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Davante Adams Traded To Jets: Fantasy Football Takeaways & Implications (2024)

Davante Adams Traded To Jets: Fantasy Football Takeaways & Implications (2024)

The inevitable happened Tuesday morning, when the Las Vegas Raiders traded veteran WR Davante Adams to the New York Jets. This was always the move that made the most sense for all parties involved. The Jets, despite a slow start that got their HC Robert Saleh fired, are still all-in on trying to win a Super Bowl during their current window with Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and Adams enjoyed a lot of success together in Green Bay and have spoken glowingly about each other in the past. And Rodgers has never been shy about getting jobs for his friends. But we care about what this means for fantasy football.

How does this trade impact the fantasy-relevant players on the Jets and Raiders? Is the Garrett Wilson breakout on hold? Is the Allen Lazard Experience over? Is Tre Tucker viable in fantasy for the rest of the season? Does this move open things up for Breece Hall? We’ll break down those scenarios and more below. Have questions about your fantasy teams? Hop into the FantasyPros Discord and chat with our experts and thousands of other fantasy football managers.

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Davante Adams Trade Fantasy Football Impact: Jets

Davante Adams (WR)

The good news for Davante Adams investors is that the veteran receiver will no longer be sitting in cold storage. Adams has ostensibly been dealing with a hamstring injury, though cynics have suggested that a self-reported injury was simply Adams’ way of initiating divorce proceedings with the Raiders.

It’s not clear whether Adams will play in Week 7 or how long it will be before he’s playing a full complement of snaps for the Jets. Even if he plays this week, you might want to consider keeping him on your bench for a tough matchup against the Steelers.

It’s not realistic to expect the 31-year-old Adams to be the high-end WR1 he was with the Packers earlier in his career. Adams and Aaron Rodgers are no longer in their primes. And the last time Adams had to share targets with a receiver as good as Garrett Wilson was 2016, when Jordy Nelson was still at the height of his powers with the Packers. (Adams had yet to record his first 1,000-yard season at that point.)

Once Adams has had a week or two to settle in, I’ll consider him a low-end WR2. I currently have him at WR28 in my rest-of-season rankings. Just ahead of Adams: Diontae Johnson, Brian Thomas Jr. and Chris Olave. Just behind Adams: Jameson Williams, Jaylen Waddle and Puka Nacua.

Adams will be an every-week starter in most leagues, but to expect star-level production from him is unrealistic.

Garrett Wilson (WR)

There’s no way to spin the Adams trade as a positive for Garrett Wilson‘s fantasy value. Sure, maybe Wilson gets incrementally less defensive attention now that defensive coordinators have to account for another high-level receiver when they draw up game plans for a matchup against the Jets. But Adams is certainly going to cut into Wilson’s target share. Through six weeks, Wilson’s target share with the Jets is a robust 30.7%. With Adams, expect Wilson to have a target share closer to, say, the 23%-25% range.

Those of you who took Wilson late in the first round of fantasy drafts probably aren’t going to get a full return on investment, but Wilson should at least be a quality fantasy starter for you, even if he has to share targets with Adams. Consider Wilson a midrange WR2 going forward.

Allen Lazard (WR)

Allen Lazard currently ranks WR8 in half-point PPR fantasy scoring. See those lights flicking on and off? That’s the bartender letting us know the party is over and it’s time to go home.

With Davante Adams now in the fold for the Jets, Lazard becomes a No. 3 receiver behind two of the more talented wideouts in the league. Even with his surprisingly fast start to the season, a lot of fantasy managers have been reluctant to put Lazard in their starting lineups. Now? It’s an easy choice to leave Lazard on the bench, and some fantasy managers might choose to cut him.

There might occasionally be some Lazard outbursts where scores a touchdown or provides a respectable yardage total. But after averaging 6.7 targets over the first six games of the season, Lazard figures to be less prominently involved in the Jets’ passing game going forward. I have him ranked WR64 in my rest-of-season rankings.

Aaron Rodgers (QB)

It seemed inevitable that Aaron Rodgers would be reunited with Davante Adams. The Jets were incentivized to hasten an Adams deal after their hopes of a last-minute comeback against the Bills on Monday night were dashed by an interception caused by a Mike Williams slip-and-fall so ridiculous that it even made personal injury attorneys roll their eyes.

Rodgers now has a fabulous trio of wide receivers with Adams, Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard, plus a terrific pass-catching running back in Breece Hall and a competent tight end in Tyler Conklin. All that weaponry can’t hurt, but I would resist the urge to trade for Rodgers thinking that he’ll go back to being a QB1 for fantasy.

Three reasons why Rodgers profiles as more of a midrange QB2 for fantasy: (1) The 40-year-old Rodgers provides little rushing value anymore; (2) Aaron Rodgers/Nathaniel Hackett offenses typically play at a leisurely pace; and (3) since the Jets have one of the better defenses in the NFL, Rodgers probably won’t be involved in many shootouts where he needs to stomp the accelerator to keep pace with a high-scoring opponent.

The addition of Adams should improve Rodgers’ efficiency as a passer and give his fantasy value a slight bump, but it would be unwise to expect MVP-caliber numbers out of Rodgers the rest of the way.

Breece Hall (RB)

The Davante Adams trade doesn’t fundamentally change the fantasy value of Breece Hall. Does it potentially siphon a few targets away from Hall? Maybe. Does it make the Jets a better team and lead to more run-friendly game scripts for Hall? Maybe.

Ultimately, the deal probably isn’t going to affect Hall’s value in a major way.

Tyler Conklin (TE)

Tyler Conklin is currently the TE20 in half-point PPR fantasy scoring. He had a 5-93-0 performance in Week 3 and a 6-55-0 performance in Week 5, good for TE4 and TE15 fantasy finishes in those two weeks. But Conklin has produced 17 or fewer receiving yards in his other four games.

Conklin had been in consideration as a tight end you might be able to stream in any given week. With Davante Adams around to soak up a buunch of targets from Aaron Rodgers, Conklin is no longer fantasy-viable.

fantasy football trade advice

Davante Adams Trade Fantasy Football Impact: Raiders

Jakobi Meyers (WR)

With Davante Adams no longer playing for Las Vegas, Meyers becomes the de facto No. 1 receiver in Sin City. But that title might not mean all that much for fantasy.

Whether it’s Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew at quarterback, the Raiders are going to have one of the NFL’s most feeble passing attacks. And Meyers isn’t exactly a big-play receiver. He did have a career-high eight touchdowns last season, but Meyers has scored only 17 TDs in 81 career games. He has a career average of 11.4 yards per catch.

But target volume counts for something, and Meyers is sure to see an uptick in target volume with Adams out of the picture. With Adams sitting out for the Raiders’ last two games, Meyers had 5-49-0 on 10 targets against the Browns and 6-72-0 on nine targets against the Broncos.

Meyers will probably gain more value in full-point PPR leagues than in standard-scoring and half-point PPR leagues, courtesy of the anticipated boost in target volume. I have Meyers at WR38 in my rest-of-season rankings, so I think he’s more of a weekly flex play than a must-start receiver.

Brock Bowers (TE)

Even before the Davante Adams trade, Brock Bowers had been establishing himself as one of the few dependable tight ends for fantasy. Now, Bowers is cemented as a top-three tight end along with Travis Kelce and George Kittle. In fact, it wouldn’t be shocking if Bowers became the second consecutive rookie to lead the TE position in fantasy scoring, on the heels of Sam LaPorta‘s TE1 finish last year.

If you’re rostering Bowers, you might be fielding multiple trade offers this week.

Tre Tucker (WR)

Tre Tucker is worth rostering in most fantasy leagues now that the Davante Adams trade has made Tucker a starter for the Raiders. But until we see more from Tucker, it’s best to monitor his progress from afar instead of throwing him into your starting lineup.

With Adams out the last two weeks, Tucker has logged season-high snap counts of 59 and 60. But the increased role hasn’t equated to better stat lines. Tucker had two catches for 18 yards on five targets against the Broncos in Week 5, and in Week 6 he drew two targets against the Steelers and failed to record a catch.

It’s possible a bigger role leads to a breakout game from Tucker in the coming weeks, but until he establishes a more consistent baseline of production, keep Tucker on your bench.

Aidan O’Connell (QB)

Even with Davante Adams, Aidan O’Connell was only playable in superflex leagues, and it was hard to make the case that he was worth a roster spot in 1QB leagues. Now? Pffft.

The Raiders have one of the weakest WR groups in the league, and O’Connell and Gardner Minshew are both backup-level talents. Roster O’Connell in superflex leagues, but you can safely ignore him in 1QB leagues.

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