Davante and Amari trade fallout! 📊

Two blockbuster deals shook up the league yesterday: Davante Adams to the Jets and Amari Cooper to the Bills! Faraz and Zach will have full analysis of those moves, plus answers to your fantasy questions submitted by the community on the latest episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast dropping later today!

• Raiders veteran WR Davante Adams traded to Jets following months of speculation, New York’s Week 6 loss to Bills

  • Apparently the last straw to set the trade in motion was yet another loss for Gang Green, this time with interim HC Jeff Ulbrich at the controls. Since Rodgers landed in New York ahead of the 2023 season, rumors have swirled about him and his former WR1 in Adams reuniting in the Big Apple – and with the Raiders staring down the barrel of another lost season with no viable starter at QB, they’ve decided to cut their losses and ship their star WR1 to the Jets. Adams enters a WR room that is extremely crowded, though it’s likely to become slightly less cramped as veteran WR Mike Williams is expected to test the trade market in response to New York’s acquisition of Rodgers’ old friend. Wilson and Adams will effectively operate as a WR1a and WR1b tandem for Rodgers, with Allen Lazard looking like a potential odd man out in the receiving rotation. If Adams’ arrival in New York doesn’t render Lazard obsolete, there’s no telling what will. Both Wilson and Adams can be treated as WR2 plays with every-week WR1 upside for the time being. As for the fallout in Las Vegas, WR Jakobi Meyers receives an upgrade, while TE Brock Bowers should be locked in for an elite target share as the premier weapon in the Raiders passing offense. The upside is nearly non-existent for the Raiders offense overall, but targets alone will be eough for Bowers to get it done as a top-5 tight end this season. His floor is even more secure than it was before with Adams in the lineup.

• Browns veteran WR Amari Cooper traded to Bills in exchange for multiple draft picks

  • The second of two blockbuster WR moves, Cooper is officially freed of his Deshaun Watson-shaped shackles and lands in an offense in desperate need of a true WR1 presence – and more importantly, with a star quarterback in Josh Allen. Through six games in Cleveland, Amari Cooper has earned 50 targets, the 9th-most in the NFL in that span. However, those targets have been far from perfectly delivered; Cooper’s 60% catchable target rate ranks 12th-lowest out of 83 receivers to run 100 or more routes this season. With Josh Allen, that number should certainly improve, and Cooper has a new lease on life and a second chance to salvage his 2024 fantasy season. With Cooper landing in Buffalo, he should be installed instantly as the top target in a Bills passing attack that’s been all kinds of out of whack to begin the season. Khalil Shakir should remain as a flex play despite the move, while Dalton Kincaid receives a slight downgrade to his floor – though his ceiling stands relatively intact considering it wasn’t that high to begin with. Back in Cleveland, WR Jerry Jeudy and TE David Njoku should rise to the top of the target distribution, though their fantasy prospects are still dashed by their existence on one of the NFL’s worst offenses. Amari Cooper will profile as an instant WR2 play in Buffalo.

• Steelers veteran QB Russell Wilson expected to receive first-team snaps in practice this week, ‘in consideration’ for Pittsburgh’s starting job in Week 7

  • Whether or not Russell Wilson actually overtakes Fields for the starting job remains to be seen as there’s been no formal announcement of a change under center. However, there’s clearly blood in the water for a potential Wilson takeover – even with Justin Fields playing admirably while leading the Steelers to a 4-2 start to the season. Through six games this season, Justin Fields stands as the overall fantasy QB6 on the season with 10 total TDs (5 passing, 5 rushing) and just one interception. It’s hard to imagine Rusell Wilson coming in and taking the Steelers offense to some other level that it hasn’t already achieved with Fields, but it sounds like HC Mike Tomlin is genuinely considering a switch at this point. If Wilson does end up drawing the start in Week 7, he’ll likely be out of the starting conversation in a tough matchup against the Jets. Fields’ fantasy managers shouldn’t panic just yet, as Fields has played well enough that the leash on Wilson would likely be short if he’d end up as Pittsburgh’s starter this weekend. However, given that Fields has played as well as he has and the Steelers are still considering playing Wilson, this could end up being a tug of war for starts between the two signal callers the rest of the way.

1. Diontae Johnson has another WR1 finish

   • Hope the one bad game in a tough matchup didn’t scare you off from starting Diontae yesterday. He’s now had three WR1 finishes with Andy Dalton at QB while averaging a 30% target share. Enjoy the ride. He has a great matchup on deck next week against Washington.

2. Chase Brown takes lead in Bengals backfield

   • Brown entered this game as the clear 1A, and while touches were somewhat close in the first half, Zack Moss’ early third quarter fumble solidified Brown as the guy the rest of way on Sunday. Brown also ran more routes than Moss for the first time this season, leading to a season-high 14% target share for Brown. His 24% target rate on a per route basis makes more routes very appealing. Brown has now finished as a Top-18 RB in three straight weeks, pending MNF.

3. Tyrone Tracy makes his case for a continued role

   • Tracy wasn’t overly efficient with his 17 carries last night, but he supplemented that with catching all 6 of his targets for 57 yards (18% target share). The fact that he handled every role you want a RB to handle last night tells you what the Giants coaches think of him, and he could push for a role once Devin Singletary is back.

4. Joe Mixon returned without skipping a beat

   • Mixon was the overall RB2 in Week 1, and now has a chance to finish as the overall RB2 once again in Week 6. Dameon Pierce was a little involved, but we can probably expect Mixon to gain an even larger share of the backfield next week with him being another week removed from his ankle injury. He’s a RB1 moving forward.

5. Baker Mayfield is a must start fantasy QB

   • Mayfield is only behind Lamar Jackson in total fantasy points scored after his Week 6 QB2 finish, and it’s not by much. Mayfield has had only one down game so far this year, and that was against a tough Denver defense. He goes up against a pass-funnel Baltimore defense next week, and it’ll be tough to keep him out of the Top-5 QB rankings for that matchup.