X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Projections
Articles & Tools
Weekly Planner
24x7 News and Alerts

Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers - Week 3

Curtis Samuel - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Top fantasy football risers and fallers heading into Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season. Adam Koffler identifies players at QB, RB, WR, and TE whose trade value for fantasy football is rising or falling.

Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season is officially in the books. Overreactions will undoubtedly continue to be made, but there's also a lot of good information we can use to help make decisions as we head into Week 3 and beyond.

In this weekly column, we'll be looking at players whose arrows may be pointing up, and players whose arrows may be pointing down based on the previous week's games. We'll try not to overreact, but instead, use relevant data to make informed decisions about certain players.

Here are the key risers and fallers coming out of Week 2 of the NFL season.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Week 3 Fantasy Football Risers

Garrett Wilson, New York Jets

Garrett Wilson is a certified baller. After garnering eight targets on just a 49% snap share in Week 1, the rookie saw 14 targets on a 61% snap share in Week 2. He turned those 14 targets into eight catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns. His target share increased from 14% in Week 1 to 32.6% in Week 2.

Many thought second-year man Elijah Moore would be the de facto WR1 for the Jets, but Wilson has taken the league by storm in just two games. He’s commanding targets at an extremely high rate and clearly has the trust of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco. He’s out-targeting Moore 22 to 12 through the first two weeks of the season.

It also doesn’t hurt that the Jets have a subpar defense and find themselves trailing much of the time, leading to lots of pass attempts. To that end, Flacco has averaged nearly 52 pass attempts per game in the first two games. Next up is a matchup against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Look for Wilson’s snap share to increase even more in Week 3 as Robert Saleh finds it difficult to take his newest alpha WR1 off the field.

Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders

Speaking of commanding targets, Curtis Samuel has done just that in his first fully healthy season with the Washington Commanders. He signed a big contract to play in Washington ahead of the 2021 season, but injuries derailed him, and he ended up appearing in just five games as a part-time player a season ago.

Samuel, just 26 years old, is only a year removed from being given a three-year, $34.5 million contract from Ron Rivera and the Washington Commanders. Remember, Rivera coached Samuel back in 2019 in Carolina when he set a career-high with 105 targets. Now Washington, much like Carolina, is finding ways to get the ball in their playmakers’ hands.

Through two games, Samuel is averaging 10 targets per game. He’s turned those 20 targets into 15 catches for 133 yards and two scores. He’s got eight more targets than Terry McLaurin and 10 more than rookie Jahan Dotson. Samuel is the low average depth of target (aDoT) receiver for Washington, but that just means he’s more likely to see a higher volume of targets, which is especially good in PPR leagues.

He’s just so good with the ball in his hands that the Commanders continue to draw up quick passes to simply get him the ball. Oh, and check out just how good this guy has been when healthy in his last 13 games.

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams

Guess who leads all tight ends in targets through two weeks? It's not Travis Kelce, it's not Mark Andrews, it's not everyone's favorite, Kyle Pitts. You got it, it's Tyler Higbee. Not only is he averaging 10 targets per game through two games, but he's got a 26.3% target share and a 29.9% target rate (per PlayerProfiler).

Meanwhile, Allen Robinson, the Rams' prized free agent acquisition, has just seven total targets on the season, good for a measly 9.2% target share and a 9.6% target rate. It's very clear Higbee is the second option in the passing game for Matthew Stafford right now behind Cooper Kupp.

We've seen Higbee do this before. Not for an extended period of time, but he's strung together productive weeks in the past. This season, he's second amongst all tight ends in snap share (94.7%) and fourth in routes run (33.5) per game.

Don't sleep on Higbee just because he hasn't sustained this kind of production for an entire season before. He looks to have developed a nice chemistry with Stafford over the years and it's finally coming to fruition in 2022.

Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders

I think everyone, including myself, was low on Carson Wentz coming into this season after a mediocre fantasy season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. He’s done it before but just wasn’t asked to do a whole lot last season as the Colts rode Jonathan Taylor into the sunset.

In fact, Wentz averaged just 30.4 pass attempts per game in Indy. Through two games with the Commanders, he’s averaging 43.5 pass attempts per game. He’s turned that into an average of 325 yards and 3.5 touchdowns per game. Washington is likely to be in another high-scoring affair in Week 3 when they play host to the Philadelphia Eagles, the team that drafted Wentz, of course.

That should be another game where the Commanders are forced to score a lot of points to keep up with their opponent. And once again, that will benefit Carson Wentz. With a plethora of pass-catching options (McLaurin, Samuel, Dotson, Logan Thomas, Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic) at his disposal, it would behoove Washington to lean on Wentz and the passing game moving forward.

Treat Commander Carson as a top-12 quarterback option until further notice.

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons

London is a total alpha. Through two games, he has a target share of 33.3% and a target rate of 41.3%. Sure, it's a small sample size, but those are truly elite percentages, especially for a rookie in his first two career NFL games.

He's been so good that it's negatively impacted the target share of a generational talent at the tight-end position in Kyle Pitts. Now that's impressive.

Thus far, the Falcons have been relatively run-heavy, running 51.2% of the time. That likely won't continue as they play catch-up in most games. Through the first two weeks of the season, the Falcons have given up an average of 29 points per game, yet have attempted just 29.5 passing plays per game.

With that type of target share and target rate, London's production is bound to take a jump up with a higher passing rate. Don't miss this opportunity to buy Drake London before it's too late.

Treylon Burks, Tennessee Titans

You might be wondering how Treylon Burks could be a riser after posting a line of 4-47-0 on just six targets in Week 2. It's not the production to date, but the incredible efficiency of the opportunities given.

In Week 1, Burks played just 36.7% of the snaps but was targeted on five of his 12 routes, good for a 41.7% target rate. In Week 2, his snap share increased to nearly 50% (which would have been even higher if not for the 41-7 blowout loss to the Bills). His target rate was still at 35.3%, as he was targeted six times on 17 routes run.

The Titans won't get blown out every week, and it's only a matter of time (probably Week 3 to be honest) before Burks posts a 75% snap share and sees 10+ targets as Ryan Tannehill's new favorite receiver.

Other Risers: Evan Engram, Rhamondre Stevenson, Raheem Mostert, Zach Ertz, Chris Olave

 

Week 3 Fantasy Football Fallers

Allen Robinson, Los Angeles Rams

See Tyler Higbee's "riser" write-up. Long story short, there's reason to be concerned with the 29-year-old wide receiver's opportunity through two games. Sure, he found the end zone in Week 2, but A Rob has garnered just seven total targets thus far.

He wasn't good last season in Chicago, and many chalked it up to him being disgruntled and playing on a bad Bears team. But now it seems like last season may not have been a facade. It's possible Robinson has lost a step. He can still be decent, but there's no way he's coming anywhere close to Cooper Kupp's level of production.

Many (including myself) pegged Robinson as a top-15 receiver in 2022 as he was getting to play with the best quarterback of his entire career and people saw Stafford support two top-20 wide receivers at any given time in Kupp, Robert Woods, and Odell Beckham Jr. However, it doesn't look like that's going to happen again in 2022 with Kupp and Robinson.

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

Zeke just isn't getting it done right now. Through two games, he's averaging just 49 total yards on 14.5 opportunities (12.5 rush attempts and two targets) per game. He's currently 51st amongst all running backs in yards created per touch (1.41). He wasn't very efficient last season either but still managed to create over 2.2 yards per touch.

To make matters worse, it appears Tony Pollard will be the primary pass-catching back for the Cowboys. In Week 2, Pollard saw a 23.3% target share while Elliott saw just a 6.7% target share in a game that remained close throughout.

Zeke's fantasy value has historically come from a high-volume workload. Without that workload, and with an offense struggling to put up points right now (averaging just 11.5 per game through two games), there's not much to be hopeful about in the near term.

Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers

Talk about a guy that needs a massive workload to return top-level fantasy value. Najee Harris is exactly that. As a rookie, he led all running backs in both opportunity share and snap share. He was only able to turn that into an RB7 season.

Now, in 2022, Harris is playing on an average of just 65% of the snaps. He's still averaging 16.5 opportunities per game but compared to last season, that's next to nothing. Recall, he averaged a whopping 23.6 opportunities as a rookie and still couldn't crack the top-six running backs on a points-per-game basis.

To make matters worse, this Mitch Trubisky-led Steelers offense doesn't look very good right now. Maybe Kenny Pickett takes over sooner rather than later and things start to click, leading to more high-value opportunities for Najee, but that's probably wishful thinking.

The hidden foot injury, combined with the lower snap share, lower opportunity share, and a below-average offensive line make Najee a very tough first-round pill to swallow should you have gone that route this season.

Rashaad Penny, Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are the slowest-paced team in the NFL, running only 48 plays per game through the first two weeks of the season. The Bears are the next-slowest, running just 48.5 plays per game. Both teams lack many fantasy-viable options right now, and that includes Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny.

I was very adamantly avoiding Penny this season in the first place, and things are very much so looking grim after Week 2 in which he played just 41% of the snaps, handled just six rush attempts, and didn't see a single target (after three in Week 1). In fact, due to the game script, Travis Homer played on more snaps and got just as many touches (six), albeit in the form of four targets and two rush attempts. He outscored Penny by 6.7 PPR points.

Through two weeks, we've seen Penny's value when he's not trampling over mediocre defenses and scoring lots of touchdowns. He's currently averaging just 5.1 PPR points per game through two games. And with rookie Kenneth Walker now back in the fold, don't expect Penny to all of a sudden be the league-winner he was at the tail end of the 2022 season.

Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders

For the first few years of his career, Terry McLaurin has been "the only guy in town." Even still, he has never finished inside the top-20 wide receivers. Now it looks like he'll have to fend off arguably the best and most well-rounded receiving corps he's ever played with. Guys like Curtis Samuel, Jahan Dotson, Logan Thomas, Antonio Gibson, and J.D. McKissic are all in the fold when it comes to siphoning valuable targets from Scary Terry.

His target share has hovered between 23-25% to start his career, but things could be different in 2022. Currently, McLaurin is averaging just six targets per game through two games, giving him a 14.1% target share. He's running lots of routes (44 per game) but isn't being targeted nearly as much as fellow receiver Curtis Samuel, who has a target share of 23.5%.

With other talented receivers in the mix, it looks like McLaurin was probably a bit over-drafted this season. He could still finish as a top-30 receiver, but he's going to have to fight for every target with good football players around him. That's unlike previous seasons when he was the clear go-to go in the passing game.

Other Fallers: DK Metcalf, Hunter Henry, D.J. Chark, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tyler Boyd



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!

More Fantasy Football Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Projections
Articles & Tools
Weekly Planner
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

J.J. McCarthy

Likely Out for Week 3 With High-Ankle Sprain
Jean Silva

Gets Finished For The First Time In His Career
Aaron Jones Sr.

Unlikely to Play in Week 3 Due to Hamstring Injury
Diego Lopes

Returns To The Win Column
Jayden Daniels

' Week 3 Status in Doubt
Rob Font

Outclassed In The Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
David Martinez

Wins His Second UFC Fight
Jared Gordon

Suffers Brutal TKO Loss At Noche UFC 3
Rafa Garcia

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Brian Thomas Jr.

Dealing with Wrist Injury
Dustin Stoltzfus

Drops A Decision At Noche UFC 3
Kelvin Gastelum

Gets Back In The Win Column
Diego Ferreira

Suffers Second-Round TKO
Alexander Hernandez

Extends His Win Streak With A Brutal TKO
Quang Le

Suffers First-Round Knockout
Santiago Luna

Shines In His UFC Debut
Christopher Bell

Earns his First Bristol Cup Series Victory
Alex Bowman

Falls Short of Advancing Through Cup Series Playoffs
Chase Briscoe

Collects his Third Top-10 Finish at Bristol
Ryan Blaney

Strong Top-Five Bristol Performance Advances him to the Playoffs
Corey Heim

Earns his First Career Cup Series Top-10 Finish at Bristol
Giannis Antetokounmpo

Leads Greece to Bronze Medal
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Drops 28 Points in EuroBasket Finals
CFB

Indiana's Lee Beebe Jr. Out for Season with Knee Injury
Dennis Schröder

Dennis Schroder Named EuroBasket MVP
Bryce Eldridge

Giants to Promote Bryce Eldridge
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Progressing in Recovery
Jonathan Kuminga

Receives New Offer From Warriors
Kenneth Walker III

Bounces Back with Big Week 2 Performance
Bijan Robinson

Rushes for 143 Yards in Week 2
Justin Fields

Currently in Concussion Protocol
Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals Calling Around to Available Free-Agent Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow

to Undergo Surgery, Out at Least Three Months
Emil Heineman

Aiming to Take the "Next Step" This Season
Braeden Cootes

Good to Go for Camp
Ivan Fedotov

Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Fedotov From Flyers
Aaron Jones Sr.

Injures Hamstring During Sunday Night Football
Darren Waller

Not Expected to Play in Week 3
Garrett Crochet

Punches Out 12 in Win
Cole Ragans

to Return on Wednesday
Jameson Williams

Records Long Touchdown in Week 2, Still Limited to Downfield Role?
George Kirby

Strikes Out 14 in Win
Jayden Daniels

Considered "Day-to-Day" with Knee Injury
Carlos Estévez

Carlos Estevez Exits with Back Tightness
Jonathan Taylor

Tops 200 Yards From Scrimmage in Week 2 Win
Joe Burrow

Could Miss Three Months if he Requires Toe Surgery
Davante Adams

Headlines Rams Receiving Corps Sunday
Wan'Dale Robinson

Explodes for 142 Yards, Touchdown in Overtime Thriller
Joe Flacco

Browns Not Considering Benching Joe Flacco After Week 2
Quentin Grimes

Still Not Close to a New Contract Agreement
Lamar Jackson

Throws for Four Touchdowns in Week 2 Win
James Cook

Scores Two Touchdowns in Rout of Jets
Joel Embiid

"Looking Slender, Spry and in Positive Spirits"
Rome Odunze

Scores Twice in Loss
Ty Gibbs

Has Arguably his Best Career Drive, but Only Finishes 10th
Chase Elliott

Despite Crashing Out at Bristol, Chase Elliott Advances to Round of 12
Austin Dillon

Misses Round of 12 After Extremely Mediocre Bristol Run
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen Fails to Advance to Round of 12
Josh Berry

Finishes Last in All Three Round of 16 Races to Fail to Advance
Luis Arraez

Takes a Seat on Sunday With Head Injury
Adolis García

Adolis Garcia Activated, Starting on Sunday
CFB

Ryan Williams Explodes In Return To Field
CFB

Drew Allar Plays Mediocre Game In Blowout Win
CFB

LaNorris Sellers Exits Game In Blowout Loss
CFB

DJ Lagway Tosses Five Interceptions In Loss
CFB

Garrett Nussmeier Plays Game Manager in Saturday's Win
CFB

CJ Carr Remains Poised In Narrow Loss
CFB

John Mateer Leads Oklahoma In Rout
CFB

Arch Manning Struggles Against UTEP
CFB

Jeremiah Smith Impresses In Win
Bryan Woo

Records Career-High 13 Strikeouts
Max Muncy

Exits Early on Saturday
CFB

Sam Leavitt Shines As Arizona State Rebounds From Week 2 Loss
Salvador Perez

Reaches 300 Home Runs, 1,000 RBI
Jose Altuve

Exits Early With Foot Discomfort
Trey Yesavage

Heading to Big Leagues
Will Smith

Placed on 10-Day Injured List
Ivan Demidov

Turning Heads in Rookie Camp
NHL

Calvin de Haan Signs With Swedish Team
Samuel Girard

Skates With Non-Contact Jersey
Mackenzie Blackwood

Dealing With Injury Ahead of Training Camp
Spencer Knight

Signs Three-Year Extension With Blackhawks
Chris Buescher

May have Another Solid Run at Bristol
Corey Perry

Out 6-8 Weeks Following Surgery
Kyle Busch

Should DFS Managers Roster Kyle Busch at Bristol?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Too Risky to Consider Rostering at Bristol?
Michael McDowell

Could be A Solid Value Option For Bristol DFS Lineups
Chase Elliott

Probably Won't Factor in for Bristol Win
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Not as Strong at Bristol as Other Short Tracks
Alex Bowman

Needs to Win to Make Round of 12
Ross Chastain

has Never Led at Bristol but Has Been Pretty Consistent
Austin Dillon

Richmond Speed Unlikely to Carry Over to Bristol
Josh Berry

Might Run Well at Bristol, but Almost Certainly Won't Win to Advance
Justin Haley

Bristol One of Justin Haley's Few Recent Bright Spots
Tarik Skubal

Avoids Serious Injury, Expected to Make Next Start
CFB

Austin Simmons Listed As Game-Time Decision Against Arkansas
CFB

Nico Iamaleava Struggles In Fourth Straight Loss
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Dealing With a "Tweak"
BUF

Alexandar Georgiev Joins Sabres on One-Year Deal
Corey Perry

Injured During Pre-Camp Skate
Tanner Bibee

Fans 10 in Two-Hit Shutout
Zach Neto

Dealing With Wrist Soreness
Masyn Winn

Shut Down for Rest of Season
Tarik Skubal

to Undergo Imaging on Saturday
Tyler Soderstrom

Scratched on Friday With Groin Tightness
Tarik Skubal

Exits with Side Tightness
CFB

Antonio Williams Out Against Georgia Tech
Ketel Marte

Scratched From Friday's Lineup
CFB

CJ Bailey Flashes Again in Win Over Wake Forest
CFB

Jaxson Moi a Game-Time Decision for Tennessee on Saturday
Jean Silva

A Favorite At Noche UFC 3
Diego Lopes

Set For Noche UFC 3 Main Event
Rob Font

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
David Martinez

Set For Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
Rafa Garcia

An Underdog At Noche UFC 3
Jared Gordon

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Dustin Stoltzfus

Looks To Return To The Win Column
Kelvin Gastelum

In Dire Need Of Victory
Diego Ferreira

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Malcolm Brogdon

Heading to Knicks on One-Year Deal
CFB

David Sanders Jr. Won't Play Against Georgia
Landry Shamet

Staying with the Knicks
CFB

Dylan Edwards Slated to Return on Friday
Adam Lowry

Aims for Early-Season Return
CFB

Ryan Williams Expected to Play Against Wisconsin
CFB

Billy Edwards Jr. Unlikely to Play on Saturday
P.J. Washington

Officially Signs Contract Extension
CFB

David Sanders Jr. Questionable to Make Debut Against Georgia
Lauri Markkanen

Big at Both Ends as Finland Books Place in EuroBasket Semis
Luka Dončić

Luka Doncic Notches 39 Points in Losing Effort
NBA

Cam Reddish Expected to Move to Europe
NBA

Trey Lyles Joins Real Madrid
Charles Bassey

Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Hawks
Sacramento Kings

Terence Davis Waived by Kings
Matthew Knies

Ready for Bigger Role With Maple Leafs
Jack Eichel

Unbothered by Lack of Extension
Sidney Crosby

Not Thinking About Leaving Pittsburgh
SJ

Michael Misa Signs Entry-Level Contract With Sharks
Rutger McGroarty

Nursing an Injury
Cameron Champ

the Ultimate Wild Card at Procore
Cameron Young

Looks to Extend Momentum in Napa
Davis Thompson

Searching for a Spark at Procore
Sahith Theegala

Looking to Reignite Form at Procore
Mackenzie Hughes

Aims for Another Strong Showing at Procore
Luke Clanton

Brings Ball-Striking Upside to Napa
Seamus Power

Looking to Overcome Poor Course History at Procore
Joe Highsmith

Hoping to Find Form in Napa
Kristaps Porzingis

Reportedly Still Not Completely Healthy
Kelly Oubre Jr.

Reportedly on the Trade Block
Andre Drummond

Future in Philadelphia in Doubt
Giannis Antetokounmpo

Helps Greece Reach Semis at EuroBasket
Alperen Sengün

Alperen Sengun Posts Historic Triple-Double
Joel Dahmen

Finishes Tied For 15 at Wyndham Championship
Bud Cauley

Finishes Tied for 33rd at BMW Championship
Justin Thomas

Finishes Tied for Seventh at Tour Championship
J.J. Spaun

Finishes Tied for 25th at Tour Championship
Collin Morikawa

Finishes Tied for 19th at Tour Championship
Keith Mitchell

Misses Cut at Wyndham Championship
Ben Griffin

Finishes Tied for 10th at Tour Championship
Patrick Cantlay

Finishes Tied for Second at Tour Championship
Gary Woodland

Could Hang Around at Procore Championship
Karl Vilips

Ready for Napa Valley This Weekend
Taylor Montgomery

Heating Up at the Right Time
Jackson Koivun

May Be a Little Rusty at Procore Championship
Doug Ghim

Looking to Rise Up at Napa Valley
Shakir Mukhamadullin

Joins Informal Skate
William Eklund

Skates With Sharks
Owen Power

Back at 100 Percent

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP