The Hot Sheet looks at which top prospects are excelling and which ones are struggling on a week-to-week basis. The consensus top-flight players may not always appear on this list because we are trying to help you find the next group of breakout players before your leaguemates do.
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) Golden Tate, WR DET
The season didn’t start well for Lions WR Golden Tate. After the first five weeks of the season, he hadn’t finished any higher than WR48 and ranked as the WR74 overall. While Tate was seemingly an afterthought, former Bengal Marvin Jones was playing the role of go to WR for QB Matthew Stafford. Since then though, roles have switched. From Week Six on, Tate has been the WR8, including weekly finishes of WR3, WR4 and last week’s WR1. Tate caught eight passes for 145 yards and a touchdown and looks like one of the most reliable players in the game for the fantasy playoffs.
2) Travis Kelce, TE KC
In last night’s kickoff to Week Fourteen, Chiefs TE Travis Kelce tied an NFL record with his fourth consecutive 100- yard game, matching the performance of Jimmy Graham and Tony Gonzalez. Kelce is already the top-scoring fantasy TE for the season and is on his way to another top 12 game after his team-leading five receptions for 101 yards against the Raiders. Kelce already has six top 10 games this season and with Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski done for the season, some dynasty owners are beginning to value the two players in the same range.
3) Le’Veon Bell, RB PIT
Last week I mentioned Arizona’s RB David Johnson as a player I’ve taken for granted in this column, failing to include him on the hot list. The same can be said for Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell. Since Bell returned to the field in Week Four, following a league imposed three game suspension, his worst weekly finish has been RB14. While Johnson is getting all of the praise, but Bell’s numbers are even better, judging by his 16-game pace. Bell is averaging nearly 150 yards from scrimmage per game and he sees over eight targets per game. There is no doubting Bell’s talent or production, the only questions keeping him out of the top RB spot for dynasty leagues involve his injury history and multiple drug related suspensions.
4) Malcolm Mitchell, WR NE
Patriots rookie WR Malcolm Mitchell burst onto the scene three weeks ago when the team was desperate for pass-catchers and he hasn’t slowed down since. Over the past three games, Mitchell is the WR5, being outscored only by Antonio Brown, Julian Edelman, Odell Beckham and, surprisingly, Ted Ginn. Mitchell is a must start going forward and a player whose dynasty value is growing by leaps and bounds. After seeing 15 targets in the first ten weeks of the season, Mitchell is now averaging over seven per game. If he keeps up this high level of production, don’t be surprised to see him in the top 50 dynasty players off the board this off-season.
5) Thomas Rawls, RB SEA
After missing most of the first ten weeks of the season, Seattle RB Thomas Rawls is back to his rookie season form. With C.J. Prosise likely out for the rest of the season, Rawls has the backfield to himself and he took advantage in his Week Thirteen breakout game, rushing for over 100 yards for the first time this season, along with a pair of touchdowns. That performance was good enough to rank him as the RB6 for the week, finally rewarding his owners who heavily invested in him during the off-season. With the Seahawks offense clicking, Rawls is an every week starter for the remainder of the season and should be a safe option heading into 2017.
6) Andrew Luck, QB IND
For the third time this season, Andrew Luck finished the week as the overall QB1. Following his injury-plagued and disappointing 2015 season, some were questioning if Luck belonged among the game’s elite signal callers. From both a fantasy perspective, as well as actually on the field, Luck is proving his doubters wrong this season. Along with those three top scoring weeks, he also has four other games among the top 12. While other top quarterbacks are either having a down year or simply getting older, Luck is shining.
7) Ladarius Green, TE PIT
After missing much of the off-season and the regular season, dynasty owners had all but given up on new Steelers TE Ladarius Green. Since his return in Week Ten, Green’s playing time has been growing and last week, he finally produced. Green caught six balls for 110 yards and his first touchdown with the Steelers on his way to a TE3 weekly finish. Green has long been a favorite of the dynasty community, but he was stuck behind future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates in San Diego. Now that he’s with QB Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, Green can fulfill the promise he’s shown for years.
8) Dontrelle Inman, WR SD
Chargers WR Travis Benjamin is seeming still not fully healthy and veteran WR Dontrelle Inman is taking advantage of his increased playing time. After his WR10 finish in Week Twelve when he caught six passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, Inman had another score last week on a pair of receptions and 49 yards. Inman’s long-term value is not there with star Keenan Allen back in 2017, but he could be worth using down the stretch as the Chargers should continue to put up points.
Others considered: T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, LeSean McCoy, Tyreek Hill, Jordan Howard, Tyler Eifert, Latavius Murray, David Johnson, Melvin Gordon, Tyrell Williams, DeVante Parker
Cold List:
1) Colin Kaepernick, QB SF
It didn’t take long for QB Colin Kaepernick to move from the Hot List to the Cold List. Kap entered last week’s game against the Bears as the hottest QB in fantasy football, although his fantasy production wasn’t leading to wins on the field. In snowy conditions in Chicago, both offenses struggled mightily, but Kaepernick attempted only five passes and completed just one before being benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert. Although he is scheduled to be back under center in Week Fourteen, the idea of Kaepernick as the answer for an NFL team’s quarterback issues took a major hit last week.
2) Allen Robinson, WR JAX
A few weeks ago, WR Allen Robinson put together back-to-back top 12 weeks, finishing as WR12 and then WR5 in Week Ten and all was right in the world. Since then though, ARob has been back to his disappointing play that he began the season with, catching eight balls for 73 yards total over the past three games. With the struggles of his QB Blake Bortles, Robinson has become a very risky weekly start, but is the ideal buy low target this off-season.
3) Cam Newton, QB CAR
Panthers QB Cam Newton had everything going for him in 2016. Coming off a Super Bowl run and getting his star WR Kelvin Benjamin back after missing the 2015 season, expectations were high for Newton and he and the Panthers have failed at nearly every opportunity. Newton has produced four top 12 fantasy weeks, but over his past three weeks, he’s failed to crack the top 12 and has produced top games as the QB20. For the remainder of this season, Newton is a matchup play, which is very different from Newton’s first few seasons in the league. For most, he’s fallen behind Luck and Aaron Rodgers in dynasty ranks, making him another nice trade target this off-season.
4) Nelson Agholor, WR PHI
After publicly expressing his confidence issues, which has certainly affected his play on the field, WR Nelson Agholor was set to get some time off from the Eagles. That lasted just one week as an injury to Jordan Matthews forced Agholor back into the lineup last week. Agholor began the season as the WR24 and his best weekly finish since that time was WR53 a month ago. He’s a complete non-factor and not even worthy of a roster spot at this point.
5) Sammie Coates, WR PIT
Early in the season, Steelers WR Sammie Coates looked to be living up to the pre-season hype. In Weeks Four and Five, Coates posted fantasy finishes of WR24 and WR2, respectively, but suffered a hand injury soon after that. Since that time, he hasn’t finished inside the top 40 fantasy WRs and has two games in which he saw targets, but failed to record a catch. Much like Agholor, Coates is a non-factor and certainly can’t be relied on by fantasy players. Since he did flash that early season upside, I would keep him at the end of my bench, but he’s losing dynasty value by the bunches.
Others considered: Laquon Treadwell, Devontae Booker, Blake Bortles, Willie Snead, Randall Cobb, Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, Lamar Miller, Phillip Dorsett, Kelvin Benjamin, Greg Olsen
