon Allen the Jets have, Hall would be a legit league winner.
With Justin Fields coming in as a predominantly rushing QB, this opens up lanes for Hall because of the threat of Fields. Fields is also one of the few mobile QBs who love to check down to the RB position.
All this is great news for Hall, but then there was the Week 2 preseason game.
Hall played just 61% of the snaps with the starting offense. Allen, as mentioned above, got every third-down snap with the Jets starters. This is why Hall’s ADP is falling.
If you ask me, don’t buy into the Hall slander and take advantage of this dip in ADP.
I promise you, Breece Hall is the RB you want from the Jets offense.
Justin Fields has nobody other than Garrett Wilson & Breece Hall to get the ball to.
100+ targets isn’t out of the question this SZN.
He could be a GREAT 3rd round pick‼️
pic.twitter.com/qNJbUc2mAD— PPRFantasyTips (@PPRFantasyTips) August 7, 2025
Hall has been making plays with Fields in camp and is on a contract year. Even with the Allen hype, Hall can still produce for fantasy.
Najee Harris, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Harris’ ADP is expected to rise, but only by a small margin. Harris has missed all of training camp since his July 4th fireworks incident.
In case you missed it, Harris was struck by a firework in the eye and sustained a superficial injury. But Harris has recently participated in his first drills since this incident as of August 12.
It is still unknown if Harris will play Week 1, and Rookie Omarion Hampton is cementing himself as the clear starter each day.
WARNING: Avoid these fantasy draft busts
Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Richardson was never going high in drafts to begin with, but the upside was always there as it relates to fantasy.
This, of course, seems less likely now that the Colts announced that Daniel Jones will be the starter for Week 1. The Colts have claimed that this does not mean they’re done with Richardson completely.
As far as this season of fantasy goes, there’s no reason to draft him. Best-case scenario, Richardson wins the job back mid-season, and you can use the waiver wire to grab him.
