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Best Ball Risers and Fallers: Takeaways from NFL Preseason Week 2
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The NFL preseason has some useful elements to it, but there are other times that outcomes from games should be ignored.
For example, this article isn’t going to tell you that you should be drafting Austin Watkins Jr. in your best-ball tournaments simply because he posted an impressive 7 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in an 18-18 tie against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night.
Yes, it was a great effort, but Watkins isn’t suddenly going to surpass Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore and others on Cleveland’s depth chart.
This isn’t a post to hammer Watkins and other backup players, though. This is about parsing through the data to figure out what takeaways should impact your best-ball draft strategy moving forward.
So without further ado, here are 3 players on the rise and 3 who are seeing their stocks fall after NFL preseason Week 2:
Risers
1. Sam Howell, QB, Washington Commanders
Howell is currently going as the QB25 in Underdog drafts, but he showed serious flashes of potential on Monday night in a win over Baltimore. He threw for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns while leading the Commanders’ first-team offense to 17 points on his 4 first-half drives. He has plenty of talent around him, particularly in receivers Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson. He could finish as a top-20 QB this year if all goes well.
2. Darren Waller, TE, New York Giants
Waller is currently going as TE4 on Underdog, vaulting past San Francisco’s George Kittle after another impressive preseason outing. This week, Waller caught 3 passes for 30 yards on 4 targets on the game’s opening drive before calling it a day. He is clearly a favorite target of QB Daniel Jones, which bodes well for him moving forward.
3. Rashee Rice, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Rice finished with 8 catches for 96 yards in a beatdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He caught 1 pass and was targeted twice by Patrick Mahomes, which is a good sign. He also recorded 6 of his catches before halftime. He’s a guy I’ve drafted in the later rounds of best ball contests at times this year, and there’s no reason to stop doing that after his preseason Week 2 performance.
Fallers
1. Jameson Williams, WR, Detroit Lions
Williams is out for the rest of the preseason with an injury. Then he’ll serve a 6-game suspension following a gambling probe. The bad signs are starting to pile up for the former Alabama star. Can he get up to speed in time for Detroit’s seventh game? He’s missed a ton of football already as he prepares for his second season in the NFL. Not seeing him on the field this past week was just another red flag. His ADP has fallen from 103.9 to 113.7 after his absence.
2. Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
It seems Jaylen Warren has worked his way into at least a part-time role for this season. That’ll cut into Harris’s snap count. As a player who relied on a heavy workload to be a successful best ball option, that’s not good news. Harris had 2 carries for 6 yards in limited action against Buffalo this week. Fine. That’s not a big deal. What is a big deal, though, is that Warren’s 1 carry went for 62 yards and a touchdown.
3. Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington Commanders
Brian Robinson Jr. started ahead of Gibson for the second week in a row, which is sure to raise some eyebrows across the country. There’s probably a sizable role available for each guy in the 2023 season, but I’m going to avoid the Washington running back room in my drafts until more clarity is given.
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Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
