My misses eat me alive during the season. I could brag about how Jaxon Smith-Njigba was labeled as one of "My Guys" this preseason. I could reshare my preseason article encouraging drafters to aggressively target Rashee Rice in drafts this year. I have plenty of good calls I could beat my chest over. But that's tacky and classless, and I'm neither.
Cheekiness aside, there are more lessons to learn from our misses, and that's why I focus on them. It's more than self-flagellation. It's an important exercise to improve. A few weeks ago, I reflected on my thoughts about Javonte Williams, trying to understand where I went wrong and how I could learn from it. Another player I haven't been able to stop thinking about is Jameson Williams.
I still struggle to see where my logic failed me. You can listen to my preseason thoughts here.
To sum up my bullish stance, he's a hyper-efficient, young, talented player on an explosive offense who was being drafted below where he finished last year. Stumbling through his first two years with injuries and a suspension, he broke out in Year 3. He finished as fantasy's WR19 last season, averaging 12.2 half-PPR points per game. The Lions knew what they had in him when they awarded him a three-year extension worth up to $83 million this offseason. All the preseason buzz out of Detroit said Williams looked as good as ever. His route tree was developing. He was ready for a big step forward.
I aggressively targeted Williams this offseason, not thinking twice about taking him early in fantasy drafts. He's on 32% of my best ball rosters. I have him in a handful of high-stakes NFFC leagues. I targeted him in dynasty trades. I reached for him in multiple industry drafts. I roster him in my most important league, which I've been running for 19 years with my buddies from high school. And it looked like an awful mistake. Through the Lions' Week 8 bye, he was averaging 7.1 fantasy points, WR53 on the year. In Week 7, their last game before the bye, he posted a zero-point performance, a sharp kick in the shin for anyone still holding onto hope.
Just as I was ready to accept defeat going into Week 9, Lions' offensive coordinator John Morton took ownership in a way many coaches never do.
In a post-bye press conference, Morton was questioned about Williams' limited usage. Morton responded earnestly, "I looked at everything, as far as that. I'm going to do a better job with that. But there has been opportunities where it just didn't happen. It's not like we aren't going to try to target him. So that was the biggest thing. So I looked at everything, and I failed him. That's what I told him. I have to do a better job with that. But it's a two-way street. We definitely looked at that."
"I failed him."
I couldn't stop hearing that in my head as I was setting my Week 9 lineups, still starting Williams everywhere I had him. Checking my scores at halftime, I couldn't help but laugh at his one reception for negative two yards. I deserved it for my stubborn decision to stay tethered to preseason biases.
Late in the third quarter, Williams caught a crosser for a modest 13-yard gain. Yay. He had positive receiving yards on the day. A few plays later, he caught a short comeback, spun off his defender, and skipped for a quick first down on an 18-yard catch and run. And then, down four points and coming out of the two-minute warning, Williams put his stamp on the game. Pulling single coverage to the left, he immediately dusted his defender with a quick release. Williams wasn't ten yards off the line of scrimmage before Jared Goff saw the leverage gained, and he floated a ball to the boundary. Williams twisted to catch the ball, tiptoed acrobatically down the sideline, and lunged to the pylon. The ref called it three yards short of a touchdown because, frankly, it looked impossible in real time. A closer inspection reversed the call, putting the Lions ahead with less than two minutes remaining.
They inevitably lost the game, which ruins the dramatic effect of the story. But this is football, not cinema.
The late-game Herculean touchdown wasn't the only flash we've seen from Williams this season. In Week 2, he caught a crosser off play action and sliced through the Bears' defense for a 65-yard gain. Later that quarter, he got behind the safety for an easy 44-yard touchdown. In Week 6 against the Chiefs, he sold a vertical route before breaking inside, catching a pass across the middle of the field, and pinballing his way through defenders for a score. Despite these fleeting moments, though, he was averaging just 4.3 targets per game, a significant falloff from last year's 6.1 targets.
And then in Week 10, it finally happened. Williams became a focal point of the team's offensive attack. He exploded, catching six of seven targets for 118 yards and a score. Washington's defense seemed to have no answer for him. Before halftime, Lions reporters noted a change on the sidelines. After Morton had been calling plays all year, it appeared as if Dan Campbell was in Goff's ear for this one. Campbell confirmed those reports, and I suddenly realized where I had gone wrong.
Yes, Jameson Williams is an ascending talent. Yes, the Lions are a good offense. Yes, the weekly ceiling for Williams can single-handedly win you your weekly matchup. But what I hadn't taken into consideration was the massive brain drain in Detroit. Of course, the Lions lost Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, their former offensive and defensive coordinators. Not as widely reported, though, was that they also lost their passing-game coordinator, Tanner Engstrand, and their wide receivers coach, Antwaan Randle-El. Almost everyone who was a part of Williams' breakout last season was gone.
While we should have faith in a coaching staff led by Campbell, in hindsight, a bumpy start was perhaps expected. Morton is a first-time playcaller. David Shaw, their passing game coordinator, spent the last 18 years coaching in college, long removed from the NFL. Scottie Montgomery has been Campbell's assistant head coach since 2023, and he's currently moonlighting as the team's wide receiver coach along with his assistant role. I was so focused on the player that I failed to recognize the system.
For now, things seem to be back on the right track. Williams' 35.5 fantasy points over the last two weeks are fourth-best among all receivers. His 6.5 targets per game over that stretch are much closer to the preseason usage expectations, a minor uptick from the 6.1 he pulled last year.
Is Williams here to stay? Will he heat up over the second half of the season? No one can say. But when setting lineups in Week 11, knowing Campbell is calling the plays should give you a bit more comfort in starting him.
Williams probably won't live up to my pre-draft ranking as a top-20 wide receiver this year. He's already dug himself into a deep hole. At this point, what's done is done. But if he can provide that expected production over the second half of the season, all we'll remember are games he helped us win.
Patience is often rewarded in fantasy football. And those who practiced patience with Williams may be gifted with a late-season push and a hopeful shot at a championship.
Speaking of championships, they'll be here before we know it. With just one month left in the regular fantasy season, you might already have a clear picture of your playoff picture. You can use these rest-of-season rankings as a guide for trades and waivers, but you'll have to apply some added judgment this time of year. If you're fighting for a playoff spot, you should value the short-term production from guys like Kimani Vidal and Rachaad White more than my rankings may imply. If you've already clinched a berth, don't be afraid to trade for Omarion Hampton, Bucky Irving, Ricky Pearsall, or another player who could push you over the edge during the fantasy playoffs.
This was a shockingly quiet week for the rest-of-season rankings movement. Luckily, there weren't many major injuries. As of Monday evening, no quarterbacks have been benched. As we often see around Week 10, rookies are heating up, and they make up many of this week's risers. While a lot of fantasy managers are hitting cruise control at this point in the season, a bit of extra work scouring the waiver wire or perusing for trades could be what your team needs.
As always, these rankings are the opinion of one staffer. Please check out Bob Henry's rest-of-season projections for a different opinion. All of the fantasy-relevant players are ranked, and movers are listed with a "+" or "-" indicating their change from last week's set of rankings.
Let's start with the quarterbacks.
Quarterbacks
Updates on Jayden Daniels' injury, Kyler Murray landing on IR, and Joe Burrow's potential return to practice are the big stories this week. I assumed Daniels' season was over and removed him from my rankings last week. Positive updates push him back onto the fantasy radar, albeit on the fringe. Aside from those big movers, the quarterback rankings feel mostly dialed in, requiring just a bit of routine housekeeping.
- QB1 - Josh Allen
- QB2 - Lamar Jackson
- QB3 - Jalen Hurts
- QB4 - Patrick Mahomes II
- QB5 - Drake Maye
- QB6 - Justin Herbert
- QB7 - Daniel Jones
- QB8 - Dak Prescott (+1)
- QB9 - Baker Mayfield (-1)
- QB10 - Jaxson Dart
- QB11 - Matthew Stafford (+2)
- QB12 - Caleb Williams
- QB13 - Bo Nix (-2)
- QB14 - Jared Goff (+2)
- QB15 - Sam Darnold (-1)
- QB16 - Jordan Love (-1)
- QB17 - Brock Purdy (+1)
- QB18 - Justin Fields (-1)
- QB19 - J.J. McCarthy (+2)
- QB20 - C.J. Stroud (-1)
- QB21 - Joe Flacco (+1)
- QB22 - Trevor Lawrence (+1)
- QB23 - Michael Penix Jr. (+1)
- QB24 - Aaron Rodgers (+1)
- QB25 - Marcus Mariota (+1)
- QB26 - Tua Tagovailoa (+4) - He's always been a streaky player, and Tagovailoa is playing hot right now. He's had six touchdowns over the last three weeks, including wins over the Bills and Falcons. Of course, he also had a scoreless loss to the Ravens in there, where he threw an interception and took two sacks. He's completely off the radar in single-quarterback fantasy leagues, but moving up slightly in two-quarterback and superflex leagues.
- QB27 - Bryce Young
- QB28 - Jayden Daniels (New) - The elbow injury Daniels suffered in Week 9 looked gruesome, but X-rays came back negative, and there was no ligament damage. Reports before Sunday's game indicated he would avoid IR and could return after Washington's Week 12 bye. The Commanders are currently 3-7. At best, they'll come out of the bye 4-7, and potentially 3-8 if they lose to the Dolphins next week. Winning the NFC East, with the reigning Super Bowl champions in the division, feels impossible. A Wild Card berth is unlikely given the strength of the NFC North and West. It's been an awful season for Washington. Terry McLaurin's preseason holdout has led to nagging injuries. Austin Ekeler ruptured his Achilles. Marshon Lattimore tore his ACL. Luke McCaffrey and Noah Brown are both on IR. The Commanders might consider bringing Daniels back for the final few games, but in what's shaping up to be a lost season, there's a real chance he doesn't return as the team shifts its focus to 2026.
- QB29 - Cameron Ward (-1)
- QB30 - Joe Burrow (+5)
- QB31 - Kyler Murray (-11) - Submitting this article every Monday night often means it's missing key mid-week news. Murray was placed on IR last Wednesday, meaning he'll miss at least the next three weeks (not including last week). Jacoby Brissett will start in his absence. The Cardinals have some difficult decisions to make about Murray's future. For now, though, he's droppable in most fantasy formats.
- QB32 - Tyler Shough
- QB33 - Geno Smith (-4)
- QB34 - Jacoby Brissett (+5)
- QB35 - Dillon Gabriel (-2)
- QB35 - Mac Jones (-5)
- QB37 - Spencer Rattler (-3)
- QB38 - Russell Wilson (-2)
- QB39 - Jake Browning (-2)
- QB40 - Tyrod Taylor (-2)
- QB41 - Davis Mills (New)
- QB42 - Malik Willis (-2)
- QB43 - Joe Milton III (-2)
- QB44 - Jalen Milroe (-2)
- QB45 - Shedeur Sanders (New)
- QB46 - Kenny Pickett (New)
- QB47 - Andy Dalton (New)
