With the 2025 NFL preseason clear in the rearview, players have been (and are still) being released and/or traded. Some football has been played, injuries have happened, and decisions have been made. You may be having your fantasy football drafts today, tomorrow, this weekend, or next week, so it’s important to stay up to date on which players are trending up and down. I’ll make this clear though, just because a player’s stock is up doesn’t mean I personally want to draft that player. Got that? Ok, cool, lets get to it!
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PRESEASON FANTASY STOCK UP 🏈 📈
Emeka Egbuka, WR, Buccaneers
There are very few questions now on why the Bucs selected the talented rookie in the first round. With Chris Godwin coming along very slowly and Jalen McMillan out for at least half of the season, Egbuka is primed to contribute heavily starting in Week 1. With all that, there’s the part where Egbuka is pretty damn good, regardless of who’s injured or not. He’ll immediately be the Bucs WR2 behind Mike Evans and led by a quarterback in Baker Mayfield who tied for second in the NFL season with 41 passing touchdowns. Egbuka’s skill set as a player who can operate in the short to intermediate passing game will complement Evans well.
Ollie Gordon, RB, Dolphins
Gordon, who won the Doak Walker Award (college football’s best running back) in 2023, the year before Ashton Jeanty, has made his presence known in the preseason. The 2025 sixth-round pick ran for 126 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown during this preseason. He looks all but ready to carve out a role in the Dolphins’ backfield behind De’Von Achane after outperforming Jaylen Wright who will be on the shelf for several weeks with a leg injury. This is a good look for Gordon who, after running a 4.61 at the Combine, was mocked and laughed at by the fantasy football dorks. Gordon will add a nice change of pace at running back for the Dolphins.
Dont’e Thornton, WR, Raiders
Thornton’s stock has been on the rise ever since he dropped a 4.30 in the 40-yard dash earlier this year at the NFL Combine. Coming in as a fourth-round pick, he has less draft pedigree than fellow rookie Jack Bech (second round), Thornton’s skill set and fit with the offense has enabled him to work his way into the starting lineup alongside Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker. Speaking of Meyers, he just requested a trade, so Thornton’s value may see a quick rise if that were to come to fruition. Regardless, after his 3-43-1 showing in Raiders’ final preseason game, it’s clear Thornton will have a role in an offense led by a more than capable passer in Geno Smith.
Tyler Warren, TE, Colts
I have Warren ranked as my TE4 heading into the season and for good reason. This isn’t about him having “more upside” with Daniel Jones at quarterback, because that’s not true. I mean read that again, does that even sound right to you? Neither Jones or Anthony Richardson has made any tight end relevant thus far in their careers. This is about Warren himself as he’s been targeted heavily by both Colts’ quarterbacks and will be a great asset to this offense. Look for the Colts to use Warren in a variety ways including running the ball, short yardage runs and even possibly throwing the ball.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Commanders
I’m not saying I’m on board with believing “Bill” is Barry Sanders like the rest of the internet does, but the fact is, now that Brian Robinson Jr. is a member of the 49ers, Croskey-Merritt will see more opportunities in the Commanders’ offense. Here’s the thing, so will Austin Ekeler and Chris Rodriguez. So while the stock has certainly risen in the fantasy football world, I’ll be the guy that’ll let someone else have it. He’s a talented runner who can hit the hole like lighting, but how many times will he get to strike in a potential three-man running back committee?
PRESEASON FANTASY STOCK DOWN 🏈 📉
Kaleb Johnson, RB, Steelers
Johnson is another solid rookie runner who I once actually told how much the fantasy folks love him. Sorry to tell you, he doesn’t have a clue about how fantasy football works. The main reason his stock is down is because people have undersold what Jaylen Warren will and has meant to the Steelers’ offense. The reports (not me) say Johnson has struggled with pass protection and that’s an area that Warren can excel at. Furthermore, the Steelers’ quarterback is Aaron Rodgers, you don’t think he’d prefer a veteran back who can protect him? Johnson will be fine, it’ll just be more of a timeshare than what fantasy managers wanted.
Joe Mixon, RB, Bengals
This is a tough one here as fantasy drafts have already begun, some people may have drafted Joe Mixon inside the sixth round. With news that Mixon is now on short-term IR and set to miss at least the first four games, where do we go from here? Most fantasy seasons play 14 regular season games and with Mixon missing more than a quarter of that, you may be better off letting someone else make that pick. He’s not guaranteed to return the fifth, sixth or any game beyond that either. Nick Chubb, Dameon Pierce and Woody Marks will compete for touches.
Najee Harris, RB, Chargers
Chargers GM Joe Hortiz recently said “He’s on track and I think he should be able to go, hopefully in Week 1.” The key word here is hopefully. How ready he’ll be remains to be seen, but we know Harris is a pro and he’s shown. Almost mythical for a running back, Harris has started all 68 regular season games in his career so if he were to miss Week 1 it’d be the first time in his career. The ironic thing about it is that his eye injury was non-football related. His running mate, rookie Omarion Hampton has been getting ready to lead the charge.
Kenneth Walker, RB, Seahawks
The thing with Walker has always been health and while he hasn’t missed the most time you could think of, he hasn’t had a season where he’s played every game. Because of this, we’ve been able to see that Zach Charbonnet can be just as productive. In fact both average 4.2 YPC so far in their career. People will act like they know what the Seahawks’ running back split will look like, but they really don’t. We don’t know yet if Charbonnet will be used more to keep Walker fresh or if it’s “WALKER SZN”, I’d lean more towards the former.
Breece Hall, RB, Jets
Hall will be fine from both a real football perspective and fantasy. The scare here is, again mainly on the internet. Will the Jets involve Braelon Allen a lot more in the offense this year? Yes and they should. When Aaron Glenn told Hall he wants to use him in the passing game to a great extent, he was not lying and I’ve seen it with my own eyes (via Jets/Giants joint practices). Furthermore, with the team primed to be focused more on the run, there will be plenty of love to go around. So while Hall’s stock is “down” by consensus, he still caught 57 passes last season. With no clear WR2 on the offense I’d bank on him getting closer to the 76 receptions he caught in 2023.
