The Hot Sheet looks at which top players are excelling, and which ones are struggling on a week-to-week basis. Following the latest on-field trends can make our weekly lineup decisions easier, while allowing dynasty players to always understand the current value of players around the league.
The value of the players mentioned on the Hot List is rising, thanks to their performance on the field. On the other hand, Cold List players are struggling, and losing dynasty value as a result.
Hot List:
1) George Kittle, TE SF
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: TE22
Week Seven: TE3
Week Eight: TE14
Week Nine: TE4
The San Francisco 49ers have had a tough season, struggling with major injuries to key players, including QB Jimmy Garoppolo and RB Jerick McKinnon and disappointing performances from their wide receiver corps. Through it all, TE George Kittle has been putting up a breakout season. He’s the TE3 on the season after another huge game, this one coming against the Raiders in Week Nine. That was Kittle’s sixth top 10 fantasy game of the season and he’s certainly eclipsed veteran TE Rob Gronkowski in dynasty value. It might be only Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz ahead of Kittle as a dynasty asset.
2) O.J. Howard, TE TB
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: TE5
Week Seven: TE10
Week Eight: TE5
Week Nine: TE3
Many pegged 2018 as a breakout season for Buccaneers TE O.J. Howard…and then the Bucs re-signed TE Cameron Brate to a surprisingly lucrative deal. That was confusing. What has made sense though is Howard’s performance this season. Although he’s only thirteenth among tight ends in targets on the season, his 105 fantasy points rank his as the TE6 and he’s been amazingly consistent as well. He’s finished as the TE13 or better in every game he’s played and finished, leaving the team’s Week Four game with a knee injury. He’s closing in on the top tier of dynasty tight ends.
3) Julio Jones, WR ATL
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Five: WR39
Week Six: WR11
Week Seven: WR16
Week Nine: WR4
It took him 12 games over the past two seasons but superstar WR Julio Jones finally scored a touchdown. While his 7/121/1 line against the Redskins Sunday was nice, what’s even more impressive are the numbers he put up and his fantasy rank among wide receivers even before he found the paint. Jones is on pace for 1,866 receiving yards, which would be good for third all-time.
4) Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR GB
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Five: WR11
Week Six: WR33
Week Eight: WR30
Week Nine: WR19
When the Green Bay Packers drafted three rookie receivers this year, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling became the forgotten man. It was WR J’Mon Moore whom they selected first and former Notre Dame WR Equanimeous St. Brown carried the big name, in more way than one. Most didn’t really know who MVS was and didn’t bother to find out. When veteran WRs Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison missed time with injuries, the rookies got a chance and Valdes-Scantling shined. He’s continued that even after they’ve returned and now with Allison on the IR, the rookie’s opportunity should only increase. Over the past five weeks, MVS is the WR21, averaging nearly 15 fantasy points per game and his dynasty value is sky-rocketing. After entering the league as an afterthought, Valdes-Scantling’s most recent dynasty ADP is 89 overall.
5) Jeff Heuerman, TE DEN
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: TE27
Week Seven: TE44
Week Eight: TE20
Week Nine: TE2
Since they let TE Julius Thomas walk years ago, the Broncos have been trying to find their next consistently productive tight end. This is still a long-shot but maybe the answer is TE Jeff Heuerman, who has produced three top 20 fantasy performances over his past six games. Heuerman has still shown a zero-catch floor but has also proven to be a red zone target for QB Case Keenum. Heuerman has 13 red zone targets this year, more than starting WRs Emmanuel Sanders (6) and Courtland Sutton (4) combined.
Other Players Considered: Dion Lewis, Chris Herndon, Patrick Mahomes, Kareem Hunt, Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Adam Thielen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Aaron Rodgers, Christian McCaffrey, Greg Olsen, James Conner, Antonio Brown, Anthony Miller, Russell Wilson, Mike Davis, Melvin Gordon, DeAndre Hopkins, Matt Ryan, James White
Cold List:
1) Jarvis Landry, WR CLE
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: WR86
Week Seven: WR5
Week Eight: WR36
Week Nine: WR29
After WR Jarvis Landry moved from the Dolphins to the Browns over the offseason, there was a warranted concern that he wouldn’t see the same heavy volume. That hasn’t been the issue as Landry has exactly 100 targets through the first nine games this season. That puts Landry on pace for a career-high 178 targets. The issue has been his production. Landry has just one WR1 game this season and has struggled with his efficiency at times. Landry has provided a safe fantasy floor, hitting double-digit fantasy points in all but one game but the upside has not been there with only two games of 20+ fantasy points.
2) LeSean McCoy, RB BUF
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: RB20
Week Seven: RB71
Week Eight: RB19
Week Nine: RB36
Entering the season, most fantasy players and fans assumed it might be a long season for the Bills, who turned to rookie QB Josh Allen to lead them and had many questions at the wide receiver position. The one sure thing seemed to be RB LeSean McCoy, who was projected for a massive workload and was a target of many using the “someone has to produce in this offense” theory. That hasn’t exactly worked out. McCoy’s best fantasy performance was an RB19 game and he only has two games with more than 40 rushing yards. QBs Blake Bortles, Dak Prescott and Marcus Mariota each have matched Shady’s 40-yard games while Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson and Mitch Trubisky all have at least four 40-yard performances.
3) Le’Veon Bell, RB PIT
It seems we might be finally nearing the end of the Le’Veon Bell saga. We’ve avoided talking about him in this space, but he is clearly one of the biggest losers of this season, in dynasty value terms, of course. There is little certainty about Bell’s situation and that has led to dynasty players to respond out of fear. Fear that Bell could sit the entire season. Fear that he might have already lost his starting job to RB James Conner. Fear that Bell could end up in a much worse situation in 2019. Fear that another tag from the Steelers could cause him to sit out again. Fear that his history of off-field troubles has caught up to him during his time away from the team. There are a lot of reasons to be fearful when it comes to Bell’s dynasty value and that is why it is falling.
4) Marquise Goodwin, WR SF
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Six: WR6
Week Seven: WR73
Week Eight: WR30
Week Nine: WR87
This season was set up perfectly to be a true breakout season for 49ers WR Marquise Goodwin, who ended the 2017 season on a hot streak after the team acquired QB Jimmy Garoppolo. The pair quickly formed a clear bond and Goodwin was always the first option in that offense. This year got off to a rough start as Goodwin dealt with a minor injury and Garoppolo’s season ended early with a torn ACL and Goodwin has struggled to consistently produce. He did erupt for a WR6 performance a few weeks ago, but that is his only game of the season finishing higher than WR30.
5) Austin Ekeler, RB LAC
Recent Weekly Fantasy Finishes:
Week Five: RB24
Week Six: RB38
Week Seven: RB23
Week Nine: RB46
After starting the season as a regular flex-worthy fantasy option, Chargers backup RB Austin Ekeler has seen his playing time dip to a season-low 18% in Week Nine. His four touches and RB46 fantasy rank were also season-lows. This could be a case of one fluky game but feels more like a negative trend as starter Melvin Gordon continues to carry the team. After scoring double-digit fantasy points in four of his first five games, Ekeler has now totaled just over 22 fantasy points in the past three games combined.
Other Players Considered: Derek Carr, Sam Darnold, Isaiah Crowell, Matthew Stafford, Kenny Golladay, Chris Godwin, John Brown, Joe Flacco, Tarik Cohen, Kelvin Benjamin, Randall Cobb, Chris Hogan, Jordan Reed
