5 Fantasy Football Players Trending Up & Down: Week 1 (2026)

Each week during the 2026 fantasy football season, I’ll highlight a few players whose stock is trending up or down based on injuries, usage and performance. Some may be worth buying, while others might be heading in the opposite direction.

Either way, it’s always good to see where players stand, because values can change wildly once the games start counting. Hopefully, you’ll come back throughout the season to see who’s hot and who’s not each week.

Fantasy Football Players Trending Up & Down

Fantasy Football Players Trending Up

Michael Mayer (TE – LV)

In a blow to Brock Bowers drafters everywhere, the All-Pro tight end underwent a meniscus trim this week and is expected to miss a couple of games to open the season.

Enter Michael Mayer, the former second-round pick out of Notre Dame. Even dating back to college, Mayer has been overshadowed by his teammate. He lost the John Mackey Award to Bowers in 2022, and he’s been behind him on the depth chart in Las Vegas ever since the Raiders selected Bowers in round one two years ago.

Still, Mayer has a plethora of talent and will get a chance to shine as the starter. Last year, in four games without Bowers, Mayer averaged 10.9 fantasy points, 4.5 receptions and 49 receiving yards per game.

Mayer’s efficiency metrics over the full season were satisfactory, too. Among all tight ends, he finished 14th in target separation (2.02), 17th in first downs per route run (0.081) and 21st in yards per route run (1.48).

Mayer will be one of Kirk Cousins‘ main targets while Bowers is on the mend. He’s a priority add for Bowers managers and a strong short-term option if you need early-season tight end production.

Alec Pierce (WR – IND)

Congrats if you got a discount on Alec Pierce this draft season. The league’s premier deep threat is back at practice and seems like he’ll be ready to go for the season opener against Baltimore.

After sitting out nearly all summer, don’t expect Pierce’s role to look different early on. He’ll still be the field-stretcher, which is something he does quite well. Among receivers with at least 25 receptions, Pierce has led the league in yards per reception each of the past two seasons.

One thing I do expect to change in 2026 is how often Pierce is on the field. He signed a massive contract extension in the offseason, and Michael Pittman is gone. A bump in routes and targets should help Pierce’s weekly fantasy floor and make him less of a volatile headache for fantasy managers.

For now, treat him as a boom-or-bust WR3/WR4 type while we see how his role develops early in the season.

Chris Bell (WR – MIA)

After tearing his ACL in November, it seemed like Chris Bell might not be available to start his rookie campaign. That injury caused him to fall to the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, after many viewed him as a borderline first-round talent.

Well, Bell must have some Wolverine-like healing abilities. Not only did he recover quickly, but he was also able to suit up for Miami’s final preseason game, catching two out of five targets for 22 yards.

The runway is now clear for Bell to have a massive role sooner rather than later. The Dolphins listed him as a starter on their Week 1 depth chart, which is a great sign for his season-long outlook.

If Bell is still sitting on your waiver wire, he’s worth a stash at the end of your bench. Someone has to catch passes from Malik Willis. It might as well be the 6-foot-2, 220-pound yards-after-the-catch monster out of Louisville.

Fantasy Football Players Trending Down

Oronde Gadsden II (TE – LAC)

What a rookie season for Oronde Gadsden II. He racked up 664 receiving yards, the 15th-most receiving yards by a rookie tight end, and was a big-play machine in the process. He finished his first season averaging 13.6 yards per reception and graded out as the most dynamic player at his position, according to PlayerProfiler, with a 131.3 explosive rating.

Unfortunately, we might have to pump the brakes on the Gadsden excitement for Year 2. The Chargers went out and signed not one, but two tight ends: David Njoku and Charlie Kolar. On its Week 1 depth chart, Los Angeles listed Kolar or Njoku as the starter, with Gadsden serving as a backup.

Maybe Kolar is there to mostly block in heavier personnel sets, but he and Njoku will undoubtedly be gnats when it comes to Gadsden’s playing time and targets.

If you have Gadsden, it might be prudent to wait and see how the rotation plays out on game day. Just keep an eye on the snap share. If Gadsden is well behind the other two after a game or two, you can safely drop him and move on.

Rome Odunze (WR – CHI)

After missing several games last year because of a foot injury, Rome Odunze is now dealing with another lower-body injury. This time, it’s a calf injury on the opposite leg of his prior stress fracture. The team is calling him “day-to-day,” but he hasn’t practiced since suffering the injury last week.

That’s less than ideal after Ben Johnson spent all offseason hyping up Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland, his first two draft selections after he became head coach. If Odunze can’t go in the season opener, he risks falling behind those two in the pecking order.

Hopefully, Odunze recovers quickly and returns to the form we saw in the first half of 2025. In Weeks 1-8, he averaged 15.5 fantasy points per game, good for WR11.

For now, the calf injury dings Odunze’s stock a bit as we head into Week 1.