Knowshon Moreno - Let's start with full disclosure here, I hate him. No two ways around it. I'm fully in support of LeSean McCoy's "he sucks" comment. Moreno was a full buy-in player in his rookie season when he just missed a 1,000-yard season and pitched in mightily in the receiving game. Then the wheels fell off. Moreno pulled three hamstrings (that's right, three) the following season and then suffered a significant knee injury. Adding insult to literal injury is the fact that Moreno was then arrested in the offseason for DUI. Heading in to this season, rumors swirled around Moreno being supplanted on the roster by rookie Montee Ball and being downright cut from the team. Things have certainly turned around for Moreno as he's been one of the best fantasy producers to date and is coming off a triple touchdown game. Is Moreno an unquestionable top-10 fantasy football running back? This game, and the rest of 2013, could lead us to believe so. If he continues on this pace, there is no doubting a top-10 designation next season.
Brandon Jacobs - The new, old New York Giants runner had more than 20 carries last Thursday against the always powerful Chicago defense. He turned those carries into more than 100 yards and two touchdowns. With David Wilson's neck injury looking to bother him for the rest of the season, Jacobs could be in line for about 20 touches a game. It's extremely rare to find a player with such a workload at this point in the season on the waiver wire. The question is: Can Jacobs keep converting those carries into meaningful fantasy stats? Added to the question of Jacobs being able to handle such work at his age, with his offensive line, and his below average speed, is the recent pickup of Peyton Hillis. Will Hillis cut into Jacobs' touches? Will Hillis, more importantly, be utilized in the red zone, all but ending Jacobs' true value? This week will show if Jacobs is for real or just a one-and-done performer.
Kyle Rudolph - Last week he had a nine-catch effort for just less than 100 yards with a touchdown. These are the kind of numbers owners were expecting from Rudolph here in 2013. The change at quarterback from Matt Cassel to newly acquired Josh Freeman could either be a blessing or a curse. In his time with Tampa Bay, Freeman leaned heavily on his wide receivers and often overlooked the tight end. There were games where Dallas Clark was effective but more often than not it was the wide receivers who handled the load. That means that Greg Jennings could be in for a value bump but it leaves Rudolph's projections up in the air. Will Freeman use Rudolph as a checkdown option and rely on him in the red zone in the same manner he used to with jump baller Mike Williams? Or will Rudolph go unnoticed and underused in the same manner that Greg Olsen was while with Chicago? That's a lot of unanswered questions that need answering on Monday Night Football.
Justin Blackmon - After his four-game suspension, Blackmon walked onto the field and dominated with a 100-yard receiving game and a score. Little did we know that was just a warm up, an appetizer for what was to come in Week 6. Blackmon was targeted an astronomically high 20 times en route to a 14-catch day for 190 yards. Those are the kind of numbers that would make even Calvin Johnson blush. It's amazing to think that Blackmon is piling up these kinds of numbers given the state of the Jacksonville offense and the quality of quarterbacking that he has to play with. Blackmon is stuck in the same kind of situation as Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona where he has to make his own value. Given his display of talent over the past two weeks, it looks as though Blackmon is more than ready to tackle the task. If Blackmon can pull through with a third straight elite game, he'll find himself cemented in the top-10 for the remainder of the year.
Matt Ryan - It's going to be very telling to see how Ryan handles the dismantled Atlanta offense this week. With Julio Jones down for the season and Roddy White looking likely to miss the game or at least be less than 100 percent, all while waiting for Steven Jackson to return, things are looking to go from bad to worse. Matt Ryan will likely find himself in the same situation as Tom Brady. He'll need to step up and make things happen himself as the surrounding cast will be less talented than what he normally plays with. Harry Douglas will chip in and Tony Gonzalez remains a stud, but outside of those two, things look bleak. We find ourselves now questioning if Ryan can hold onto his QB1 label. If Ryan can't find a way to put up stats here we may be forced to locate a different option until White is back to his normal self.
Aaron Rodgers - If we're going to sit here and talk about how Tom Brady's value is affected by inferior surrounding talent and how Matt Ryan could face the same fate, it would simply be biased to not mention Rodgers as well. Last week, Rodgers lost stud receivers Randall Cobb and James Jones to injury. While Jones injury isn't viewed to be as serious, Cobb has been lost for the better part of the year with a leg injury. Jones likely won't be able to suit up this week as the injury may not be a serious but still requires some obvious recovery time. Rodgers will have to turn to tight end Jermichael Finley and personal favorite Jordy Nelson to pick up the slack. The value hit on Rodgers isn't as great as the impact on Matt Ryan, but there will still be a potential statistical dropoff. This game will show us if Rodgers is still able to rock and roll as a top-three option even without some of his friends.
Andre Johnson - Things certainly aren't looking up in Houston. Quarterback Matt Schaub looks to be out for at least this week with a leg injury, making room for Case Keenum. Added to that, is the fact that Owen Daniels remains out with his own leg injury and backup tight end Garrett Graham barely showed up last week, finishing with roughly 25 yards. Without someone to ease defensive attention on Andre Johnson he'll likely see constant double and triple coverage as the tough Kansas City defense will look to force Keenum to hurt them with different options. This week's output could become the norm and set the bar for expectations until Schaub ultimately returns. During this time, Johnson could find himself outside of the top ranked wide receivers.
Dez Bryant - Week 7 Short and Sweet: With Calvin Johnson ailing there is room for Bryant to surpass him for fantasy supremacy. If Bryant can come through in a big way against the poor Philadelphia Eagles pass defense, there's the chance that he'll finish on top and even earn the top billing for 2013. Anything less than 100 yards and multiple scores would be a letdown.
Ryan Mathews - Granted he didn't get into the end zone last week, but he still looked the best that he has all season. He looked confident in his cuts and made smart decisions, outside of the one boneheaded run out of bounds that stopped the clock on the time-killing final drive. This game figures to be a high-scoring affair given both San Diego and Jacksonville's distain for playing defense. This is the perfect situation to pad stats and earn looks from owners moving forward. If you can't come through against Jacksonville, though, you can't be counted on to come through against anyone. There's a ton of value on the line for the Chargers' running back here as he can't afford to get tripped up.
Keenan Allen - Rare to have two players from the same team mentioned in "Risers and Fallers." Actually, it's the first, come to think of it. But, rightfully so as the Chargers offense is looking for weekly producers. Short of quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates, no one has sustained reliable production. The early frontrunner was Eddie Royal as he started off the season with a huge bang, hauling in touchdown after touchdown. Since then, though, Royal has faded into the faceless crowd of Chargers' receivers. Keenan Allen has pieced together back-to-back great games and has quickly become Rivers' favorite wide receiver. Last week Allen pitched in as seemingly the only receiver that Rivers agreed to throw to in the Monday matchup against Indianapolis. With the Jacksonville game figuring to be a back-and-forth score-fest, Allen is well positioned to continue to roll. Not bad for a rookie as he could become one of the best WR3 plays in the game.
Risers and Fallers - Week 7 fantasysharks.comFri 10/18/13 6:00 AM