Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers: Quinshon Judkins, Oronde Gadsden Impress

Though not many dynasty leagues have an extremely liquid trade market, don't always assume that your leaguemates are paying the utmost attention. Heck, maybe you're not, and that's why you're here.

Whether it's missing an "NFL Redzone" window on errands or watching your favorite team, they might miss a mammoth performance from one of their players. Some rookies are starting to see increased usage, too.

It's a classic dynasty fantasy football stock watch. Who is trending up Who is trending down? Here are a few players in both categories.

Note: All stats come from Next Gen Stats or Pro Football Focus unless stated otherwise. Rankings come from KeepTradeCut (KTC)'s superflex rankings, and the basis for this piece is 10-team leagues using half-PPR scoring.

Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers After Week 7

Drake Maye, QB, Patriots

Here's an obvious shout to Jaxson Dart at quarterback here, but I didn't want a boatload of rookies. Drake Maye is on quite the ascent himself.

On a New England Patriots offense that's largely still a work in progress in terms of elite weaponry, Maye has toppled the Buffalo Bills in primetime and completed 91% of his throws against the Tennessee Titans just in the last three weeks, resulting in 20.1 fantasy points per game (FPPG).

His legs are a key asset, sitting eighth among full-time starters in rushing yards per game (28.6). Hints of that last year have exploded in 2025.

Dynasty managers are, understandably, placing a lot of faith in his talent plus Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, and this situation that is clearly growing. Definitively placing him above Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix -- as KTC's rankings do -- isn't where I'm at personally, but I get it.

Maye is now the QB4 in dynasty overall. An offseason buy worked out.

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Browns

Because of the risk associated with Quinshon Judkins' offseason trials and tribulations, a lot of savvy dynasty managers bought the first-round rookie much lower than where he was projected after the draft.

That gamble paid off.

Judkins appears to be a star talent in the NFL when the Cleveland Browns' disastrous quarterback situation hasn't stopped him from posting 88.2 scrimmage yards and 0.8 scrimmage TDs per game. Averaging 14.6 FPPG against stacked boxes behind Dillon Gabriel is pretty insane.

Beyond three touchdowns in a soft matchup on Sunday, Judkins' bright future comes from Cleveland's potential offensive upgrades. There's pass-catching talent like Jerry Jeudy and Harold Fannin Jr. in place. Does Shedeur Sanders make the most of his opportunity? Is it a new guy with two first-round picks in 2026?

Either way, Cleveland nailed the Nick Chubb selection years ago from a running back duo at Georgia. They appear to have done it again with Judkins from his tandem at Ohio State last year.

George Pickens, WR, Cowboys

This offseason's valuation of George Pickens was extremely interesting. He was changing teams to lose WR1 status but potentially benefit from a superior passing offense with the Dallas Cowboys.

It has absolutely worked. Pickens is sixth in the NFL in FPPG (16.4), and there's only so many humans on Earth with the talent to do that even if he did see a multi-week bump in target share due to a CeeDee Lamb injury.

Even if you just include Lamb's three full games, Pickens is still averaging 10.0 FPPG with 25.0% of Dallas' deep targets (10-plus yards) and 33.3% of the team's red zone looks. Lamb's durability has to be questioned at this stage, too.

Dallas' salary cap situation is fluid enough that it's possible they resign him, but a team might open up the checkbook to make him a WR1 with the way he's playing. Pickens' rumored personality concerns might end behooving both parties to keep this marriage in Big D at a reduced cost, though.

Either way, Pickens was the WR32 on KTC at the time of the 2025 NFL Draft. He's now the WR18 and a legitimate top-shelf asset.

Jaylen Waddle, WR, Dolphins

Whatever life looks like after this ugly Miami Dolphins run still likely involves a ton of Jaylen Waddle, and dynasty managers are taking notice.

Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa seem to be on borrowed time, and it's already been reported that they'll be cutting an injured Tyreek Hill as to not risk a $51.9 million cap hit on the aging wideout.

The former No. 6 overall pick can absolutely be a WR1. He's handled a team-best 22.6% target share in three weeks since Hill's injury, and this is a guy still at 2.07 yards per route run (YPRR) for his entire career. Think of how many turbulent Dolphins experiences that includes.

Waddle's biggest obstacle to being a truly elite fantasy option is expected to be gone, and he's only 26.8 years old despite this being his fifth NFL campaign. I'm not waiting for others to see the upgrades to buy the WR60 in KTC's rankings now.

Oronde Gadsden, TE, Chargers

Did the Los Angeles Chargers find something in the form of Oronde Gadsden?

Gadsden exploded for 124 yards in Week 7's fantasy-point bonanza against the Indianapolis Colts. You're already encroaching rarified air at the tight end position to even possess the ability to do that in a single game.

I was much, much higher in my draft rankings on Gadsden than most because the converted wideout also had unusually high blocking metrics for someone making that switch. He's apparently earned the trust of Jim Harbaugh in that department to log 68.7% of the snaps in the past three weeks.

Frankly, Gadsden's biggest issue at this point is that L.A. can't miss in this realm. Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, and Quentin Johnston are all balling to the extent that Tre Harris can't even see the field. His target share is probably capped at 15.0%, but he's shown he can make plays for Justin Herbert in limited opportunities.

Dynasty Fantasy Football Fallers After Week 7

Kyler Murray, QB, Cardinals

The most harrowing drop at quarterback in dynasty is losing firm control of the job, and Kyler Murray is the most notable example from 2025. Tua and C.J. Stroud were firm considerations here, too.

Wheels are spinning in the Arizona Cardinals' front office when Murray (foot) has missed two weeks, and, frankly, Jacoby Brissett has been a better passer. He's at +0.09 expected points added per drop back (EPA/db) to Murray's -0.03, and all three of the team's leading weapons have seen their yardage averages rise.

Concerns about Kyler being "the guy" have been present his entire tenure due to his height and potential off-field effort issues. At 2-5, Arizona might be onto a new coach next year, and that coach might explore trading the former top pick.

This drop is sort of reminiscent of Baker Mayfield's exodus from Cleveland, and that shows that a new home wouldn't be the end for Kyler. He's just certainly dropped from a top-15 QB in dynasty to the uncertainty zone.

Chase Brown, RB, Bengals

If not for Week 7, Chase Brown might have been the most precipitous faller of the season.

Brown finally found room to roam for 100 scrimmage yards on Thursday, but it'll take more than one game of a fever dream that was the "The Unc Bowl" to erase a concerning trend about his production in 2025. He had posted just 7.7 FPPG before last week and has, still, slipped into a timeshare with Samaje Perine in the Cincinnati Bengals' backfield.

The hope for the 25.5-year-old running back was to become a TD machine in a Joe Burrow-led offense this year. The reality is a pretty replaceable talent at -0.15 rushing yards over expectation per carry (RYOE/c) for a Cincinnati team that would rather throw.

An 11.7% target share has kept him alive in half or full-PPR formats, but unless we see Brown separate from Perine considerably in games where Joe Flacco isn't lighting it up, there's a real, tangible concern if Brown is even on the fantasy radar at all in 18 months.

Jameson Williams, WR, Lions

I'd have been mouth agape if, in September, you told me what Jameson Williams' season looked like so far.

He inked an $80 million contract before the season with the expectation of a larger role in a Detroit Lions' offense that might have changed to more traditional wideout usage with a new coordinator. The end result? Detroit's offense is almost identical to last year, and he's scraping for any touches at all behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Sam LaPorta. Williams was held without a catch on two targets in Week 7.

Talent isn't the issue here. The problem is that Williams, by signing that deal, locked himself into a role that's pretty horrifying outside of "best ball" formats where his big plays are rewarded without the downside. His target share is just 15.4% this season. It helps the Lions win, but he'll never provide top-shelf fantasy production.

Jamo was the WR20 in dynasty just before the 2025 kickoff, and he's now the WR32 and dropping. Realistically, this upsetting situation isn't going to be any different without a change of scenery, either.

Keon Coleman, WR, Bills

Did Keon Coleman have the shortest elite sell window in the history of dynasty fantasy football?

After Week 1 where Coleman exploded for 21.2 fantasy points on 11 targets against the Baltimore Ravens, the sophomore wideout looked like the new top receiver for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. It turned out that the Baltimore D is a mess, and Coleman has just 26.5 fantasy points total since that performance on an 18.5% target share.

Separation issues are very real for the former basketball player, and Allen seems increasingly unwilling to give him 1-on-1 opportunities. He was always a raw prospect and is still just 22.4 years old, but we've gotten just that one game to suggest he could be a high-level target in the NFL.

You're holding the falling stock of Coleman now, but another tough choice could come if Allen does create a couple of spike weeks in the scoring column for him. Is it a leap, or will he just always fail to consistently produce?

Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints

Take me back to the Juwan Johnson era.

Johnson drew 20 total targets over the first two weeks of the season for a 26.7% target share. That work translated to 13.9 FPPG. It looked like the 29.0-year-old tight end -- who we also knew was kind of talented -- was ready to join Chris Olave in leading the New Orleans Saints' passing attack.

Since those first two weeks, it's looked a lot more like his previous few seasons. The target share (15.6%) has decreased as he's still run 75.4% of the routes. Overall, he's scored just one touchdown, his 1.41 YPRR is pretty plain, and this is a New Orleans offense with great uncertainty about Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough being the answer(s) at QB.

Peaking at TE14 but down to TE24, it's starting to look like Johnson's chances of becoming anything more than a roster-clogger are dwindling quickly.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.