The wait is over, and Davante Adams is officially a member of the New York Jets after being traded Tuesday morning. Adams reunites with long-time teammate Aaron Rodgers and gets a chance to help resurrect the Jets’ season. With the Adams trade now official, what is the fantasy outlook for Jets players?
New York Jets Fantasy Outlook After Trading for Davante Adams
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers will see his fantasy value rise considerably now that he is reunited with Adams. Through seven weeks of the season, the 39-year-old quarterback has only had one top-10 weekly finish. While Rodgers was much younger when this duo played together in Green Bay, Rodgers threw for over 7,500 yards and 69 touchdowns in the eight seasons he spent with Adams from 2014-2021. Chemistry doesn’t fade that quickly.
Turnovers and lack of yardage have been two of the biggest downfalls for Rodgers this season. Bringing in Adams doesn’t guarantee he stops making silly mistakes, but he should be able to move the ball easier. With another familiar face in the room, Rodgers can be even more comfortable in the Jets offense. Expect him to throw for 250+ yards and a pair of touchdown passes more often than not now.
Davante Adams
The only player who may benefit more in fantasy from this trade than Rodgers is Adams himself. While the three-time All-Pro receiver has missed the last three games due to injury, his play in Weeks 1-3 was inconsistent as a result of the quarterback situation in Las Vegas. He’s only found the endzone once this season… which was also the only game where he totaled more than 60 receiving yards.
Not only does Adams get a significant upgrade at quarterback, he joins an offense filled with talent. Iron sharpens iron, and Adams will benefit. He’s also no stranger to lining up opposite of another elite receiver as he did it for years in Green Bay with Jordy Nelson.
Prior to this trade, Adams has been a low-end WR2 or a flex option. Now, he’s a solid WR2 at the minimum, and the upside is there for him to produce at a WR1 level once again.
Garrett Wilson
Immediately after the trade was announced, there was some (or a lot of) panic among Garrett Wilson fantasy owners. He’s been the top target for Rodgers so far this year and produced back-to-back games with 100+ receiving yards and a touchdown. However, those who have Wilson shouldn’t be concerned.
As mentioned above, this isn’t Rodgers’ first rodeo with two talented receivers. He’s done it before and had no problems keeping both of his top guys happy, so this scenario shouldn’t be any different. There will be weeks where one significantly outperforms the other, but those will balance each other out by the end of the year.
Ja’Marr Chase plays with Tee Higgins.
Marvin Harrison Jr. plays with Trey McBride.
AJ Brown plays with Devonta Smith.
Nico Collins plays with Stefon Diggs (& Tank Dell).
DO NOT PANIC because Garrett Wilson is about to play with a (soon-to-be-32-year-old) Davante Adams.
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) October 15, 2024
Realistically, adding Adams should help Wilson. Prior to now, Wilson has been the main point of emphasis in the Jets’ passing game. He’s drawn all of the attention from opposing defenses. Now, defensive coordinators have to choose whether to line up their CB1 against Wilson or Adams every play. Wilson is certainly going to take advantage of some mismatches every week.
Allen Lazard
The extra targets that Adams will consume have to come from somewhere, and Allen Lazard will lose some fantasy value. He’s currently on pace for 74 receptions on 113 targets, 1,003 yards and 14 touchdowns. That pace was going to be tough to maintain without Adams and certainly now with the six-time Pro Bowler.
This doesn’t mean Lazard will be completely useless in fantasy. However, his production is going to be hit-or-miss. He won’t have the same WR2 value he’s had through the first six weeks of the season. Lazard now becomes a flex option that will start on a case-by-case basis.
Breece Hall/Braelon Allen
The running backs are grouped together here because acquiring Adams should have the same effect on both of them. With another talented receiver in the mix, the Jets should have an easier time moving the ball on the ground.
When it was just Wilson and Lazard, defenses could bring seven players into the box while doubling Wilson. This would force the Jets to run into a brick wall or hope Lazard could separate one-on-one. Opposing defenses can’t do that now with Adams in the picture, and less players in the box opens up space for the running backs to find.
Breece Hall and Braelon Allen may not see as much use in the passing game now, but the uptick in the run game should make up for it. They, like most of the Jets, are going to have a much better fantasy outlook once Adams suits up in Green and White.
Main Photo Courtesy of Kirby Lee – Imagn Images
