Fantasy football is officially here!

Many fantasy drafts have already taken place, but the biggest draft weekend of the year is right around the corner. Regardless of your league’s rosters or rules, it’s time to pay more attention to players whose roles have been more clearly defined.

This is the time of year when NFL teams make important roster decisions. Players are placed on (and often remain on) the physically unable to perform (PUP) and non-football injury (NFI) lists. Players are released or traded at the deadline, giving others a clearer path to play.

Aside from these moves, sometimes the public finally takes notice of a player who was previously not rated as highly. Regardless of the reasons, you can really get a lot of value in your fantasy draft if you stay up to date with the news. That’s why in this article I’m going to highlight a few players who are moving up in my rankings as the start of the season approaches.

This is by no means a complete and definitive list, but it is a good starting point when looking for values ​​for your designs. Let’s get started!

Rashee Rice, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Rice was involved in a serious traffic accident earlier this year. The legal process is ongoing and once it is complete, the NFL will begin its own investigation. He is not currently suspended, but that could change at any time.

Unless he gets suspended, Rice should still play many games as the WR1 in a high-scoring Chiefs offense. Last season, Rice finished as the WR27, but that’s only part of the story. From Weeks 12-17, Rice was the WR4 in fantasy points thanks to a massive increase in targets. During that time, he had a target share of 27.8%, ranking him sixth in targets, fourth in receiving yards, and second in receptions. He was Patrick Mahomes’ preferred target in that offense, ahead of even Travis Kelce.

If Rice wasn’t under the legal situation, he would likely be drafted as a top-15 to top-20 wide receiver. However, at the time of this writing, he is only the No. 33 WR taken off the board at the end of the 9th round according to ADP. That’s incredibly low considering his talent and production as a rookie. If you want Rice (my WR24), you’ll likely need to snag him in round 5 or 6, long before any of your fellow managers pounce.

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers

The Panthers drafted RB Jonathon Brooks as the future of their backfield, but he begins the season on the NFI list after suffering a torn ACL during his senior year at Texas, meaning he will miss at least the first four weeks of the season, and may miss even more time after that.

Don’t assume the rookie, who hasn’t practiced with Carolina since signing in April, will immediately return to peak form once his mandatory four-week absence is over. Our impeccable injury analyst Stephania Bell has made it very clear that “return to play” is not the same as “return to perform” — and in this situation, we’re talking about a rookie who hasn’t even stepped on a practice field with his new team. Brooks still needs to ramp up to a full-time workload while digesting everything the NFL throws at him. And he has to do that in the middle of the season for possibly the worst team in football.

Last season, Hubbard took over as starting RB in Week 6 and didn’t give up the job for the rest of the season. He wasn’t very efficient, but he got a consistent dose of volume. As a starter, Hubbard ranked fifth in the NFL in contacts and 14th in scrimmage yards. Sure, it was tough for him to be super-efficient in such an inferior offense (led by a struggling rookie QB), but during his time as a starter, he was still a good bye-week replacement, averaging 12.6 fantasy points per game during that time.

Hubbard will see a lot of play as a starting RB in this offense. He comes off the board as RB45 (in the 16th round), a full six rounds after Brooks. He’s essentially “free”. Grab him as a late-round starter for your off weeks.

Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns

Similar to the situation with the Panthers I just mentioned, Ford will be taken off the board a full round after Nick Chubb, who begins the season on the PUP list after suffering a serious knee injury last year. If you’ve listened to Fantasy Focus this year, you’ve heard Stephania Bell talk about her concerns about Chubb coming back and playing like “the Nick Chubb we’ve all come to know and love.”

There’s no telling how quickly he’ll come out of rehab and get back into shape. Unfortunately, given the nature of his injury, I’m skipping Chubb entirely and focusing on Ford as another late-round RB I can fit on my bench.

I won’t draft him as a starter, especially since he comes off the board in the 13th round, but rather as an off-week replacement who should have a decent base if called upon to take over either my RB2 or flex spot. He’s not always exciting, but after averaging 12.4 FPPG as a starter, Ford has moved up my rankings and is now my RB33.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

A quick quiz question: Can you name all the failed starting quarterbacks McLaurin had to endure during his tenure in Washington? Yeah, I can’t either. It was that bad for him!

He will have 2024 No. 2 draft pick Jayden Daniels at quarterback, and McLaurin is clearly the most talented pass receiver in Washington’s offense. Jahan Dotson is now in Philadelphia, and Luke McCaffrey, Olamide Zaccheaus, or Dyami Brown are expected to be the WR2 here.

Only three teams have a lower projected win total (6.5, according to ESPN BET) than the Commanders. This is a team that will “play from behind” more often, so it’s finally time to see what McLaurin can do with a true quarterback. I recently included him in my top 30 wide receivers (highest among ESPN’s rankings) and with him coming off the board at the end of the 9th round as a WR4, I’m buying him this season for his value.

Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants

I’ve been debating how high to rank Nabers all offseason, and after evaluating, re-evaluating, and triple-checking the Giants’ roster, I see no reason why Nabers couldn’t be one of the most highly-targeted wideouts in fantasy football this season.

Other options for New York include Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt, to name a few. There isn’t much competition in targets behind Nabers and his skill set. It would be surprising if he averaged 10 targets per game, but 8.5 is certainly not impossible.

He’s going to have some great weeks in his rookie season as the Giants’ top skill position player. I’ve upgraded him to WR15 (again, the highest spot among ESPN’s rankings) and am excited to get the exciting young rookie as a low-end WR2/high-end flex for my fantasy team.