Rising

Philip Rivers, SD
People who waited on quarterback and wound up with Rivers are feeling mighty fine about that strategy right about now. After a mediocre Week 1, Rivers has put up four strong consecutive fantasy weeks. He has 11 touchdowns in those four games with just one turnover. Rivers is one of the safer fantasy quarterbacks in the game. There might only be four guys I would definitely rather own, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck.

Austin Davis, STL
Since including Davis in this space a couple weeks ago, his stock has only gone up. He has definitely taken the starting job away from Shaun Hill now by throwing over 325 yards with three touchdowns in each of the last two games. He’s not a weekly starter in a standard league, but Davis is almost certainly a starter in 2QB and superflex leagues.

Mike Glennon, TB
In two games as the Buccaneers starting quarterback, Glennon has attempted 74 passes, thrown for 551 yards and tossed four touchdowns. The Tampa Bay defense can’t stop anyone, so Glennon will have to keep throwing at a high volume. The real concern for Glennon is if he’ll lose the job to Josh McCown when McCown recovers from injury. until that time, however, Glennon can be considered about the same level as Davis.

Matthew Stafford needs a healthy Calvin Johnson in order to be a top ten QB the rest of the season.

Falling

Matthew Stafford, DET
If you look at season long stats, Stafford is doing perfectly fine. He’s in top-10 territory, which is what you’re hoping to lock in when you spend a mid-round pick on a quarterback. Take a closer look, however, and it’s not as great as it seems. Approximately 65 percent of his fantasy points has come in two games. He only has six passing touchdowns in five games. On top of these poor outings, Calvin Johnson is clearly hurting. Stafford is just not the same guy in fantasy with no Megatron at his disposal. You’re probably using him if you have him, but don’t expect anything approaching elite production for now.

Nick Foles, PHI
Through the first three weeks, Foles looked like an incredibly safe source of volume passing. Over the last two weeks, he’s been right around 200 passing yards in each game. Foles will likely have many more strong weeks in his future, but the last two weeks have shown that Foles is not necessarily an invincible fantasy quarterback. This doesn’t really change his status as a weekly starter, but it does keep him from being considered a top-tier fantasy quarterback.

Blake Bortles, JAC
There was a lot of excitement surrounding Bortles when he took over the starting job from Chad Henne. He came in and threw for over 200 yards and two scores against Indianapolis in his first time out, making it seem like he may be helpful in our fantasy game. In two games as a starter, Bortles has thrown one touchdown and four interceptions. The matchups weren’t easy – San Diego and Pittsburgh – but they weren’t impossible either. The young quarterback can remain in your waiver wire except for the deepest of leagues.

Running Back

Rising

Branden Oliver, SD
Oliver might be the pickup of the week in leagues where he is currently available. After Donald Brown went down with a concussion, Oliver came in against the Jets and ran wild. Who knows when Brown will return and Ryan Mathews’ timetable seems to continue getting pushed backwards. The return of either of those running backs could put a damper on the Oliver train, but if he keeps performing like he did Sunday, San Diego will have no choice but to continue including Oliver in the offense.

Justin Forsett, BAL
On the surface, it appears the Ravens have a full-blown running back by committee. In fantasy terms, however, Forsett has clearly stepped up as the Raven back to own. He leads the team in carries, yards and yards per carry. More importantly, he’s the only running back being used as a receiving threat. He is second on the entire team in receptions and third in targets. Meanwhile, Bernard Pierce and Lorenzo Taliaferro have a combined two targets. The carry total will likely frustrate you, but Forsett is shaping up to be a decent weekly starter and definitely the safest option on the Ravens.

Andre Williams, NYG
With an injury to Rashad Jennings, Williams is primed to spend a couple weeks as the Giants featured back, giving him lots of built in value. He has averaged under 3.5 yards per rush in his opportunities thus far, so it might not be best to expect a world-beater. He will be a perfectly fine fill-in for people in desperate need of short-term running back help, however. Like with Oliver, any kind of strong performance while getting his opportunity can only mean good things for his long-term value.

Falling

C.J. Spiller, BUF
Coming into this season, Spiller was drafted as the clear fantasy RB1 over Fred Jackson. Of course this must finally be the year Jackson goes away, right? Wrong. Spiller has yet to hit 70 yards rushing in a game and his only offensive touchdown came in Week 1. Spiller only has 14 more yards than Jackson despite 20 more carries. Finally, Spiller is only sixth on the Bills in targets. At this moment, Spiller is the RB2 on the Bills and probably a FLEX play at best in standard-sized fantasy leagues.

Toby Gerhart, JAC
When Gerhart signed with the Jaguars this offseason, he put himself in a situation that made him seem like a wildly interesting fantasy pick. A player that always had success when given the opportunity in Minnesota was going to be “the man” on a new team. The Jaguars weren’t the most ideal team, but workhorse is workhorse in fantasy. Things have not gone according to plan as Gerhart has been nicked up weekly. He’s losing touches to teammates and he’s doing next to nothing with the touches he is getting. It’s tough to part with a guy still considered a starting running back, especially with the mess that the position has turned into in fantasy, but at this point Gerhart seems droppable if the roster space is needed.

Chris Johnson, NYJ
Just five weeks into the season, Johnson has gone from clear starter to clear backup on the New York Jets. The guy must be playing pretty poorly to get a demotion that quickly. You never know with the Jets, so Johnson could be thrust back into the starting role at any moment. Like Gerhart, Johnson is also droppable if the situation calls for it. I wouldn’t make a point to drop him, but if you desperately need the roster spot and no one else is clearly droppable, you’ll probably be fine if Johnson is the one you let go.

Wide Receiver

Rising

Golden Tate, DET
With the recent hobbling of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate has taken over the Lions offense. Through the first three weeks of the season, Tate accumulated 16 catches for 201 yards. In the last two games, Tate has racked up 15 receptions for a total of 250 yards. It’s safe to say him and Stafford are getting comfortable with each other. It remains to be seen how involved Tate is in the Lions offense when (or if) Calvin Johnson returns to health, but for now, keep riding the hot hand in Detroit.

Terrance Williams, DAL
Tony Romo apparently has two locked in targets when it’s end zone time. Obviously Dez Bryant is one; the other being Williams. Five of Romo’s nine scores this year have gone to Williams. He has been limited to two catches in three of five games this year, so you’re almost depending on big plays and touchdowns, but up to this point it looks like those are a relatively safe bet week to week. He will have his down weeks due to lack of volume, but those have been few and far between thus far.

Brian Quick, STL
We have our Rams clear No. 1 wide out. Quick currently leads St. Louis in receptions and receiving yards, is tied for the lead in targets and has caught three out of six Rams scores that have occurred through the air this season. He may not necessarily be a must-start from week to week depending on your options, but Quick can very safely be placed in your lineup without huge risk of ruining your team’s score.

Falling

Michael Floyd, ARI
As long as Carson Palmer is sidelined in Arizona, Floyd makes for an incredibly risky play. It’s difficult to talk yourself into benching Floyd when you see his two 100+ yard games in his 2014 game log, but not as hard when you consider his two, one catch, sub-20 yard games. I’d try to look somewhere else at wide receiver in my lineups until either Carson Palmer returns or an Arizona backup shows he is able to get the ball to Floyd regularly.

Cordarrelle Patterson, MIN
The only thing saving Patterson from looking like a complete fantasy train wreck is a long touchdown run way back in the first week of the season. He’s averaging a measly 37.8 receiving yards per game with 15 total receptions. At this point, it is impossible to consider Patterson for your starting lineup until he shows something. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind dropping him if necessary, but unlike Gerhart and Johnson, he still seems to have the upside to burst out at any moment.

Roddy White, ATL
The Atlanta Falcons do not have a two-headed monster at wide receiver, they have Julio Jones with sidekick Roddy White. White is averaging eight targets per game, so Matt Ryan clearly still likes throwing to him, but he’s nowhere close to Julio Jones in that offense. In four games this season, White is averaging four receptions with just over fifty yards a contest. His two games of at least seventy and a score show he has usable weeks in his system, but he doesn’t seem to be the must start like the White of old.

Tight End

Rising

Owen Daniels, BAL
In the past couple weeks since taking over for the injured Dennis Pitta, Daniels has made his presence known in the Ravens offense. He’s had 13 targets, nine receptions and 113 yards. These aren’t mind-boggling numbers, but quite usable for the tight end position in fantasy. Daniels makes for a very solid fill in for those dealing with injuries or bye weeks at the position.

Tim Wright, NE
What a way to finally break out in your new offense! In his first four games as a member of the Patriots, Wright had a total of four receptions for 35 yards. Then, Sunday night, he busts out with a five-catch game, putting up 85 yards and a score. The Patriots have a history of supporting more than one tight end, so why can’t they do it again? Right now, I wouldn’t expect Aaron Hernandez-type statistics. In fact, I wouldn’t even trust him in my lineup yet, but Wright looks like a good guy to own, just to see if he can build off his big game in Week 5.

Dwayne Allen, IND
When you have a quarterback on an awesome touchdown scoring pace, you’re going to have plenty of beneficiaries. One of the main players benefitting from Luck’s season is Allen. He isn’t racking up a lot of receptions or yards, but around the end zone, he is Luck’s guy. Allen and running back Ahmad Bradshaw are currently tied in touchdown receptions to lead the team. Playing touchdown dependent players is always a scary thought, but Allen is one you can feel comfortable utilizing most weeks.

Falling

Jordan Cameron, CLE
Cameron returned from injury in Week 3 and didn’t do much. That’s to be forgiven, he still wasn’t full strength. Entering Week 5, Cameron practiced in full and entered the game with a probable designation. He then came out and caught three passes for 33 yards. Cameron was drafted to be a clear-cut No. 1 tight end and he still has that in him. I’d like to see him show it before re-committing to him as a locked-in starter, though.

Zach Ertz, PHI
Ertz started the season like a man on fire, putting up 163 yards in two games, averaging more than 20 yards a reception in those games. Owners that invested a late-round pick were feeling excellent about that move. Since that time, Ertz has tumbled back down to Earth. In his last three games, he has nine total receptions, no games above 43 yards with zero touchdowns. Given his talent and offense, he still has great upside. I’d label him a guy worth starting with tempered expectations.

Larry Donnell, NYG
Putting Donnell here is not necessarily a major fall. He did way too much for the Giants in the first four weeks to give up on him entirely because of a zero. But he is falling in the fact that it was a nice reminder that Donnell is a solid fantasy tight end, but not the elite option he had been early in the season. People who have been using him weekly should continue to do so, but with the knowledge that he’s more of a middle-tier guy, not top of the line.

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