Rest-Of-Season Fantasy Football Rankings Risers & Fallers: Matthew Golden, Carnell Tate & More

Two weeks of data feels like the best time to do our initial check-in on what the 2026 rest-of-season fantasy football rankings are looking like. While many players sit in the same (or similar) positions to their pre-season ADPs from a mere four weeks ago, there have been a handful that have moved dramatically—one way or the other.

Let's dive into a trio of both the biggest risers and fallers, using Yahoo fantasy football ADP as the baseline.

Risers In The Rest-Of-Season Fantasy Football Rankings

D'Andre Swift | RB | CHI

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 44.4
ROS Ranking: 34 (RB16)

After seeing the same underlying role in Week 1 that we had been accustomed to in 2025, Swift saw an uptick in a handful of valuable metrics in Week 2:

Snaps: 57% -> 67%
Routes: 24% -> 45%
Targets: 4% -> 21%
TPRR: 0.11 -> 0.32
I5 Att: 75% -> 100%
UR Score: 68 -> 84

Week 1 provided us with the box-score boom (31.9) compared to last week (10.4), but the fact remains: Swift's role in a potent offense is very strong, and it grew.

He's risen 10 spots relative to his preseason ADP and finds himself firmly entrenched as a mid-range RB2 with high-end RB2 upside. Week 3 could be a struggle for Chicago as a whole in a tough matchup with the Eagles and potentially without Caleb Williams, so if you can buy Swift for his preseason cost now, or even wait until after a potentially down game this weekend, he's someone I would jump on if you are RB-needy.

Matthew Golden | WR | Packers

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 123.8
ROS Ranking: 45 (WR22)

No player has risen more in our rest-of-season rankings than Matthew Golden, and it makes complete sense. Over the first two weeks of the season, Golden ranks 1st on the Packers in routes (88%), T1st in targets (27%), TPRR (0.26), and air yards (33%), while ranking 2nd in aDOT (12.5 yards). With it looking like Jayden Reed could miss the rest of the season, the target tree in Green Bay is only going to consolidate around Golden, Christian Watson, and Tucker Kraft more.

The Packers are currently tied for 2nd in the NFL in dropback percentage (69%) and tied for 3rd in DBOE (6%), leaning heavily into their pass game, a massive change from last season. This could change if/when Josh Jacobs returns, but that remains a massive unknown, and this Packers defense has not been strong enough to prevent them from getting into competitive or trailing game scripts. The runway is clear for Golden, and he's in the middle of takeoff.

Dalton Kincaid | TE | Bills

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 94.9
ROS Ranking: 55 (TE3)

A post-hype sleeper this season, Dalton Kincaid has always only needed the opportunity. His underlying metrics have always been strong, but his playing time and route participation lagged behind. This year, that hasn't been the case. After a lowly 51% route rate in 2025, Kincaid has posted a 69% route rate through the first two weeks, along with a 26% target share (0.29 targets per route run), a 12.9-yard aDOT, and a Utilization Score of 92 (TE3 behind Trey McBride and Isaiah Likely). He's been the clear focal point of the Bills' passing attack, and his 20.3 PPR points per game ranks second at the position behind only McBride.

In what may be the best offense in the entire NFL, Kincaid is easily positioned as a top-3 tight end the rest of the way and carries TE1-overall upside in any game DJ Moore misses. If you drafted Kincaid as part of a tight end committee or bench stash, you're feeling pretty, pretty good.

More Risers: Jalen Coker (WR, CAR; 53), Tyler Shough (QB, NO; 79), Denzel Boston (WR, CLE; 95)

Fallers In The Rest-Of-Season Fantasy Football Rankings

Travis Etienne | RB | Saints

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 41.2
ROS Ranking: 90 (RB29)

Week 1 was ugly for Travis Etienne, and Week 2 may have been even worse. After ceding base-down work to Kendre Miller and some snaps to *checks notes* CJ Donaldson, Week 2 saw the return of Alvin Kamara, and things got worse ...

Weeks 1 -> 2

Snaps: 58% -> 53%
Rush Att: 43% -> 33%
Routes: 38% -> 33%
Targets: 16% -> 6%
TPRR: 0.33 -> 0.15
UR Score: 76 -> 45

Even with a bigger role in Week 1, Etienne finished with only 11.3 half-PPR points, an RB23 finish. There simply has been no sign of a ceiling, and because of how low the floor is, it's going to be tough sledding trying to move him for anything of value. You're stuck with Etienne at the moment, hoping that his role expands.

Carnell Tate | WR | Titans

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 83.5
ROS Ranking: 100 (WR43)

While there may have been high hopes for Carnell Tate from Titans fans after drafting Tate No. 4 overall, the fantasy football market was rather bearish relative to his draft capital given the struggles we saw from Cam Ward last season.

Even with a bearish preseason price, he's only fallen more after two weeks. His route rate (89%) and target share (25%) are very bullish numbers, but the Titans offense is just bad. His 73% catchable target rate shows the ineptitude of his quarterback, his 56 Utilization Score leaves a lot to be desired, and his 5.0 half-PPR points per game are simply not usable. He's a hold on your bench for now, but until we see quantifiable improvement from Cam Ward, Tate is impossible to trust in a starting lineup.

Kyle Pitts | TE | Falcons

Preseason ADP (Yahoo): 72.2
ROS Ranking: 124 (TE16)

There's reason to be optimistic about Kyle Pitts' rest-of-season outlook now that Michael Penix is expected to take over the QB1 role, but this is much more bullish for Drake London (who averaged over 21 points per game in 10 games with Penix) than Pitts, who saw the vast majority of his production last year come with London off the field.

It's hard to take the first two weeks with anything more than a grain of salt given the quarterback situation, but even so, Pitts was blanked in Week 1 on an 81% route rate (6% target share) and only ran 44% of the routes in Week 2 (10% target share) and notched 2.0 fantasy points. He's a bench until further notice, but given the impending QB upgrade, I would not be dropping him yet.