When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). And even ADP can lag as you prepare for your draft, making it difficult to know when to draft the top trending players. We have you covered with Real-Time ADP! Unlike traditional ADP, Real-Time ADP quickly detects changes in a player’s average draft position. Instead of showing you where players were drafted yesterday, Real-Time ADP shows you where they’re being drafted now.
Let’s look into a few notable fantasy football draft risers and fallers based on Real-Time ADP.
Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Risers & Fallers
Here are fantasy football draft ADP risers and fallers based on Real-Time ADP.
Fantasy Football ADP Risers
Zach Charbonnet has been good for the Seahawks whenever he’s gotten an opportunity. He averaged 3.35 yards after contact per carry last year and forced 32 missed tackles on only 135 rushing attempts. When Kenneth Walker was hurt, Charbonnet had a two-touchdown game against Miami and another two touchdowns against Arizona. Charbonnet has been good as a pass catcher, with 75 catches over his first two seasons. Charbonnet is one of the most valuable handcuff running backs, and he might even offer some stand-alone value.
With the Quinshon Judkins off-the-field issues, Jerome Ford reenters the fray as a late-round running back option. Last year, when he was active with Nick Chubb in the lineup, he averaged 8.2 touches and 47.7 total yards as the RB39 in fantasy points per game. Ford remained explosive last year. Among 46 qualifying backs, he ranked eighth in explosive run rate and yards after contact per attempt while finishing 18th in missed tackles forced per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). If Judkins doesn’t get suspended, Ford’s fantasy value in 2025 is barely palpable, as Judkins and Dylan Sampson will likely lead the way. If Judkins misses any time, Ford will likely fall back into his previous role for the team as a committee back, ceding the passing down work to Sampson. Ford could offer some flex appeal in deeper leagues to begin the season and some best-ball upside.
Austin Ekeler has an ADP in low-end range, but he was productive when healthy last year and is playing in an exciting, up-and-coming offense in Washington. Ekeler scored double-digit PPR points in 8-of-12 games last season and finished RB31 in fantasy points per game. When Brian Robinson Jr. missed a pair of midseason games with a hamstring injury, Ekeler had 134 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns in those two contests. I’m not expecting a return to the high-end RB1 days for the 30-year-old Ekeler, but I think he’s a value in the later rounds. Ekeler’s value shouldn’t be affected by the emergence of seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who could replace Robinson as the Commanders’ primary early-down back.
Fantasy Football ADP Fallers
Over the last four years, Joe Mixon has averaged 1,377 yards from scrimmage and 12.3 touchdowns per season. But Mixon is heading into his age-29 season and dealing with a foot issue that landed him on the reserve/non-football injury list, which means he’ll miss at least the first four games of the season. It’s also possible he’ll cede some snaps to rookie Woody Marks on passing downs and to veteran Nick Chubb on early downs. Plus, the Texans have one of the league’s worst offensive lines. There are a lot of storm clouds here — probably too many to warrant spending a draft pick on Mixon.
The Browns selected Quinshon Judkins in the second round of the NFL Draft to be their new early down volume thumper. With Judkins and Dylan Sampson added to this depth chart, I expect Jerome Ford to become a sparsely utilized change-of-pace option. I wasn’t high on Judkins as a prospect, as he ranked outside the top 65 backs in each of the last two seasons in yards after contact per attempt and elusive rating (per PFF). The draft capital and immediate high-volume role have helped to quell some of my pessimism, but Judkins could be held back by the overall ecosystem of the Browns’ offense and his lack of pass game upside. Cleveland’s starting quarterback situation is murky at best. Judkins finished college with 0.76 yards per route run, which isn’t an awe-inspiring number. Clouding Judkins’ availability and ADP is his recent arrest for domestic violence and his still unsigned NFL contract. The NFL has handled off-field issues in a multitude of ways, so I’m not assuming a suspension while we wait for details to continue to surface, but I also wouldn’t rule it out. Judkins missed time in camp and practice will also loom large with his 2025 role in the offense. He’s a risky RB3/4 for 2025.
Jayden Reed flashed big-play upside in 2024, posting two games with 138+ yards early in the season and finishing as fantasy’s WR26 overall (WR38 in ppg). However, his slot-only usage capped his opportunity – with just 68% route participation (71st among WRs) and only 4.4 targets per game. Despite the limited volume, Reed remained efficient, ranking 19th in yards per route run (2.2), and has led Green Bay in receptions and yards for two straight seasons. Even after the team drafted Matthew Golden in Round 1, Reed is still viewed internally as the pseudo-WR1. But Reed is also dealing with a Jones fracture in his foot. He is expected to play through it, but that puts him at a high level of both declined efficiency and re-injury risk.
