Fantasy football stock watch: Delanie Walker and Adam Humphries
In our latest fantasy football stock watch, we’re going to take a look at Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker and wide receiver Adam Humphries.
Week 1 saw the respective stocks of two Tennessee Titans players — tight end Delanie Walker and wide receiver Adam Humphries — go in totally different directions.
Let’s take a look and see at which direction the stocks of Walker and Humphries are going after the first game of the NFL season.
TE Delanie Walker’s stock: Up
If there was any doubt about Delanie Walker’s ability to still produce like a top tight end, he put that to bed in Week 1 after posting five catches for 55 yards and two touchdowns (22.5 points in PPR).
Walker returns as Marcus Mariota’s favorite target in 2019, and he looks just as good as he did from 2014 to 2017, when he totaled 800 yards or more and averaged five touchdowns per season that resulted in finishes of TE8, TE3, TE5 and TE4.
One of Walker’s touchdowns showed off his wheels, which are alive and well at the age of 35. Walker took a short pass and used his speed to burst past Browns defenders in order to get into the end zone for a score.
Delanie Walker (@delaniewalker82) scores his 2nd touchdown of the quarter! #TENvsCLE pic.twitter.com/rMitBlXWQR
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 8, 2019
Walker saw six targets in Week 1, and is clearly the preferred option when Mariota throws to the middle of the field. When combined with his ability to score in the red zone, Walker is shaping up to be an absolute steal at his ADP and a top-notch option at the position in 2019.
To take it a step further, Walker is officially a must-start tight end on a weekly basis.
WR Adam Humphries’ stock: Down
Wide receiver Adam Humphries went undrafted in a lot of leagues, but if you did decide to take a chance on him after a strong 2018, it wasn’t a good start to your hopes of him being a real fantasy asset.
Humphries saw just two targets after showing great chemistry with Mariota during the preseason, and he turned those targets into just one catch for five yards.
A problem for Humphries, who saw just 22 snaps, is that he has competition over the middle for targets. Mariota clearly prefers Walker over everyone, and rookie A.J. Brown shined in his debut and can also take snaps from Humphries with his ability to line up in the slot.
That’s not to say Humphries won’t have some solid games this season, and he remains a key asset for the Titans in short-yardage and on third down situations. However, expecting him to produce to the level he did in 2018 on a high-flying Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense just isn’t realistic.
With better options on the waiver wire going into Week 2, you can safely drop Humphries for a player who offers more upside.