RADIO
Whether due to their own play, the play of others, or injuries, players' stock increases and decreases on a weekly basis. Perhaps more than any other, the NFL is a league that experiences ups and downs at a rapid pace. With only 16 games, there’s little room for error and seemingly endless opportunities for improvement. The same goes for fantasy football; managing rosters effectively is key to winning that championship.
Throughout the season, players get hot and see an increased role while others struggle and fight to stay relevant. Experienced fantasy players know this happens every year. In this weekly column, we’ll showcase those who have taken important steps forward and those who have taken steps back.
These are the key risers and fallers heading into Week 15 of the NFL season.
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Week 16 Risers
Jameis Winston (QB, TB)
Even after losing Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Jameis Winston is poised to smash in championship week. Winston is 904 yards away from Peyton Manning's single season passing yards record. While averaging over 450 yards over two games isn't likely, what else to the Bucs have to play for? They have no running game and are facing a bad Texans pass defense. Winston will chuck and chuck and chuck some more. He is an elite QB1 for title week.
Breshad Perriman (WR, TB)
Back to back Bucs, but warranted. Breshad Perriman is the new WR1 in Tampa. He is coming off a 100+ yard, three touchdown game and has a real shot to see double digit targets against the aforementioned bad Texans pass defense. Perriman is another potential league winner.
Anthony Miller (WR, CHI)
My fault for not including Anthony Miller here sooner. He now has five consecutive games of double digit fantasy points including two WR1 finishes. Miller has benefited from taking over WR2 duties following Taylor Gabriel's concussion as well as Mitch Trubisky's improved play with Matt Nagy finally letting Trubisky actually do the things he does well. Miller is setup nicely at home against the Chiefs this week in a game the Bears should have to throw.
Kenyan Drake (RB, ARI)
This one is too easy, but there wasn't much to choose from following Week 15. Kenyan Drake was the highest scoring running back after touching the ball 23 times. Chase Edmonds is purely a special teamer and David Johnson is purely a handcuff. This is and has been Drake's backfield. A trip to Seattle is not necessarily favorable, but not overly imposing.
Week 16 Fallers
Tom Brady (QB, NE)
This one is also too easy. Tom Brady is bad. Brady has scored more than 14 fantasy points in a game just once since Week 9. Last week, he faceplanted in a dream spot against the Bengals. Brady is missing open receivers and just looks like he is finally losing the battle with Father Time. I'm sure he'll find himself a Lazarus pit come January and win another Super Bowl, but for fantasy championship week, you can completely forget about him against the Bills' elite pass defense.
Kenny Golladay (WR, DET)
It will be a tough pill to swallow benching Kenny Golladay in a title matchup, but if you can afford to do so, it's probably worth considering. The Lions are still, for reasons I cannot fathom, starting David Blough at quarterback. Golladay could not get anything going against the Bucs' near league worst pass defense. As if that wasn't enough, now they travel to Denver where Golladay has a date with Chris Harris. He might not catch a pass.
David Montgomery (RB, CHI)
I don't even know if he's really a faller because it's hard to be worse at football than David Montgomery. He's not Kallen Ballage bad, but the team is certainly worse by having Montgomery on it. Over his last six games, Montgomery has scored between 5.1 and 6.6 fantasy points five times. Against the Chiefs in Week 16, we should see a lot more of Tarik Cohen. Montgomery needs volume to have any shot at producing given his limited abilities and lack of athleticism. He's not going to get it. He's probably been a drop candidate for weeks.
Dalvin Cook (RB, MIN)
This is the worst possible scenario for Dalvin Cook owners. Cook has a shoulder injury that is not bad enough to keep him from playing, but very susceptible to in game aggravation. It's happened twice now and the most recent one looked particularly bad, yet one day later, Cook was talking about how great he feels. The reason this situation is so bad is that the Vikings play on Monday night. Fantasy owners were already weighing Cook's incredible abilities against the potential for reinjury. Now they have to add in concern over not having a replacement if Cook does play against the risk of starting a far inferior player and then watching Cook not carry them to a would-be victory a day later.
