With all but one Week 14 game in the books (Monday Night Football), we’ve learned a little bit more than we knew last week. Or, in some cases, thought we knew. Players impressed, players disappointed and there is fantasy football fallout to unpack.
[Upgrade to Fantasy Plus and gain your edge in player projections and much more]
Once again, I’ve compiled the full weekly fantasy stock report below. These are the most notable risers and fallers coming out of Week 14. Invest accordingly!
Advertisement
📈 Stock Up at RBTony Pollard, RB, Titans
Sometimes, fantasy football laughs in our faces. Like when Tony Pollard, who has done literally nothing all season, blows up for 161 yards and two touchdowns — 28.1 fantasy points — on 25 carries … against the Cleveland Browns defense. If you started him, congratulations, but let’s not pretend this was expected. Still, it can’t be ignored either, and his matchup with the 49ers next week is theoretically better. Pollard is not trustworthy (by any means), but there’s a flash of hope heading into the fantasy playoffs after what he showed on Sunday.
RJ Harvey, RB, Broncos
RJ Harvey is finally shaping into what many rookie-loving fantasy analysts were excited about after his draft selection back in April. He’s a dynamic running back in a productive Sean Payton offense, who now possesses the lead role with JK Dobbins injured. Following the Week 12 bye, Harvey has now logged 19+ fantasy points in consecutive games, with 162 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. He has three tough matchups in the playoffs, but should probably be started in just about every league anyway.
Advertisement
Devin Neal, RB, Saints
I poo-poo’d Devin Neal quite a bit the last couple weeks, unwilling to buy into his fantasy value as the lead back of a terrible offense with very little upside. And while 3.7 yards per carry and one catch for 14 yards still isn’t all that exciting, Neal managed to post 14.9 fantasy points thanks to a touchdown in Sunday’s upset of the Buccaneers. Importantly, he has three soft matchups down the stretch, and can probably be played as a volume-based RB3 or low-end RB2 through the fantasy playoffs as long as Alvin Kamara remains sidelined.
📈 Stock Up at WRMichael Wilson, WR, Cardinals
The dominance of Michael Wilson in a Marvin Harrison Jr.-less offense needs to be studied. This is now three games with Jacoby Brissett and no MHJ, and three fantasy Hall of Fame outings for Wilson. In Week 11, it was 15 catches for 185 yards on 18 targets. In Week 12 it was 10 catches for 118 yards on 15 targets. And on Sunday, it was 11 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 16 targets against the Rams. Next week brings a horrendous matchup with the Texans, but if Harrison is out again, Wilson is literally unbenchable. And at this point, you have to wonder if Wilson might have earned the WR1 role regardless.
Advertisement
Zay Flowers, WR, Ravens
After an utter bust in Week 13 and basically 10 straight weeks of mediocrity prior, Zay Flowers finally had another great game on Sunday. He snagged eight of 11 targets for 124 yards against the Steelers, as Lamar Jackson started rounding back into form following a stretch of injury-hampered doldrums. The Bengals bring a curiously “red” matchup for Flowers in Week 15, but he has a chance to produce in a high-scoring affair anyway — as long as Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews don’t steal all the fantasy points. You can likely roll Flowers out as a WR3, pending another consistent game (or two).
Christian Watson, WR, Packers
Christian Watson has been playing lights out football since returning from injury in Week 8, and it’s really just the Packers’ willingness to feed him the ball — or lack thereof — that’s kept him from fantasy dominance. In Week 14, neither that unwillingness nor Chicago’s defense were enough to stop him, as he turned just four targets into 89 yards and two touchdowns. He draws a mortifying matchup with the Broncos in Week 15 (in which you can probably bench him), but gets to finish the year against the Bears (again) and the Ravens. He’s scored five TDs in his last four games and has become a lethal weapon downfield again. Watson should be a WR2 in the fantasy semis and finals.
Advertisement
Jakobi Meyers, WR, Jaguars
Even with Brian Thomas Jr. starting to poke his head up again (finally), Jakobi Meyers remained consistent this Sunday, finding the end zone for a third straight game. He did only catch four of his 10 targets, but double-digit looks is encouraging and his red-zone dominance in Jacksonville is becoming almost Davante Adams-esque. He’s not quite as exciting as the three names above, but Meyers is a stalwart flex play for those of us squeaking into the playoffs with a patchwork starting lineup.
📈 Stock Up ElsewhereShedeur Sanders, QB, Browns
One day, Shedeur Sanders might be one of the more intriguing stories in NFL history. For now, he’s riding high off a massive breakout game against the Titans in his fourth NFL game. Sanders tagged Tennessee for 364 yards and three TDs through the air (with one INT), adding 29 rushing yards and a score on the ground as well. His 34.46 fantasy points on Sunday were comfortably more than his prior three games combined. While he’s probably a low-end QB2 or streamer in a good matchup this week against the Bears, the fact that he’s in consideration at all is a huge Stock Up. And with the overall mess at the quarterback position these days, he should probably end up in a few starting lineups for playoff teams this Sunday and maybe in Week 17 against Pittsburgh.
Advertisement
J.J. McCarthy, QB, Vikings
J.J. McCarthy had a slightly larger sample of “quite bad” in comparison to Sanders, and his “great game” on Sunday against Washington wasn’t quite as monumental — 20.42 fantasy points, with three passing TDs but just 163 yards. Still, McCarthy proved that he can be fantasy viable in the right matchup … you know, like the ones against the Cowboys, Giants and Lions through the fantasy playoffs. It’s undoubtedly the best schedule in the game, so if he can maintain the TD-INT efficiency — which he’d struggled to do through the first 13 weeks — McCarthy might be a legitimate three-week streamer for teams in desperate need.
📉 Stock Down at RBKenneth Walker III, RB, Seahawks
After 14 weeks of this, we have to come to terms with reality. For every great fantasy day Kenneth Walker III has — of which there have been three this season — there are at least two or three stinkers. Like the one on Sunday, where he totaled just 28 yards on 11 touches, for 3.3 fantasy points against the Falcons. He has tough matchups against the Colts and Rams upcoming, and is hurting your lineup more than he’s helping it. It’s probably time to look elsewhere — maybe even to names like Neal — for a more promising weekly floor. Though, if you’re looking for some questionable hope, he and the Seahawks will have an extremely favorable game script against a backup QB for the Colts next week.
Advertisement
Breece Hall, RB, Jets
The Dolphins defense has gotten strangely good against the run and the Jets lost their “starting QB” when Tyrod Taylor exited with a groin injury. Still, it’s hard to excuse 43 yards on 15 opportunities for just 4.3 fantasy points by Breece Hall. And there’s not much reason to expect improvement in the fantasy playoffs, with the quarterback room in shambles and matchups against the Jaguars, Saints and Patriots on the docket. Hall always has a chance to break a big play or two, but he’ll have an unbelievably tough uphill climb against frequently loaded boxes and a couple of very tough run defenses over the next few weeks. He was never a reliable RB1 this season, but Hall might now be falling out of reliable RB2 range as well.
📉 Stock Down at WRChris Olave, WR, Saints
While I wouldn’t say that Devaughn Vele has “broken out” or “taken over” in New Orleans, Chris Olave was previously thriving in a subpar offense on the merits of crazy target volume. The last couple weeks, with Vele and Juwan Johnson more involved, Olave has seen just seven and five targets, caught just four and three passes and totaled just 77 yards across both games combined. He doesn’t have great matchups on the horizon, and we can no longer rely on double-digit opportunities to bail him out of otherwise inefficient fantasy days. Olave might still be a viable flex play, but he suddenly has a much lower floor heading into the fantasy playoffs.
Advertisement
Troy Franklin, WR, Broncos
I think Sean Payton and the Broncos might play some sort of pre-week roulette to decide who to feature any given Sunday in the passing attack. Either that, or they have a very nuanced plan that we fantasy analysts are struggling to predict. After taking over in Denver from Weeks 7-11, Troy Franklin has exited the bye with two straight games under 4.0 fantasy points. And on Sunday against the Raiders, a mind-boggling 11 players caught a pass for the Broncos, with Courtland Sutton, Pat Bryant, Harvey and even Lil’Jordan Humphrey all outdoing Franklin in the box score. Whatever happened during the bye, it’s been terrible for Franklin’s fantasy breakout, and he should be sent back to the bench in every fantasy league.
Jets “Breakouts”
Speaking of the Jets. Youch. The move to backup QB Brady Cook did not go well for the offense. And whether it’s him, Tyrod Taylor or Justin Fields, it will be pretty much impossible to trust either John Metchie III or Adonai Mitchell, both of whom cropped up in waiver wire articles the last couple weeks following spotty “breakout” games. Neither crested 6.0 fantasy points on Sunday. You can send both right back to the wire, or at least to the bench, until further notice.
Advertisement
📉 Stock Down ElsewhereBaker Mayfield, QB, Bucs
Maybe there’s some lingering injury restrictions from the shoulder issue he picked up against the Rams, but Baker Mayfield has not been great for a few weeks now. He hasn’t thrown more than one touchdown pass in a game since Week 10, has fewer than 200 passing yards in each of his last four games (one of which he exited early) and has thrown four interceptions over that same span. And while he might get Mike Evans back next week, he’s been on completely different pages from Emeka Egbuka for months and simply has not had the fantasy upside he’d uncovered last year. Matchups with the Falcons and Panthers defenses don’t promise an easy road to improvement, and you can probably send Mayfield to the bench for better streaming options.
Advertisement
Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs
Travis Kelce and the entire Chiefs offense looked lost against the Texans … and in fairness, almost everyone has this year. But with Kansas City reeling and extremely tough matchups with the Chargers, Titans and Broncos on the horizon, there’s no guarantee that the fantasy Hall of Famer gets it back on track in the fantasy playoffs. His 1.3 fantasy points from Sunday night would be potentially season-ending for fantasy managers these next few weeks, so you may want to consider strong streaming options like Brenton Strange, Darren Waller, Isaiah Likely or Kyle Pitts Sr. instead.