Fantasy Football Rankings Risers & Fallers: Chris Godwin Rises, Josh Jacobs Falls

If there's one time of year when fantasy football rankings are changing quickly—we're in the heat of it right now. We're one preseason game down, multiple training camp practices in and have a full slate of NFL preseason games on the horizon.

Let's dive into some of the biggest risers and fallers in Fantasy Life's consensus half-PPR rankings and what you should do about the changes.

Risers In Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings

Cyrus Allen | WR | Chiefs | +27

Consensus Rank: WR103 (High: WR77; Dwain)
Fantasy Football ADP (Underdog): 213.8

Every offseason, there's a consistent drumbeat centered around a rather unknown player who seems to be the star of training camps. This year's? Chiefs' fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen.

The Chiefs' WR room has been in the spotlight all summer between Rashee Rice's injury/jail time and Xavier Worthy's reaggravation of the shoulder injury that ultimately seemed to compromise his entire 2025 season. Couple that with the fact that Allen has stood out as an early favorite of Patrick Mahomes in training camp, and it's easy to see why people are starting to get excited about the prospects of him as a late-round flier. It's not often we see a fifth-round rookie get this type of attention with the first-team offense in a Chiefs training camp.

With so much to be desired in this WR room, there's certainly room for Allen to climb the depth chart and carve out a legitimate role, but it's important to note that he wasn't a standout prospect (our own Alex Cupps did a great prospect breakdown). He's virtually free in all formats, so I'm on board with the click, but he's not someone I'm interested in reaching and overpaying for.

Action Item: Target at cost as a late/last-round flier in all formats, but be wary of a dramatic price increase.

Stefon Diggs | WR | Commanders | +17

Consensus Rank: WR44 (High: WR32; Zain)
ADP: 123.4

This is an obvious one, and one we can make quick. The only thing suppressing Diggs' ranking and ADP was his free agency, which has since been put to rest.

Diggs will step in as the WR2 behind Terry McLaurin in Washington, and profiles as a nice complementary piece to McLaurin. Diggs has seen his air yards per target drop in four consecutive seasons (11.23 -> 10.36 -> 8.69 -> 8.54) as he's entered the back nine of his career, serving more as a possession-style receiver in Houston and New England. On the flip side, McLaurin has seen his rise in each of the last three seasons (11.47 -> 13.34 -> 13.98). It's also important to note that the two seasons of 13+ AY/Tar were with Jayden Daniels at QB (despite a limited 2025).

This should help give Diggs a specific, full-time role, serving as the slot with McLaurin and Treylon Burks on the outside in 3-WR sets and likely as the WR2 opposite of McLaurin in 2-WR sets. He posted a 22% targets-per-route-run rate on a 71% route share last year. Earning targets is clearly something he can still do at a high level, and while the TPRR is naturally going to come down assuming he sees a strong uptick in routes, he's still a screaming value at his current price.

Action Item: Target Stefon Diggs in all formats as a strong WR3/4 option with upside.

Chris Godwin | WR | Buccaneers | +5

Consensus Rank: WR38 (High: WR34; Dwain, Cupps)
ADP: 98.1

Chris Godwin had a forgettable 2025, appearing in only nine games with a 51 Utilization Score, but has a lot working in his favor ahead of a late-career bounceback season. With Mike Evans gone, there's a boatload of vacated targets to go around (23% target share, 35% end-zone target share). Plus, his quarterback is healthy after battling a litany of injuries last season, and the Bucs offensive line is healthy and looking like a potential top-five unit in 2026.

Perhaps the most important? We've gotten word throughout the offseason that not only does he look fully healthy, but he's expected to operate in a full-time slot role this season. If you need a reminder of how effective Godwin is in the slot ...

Yards Per Route Run: 2.10 (vs 1.49 lined up elsewhere)
Targets Per Route Run: 33% (vs 21.3% lined up elsewhere)
Yards Per Catch: 12.1 (vs 9.9 lined up elsewhere)

Action Item: Target Godwin aggressively in Rounds 8/9 or later as a rock-solid WR3/4 with upside to massively outperform ADP.

More rankings risers: Ja'Kobi Lane (WR, BAL; +23), Rashod Bateman (WR, BAL; +10), De'Zhaun Stribling (WR, SF; +7), Kayshon Boutte (WR, NE; +5), Terrance Ferguson (TE, LAR; +5)

Fallers In Fantasy Life's Consensus Fantasy Rankings

Antonio Williams | WR | Commanders | -15

Consensus Rank: WR78 (High: WR65; Kendall)
ADP: 191.1

With Stefon Diggs signing in Washington, someone's stock is bound to fall. While the signing will likely impact the target share of McLauin and Chig Okonkwo, it won't affect their playing time. But it will affect Antonio Williams' playing time. With Diggs factored into the fantasy football projections, Williams projects well behind the top two as the WR3 with 3.7 points and under 20 receiving yards per game.

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Could we see a late-season surge out of Williams as we do with some late-round rookies each year? Possibly, but the Commanders only project as the No. 24 team in passing yards per game compared to the No. 5 team in rushing yards per game this season (via Dwain McFarland).

Action Item: Williams is a fine dynasty stash, but no reason to target in redraft and a thin click in best ball.

Courtland Sutton | WR | Broncos | -6

Consensus Rank: WR45 (High: WR38; Kendall)
ADP: 84.9

There's been plenty of buzz around the Broncos' wide receiver room this summer, but none has surrounded Courtland Sutton. The veteran wide receiver turns 31 this October and will certainly see a drop in his 21% target share with new WR1 Jaylen Waddle in town. We've also started to see a gradual decline in his underlying metrics over the last two years, including yards per route run (1.86 -> 1.65), targets per route run (23.2% -> 20.1%), and air yards per target (13.24 -> 12.44). With him just about at the dreaded age cliff, it's also sounding like there's a non-zero chance we see second-year wideout Pat Bryant siphon some playing time away from Sutton, especially with a steady drumbeat out of training camp.

Despite the Broncos being one of the teams that drop back the most in the NFL, it's hard to paint a bull case for Sutton in a decreased role with young competition nipping at his heels.

Action Item: Pass on Sutton in all formats, target Jaylen Waddle heavily; Pat Bryant is a great late-round dart.

Josh Jacobs | RB | Packers | -4

Consensus Rank: RB33 (High: RB26; Kendall)
ADP: 33.9

This one feels rather obvious, as there's simply been no positives coming out about Josh Jacobs this offseason. On top of a potential looming punishment from the league for off-the-field issues stemming from an arrest in May, it's recently been reported that Jacobs will be out for "at least a week" with a groin issue. This is especially concerning given the trouble that a PCL injury gave him last season, on top of his age for the RB position and the declining efficiency we saw (4.0 yards per carry, 0.91 yards before contact).

Relying more on volume than efficiency entering his age-28 season, it's hard to envision the Packers loading him up for 300+ touches like we saw in 2024, given the lower-body injuries he's working through. With the Packers able to save $13.5M by cutting Jacobs after this season, they have every reason to give MarShawn Lloyd an extended look this season so long as he can maintain a clean bill of health.

Action Item: Jacobs is a fade at cost, but someone I'm fine targeting as my RB2 if he slips to mid-Round 4 or beyond. MarShawn Lloyd is one of my favorite late-round sleepers to draft.

More rankings fallers: Elijah Sarratt (WR, BAL; -9), Christian Kirk (WR, SF; -6), Nicholas Singleton (RB, TEN; -5), Rachaad White (RB, WAS; -5), Alec Pierce (WR, IND; -5)

Players Mentioned in this Article

CyrusAllen
WRKC
Proj
25.1
StefonDiggs
WRWAS
PPG
9.1
Proj
168.1
ChrisGodwin
WRTB
PPG
7.2
Proj
162.8
AntonioWilliams
WRWAS
Proj
58.5

Published Aug 12, 2026, 2:45 PM ETUpdated Aug 12, 2026, 2:56 PM ET