It has been a busy 24 hours on the trade front. Yesterday, both Davante Adams and Amari Cooper found new homes, with Adams joining his old friend Aaron Rodgers on the Jets and Cooper heading to Buffalo. Both moves left fantasy managers excited and concerned, depending on who on their roster was impacted. Initial reactions for Adams and Cooper are that they have been saved from fantasy purgatory. But what does it truly mean for the talented wide receivers and how will it impact other fantasy-relevant pieces? Let’s take a look and discuss the potential fallout of these two trades.
Impact of Davante Adams Being Traded To The New York Jets
It’s no secret that it’s taken time for Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson to agree. But over the last few weeks, their chemistry has grown leading to Wilson being the WR9 this season while also leading the NFL in targets. The addition of Adams, someone that Rodgers trusts and has had great success with in the past, could muddy the waters for the third-year receiver. But ultimately, the biggest impact will be on Adams himself. In Las Vegas, Adams was stuck in a fantasy wasteland that was never going to maximize his full potential. He will now be catching passes from a future Hall of Fame quarterback who he is familiar with and who is likely to look his way early and often. This move should catapult Adams right back into the top 12 conversation.
As for Wilson, through six weeks, he has been spending time gaining the trust of Rodgers, and over the last two weeks, he has had 33 targets, so it’s hard for me to imagine he turns into a pumpkin just because Adams was added to the receiving room. He will be the No. 2 option on the team, but with defenses having to account for both Adams and Wilson, the efficiency of the targets Wilson receives may go up. I see Adams as a low-end WR1 with upside and Wilson as a high-end WR2 with upside. There is the fear that Wilson will drop to third on the team in targets with both Adams and Allen Lazard on the roster. I don’t think so. Wilson was already more involved than Lazard, and it makes very little sense that adding Adams would cause Lazard to leapfrog Wilson. It’s more likely that it means Lazard will be a flex at best, and that any other pass catcher is nothing more than a dart throw.
As for the Raiders, Brock Bowers could now finish as the No. 1 tight end. He is easily the most talented pass catcher on the team and should be the first read going forward. Continue to fire him up as an elite TE1. Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker will also benefit from the departure of Adams, but the Raiders do not possess a potent passing attack and I have my doubts about it being able to sustain multiple fantasy-relevant pass catchers. Meyers and Tucker can be used as a flex in a pinch, but for now, Bowers is the only Las Vegas Raider I feel good about.
Impact of Amari Cooper Being Traded To The Buffalo Bills
There are very few situations that would be worse for Cooper than Cleveland. Through the first six weeks, Cooper has had to endure a quarterback who is dead last in the league with 5.1 yards per pass attempt, top five in uncatchable pass rate (22.2%), and leads the league in sacks with 31. Not good. Now he will get to catch passes from Josh Allen. An upgrade to an MVP-caliber quarterback like Allen is a big deal for a savvy veteran like Cooper who should be able to adjust to the Bills’ offense quickly. They will expect him to because as good as the offense can look at times, they have been limited due to the lack of any truly elite wide receivers. Cooper could be that elite weapon. I would expect Cooper to produce as a WR2 with upside right out of the gate and if he sees the type of attention from Allen that Stefon Diggs did during his best seasons with the Bills, then a top 12 finish the rest of the way is not out of the question.
The impact on the other pass catchers is hard to diagnose because none of them were being treated as must-start players in the first place. But with Cooper on the team, Shakir and Kincaid would be the only players I’d feel comfortable putting into my lineup. Shakir would be a flex option, who could actually benefit from all the defensive attention that Cooper will get and Dalton Kincaid is still a mid-tier TE1. While the hope of Kincaid leading the team in targets flies out the window with the addition of Cooper, we could see better, more efficient, and more consistent production from Kincaid. There will be plenty of targets in this offense, but Cooper’s involvement will make those targets more difficult to predict, at least until we see how he’s utilized.
Finally, I would normally talk about the impact this will have on the Browns’ skill players. On its face, it looks like a great thing for players like Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku. They should surely soak up targets, but until there is a change at quarterback, the quality of those targets is going to be detrimental to their fantasy value. What they might do is lean on the running game more, especially once Nick Chubb is ready to go. If they do that, then I’d be fine playing Chubb, but if the much more talented Cooper is barely a top-40 wide receiver in this offense, then I don’t want any part of the remaining, less skilled pieces.
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