September 22, 2017

Fantasy football risers and fallers heading into Week 3 of the NFL season. Jason Katz looks at players whose fantasy value has changed over the past week.

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, and 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 fantasy risers and fallers heading into Week 3 of the NFL season. Dynasty owners, check out our separate Dynasty Risers/Fallers segment as well.

Week 3 Risers

Javorius Allen (RB - BAL)

For the second week in a row, Buck Allen dominated snaps in the Ravens backfield. This time, it was due to a mysterious Terrance West injury. Regardless of how he gets there, Allen is seeing playing time and producing. If West is forced to miss any time, Allen would be a lock for 20 touches. He's a high-floor volume play that John Harbaugh seems to trust right now. The Jags were run over by Derrick Henry and the Titans last week, so this matchup may be a good one for Allen as well.

Carlos Hyde (RB - SF)

I've been on the frontline of Hyde supporters for two years now and he has not disappointed. Carlos Hyde is an elite RB1 that would be consistently drafted in the top six of redraft leagues if he ever ended up in a situation where he had touchdown upside. As it stands, he's high-end RB2 that is an immediate RB1 any week he can manage to score. Hyde looked great against Seattle's notoriously tough run defense and he once again dominated snaps and touches. Most positively, he has now caught six passes in back-to-back games. Hyde is getting bellcow usage and is going to be one of the steals of the third round for as long as he can stay healthy.

Michael Crabtree (WR - OAK)

I surrender. I'm waving the white flag. Michael Crabtree is better than Amari Cooper. There. I said it. Crabtree lit the torch last year and extended it to Cooper. He held it out there for a while. Sunday, he paused, thought a bit to himself, and said, "Actually, I'll take this back."

Crabtree is the number one wide receiver in Oakland. We keep expected Cooper to join the Julio Jones and Antonio Brown phylum. He seems content remaining in the Demaryius Thomas and Davante Adams phylum. It is time to accept reality. Amari Cooper is not the elite WR1 we expected him to be. He's not a bad player. Not by any stretch. The only reason we are even having this conversation is because of how high the expectations were. Cooper is going to have a great career and be a useful fantasy receiver for almost all of it. He's just not the first round talent we expected. Meanwhile, Crabtree just keeps trucking along and when Derek Carr needs someone to throw to, it's Crabtree, not Cooper, that he looks for.

Evan Engram (TE - NYG)

Rookie tight ends aren't supposed to be fantasy relevant, but Evan Engram is cheating. He's a WR playing TE. During a season where only a handful of TEs are even useful, Engram has now posted back to back four reception, 40 yard weeks. This week, he found the end zone. He can be an eight touchdown guy, which will certainly keep him as a TE1.

The bigger reason Engram is on this list is because of a guy who was on the second part of this column last week; a guy who I bashed all of 2016; a guy who I bashed all of 2017 - Brandon Marshall. The artist formerly known as BMarsh is completely done. Cooked. Finished. Think Roddy White's last year on the Falcons or Andre Johnson on the Colts. That's where Marshall is in his career. Odell Beckham is not going to be 100% for another few weeks. Eli Manning needs a reliable target. Engram looks like he's the second best receiver on the Giants.

Week 3 Fallers

DeMarco Murray (RB - TEN)

Through two weeks, DeMarco Murray has done a whole lot of nothing. He managed a paltry 44 rushing yards in week 1. He sunk even lower in week 2 with just 25 rushing yards before departing with a seemingly minor hamstring injury. The problem is that Derrick Henry is good at football and he is ready to be the Titans number one back. It's coming in 2018. It might already be here if Murray misses time. At the very least, this could end up being more of a timeshare than Murray owners want it to be. Henry is already stealing goal line work. If he takes some passing down work or just more of Murray's snaps, it would be a huge hit to a guy that was a late first/early second round pick. Murray owners were hoping he could hold off Henry for one more year. The problem is the Henry door had to remain closed. Once Murray opens it, it's never closing again. That may happen in week 3.

Larry Fitzgerald (WR - ARI)

Oh dear. This may finally be the end for the great Larry Fitzgerald. Last week, against the deplorable Colts defense, Fitz managed just 21 yards on three catches. The game was competitive for its duration so there was no sitting on a lead for Arizona. Fitz just didn't do anything as he watched Carson Palmer target JJ Nelson and Jaron Brown ahead of him. Fitzgerald is quite old. At age 34, few WRs have produced effectively. It does not appear as if Fitz is going to be an exception. He needs to be on benches and we're just a few weeks away from him appearing on the cut list.

Tyler Eifert (TE - CIN)

This one is a product of everything working against him. Tyler Eifert is on a bad offense with a QB playing the worst football of his career. Andy Dalton has zero touchdowns on the season. Eifert's bread and butter is the red zone. The Bengals can't get there. And to make matters worse, Eifert is now hurt and listed as questionable for Week 3. A rough start to the season is only going to get worse from here. It could be a while before Eifert gets it together, if he does at all.

The Entire Seahawks Offense

This is... bad. The Seattle Seahawks are one of the 5-10 worst teams in the NFL. They have one of the worst coaches in the league. They have one of the worst offensive game plans in the league. They have the worst offensive line in the league. Chris Carson was the only RB to do anything and the reality is that his production came against an exhausted 49ers defense late in the fourth quarter. Until that point, Seahawks RBs were going nowhere.

Doug Baldwin has 10 catches for 107 yards on the season. That's two games folks. This team couldn't even get going against the 49ers. Jimmy Graham has two catches for nine yards and one ankle injury on the season. He should be on benches until further notice. He is done in Seattle. He's fed up with the team and doesn't care anymore. He will barely be a TE2 in 2017, but he also will be on a better team next year so for keeper league players, he's a guy to target before he signs somewhere else.

Finally, we have Russell Wilson. At what point are we going to stop making excuses for a guy who simply just isn't that good? The offensive line is terrible. The coach is terrible. He's been hurt. Yada, yada, yada. Russell Wilson has thrown for multiple touchdowns in just five of his last 18 regular season games. Read that back and let it sink in. I could list all the QBs that have exceeded that number, but I'd be over my word count before the end of this segment. Wilson has been terrible in both real life and fantasy for over a year now. He is not a QB1 until further notice.

More Week 3 Lineup Prep