Rising Stock

Jimmy Graham TE, SEA- In years past Doug Baldwin and Russell Wilson had second half numbers that would rival many of the top dynamic duo’s in the NFL. This year has been slightly different. Jimmy Graham is healthy and is terrorizing defenses with 18 receptions and 5 touchdowns over his last four games. Baldwin’s 27 catches and two touchdowns over that same span aren’t anything to scoff at but the red zone looks are simply going Jimmy G’s way. Seattle only plays two games against teams in the top five in lowest points allowed to tight ends the rest of the season in the Falcons and 49ers, who gave up 7/59/0 and 6/31/1 respectively, to opposing tight ends in Week 10.

Adam Thielen WR, MIN- Case Keenum is slinging the rock as of late and the majority of those targets are going to Adam Thielen with 34 over the last three weeks. The only problem with these targets is the conversion rate as they’ve connected on 18 of the 34 targets although 6 catches a game is hardly unacceptable. Thielen is a PPR monster but with two touchdowns in the last two games we can only hope he becomes more of a red zone target to help out his standard league owners down the stretch. Matching up against most teams number two cornerbacks because of his star counterpart in Stefon Diggs will help keep production up when the Vikings play a solid schedule of defenses to finish out 2017.

Robert Woods WR, LAR- Woods is clearly the Rams number one receiver and they have the number one offense in football, a recipe for huge numbers. His reputation for being a possession receiver is taking a hit with the utilization of his big play ability. Despite having a teammate in Sammy Watkins who is a home run waiting to happen, Woods actually leads the team in vertical targets in 2017. The only cause for concern here is that all four of his touchdowns have come in the last two weeks but with a floor of around 5 catches for 70 yards and a seemingly untapped upside, woods is a player to get before your leagues trade deadline.

Falling Stock

Adrian Peterson RB, ARI- Drew Stanton is atrocious and opposing defenses are stacking the box to stop Peterson because there is no threat of a passing game. In the four games since joining Arizona, the future Hall of Famer has two games of 134 yards or more and two games of under 30 yards. Arizona doesn’t have a balanced attack and aren’t a very good team overall.  With Carson Palmer being out, good defenses will solely focus on Peterson and with upcoming games against Houston, Jacksonville, the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee, the production likely won’t match the volume.

Melvin Gordon RB, LAC- Austin Ekeler is destroying Gordon owners’ fantasy season. Ekeler has 29 touches and three touchdowns over the last three weeks while also outscoring Melvin Gordon 31-26 (standard fantasy points) over that span. This is never a good thing for a fantasy running back and Gordon needs a heavy workload to get in a rhythm to be successful. While the Chargers schedule isn’t anything to be scared of, the touch distribution between the two backs is a little frightening at best. The only hope is that the Chargers get sick of losing and decide to feed the ball to their best player, just don’t hold your breath.

DeAndre Hopkins WR, HOU- You gotta feel for Hopkins here, finally getting a quarterback that can consistently get him the ball only to lose him for the season and get Tom Savage back. This inclusion is more about what’s to come rather than what has been as Savage has actually fed Nuk to a tune of 13 for 197 and a touchdown since taking over as the starter two weeks ago. Next week Hopkins will match up with Patrick Peterson then follow that up with Baltimore, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh with a nice matchup with San Fransisco sandwiched in between. With five out of six games being bad matchups for Nuk, the time is now to sell high on his two solid performances with Savage under center.

Stock to Watch

Leonard Fournette RB, JAC- In Week 8, the Jaguars had a bye. In Week 9, Fournette was a last minute deactivation for violating team rules. In Week 10 he simply was not efficient nor successful against a bad run defense and the team kept Ivory and Yeldon on the field late in the game instead of Fournette. There’s no question who the best back on the team is and hopefully this performance can be attributed to rust after a couple weeks off but it’s still a situation to monitor going forward. The Jags play Cleveland and Arizona the next two weeks, both top ten run defenses in 2017, so expectations should be tempered. However, look for Fournette to at least get back on track and in good graces with the coaching staff, if not explode back onto the scene against two bad teams.

Robby Anderson WR, NYJ- Two things hold the explosive receiver back from being in the Rising Stock portion of this article – one, being a member of the Jets who looked terrible against Tampa on Sunday, and the other being a schedule with a bye, Carolina and Denver on the horizon. On the bright side, Anderson has a touchdown in four straight games and is now, quietly, a top-20 standard league receiver on a team that is being forced to throw the ball a ton because of a sub par defense. The Jets also have a few nice matchups with the Chiefs, Saints and Chargers so not all is bad for Robby Anderson going forward.