Fantasy Football: What to expect from some of the buzziest names in preseason heading into Week 1

· Yahoo Sports

After a full month of ADP Risers and Fallers here at Yahoo, it's time to look back at the buzziest names of the preseason to determine who will (and won't) live up to the hype. Between rookie reveals, depth chart shuffling and injuries, the following six names saw the most notable late surges in fantasy football drafts.

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Will they be worth it at their closing price? I've got thoughts.

In the Aug. 25 version of the column, I had Dalton Schultz as an Honorable Mention Riser and one of my favorite sleeper tight ends. One week later, he cracked the official list with a 17-spot jump in ADP. Granted, he's still going in the 11th round as the 19th tight end off the board, so he's more of a sneaky dart throw than a significant draft investment. But that also makes him a pretty good bet to return value at his ADP. Most of the other tight ends going in his range — Oronde Gadsden II, Chig Okonkwo, Terrance Ferguson, Hunter Henry — have much more competition for targets and much lower fantasy floors.

On the flip side, Schultz doesn't have much runway for a "top-tier breakout." He did once finish as the TE3 overall ... but that was five years ago in Dallas. Even if he's the No. 2 target in Houston behind Nico Collins, the overall pie is probably not big enough for Schultz's piece to win you a fantasy league. Still, if you pass on tight end all the way through the single-digit rounds and are looking for a high-floor option to start early in the season, Schultz is probably your man.

Where Schultz is safe, simple and sort of a known commodity, Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd is the complete opposite. He saw a massive late surge in ADP due to the Josh Jacobs’ legal investigation, which landed the Green Bay starter on the commissioner's exempt list. That has left Lloyd atop the depth chart, along with Chris Brooks and late trade acquisition Kaleb Johnson. All signs point to Lloyd seeing the bulk of the running back touches in Jacobs' absence, so his fantasy value will come down to his efficiency and the length of said absence. 

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It's tough to predict the production, as Lloyd has only logged seven touches in the two years since he was drafted, but he was a third-round pick out of USC and should be able to put up relatively average numbers in a good offense. Unfortunately, it's even tougher to project how long Jacobs will be gone, pending legal proceedings, Roger Goodell's decision-making process and a potential NFL suspension. Lloyd ended up at an ADP of RB32 in the eighth round, which makes sense if we assume Jacobs misses roughly half the season. If he's back much sooner (unlikely), Lloyd would be a bust at that draft cost. If he misses the entire year, Lloyd would be a steal. Where we currently stand (with very little information), I like taking Lloyd right around that range, but no higher.

Over the last two weeks of August, Mike Washington Jr. was the top ADP riser in two consecutive columns, jumping more than 40 spots in that span alone. It started with his explosive preseason — 186 scrimmage yards on 25 touches in total — but really kicked into gear with Ashton Jeanty's ankle sprain. There was very little clear reporting on Jeanty's injury, so speculation about an early-season absence abounded, and Washington's ADP rocketed up as the clear No. 2 in the backfield. Jeanty is currently on track to play Week 1 after all, so Washington's shot at being an RB1 to start the year is fading.

However, there's speculation that he may have carved out a surprisingly significant role in the offense. Raiders GM John Spytek has said that new HC Klint Kubiak "stood on the table" for Washington and loved him as a scheme fit ... a curious consideration, since Jeanty is an inherited asset from the previous coaching regime. And of course, Kubiak ran an incredibly frustrating two-back committee in Seattle last year, with Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. In the end, this feels a little more like cold water on Year 2 Jeanty hype than the arrival of Washington as a fantasy star. But as the RB43 in the 11th round, he certainly has a ton of upside as a backup to the incumbent starter.

At this point, Stefon Diggs may have quietly receded from your social media feed, as his ADP rise took place in early August after signing with the Washington Commanders. Still, he ultimately went from a deep sleeper in late July to an eighth-round pick in early September. Was that jump too much? The former free agent turns 33 years old in November and it took months for someone to sign him this offseason (possibly due in part to off-the-field issues). It was only a one-year, $8 million contract with the Commanders, and Terry McLaurin is still present atop the depth chart.

Smoke and mirrors! I love where Diggs ended up in drafts, going around WR42 at the 9-10 turn, between Quentin Johnston and Jordyn Tyson (who's on short-term injured reserve). Diggs was extremely efficient in New England last season, catching an absurd 83.3% of his targets while averaging 11.9 yards per reception. The only players to run 250+ routes and average more yards per route run than Diggs in 2025 (2.4) were Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zay Flowers and Amon-Ra St. Brown. And while McLaurin is a great downfield option, Diggs might be the better possession receiver for Jayden Daniels and Co. I've projected Diggs to lead the team in catches, and you're not going to find that in the eighth round very often. If you play with any form of PPR scoring, I think Diggs is a draft value, even after climbing several rounds last month.

Throughout our four weeks of ADP Risers and Fallers, Jonathon Brooks was the second-most common name, appearing as the foil to Chuba Hubbard's injury-instigated fall in early August and featuring in the column shortly thereafter. Brooks started outside the top-100 picks and has jumped 20-30 spots since, specifically when referencing Yahoo Plus ADP over the last seven days. Personally, I've been riding the hype train since Rico Dowdle's departure, so you can guess where I fall on this one.

Carolina drafted Brooks early in the second round two years ago — capital that suggests RB1 expectations — and he just has not seen the field thanks to horrible injury misfortune. He's missed practice recently due to "general soreness," but it doesn't seem like a legitimate concern. And while Hubbard's hamstring has recovered and he should play in Week 1, I still believe this will be a Brooks-favored committee early and that the younger back will take a comfortable lead by October (at the latest). He's going just behind Dowdle (now in Pittsburgh) and Lloyd (see above), neither of whom has as clear a path to RB1 touches all season. For relatively low risk, you're getting a shot at a young, high-end fantasy starter with Jonathan Taylor draft capital and a Jamaal Charles skill set (per pre-draft scouting comps). That's a shot you should take nine times out of 10.

Finally, the biggest riser of the late offseason, Mr. Buzz himself, rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling. The 49ers' surprise pick at 33rd overall was the star of the preseason and the talk of training camp, and was the only player to make the top-three risers in the column all four weeks. He went from essentially undrafted (outside the top 150) to the back end of the ninth round, ahead of Diggs (see above) and a number of other tried-and-true veteran starters.

Stribling snagged 11 of 13 targets (on 22 routes) in the preseason, scoring 16.4 half-PPR fantasy points in what was essentially three quarters of play the first two weeks. He also looked very impressive doing it. And amid his meteoric rise, Mike Evans battled multiple soft tissue injuries, Christian Kirk was placed on IR (calf), George Kittle continued rehabbing an Achilles injury, Deebo Samuel Sr. was signed out of desperation and Christian McCaffrey has missed practice time (though allegedly as part of a plan to keep him fresh).

It's not a stretch to say Stribling is San Fran's healthiest pass-catcher, and it may not even be a stretch to say he's their best pass-catcher (in a positional vacuum). Certainly, he has as good a chance as almost anyone in this range of drafts to be his team's WR1 and a fantasy WR2. Once again, I'd snap up this value — even over names like DK Metcalf and Alec Pierce ahead of him — on the prospect that he plays well ahead of his draft price in his rookie season.

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