Players Who Lost the Most Value This Week

Photo: USA Today Sports

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 lost the move value this week?" Here's the discussion.

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

Anthony Amico

Laviska Shenault has turned into dust right before our eyes. Jacksonville went on an absolute spending spree on the first day of free agency, shelling out $105 million total for Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram. The team still has Marvin Jones on the roster, leaving Shenault on the outside looking in for targets. With the Jaguars also reportedly making him available for trade, it seems the sun may already be setting on a very popular sleeper from the past two seasons.

Dave Kluge

I understand what the Packers are doing by going out swinging in the twilight of Aaron Rodgers' career, but the financial allocation will force them to tighten up in coming years. It isn't uncommon for aging quarterbacks to take discounts in order to chase a ring, but Rodgers seems content squeezing every penny out of the Packers. There's an argument to be made for "paying whatever you can to retain your franchise quarterback." But being unable to keep Davante Adams, the Packers could be in trouble next season.

Jason Wood

You have to focus on the teams without answers at starting quarterback. While all the dominoes haven't fallen yet, we know that at least a few teams will be without a credible answer at quarterback. Depending on where Jimmy Garoppolo lands and if veterans like Matt Ryan or Baker Mayfield move to new homes as part of this carousel, my answer may change. But for now, the choice has to be DK Metcalf with Tyler Lockett a close second. Metcalf is unbelievably talented but he's not a complete receiver and was a perfect fit for Russell Wilson's efficient, accurate downfield passing style. Regardless of whether it's Drew Lock or a rookie throwing to Metcalf, we could very well have already seen his career best.

Ryan Weisse

It is impossible to argue with Jason's point here. The most significant loss of value is undoubtedly the Seattle wide receivers. We were making arguments for both of these guys as top-15 fantasy wideouts last year, and now they will be wholly dependent on ADP to determine if they are even draftable for your fantasy team. As of now, Michael Pittman has a close argument while the Colts figure out their quarterback situation, but there is no guarantee the next guy will feed him a 25% target share, as he saw from Carson Wentz.

Ben Cummins

The chemistry between a quarterback and a pass-catcher is very real and extremely significant when it comes to producing on the field. Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett had arguably the best connection in the league for years as Wilson’s pinpoint accuracy would hit Lockett in stride for big gains time and time again. With Wilson now in Denver and the Seahawks all but guaranteed to regress at the quarterback position, Lockett’s fantasy value takes a significant hit. DK Metcalf must be mentioned as well but he has the prototypical alpha body type that will allow him to be more quarterback-proof. The likeliest scenario for Lockett in 2022 is he remains a good NFL player but falls into a production bucket with many other more affordable wide receivers, making him somewhat irrelevant in fantasy.

James Brimacombe

Joshua Palmer was a player I had pegged for a breakout entering year two with Justin Herbert throwing him the ball. My reasoning for this was Keenan Allen starting his decline and the main reason was Mike Williams getting huge money from another team in free agency. Well, Williams got his huge money but it was with the Chargers so it will be Palmer taking a backseat in year two and will be the fourth option in the passing game behind Allen, Williams, and Ekeler.

Phil Alexander

I would be careful about taking the injury discount on Chris Godwin in 2022. Not only does Godwin have to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 15, but Tampa Bay's signing of former Atlanta slot receiver, Russell Gage, is also a moderate concern. Gage's presumptive role as Tom Brady's top option out of the slot means fewer high-percentage targets to help pad Godwin's stats.

Jeff Haseley

My pick is Dan Arnold in Jacksonville now that Evan Engram has entered the equation. Doug Pederson loves to play 12-personnel so we should see quite a bit of two-tight end sets. Both Arnold and Engram can be effective for the team, but for fantasy relevance, a duo tandem at the tight end position usually doesn't translate to fantasy success for either party.

Kevin Coleman

Chase Claypool came out of the 2021 season as a fantasy bust. The young wide receiver averaged just 11.1 PPR points per game and disappointed managers throughout the season. Many were hoping for a quarterback upgrade to help his value in 2022; instead, the Steelers signed Mitchell Trubisky. While he may be a slight upgrade over the 2021 version of Ben Roethlisberger, Trubisky still struggles to throw the ball downfield accurately. He averages just 8.14 air yards per attempt in his career, and only 12.2% of his passes have been twenty yards or more. Those numbers don't trend well for Claypool, who needs a quarterback willing to challenge defenses vertically. Fantasy managers should also expect tight-end Pat Freiermuth to cut into Claypool’s target share this season.

Ryan Weisse

Aaron Rodgers has played seven games without Davante Adams since 2019. He averages about 29 fantasy points per game in those matchups. Overall, that keeps him firmly in the QB1 conversation. It would actually put him in the overall QB1 conversation, but points per game and end-of-year totals don't tell the whole story. In three of those games, he scored below his season average. One was even a sub-10 fantasy point clunker. He was well above his average in the other four, including his best game of the 2019 season, with over 400 yards and five touchdowns. Splits aren't everything and Rodgers should still be fine for fantasy, but consistency could be an issue.

Andy Hicks

It is hard to find a better example than the Seattle receivers. I will focus on DK Metcalf. His maturity has always concerned me, despite his obvious freakish skillset. With Seattle looking to rebuild following the departure of Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner, among others, tasking Pete Carroll with that mission seems odd. Metcalf is also coming close to the end of his rookie deal. He could still play to the level of his ability and have a great fantasy season. Unless significant moves are made however, it is hard to see how right now.

Jeff Bell

Josh Jacobs finally caught passes in 2021, ranking fifth in running back receptions with 54. Since then, it has been one shot after another. First, Josh McDaniels brings his highly specialized backfield roles as the Raiders coach. Since free agency opened, he added Brandon Bolden, the back who stepped into the Patriot's passing game role in James White's absence. Bolden and Jacobs posted dueling catch percentages of 83.7% vs. 84.4%. Then came the addition of Davante Adams. Jacobs's best-case scenario is fourth in team targets, and even that assumes Bolden does not claim the passing game role. Add it all up, and Jacobs falls from fringe RB1 consideration to the back half of RB2 territory, similar to Damien Harris. Even Harris's 14 ppg may be a lofty goal as the Raiders are sure to rely on the passing game relative to the Patriots easing Mac Jones in as a rookie.

Jordan McNamara

There were huge value swings this week but I think the biggest negative was Tyler Lockett. He had a perfect passing rating when targeted by Russell Wilson in 2018. By way of comparison, Lockett had a better passer rating on his targets than Davante Adams in three of the past four seasons. Wilson's departure leaves a big hole at quarterback for Lockett who has consistently produced above his cost. My hope is a post-June 1 trade to Green Bay where Lockett will fill the void left by Adams's departure.