Carson Palmer has started four games this season and has thrown 2 touchdown passes in each.

Rising

Ben Roethlisberger, PIT
That game against Indianapolis was incredible. The most amazing part is that entering the game, the Colts were one of the best defenses in the league against the pass. One week prior, they shut out the Bengals. I’m not saying Roethlisberger will have any more 500-yard, six-touchdown games, but he can continue being a fantasy starter. He has completed at least 69 percent of his passes in six of his last seven games. His efficiency should lead to more strong days down the road.

Carson Palmer, ARI
What do all of Palmer’s starts this season have in common? If you guessed that he’s thrown exactly two touchdowns in each, you are correct. Two scores per game means he deserves to be a week in and week out fantasy starter. In fact, only five quarterbacks with at least four starts under their belt have at least 19.4 points (according to FFToday default scoring) in every game they’ve played. His schedule hasn’t been that difficult, so Palmer could potentially end the two touchdowns per game streak, but for now I’d ride him while he’s hot.

Kyle Orton, BUF
The five quarterbacks I was referring to in the previous section are Palmer, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees … and Kyle Orton. Since taking over as the starting quarterback, the Bills haven’t had a single rusher eclipse 53 yards in a game, so they’ve been relying heavily on the arm of Orton. I wouldn’t depend on Orton each week, but with a few more weeks of byes remaining, Orton could be a solid one-week fill-in.

Falling

Geno Smith, NYJ
Smith is falling as far as a quarterback can fall: out of a job. After three first quarter turnovers against the Bills on Sunday, Smith got pulled for Michael Vick, and it appears this move is now permanent. Early in the year, Smith seemed like an intriguing streaming or deep league option at quarterback, but now there is no reason to own him, no matter how deep your league may be.

Tony Romo, DAL
This might only be a temporary fall, but until we get more word on Romo’s back, I’m worried. Romo entered Monday night on a streak of six straight quality fantasy starts, but that came to an end when he left during the second half against Washington. He came back in the game, but that doesn’t mean he’s healthy. Watch Romo’s practice status and definitely be concerned if he shows any lingering effects if he is active on Sunday.

Mike Glennon, TB
Glennon was on a bit of a streak of solid games entering the Buccaneers bye week, so his performance exiting the bye comes as a surprise. The Vikings don’t have a great defense, so Glennon concerns me even as a potential matchup play down the road. Right now, the Tampa Bay offense just seems like a disaster I’d try to avoid if I could. Until he shows he can bounce back from his tough outing, Glennon is only worthy of starter consideration in very deep leagues.

Running Back

Rising

Mark Ingram, NO
This is the guy the Saints used a first-round pick on all those years ago. Ingram started the season strong in the first couple weeks, then went down with an injury. In his first game back in the lineup in Week 7, he did very little against a strong Lions defense. Then Week 8 arrived and Ingram ran wild: 24 rushes, 172 yards and a touchdown against the Packers. It’s clear that with Pierre Thomas and Khiry Robinson both on the shelf, Ingram will be the center of attention in the Saints offense. There’s always a risk that Ingram will have down weeks if the Saints fall behind early, but I don’t see a way you can bench him right now (unless you’re loaded at running back).

Theo Riddick, DET
Twice this season, Riddick has been given an opportunity to play a role in the Lions offense. In those two games, he caught 13 combined passes for 149 yards. He’s not getting a lot of carries, but is a definite threat to do damage through the air, a la Darren Sproles or Shane Vereen. His biggest obstacle to full time fantasy usefulness is Reggie Bush, as there’s no way to know for sure if Riddick will remain involved when Bush is healthy. Riddick is a solid stash in leagues that score receptions, just in case the Lions end up placing him above Bush on the depth chart.

Jonas Gray, NE
A few weeks ago, it seemed that Brandon Bolden might be the one who took on the Stevan Ridley role in the Patriots offense. Apparently, that thinking was incorrect. In Week 8, it was Gray who received a great majority of the Patriots carries. Just like Ridley, there will be plenty of annoying weeks where the Patriots don’t run nearly as much as you’d like, but there will also be weeks like the one against Chicago. For now, Gray looks like a spot play in games where New England is heavily favored.

Falling

Marshawn Lynch, SEA
In the last three weeks, Lynch has not rushed for more than 62 yards in a game, has four total receptions, and has not scored a touchdown. This is not what you expected when you drafted Lynch in the late first or early second round of fantasy drafts. Lynch remains a weekly starter given how shallow the running back position looks right now, but at the moment there’s no reason to expect any matchup-winning performances out of him.

Ben Tate, CLE
In Week 6, Tate averaged 3.1 yards per carry against Pittsburgh. In Week 7, he averaged 2.3 per carry against Jacksonville. In Week 8, 1.7 against Oakland. That’s not exactly a murderer’s row of defenses. Like Lynch, Tate will likely remain in most lineups since he is still getting most of the work in his offense, but it appears he needs to score a touchdown in any given week to be a truly useful fantasy commodity.

Zac Stacy, Tre Mason, Benny Cunningham, STL
A week after it looked like Tre Mason had taken over the Rams backfield, we saw a full on running back by committee in Week 8. Mason led the way with seven carries, Zac Stacy saw five carries and Benny Cunningham had four. In the passing game though, Stacy had three receptions on four targets, while Mason and Cunningham had one reception on one target each. It’s looking like a troublesome situation for fantasy owners: all three backs seem worth owning, but none of the three backs seem like they are worth starting.

Wide Receiver

Rising

Sammy Watkins, BUF
If we disregard the week where Watkins was introduced to Mr. Darrelle Revis, here are Watkins’ three-game stats with Orton: 32 targets, 19 receptions, 366 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously Orton has grown very fond of the top receiver in the 2014 draft. Watkins has arrived and he can be trusted in lineups for the remainder of the season.

Donte Moncrief, IND
With Reggie Wayne out due to injury in Week 8, Moncrief finally got a chance to shine, and shine he did. Twelve targets, seven receptions, 113 yards and one touchdown. I think the Colts have finally realized he should be ahead of Hakeem Nicks on the depth chart, but what happens when Wayne returns? There is a decent chance Wayne returns this week, leaving Moncrief with a muddy future. He’s very much worth adding on the upside of playing in an offense with Luck, but with tempered expectations while we wait to see how he fits in with Wayne in the fold.

Martavis Bryant, PIT
Bryant has now played two games in his NFL career and he has three touchdowns to show for it. Not bad. It appears Bryant has leaped to number two on the wide receiver depth chart behind Antonio Brown, as only Brown and Le’Veon Bell have more targets in those two games. His upside may be limited with Brown and Bell taking all those targets, but Bryant looks like a decent play that could develop into a weekly starter with a few more weeks under his belt.

Falling

Vincent Jackson, TB
At a certain point, you just have to drop your expectations for a player. Jackson was drafted as a high end WR2 with clear WR1 upside, but he has not produced like that in 2014. It’s not all his fault: the Tampa Bay offense has been awful. Jackson has been a target monster, but for all those targets, he only has one game with more than four receptions. At this point, if you can get a league-mate to give up something good for Jackson on name value alone, pull the trigger. Most likely you are stuck waiting it out though, hoping things turn around sometime in the last half of the season.

Michael Floyd, ARI
In two of the first three weeks, Floyd went off for 114+ yards, leaving owners who made him a middle-round pick thrilled beyond believe. In his other five games, however, Floyd has put up a whopping 120 receiving yards, or 24 yards per game. That is not good. It’s difficult to give up on Floyd because of what he showed early on, but it’s real difficult to imagine leaving him in lineups until he shows it again.

Torrey Smith, BAL
Finishing up the trifecta of disappointing mid-round wide receivers is Torrey Smith. In five of eight games, Smith has five or less targets. Smith has yet to have five receptions in a game. He only has one game with more than 53 receiving yards. Unlike the other two, I’d actually be open to the idea of dropping Torrey Smith. There’s no reason to believe a major turnaround is coming, barring an injury to Steve Smith Sr.

Tight End

Rising

Rob Gronkowski, NE
It looks like the Gronk we’ve all been waiting for has returned. After posting numerous solid yet unspectacular outings, games that are good for a tight end but not what we expected out of a high pick, Gronkowski exploded for 149 yards and three touchdowns. Given that he is clearly the best receiving option in the Patriots offense and his full return to health, I’d consider Gronkowski as the No. 1 tight end in fantasy going forward.

Dwayne Allen, IND
The targets and yardage can be scary, but those touchdowns just can’t be disregarded. Only Antonio Gates, Julius Thomas and Gronkowski have more touchdowns at the tight end position this season. That’s some great company. He will have some down weeks when he doesn’t get in the end zone, but being a red zone favorite in an offense that scores a lot provides too much upside not to at least consider starting at tight end on a weekly basis, depending on your options.

Mychal Rivera, OAK
After not really doing much coming into Week 8, Rivera suddenly got a huge bump in the Raiders offense, leading the team in receptions and yards. At the moment, Rivera isn’t much more than a spot starter over the next couple weeks of heavy byes. If he has a couple more big games in the next few weeks though, it’s possible he could become more.

Falling

Julius Thomas, DEN
As it turns out, Thomas is human. After five games, Thomas was on an incredible touchdown pace, scoring nine over that time. In the last two weeks, Thomas hasn’t scored and only put up 50 total yards. Upon further review of Thomas’ game log, it’s interesting to note that he’s had fewer than 40 receiving yards in four of seven games. Don’t get me wrong, Thomas is a must start at tight end, but his down weeks have definitely drawn attention to the fact that he is super touchdown dependent (and I’m sure he will have many more).

Jared Cook, STL
I’m not sure what happened, but Cook has suddenly become the forgotten man in the Rams offense. After being a target hog though the first five games, Cook only has three targets per game over the last two games. Since Cook is not a touchdown threat (Lance Kendricks has been getting the touchdowns at tight end), not even getting receptions makes Cook a tough play in fantasy lineups. Ideally you have another option in your lineups, I’d hate trusting Cook.

Charles Clay, MIA
In Week 7, Clay seemed to finally have a small breakout game, catching four passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. How did he back it up in Week 8? One catch for one yard in a great matchup with the Jaguars. If there were any thoughts of Clay returning to his fringe TE1 status of last season, those thoughts can be erased.

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