Hello, fantasy football enthusiasts (and fellow sickos) and welcome back for the latest edition of this dynasty stock watch column. Throughout the NFL season, we’ll be tracking some of the preeminent weekly risers in dynasty fantasy football formats here on DraftKings Network.
Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season brought some massive performances from plenty of this potentially historic rookie running backs class, a couple of major injuries to star wide receivers, and a renaissance of sorts for a superstar quarterback’s fantasy value. Who were the winners and losers heading into Week 5, and who are some potential trade targets to watch for? Read on to find out!
Top dynasty risers after Week 4
Woody Marks (RB32)
No bigger winner emerged from Week 4 than Woody Marks. The Texans traded up to select him in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, sending No. 179 and a 2026 third-rounder to move up to No. 116 and take the running back. The USC product rushed for over 1,000 yards in his final collegiate season, but the more impressive stat on his resume are the 261 passes he caught through five years at the FBS level. Your eyes don’t deceive you, that does indeed say 261 receptions. Marks’ pass-catching chops are undeniable and he’s very solid as a blocker as well. While not an otherworldly athlete, he can get the job done on the ground as a more-than-serviceable runner.
After increasing in snap share each week, he handled 56% of snaps ahead of Nick Chubb and outpaced him in touches as well. Marks took 17 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown while hauling in 4-of-5 targets for 50 yards and another touchdown. The final stat line of 27.9 PPR points made for quite the breakout and it’s tough to see the 24-year-old relinquishing lead back duties. The Texans’ offense showed its first signs of life in their first win of the season, and even though most matchups won’t be as tasty as that one against the Titans, this kind of role with lead-back volume and the passing-downs job make Marks an intriguing bet for a rest-of-season. The only question is whether Joe Mixon (foot) ever returns, but regardless, the organization clearly valued the rookie enough to surrender future capital and make him a part of its plans. The jump from RB43 last week to RB32 in dynasty rankings is well-deserved.
Jaylen Waddle (WR32) & Malik Washington (WR87)
Injuries are part of life in the NFL, but it still sucks to see a player go down with a serious knock. Tyreek Hill suffered a dislocated knee and ACL tear which will sideline him for the remainder of the campaign and potentially put his 2026 (or even his career) in jeopardy. It’s a brutal development for a Dolphins squad that just secured its first win of the season four weeks into the season, but the next man up now sees their role grow. Those guys happen to be wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Malik Washington.
The last couple of years have seen a bit of a decline for Waddle, and his current dynasty WR32 ranking sits far lower than the top-12 spot he held just a couple of years back. Injuries and offensive infrastructure have depressed his value, but he now sees the opportunity to recapture his rookie-year form as a top target-earner in Miami. During that first season as a featured target, Waddle showed a propensity to rack up PPR points with 15.4 FPPG in a season which saw him break the rookie receptions record with 104 catches for 1,015 yards and six touchdowns. He gets a bump from Hill’s injury and feels like a screaming dynasty buy at just 26 years old. Second-year player Malik Washington also sees potential for his role to grow after a modest rookie season of 26 catches for 223 yards. The 2024 sixth-rounder is adored by the coaching staff and brings a WR87 price tag with elite college production during his final year at Virginia. He led the FBS with 110 catches and paced the ACC with 1,426 yards in 2023, also hauling in nine touchdowns. He’s small at just 5-foot-8, but brings speed and toughness along with positional versatility with 49% of snaps taken out wide and 42% in the slot. If his role increases, he could pop and deliver FLEX value with room for more in the long term.
Patrick Mahomes (QB8)
I can hear the comments already… “Patrick Mahomes? The best quarterback in football? A dynasty fantasy riser? You must be insane!” I understand putting a 30-year-old player in this column as a riser feels a little bit weird, a situation that feels even stranger given his status as a surefire Hall-of-Famer. However, there’s some reasoning behind this pick. Mahomes was the dynasty QB6 prior to the season’s start and has since dropped to QB8 via KeepTradeCut’s rankings despite averaging 22.1 FPPG. What gives?
Well, after two very disappointing fantasy football seasons of 17.5 and 17.7 FPPG, production on the borderline between QB1 and QB2-caliber play, Patty appears to be back on the radar as an elite option. He’s completing a career-low 61.3% of his passes but has 939 yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception through the first four weeks, and to top it off, he’s running again with 130 yards and two scores on 22 attempts. He just shredded a poor Ravens defense for four scores this past week with Xavier Worthy re-entering the fold after a dislocated shoulder in Week 1 knocked him out in the first quarter of that contest and all of Weeks 2 and 3. Yes, the matchup in Week 4 was fantastic, but this offense showed signs of life and will only improve once Rashee Rice returns from his suspension in Week 7. Once the Chiefs’ starting 11 is once again whole for the first time since early last season, Mahomes can certainly post more impressive performances like this one on a regular basis again. If any managers have felt frustrated by his fantasy performances over the last couple of years, now’s the time to capitalize and acquire the stud signal-caller before he has all of his weapons at his disposal in a few more weeks.
Top dynasty fallers after Week 4
Malik Nabers (WR4)
As mentioned above, injuries are simply part of life in the NFL. However, that doesn’t make them hurt any less. Young superstar wideout Malik Nabers tore his ACL in Week 4 and will miss the remainder of the 2025 campaign with his sights set on early 2026 for a return. It’s a real bummer, especially with rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart getting his first NFL start and win in that game against the Chargers. The pairing between he and Nabers hits the pause button for now, and the receiver only dropped from the dynasty WR2 to WR4 through the first few days following the season-ending injury. Still, that may tick down slightly more (though not to an extreme extent outside of probably the top eight) and the unfortunate circumstances open up some very interesting possibilities across the dynasty landscape.
The second-year standout averaged 18.2 FPPG last season amidst one of the most impressive rookie campaigns of all time, even despite dealing with shaky play under center. This caliber of player doesn’t hit the trade block very often, but he’s actually being moved quite a bit in these formats right now. Contenders may feel inclined to move him for healthy options if they don’t have the receiver depth to weather his absence during their title window, and there’s nothing wrong with taking such a route so long as you don’t sell for pennies on the dollar. However, rebuilders see an intriguing chance to acquire Nabers from those teams and potentially even add an extra asset on top of him in such a deal. Shedding max points for and acquiring a stud for next season and beyond is certainly the avenue managers in the midst of a rebuild should take, so put some feelers out and look to trade for the Giants star if possible.
Isiah Pacheco (RB43)
It might be PachecOver for Isiah Pacheco at this point. Once the Chiefs’ top running back and one of the most amazing success stories for a seventh-round pick, the 26-year-old finds both his share of work in the backfield and his dynasty value rapidly declining. After he handled between 51% and 56% of snaps across the first three weeks of the season, Pacheco’s snap share fell to 37% this past week as Kareem Hunt continued to eat into his touches and Brashard Smith got more involved with a bump from 11% to 26% of snaps. Per Andy Reid, the latter will supposedly see some extra opportunities in the near future as the team tries to get him more involved. That bodes quite poorly for Pacheco.
Hunt’s out-carried Pacheco 36 to 32 this year and seen all three carries inside the 10-yard line this year for Kansas City and he’s slowly taking over short-yardage duties that Pacheco used to be known for. The rise of Smith also means fewer targets for the other halfbacks as the rookie saw four targets in Week 4 to Pacheco’s three and Hunt’s one. If he loses high-value touches and more receiving work to his teammates in this backfield committee, Pacheco may fall even further from his current spot at RB43. That’s quite the drop-off already from a preseason RB24 valuation, so the situation only looks more dire by the week. Now’s looks like the time to trade him away for a second for pair of thirds if possible, if not even a single early third instead.
Ladd McConkey (WR15)
We might just need a Ladd McConkey dynasty manager support group after the way the second-year standout started his 2025 campaign. Last season, the Georgia product came to life a few weeks into the year and went on to produce 15.1 FPPG as Justin Herbert’s favorite target in sunny Los Angeles. A rookie stat line of 82 receptions for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns on 112 targets felt like an absolute smash, and most analysts figured McConkey would take another step with the typical second-year leap young wideouts often take. Not so fast, though.
The addition of 33-year-old Keenan Allen (who still has the freaking juice) and third-year breakout for former first-round pick Quentin Johnston have created, well, quite the situation for McConkey. After finishing first on the Chargers and 27th among all wideouts with a 24.5% target share last season, the 23-year-old’s current mark of 18.8% sits third on his own team. He’s also yet to see a single end-zone target after seeing eight of them in 2024. Now, McConkey’s still garnered at least five targets in all four games this year with totals of five, six, seven and nine looks his direction, but he’s caught only 16 of 27 total opportunities for 174 yards and zero touchdowns. His yards/reception is down to 10.9 from 14.0 as well. It’s not that McConkey’s fallen off as a result of his own talent, more so that the Bolts are 3-1 and the offense is clearly working while defenses key on the young star more than they did in his rookie campaign. He’s bound to eventually bounce back, but temper expectations this season while Allen remains in the receiver room and try to buy low if you can for the long term. After falling from WR10 to WR15, some managers may feel some frustration with 8.3 FPPG. Better days are ahead eventually.
