Fantasy Football Rankings Risers And Fallers: Calvin Ridley And Xavier Worthy Are On The Move
Kendall Valenzuela has updated her fantasy football rankings, and describes why she is moving players up and down in her latest analysis.
It's that time of year. The NFL has been back at it from it's small hiatus, and while teams are in shorts and helmets during training camp, they do seem to be making some news. And we have to react to this news, and that's often reflected in our ever-changing rankings.
In this edition, we have three players on the rise, and three more who are falling in my rankings. Click the graphic below for the full rankings, but down in the analysis there is plenty of reasoning for why these players are on the move in the final weeks before the coming fantasy football draft season.
Fantasy Football Rankings Risers
Xavier Worthy, WR | Chiefs (WR18)
Xavier Worthy has been moving up my rankings for two reasons, the first being the potential suspension for Rashee Rice. A judge sentenced Rice to five years probation with 30 days of jail time (that can be served within those five years). Now that we know his legal sentence, the NFL has more than likely started working on his potential multi-game suspension. The expectation is that we get that news before the start of the season, and for that reason I want to be drafting for Worthy now before he gets more expensive.
Worthy drafters had to exercise patience with him last season, but once he worked under a full-time role there was no denying the fit and fantasy production. From Week 14 through the Super Bowl, Worthy averaged an 87% route participation and 19 PPG.
I fully expect Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes to work on making this offense more explosive in 2025. To be honest, they need to get back to that—Mahomes ranked 33rd in air yards per attempt (6.3) last season, according to TruMedia. Yes, the Chiefs can still score and even on "down" years they are still making their way to the Super Bowl, but in 2024 Kansas City was last in explosive play rate. Rice will eventually come back to this offense, and maybe his suspension is on the lesser side, but Worthy is going to need to get to the next level in terms of winning on the outside because Rice will take many of the underneath looks.
I'm hoping that we get his ceiling projection of 19.1 PPG (WR1) this season.
Calvin Ridley, WR | Titans (WR27)
No matter which way you look at it, this is a big quarterback upgrade for Calvin Ridley. He led the league in air yards and ranked sixth in downfield receptions last season (WITH A BAD QUARTERBACK), but also led the league in total unrealized air yards last season. Cam Ward will be the upgrade he needs, plus he is projected for 115 targets with a mediocre receiver room behind him.
A big focus will be on producing more in the red zone—last season, Ridley had only four red zone targets. We've been hearing that the Ward-Ridley connection has been getting stronger and stronger this offseason, and with Ridley, I'm imagining a season where he can convert all that opportunity into fantasy goodness.
Kenneth Walker III, RB | Seahawks (RB13)
I promise this has nothing to do with my Seattle Seahawks fandom. Kenneth Walker III has been the feature back when healthy in his first three seasons in the NFL, but I know a lot of people are going to look back at the injury history, which is totally fair. In three seasons, injuries have limited Walker to 15, 15, and 12 games. In 2024 he missed time with oblique and ankle injuries, but he still had the most missed tackles forced of his career (61), and logged a 39.9% tackles avoided rate on rushes.
Klint Kubiak is now the offensive coordinator in Seattle and the organization tried to address the offensive line issues by drafting guard Grey Zabel in the first round. Kubiak running backs in the past have excelled, especially in the passing game. Right now Walker is projected for 201 rush attempts on top of 46 targets.
His first two seasons in Seattle, Walker wasn’t featured as much in the passing game, but in 2024 we saw him get a career-high 53 targets. He went from 2.2 targets per game in 2023 to 4.7 last year. Trying not to get overly excited about the potential breakout Walker could bring to my fantasy teams, I'll just say it's shown in my rankings how optimistic I am.
Fantasy Football Rankings Fallers
Zay Flowers, WR | Ravens (WR29)
This one pains me a little, but Zay Flowers is no longer on my regular radar in fantasy drafts. It was clear last season: How high is the ceiling for Flowers? Lamar Jackson finished the regular season with 41 touchdown passes along with 4 interceptions, but Flowers still only managed to find the end zone four times.
This is a run-heavy team, and even though Flowers has given us WR3 finishes in back-to-back seasons with 12.8 and 12.3 points per game, respectively, I find myself drafting other receivers in his range which has made me drop him down the rankings. The Ravens passed at the second-lowest rate per game last season and having an elite dual-threat quarterback doesn't help his case much either.Flowers is still going to produce good fantasy outings, I just need to be realistic with myself if he's worth the price around other receivers who have cleaner paths to fantasy production.
Tony Pollard, RB | Titans (RB30)
I really liked drafting Tony Pollard last season—he finished as the RB21 in PPR formats and outperformed his preseason ADP. However, this season has seen Pollard slip down the rankings a bit. I've mentioned above how the presence of Cam Ward is a direct upgrade to this offense, but in my mind that also means a feature on the passing attack is likely in the cards for 2025.
I don't expect Pollard to have the same 301 touches (9th most in the NFL) this year and I have been drafting more and more Tyjae Spears, who projects to have a bigger receiving role than Pollard this season. Both running backs dealt with injuries, but Spears (24) comes in four years younger than Pollard (28).
Quinshon Judkins, RB | Browns (RB46)
This is a fluid situation with Quinshon Judkins and the Cleveland Browns because we really have no idea what could happen with Judkins' rookie season. There have been reports that the team wants Judkins to deal with the legal situations first, but then we also have quotes from Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam saying he's "cautiously optimistic" that Judkins will eventually sign and play for the team.
This is a situation I want to stay entirely away from. I understand some drafters like to take a shot at value when guys like Judkins are sliding down draft boards, but just know with a lingering legal situation over his head and not getting time in training camp to get up to speed with his new team, your best bet might be just passing entirely.
It's obvious why Judkins is a rankings faller. I'm making sure to take more Dylan Sampson if I want any piece of this backfield. Overall, this is just a lesson of risk and reward management in drafts. If you want to take a shot on Judkins, just make sure to prepare for potential zeroes to start the season and draft accordingly around him.
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