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Another new season is here to bring in a new rookie class with a lot of fantasy football uncertainty. Despite the injection of new talent, rookie usage and trends may not have fantasy managers jumping for joy just yet. Here, I aim to give you an update every quarter of the NFL season on how rookies are doing and their fantasy values. We are now at the halfway mark of the fantasy season and several rookies are solidifying roles as we get into November football.
Top 10 fantasy rookies to roster right now
Now, eight weeks into the season, player roles have begun to solidify. We still see top draft picks as the top rookie contributors this season, but a few other rookies have been able to shake through for real fantasy roles. Various wide receivers have roles while running backs are getting more involved as the season goes on and rookie tight ends have yet to emerge as consistent fantasy producers. We are still yet to see No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza start and No. 8 overall pick Jordyn Tyson at all. With a return on the horizon, Tyson especially could enter these ranks very quickly. You’ll notice Jeremiyah Love is not listed in the top 10 rankings. He gets an honorable mention here as he would be top three if healthy. Now hitting injured reserve, Love’s fantasy viability for the rest of the season is in question.
Despite a dud in Week 8, Cooper is a player to watch in the Jets’ receiving corps. He went on injured reserve after an ankle injury Week 1 and was fully off fantasy radars. With back-to-back games of 100 yards and a touchdown in Weeks 6 and 7, he is back on the radar as a strong fantasy stash. Cooper is averaging 3.18 yards per route run with a perfect passer rating when targeted over a small, 87-snap sample size. If anything happens to Garrett Wilson or Adonai Mitchell, Cooper has shown an explosive skillset.
Coleman is also technically the beneficiary of an injury, but one could argue he was ascending regardless of RJ Harvey’s knee injury. Since returning from injured reserve in Week 7, Coleman has seen snap shares of 49 percent and 66 percent, after seeing a 40 percent snap share in Week 2. Getting double-digit touches in all but his first game, he is set up for RB2 fantasy utility in the Broncos backfield. The only thing that could dampen his ascension is if the Broncos add another running back via trade.
Sadiq was a riser in the previous column, but four weeks have changed a lot about the rookie’s role. He has not maintained the same opportunity with Mason Taylor, Omar Cooper Jr., and Adonai Mitchell all back in the Jets’ pass-catching room. Operating clearly behind at least four Jets pass-catchers, Sadiq is getting less than 50-percent of the offensive snaps and caught just one pass in each of the last three games. He has fallen from fantasy TE2 viability to bench stash in deep leagues.
Love has had an unfortunate start to his career, with ankle injuries derailing his burst. He heads to injured reserve with a high ankle sprain before Week 9, expected to sideline him for at least a month. Averaging a simple 3.5 yards per attempt this season, Love has just one game finishing as a top-20 PPR back. That came in Week 3 against the 49ers, also his only game seeing over 50 percent of the offensive snaps. We can give the Notre Dame rookie some grace for the inefficiency and timeshare backfield as the ankle injuries have dampened his fantasy value. It looks like a redshirt fantasy season for Love, who is a fantasy RB3 if or when he returns from his IR stint.
Some quick hits on rookies at each position
We have yet to see Fernando Mendoza start as Kirk Cousins leads a solid Raiders offense for a Las Vegas team that’s not-too-shabby. The only rookies we have seen in significant roles have been undrafted free agents Jalon Daniels (Buccaneers) and Joe Fagnano (Ravens) and seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis (Commanders). None of these quarterbacks need to be rostered for fantasy purposes in redraft leagues. Mendoza is a stash for late in the season or for future years in dynasty formats.
Jadarian Price returns to a timeshare backfield in Seattle while Jonah Coleman returns with a chance to earn the lead back role in Denver. Mike Washington serves as the runner to Ashton Jeanty’s pass-catching role in Las Vegas, Emmet Johnson is an elusive pass-catcher out of the backfield for the Chiefs, and Kaelon Black is the insurance back to Christian McCaffrey. Coleman has the best outlook of the group at this point of the season, landing in the RB2 range ahead of the trade deadline. Price and Washington are RB3s while Johnson, Black and Seth McGowan are insurance backs/stashes.
As the top receiver selected in this year’s class, Carnell Tate sees the most targets per game of all rookie receivers as WR1 for the Titans. Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion are big parts of the Browns offense. Makai Lemon, Germie Bernard, and Antonio Williams are earning larger roles due to injuries in the wide receiver groups of the Eagles, Steelers, and Commanders, respectively. Tate has fantasy WR2 viability while Boston is a WR3 and Concepcion, Lemon, Bernard, and Williams are weekly WR4s.
With Kenyon Sadiq’s role decreasing over the last month, there are no rookie fantasy tight ends worth starting. Eli Raridon is averaging 1.7 yards per route run in a part-time role for the Patriots. Eli Stowers went for 50 receiving yards in his second game for the Eagles while Nate Boerkircher caught a touchdown for the Jaguars in Week 8. Josh Cuevas is No. 3 among rookies in receiving yards while fellow Ravens rookie Matthew Hibner sits at No. 5. Though Sadiq still carries the most upside, Raridon could find fantasy viability as a streaming tight end the back half of the season. Stowers and Cuevas are dynasty stashes while Hibner and Boerkircher are off the fantasy radar.
Rookies whose roles could change before the next quarterly rookie report
McGowan is a seventh-round rookie who won the backup role for the Colts in camp. With increasing trade rumors around current starter Jonathan Taylor, McGowan is in line to start should the Colts deal Taylor. He saw 12 touches in Week 7 and is the only Colts running back behind Taylor with over 10 carries on the season. McGowan should be stashed with the trade deadline looming but is only an insurance back for fantasy purposes if Taylor remains a Colt.
The Chiefs’ pass-catching group leaves much to desire. With Tyquan Thornton landing on injured reserve, Allen has seen a steady increase in opportunities. He caught 5-of-7 targets for 65 yards from Weeks 6 through 8, operating as the WR3 at the tail end of this stretch. He has increased from nine to 16 to 30 snaps over the last three weeks and deserves a stash on deep-league fantasy benches.
Through seven games, Raridon has 13 receptions and two touchdowns behind Hunter Henry. With the pass-catching hierarchy in New England still fluid, he has room to earn more targets from Drake Maye. Henry went down with a foot injury in Week 8, after which Raridon finished with a career-high 92 percent of the offensive snaps. He is already a dynasty stash for fantasy purposes, but he enters the TE2 conversation this season should Henry miss any time.
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