Who’s trending in the right direction? You can certainly make a case for a player like Tyjae Spears who’s carved out a receiving role in the Titans’ offense. Or what about Kareem Hunt? Who’s proving to be more than just a backup running back in Cleveland. Although Gardner Minshew kept Michael Pittman’s value afloat in Week 6, do we have to watch him throw the ball another 55 times to do it? This is where we are now folks, onto Week 7.
STOCK UP
WR - Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
London has been reborn in the last two weeks for the Falcons. With the Falcons’ willingness to throw the ball more, London has been able to put up 15-203-0 over his past two games on 21 targets. In Week 5, London was WR19 and in Week 6 he’s WR5 (MNF pending) ahead of players like A.J. Brown and Stefon Diggs. Whether or not this type of volume lasts in the Falcons’ offense no one knows, but one thing is for certain, they’re not running the ball efficiently. With upcoming matchups against the Buccaneers, Titans, Vikings, and Cardinals, it may be time to try and sneak in a trade for London with managers who think Desmond Ridder still can’t get him the ball.
TE - Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
Much of the same can be said here for Pitts, whose value was going down the drain fast. In Week 5, he caught seven passes for 88 yards on 11 targets en route to a TE8 finish. While he didn’t see the same volume in Week 6, Pitts went 4-43-1 on six targets and was the TE3 (MNF pending) for the week. It’s only two solid performances and you want to tread lightly, but in the fantasy tight end landscape you have to be happy with solid performances in consecutive weeks. What’s even more impressive is that Pitts is able to do this even though the Falcons also deploy Jonnu Smith (who was TE4 in Week 6 and whose stock is up as well) as another weapon at tight end.
WR - Wan’Dale Robinson, New York Giants
I think we may have actually found a Giants’ receiver we can use as a FLEX in fantasy. Robinson easily is the team’s most dynamic receiver; he just had to get healthy and now he is. The thing about Robinson is that he’s not in a good NFL offense and he’s not one who sees targets down field. If you’re in PPR leagues, he’s the guy for you, though. In three straight games he’s seen at least six targets. In Week 6, against a tough Bills’ defense he caught 8-of-8 targets for a season-high 62 yards. Again it’s nothing to go crazy over and go blow all your FAAB, but injuries are mounting (like Deebo Samuel) and moves need to be made.
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STOCK DOWN
QB - Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Cousins was the top quarterback in fantasy through the first weeks of the season. In those first three games he posted at least 340 yards passing and two touchdowns. In weeks 4-6 he’s thrown for over 200 yards once to go along with five touchdowns and two interceptions. That’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but being QB17 over that span as a volume passer doesn’t bode well for fantasy. When you add in the fact that he’ll be without Justin Jefferson for at least another three games, it makes the situation a lot scarier. No Vikings’ receiver was able to crack 50 yards in their first game without Jefferson against a soft Bears defense. Things certainly won’t get easier with teams like the 49ers coming into town in Week 7. Plus, the Packers and Falcons aren’t slouches on defense either.
WR - Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
This one doesn’t feel good to write about, but I have to do this at my job. Higgins came into Week 6 after dealing with injured ribs, but by all accounts was ready to go. With the Bengals heading into their bye in Week 7, the team almost certainly would have held him out if he wasn’t fully healthy. Higgins is currently WR64 in fantasy and no matter how you slice it, it’s not good. There is no way Braxton Berrios should have more fantasy points than Higgins, but he does. Higgins has only surpassed 25 receiving yards in a game just once this season. To be fair, Ja’Marr Chase had his struggles early on this season too, but not to this degree. With Joe Burrow getting back to himself, better days are ahead for Tee Higgins, but it’s been a tough first half of the season. There’s no way he could do worse, buy low.
RB - Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
You can cry volume until the cows come home, but White isn’t getting it done. Dalvin Cook could come into Tampa right now and easily be the Bucs’ RB1. Despite coming into Week 6 having played 77% of the Bucs’ running back snaps, White has only had one game where he surpassed 8 fantasy points and it was Week 2 when he scored his lone touchdown on the season. Averaging 46.4 rushing yards per game at 3.3 YPC is not what you want to see out of your workhorse running back. Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Allgeier, Gus Edwards and Saquon Barkley (who missed three games) all have scored more points than White (standard scoring). The two worst things about this is that you can’t trade him and you probably just have to grit your teeth and start him because of the volume.