Rising Stock

Josh Gordon WR, CLE- In his first game in almost three years, Gordon was all over the place for Cleveland, showing little rust. Quarterback DeShone Kizer knew who the superior athlete was on the field giving him 11 targets on the day. Even though Gordon only reeled in four of those, that can be attributed to Kizer’s inaccuracy and the fact that this was their first ever game together. Expect their relationship on the field to grow and Gordon to excel immediately as former top target, Corey Coleman, was held to a whopping zero catches on only four targets. It’s obvious which way both of these receivers are trending and while the matchups aren’t great moving forward, the talent and volume will not be an issue.

Blake Bortles QB, JAC- Blake Bortles has two consecutive 20+ point games in standard ESPN leagues and with teams zeroing in on RB Leonard Fournette after his rumbling start to the season, Bortles has to throw for the Jaguars to win. The Jags are ready to win now and need to get their QB as much confidence as possible heading into the playoffs, leading to a possible increase in usage from the aerial side of things. Jacksonville faces three teams who are very vulnerable to passing attacks in the fantasy playoffs in Seattle, Houston and San Francisco, the latter two in the bottom three in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks.

Marquise Goodwin WR, SF- See what happens when you get a good quarterback in the building? Goodwin caught all eight of his targets for 99 yards against a solid Bears defense and looked to be on the same page with Jimmy Garoppolo from start to finish. This is an extremely talented and exciting duo and they should get more comfortable with each other with each passing week. Two very tasty matchups on the horizon in Houston and Tennessee should allow these two to put up some sneaky good numbers and although a Week 16 Jags matchup puts a damper on things if you make it to your leagues’ championship, at least they’ll get you there.

Falling Stock

Stefon Diggs WR, MIN- Case Keenum’s emergence in Minnesota makes this a surprising choice but the targets and points are simply not going in Diggs’ direction. This season with Keenum and Diggs both on the field, Diggs is averaging just over four receptions and 63.7 yards and three total touchdowns, most of which came in their first game together in Week 3 when Diggs had a stat line of 8/173/2. There’s absolutely no doubt that Keenum tends to go with his gut Thielen (see what I did there?) when looking to get the ball down field as Thielen is averaging six receptions and 85.5 yards per game and three total touchdowns with Keenum under center. With Diggs’ elite talent his numbers should be much higher to reach draft value as he was likely drafted in the first five rounds of your draft.

Drew Brees QB, NO- New Orleans has found something special in Alvin Kamara and teamed up with Mark Ingram, they pack quite the punch. Brees isn’t struggling by any means with 17 touchdowns to five int’s on the season but with the two headed monster in the backfield, Sean Payton and the Saints have changed their game plan drastically this year to pound the running game. Drew Brees is no longer the 5000-yard passer and gunslinger he was in years past in this offense and he doesn’t even have to be. This is a great thing for the Saints and quite honestly Brees himself as he doesn’t have to burn himself out late in his career. Two matchups against the Falcons and a home game against the Jets certainly allow for Brees to light them up through the air to finish the season, however the intent to do that likely will not be there.

Jordan Howard RB, CHI- Remember when Charlie got the golden ticket to go to the Chocolate Factory and had the time of his life? Howard had the golden ticket this week against San Fransisco and judging by his performance, he either lost the ticket or he is allergic to chocolate. San Fransisco is THE single worst team in the NFL in fantasy points given up to opposing running backs and Howard is THE lead running back for Chicago, what could go wrong? Well just about everything went wrong here as Howard lit up the stat sheet with his 38 yards on 13 carries and one reception… for negative five yards. Yep, it was that kind of game for Chicago as they ran an astoundingly low 36 total plays to San Fransisco’s 73! The future matchups look pretty good with Cincy, Detroit and Cleveland on their plate, but with Chicago’s ineptitude on offense and inability to do anything against the 49ers it’s very hard to believe that we can expect much out of Jordan Howard to finish 2017.

Stock to Watch

Stephen Anderson TE, HOU- In such a wild year for tight ends, we really have to dig deep, like with Seals-Jones, to find sleepers that could make an impact down the stretch. With an injury to starter C.J. Fiedorowicz, Anderson stepped in and caught five passes for 79 and a touchdown on a whopping 12 targets, second only to Hopkins. This is definitely a flier here but at this target share, he could be a huge pickup if you’re looking for help at the tight end position. There is reason to believe that he could remain the lead tight end the rest of the season as usual starter C.J. Fiedorowicz suffered his third concussion of the season already, possibly forcing him to sit out the remainder of the season.

Kenyan Drake RB, MIA- When Damien Williams suffered a serious shoulder injury in week 12 it opened the door for Drake to have a clear cut role as the lead back in week 13. Matching up against a Broncos defense that has struggled against running backs in the second half of the season, Drake cruised to 120 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. With Williams expected to miss a couple weeks at the very least, Drake should continue to see a similar workload moving forward. Miami remains at home this week to face the Patriots before heading to Buffalo and Kansas City in weeks 15 and 16, so there are plenty of points to be had from the Alabama product.