Players Who Gained the Most Value This Week

Photo: Jamie Germano-Roches, USA Today Sports

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The NFL's opening week of free agency gave us a string of jaw-dropping transactions. But which ones really moved the needle for fantasy players?

We asked the Footballguys staff "Which player gained the move value this week?" Here's the discussion.

See players who lost value here
See players off the radar here

Anthony Amico

James Conner signed a three-year, $18 million deal with Chase Edmonds walking out the door. It opens him up to be the clear lead runner in a backfield that generated tons of fantasy points in 2022. In five games without Edmonds in 2021, Conner had weekly fantasy running back finishes of 17, 7, 12, 2, and 1. After finishing as the RB9 last season in points per game -- largely due to scoring 18 touchdowns -- Conner should be scoring points more consistently in 2022, with an even bigger weekly ceiling.

Dave Kluge

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Trevor Lawrence's value went way up. It's cool to take jabs at the Jaguars for overspending, but they're doing exactly what you should do when you have a quarterback like Lawrence on a rookie deal. Brandon Scherff was an underrated signing to improve a better-than-you-probably-realize offensive line. Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram aren't blockbuster names, but the Jaguars are giving Lawrence multiple options to build chemistry with. It's easy to draw similarities to the Patriots' 2021 offseason. Jonnu Smith ended up being a bust at his price tag while Kendrick Bourne vastly surpassed his deal. Is it possible that Kirk is a bust and Jones pops off? Sure. Maybe Engram blows up as a reliable target next year. No one really knows. But beefing up the offensive line and surrounding their Year 2 quarterback with new weapons should help him take a leap next year.

Jason Wood

As the person who spearheads our offseason movement tracking, I can tell you that we all tend to massively overweight free agent signings and their commensurate impact with NFL franchise outcomes. That's not to say there isn't any impact, it's just that most signings end up being negative ROI decisions, but hope springs eternal and every fan sees their team's signings in the best possible way.

At the risk of being trite, Tom Brady is the obvious choice here. A week ago we thought the greatest of all time was retired and thus has absolutely no value in redraft or dynasty circles. But now he's back in the fold in Tampa Bay, and so too are most of the Buccaneers' free agents as they attempt to make one more run at the Super Bowl. Brady is coming off another top-3 fantasy season. Going from out of the league to an every-week fantasy starter has to be the answer to this particular question.

Alfredo Brown

Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton have had a positive bump in value since the Russell Wilson trade. Over the last four seasons in Seattle, Wilson has had his leading wide receiver finish as the WR18 or better in each year, including 2020 where DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett finished as the WR6 and WR13 respectively. Meanwhile, during that same time span, Seattle was 32nd, 20th, 24th, and 32nd in pass attempts per game. Logic tells us that new Broncos head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, is likely to have the Broncos passing plenty and utilizing his new quarterback a lot.

This marriage between an offensive-minded head coach, a very efficient quarterback, and two very talented wide receivers could be a match made in Mile High heaven.

Ryan Weisse

Have to strongly agree with Anthony and say, James Conner. While it is hard to say he gained a ton, he was the overall RB5 last year; he will not lose as much as those who cry "TD regression" would have you believe. In the three years that Kliff Kingsbury has been the coach, the Cardinals have averaged over 12 redzone rushing touchdowns per year from running backs, including the 15 that Conner scored last season. Even if he regresses to 12 total touchdowns from 18 last season, he is still in line to be a top-12 fantasy back, especially with the possible addition of more passing game work.

Ben Cummins

The Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury Arizona offense has been favorable to running backs, including James Conner in 2021. Conner racked up 1,127 total yards and 18 touchdowns in 15 games, looking great as a dual-threat workhorse as he benefited from injuries that caused Chase Edmonds to miss five games. Edmonds is now a Miami Dolphin as the Cardinals chose to commit to Conner instead with a three-year, $21 million deal reportedly worth up to $25.5 million. All the stars are aligning for Conner to once again be a fantasy difference-maker as he will play the entirety of the 2022 season at only 27 years of age.

Sigmund Bloom

A lot of good names mentioned so far. I want to stick with the Cardinals, but shine the spotlight on DeAndre Hopkins, who should go back to a monster target share with Christian Kirk and A.J. Green gone, and Rondale Moore, who should have a larger role at wide receiver and has the potential to replace some of the snaps Chase Edmonds vacated in the backfield.

Phil Alexander

Alfredo mentioned the favorable impact of the Russell Wilson trade on Denver's wide receivers, but it also raises the ceiling for the team's running backs. As of this writing, it remains to be seen if Melvin Gordon will resign with the Broncos in free agency. Regardless, Javonte Williams flashed top-five fantasy running back potential when featured as a rookie, and is ticketed for an increased role. With the hyper-efficient Wilson extending drives and adding scoring opportunities for Denver, Williams' inflated ADP (currently No. 14 overall on Underdog) is justifiable.

Jeff Haseley

The acquisition of Russell Wilson to Denver and the resulting departure of Noah Fant to Seattle opens the door for tight end Albert Okwuegbunam to see a rise in fantasy appeal and success. As a result of this move, Okwuegbunam enters the equation as a fringe-top 10 fantasy tight end who rose in appeal overnight.

Ben Cummins

Every Denver Broncos skill player received a boost in value when the organization pulled off a monstrous trade for Russell Wilson. Courtland Sutton absolutely must be mentioned but it’s Jerry Jeudy I want to highlight. Not surprisingly, Wilson has already watched hours of Broncos film and had generous things to say about every skill player in his introductory press conference but his Jeudy quote stuck out the most, “I think he’s a star. A guy who can get open, can kill guys at the line, can matchup against different guys, can go attack the ball.” Jeudy was an awesome prospect and first-round draft pick just a few years ago. After a solid rookie year, he suffered an ankle sprain in Week 1 last season and then dealt with bad quarterback play when he returned. The sky is now the limit for this rising star.

Zareh Kantzabedian

With Davante Adams traded to the Las Vegas Raiders and Marques Valdes-Scantling testing free agency, Allen Lazard is ready to experience a rise in fantasy production in 2022.

Over the past couple of years, Lazard has become more incorporated into the Green Bay Packers offense. Aaron Rodgers has plenty of say in who gets to see work, and the trend in Lazard's snaps is encouraging. His snaps increased from a median of 53% in 2019 to 79% in 2021.

When discussing air yards, Adams and Valdes-Scantling both received an average of 58.6% in 2020 and 2021.

Lazard only received 17.29% in 2020 and 19% in 2021. If he sees even a quarter of those leftover air yards, that's 33.65%. That is WR1 air yard volume.

With all of the opportunities left behind, I think Lazard has the chance to settle in as a solid WR2 in 2022.

Kevin Coleman

In a surprise move at the beginning of free agency, Tom Brady announced he was coming out of retirement. While that undoubtedly helps everyone’s fantasy value, the receiver that should be spotlighted is Mike Evans. Evans is coming off his eighth straight 1,000-yard season and should keep that streak going in 2022. Before Brady's return, Evan’s value was in question with the uncertainty at the quarterback position. Now, with Brady, we could easily see Evans posting WR1 numbers in 2022. When Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown were out last season, Evans saw a 27% target share. With Brown gone and Godwin recovering from an ACL injury, Evans should be in line for even more targets in the offense.

Andy Hicks

I’ve always liked what I have seen from D.J. Chark. In the 2019 season, he ranked in the top 18 fantasy receivers and top 10 in touchdowns. Injury issues have been a concern since, but his one-year deal in Detroit gets his career the shot in the arm he needs. The Lions didn’t have a reliable target in 2021 until Amon-Ra St.Brown came on in the last six games. I would watch for chemistry in training camp, but if Chark is fit, he will be great fantasy value. Alongside T.J. Hockenson and St.Brown, Chark gives the Lions a much improved receiving corps. More help may come later in free agency and the draft. Right now Chark is a player to grab later in drafts.

Victoria Geary

As long as Aaron Rodgers doesn't decide to retire over the next few days due to the heartbreaking loss of Davante Adams in free agency, I think we can more confidently invest in running back Aaron Jones this year than last. We should expect the Packers to add a few receivers in free agency and even through the draft, but Jones will be heavily leaned on by the team out of pure necessity. The good news is that he's a fantastic running back both on the ground and through the air. Evidenced by Dave's tweet below, Jones's stats all shoot up dramatically in the absence of Adams. We will have to keep our eyes peeled for any future moves made by the Packers' front office.

We've got a seven-game sample over the last three years of Aaron Jones playing without Davante Adams and his pass-catching usage goes through the roof.

Targets +70%
Receptions +74%
Receiving yards +156%
TD's +217%

Strangely enough, all of his rushing numbers also see a bump.

— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) March 18, 2022

Jeff Bell

Dawson Knox has had a quietly fantastic free agency. Ken Dorsey knows the value of tight end, with Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow as primary targets at Miami and first coaching job a Carolina offense flowing through Greg Olsen. With Dorsey as offensive coordinator, Knox stands as the primary beneficiary. Ranked TE9 in ppg in 2021, his 10.8 fell just 1.5 points behind Dalton Schultz’s TE5 placement, despite ranking 19 in raw tight end targets. Knox’s catch rate soared from a career 55% to 69% in year three. Cole Beasley’s departing 325 targets since 2019 open up opportunity. The addition of O.J. Howard created a negative buzz, but the Bills only had one tight end active for most games in 2021. Howard was a small investment but opened Knox up to work more out of the slot, where his rapport with Josh Allen is growing. Those two moves quietly set the stage for a true breakout for Knox.

Jordan McNamara

I'm with Anthony here on James Conner. I'm glad he got paid as he produced two top-six seasonal finishes in his five-year career with low-level career earnings for an NFL player. Conner ranked in the top five in points per touch in 2021 and was second in the league in rushing touchdowns behind Jonathan Taylor. Conner can see a bigger share of the backfield with Chase Edmonds departing for Miami, which could cover some regression in the touchdown department.