Rising

Blake Bortles, JAC
Did you know that Blake Bortles is ranked 12th in quarterback fantasy scoring through four weeks? Shocking, isn’t it? There are two factors working in his favor: he has the third most pass attempts in the NFL, but he only has three interceptions. Lots of volume with not a lot of turnovers will generally translate into solid fantasy work. In the last three weeks, he has finished as the QB13, QB18 and QB9. Don’t let your pre-conceived notions fool you, Bortles is now squarely in weekly starter territory for 2QB and superflex leagues, and makes a decent streamer for those of you in standard leagues looking for a bye week or injury replacement.

Alex Smith, KC
Only one quarterback in the league currently ranks in the top 10 in both passing yards and rushing yards. It isn’t Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or Cam Newton – it’s Alex Smith. His 1,110 passing yards puts him sixth in that category, and his 88 rushing yards rank seventh. He’s no touchdown throwing machine (he only has four, tying him for 23rd), but his ability to rack up yardage through the air and on the ground gives him a nice weekly scoring floor. In fact, despite his overall aversion to touchdown scoring, Smith has been a top 12 quarterback twice already. If all this yardage Smith is amassing every starts amounting to touchdowns through the air, he could threaten to become a weekly starter in standard leagues.

Falling

Russell Wilson, SEA
This has not been a great year so for people who still like drafting early round quarterbacks. The fifth quarterback off the board this summer according to fantasyfootballcalculator.com (late fifth round in 12-team), Russell Wilson, is not exactly living up to that billing. He already has two weeks of QB17 or worse. His best finish in a week hasn’t been better than QB8. Wilson has thrown five touchdowns, but has turned the ball over four times (two interception and two fumbles). He’s still probably working his way into your lineup most weeks, but up to this point, Wilson has not been worth his draft slot.

Ryan Tannehill, MIA
At first glance at the stats, Ryan Tannehill doesn’t appear to be doing that poorly, as he has the tenth most points in fantasy. The overall stats don’t tell the whole story. In three of four weeks, Tannehill has been 15th or worse at quarterback. Over the past two weeks, Tannehill has more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four). He is only completing 56.7 percent of his passes – 28th best in the NFL. I use the term “best” loosely there. Miami is clearly a mess given they were the first team to fire their coach in 2015, so I’m not seeing any reason for a massive turnaround for Tannehill. Fantasy players who drafted Tannehill to be their starter in one quarterback leagues shouldn’t shy away from looking at other options.

Timeshare: Ronnie Hillman has been the more productive Broncos running back through four weeks.

Running Back

Rising

Ronnie Hillman, DEN
Ronnie Hillman was already in a partial split with starter C.J. Anderson, getting at least seven carries in every game thus far, and now Head Coach Gary Kubiak has officially announce that there will be an even split going forward. Bad news for Anderson owners, but good news for people who hold Hillman. He has two straight weeks with a touchdown and is the twenty-fifth ranked running back in standard scoring. His value is lower in PPR, as he’s only seen three targets in the passing game. Given this information, I would label Hillman a very usable RB3/flex in standard leagues, and passable but not as appealing in PPR. Either way, definitely an upgrade from his preseason role of handcuff to Anderson.

Duke Johnson, CLE
It took a few weeks, but rookie Duke Johnson is finally working his way into the Browns offense. Finishing as the RB6 in standard and RB3 in PPR in Week 4 could be the launching point into a successful rest of the way fantasy outlook. He might be up and down in standard leagues, but his prospects in PPR are fantastic if the last two weeks are any indication. In Weeks 3 and 4, Johnson gathered in 15 receptions, a total that gives him the sixth most at running back for the season. I’m the type of guy that would prefer to see a few more weeks of strong usage to trust someone new to the scene, but lack of trust in the Browns doesn’t mean you need to delay getting him into your lineups now if you are struggling at running back.

Todd Gurley, STL
After a late start to the season due to injury, Todd Gurley has officially arrived. The Rams were finally able to unleash the rookie, and he ran wild on the Cardinals, totaling 146 yards on 19 carries. For reference as to how impressive that is: in the first three weeks, Mark Ingram, Matt Forte and Carlos Hyde combined for 136 rushing yards over 39 carries. St. Louis has quickly gone all-in on Gurley, so you should too. If you own him, you’re starting him every week going forward.

Falling

Carlos Hyde, SF
Way back in Week 1, Carlos Hyde went bananas on the Vikings defense, rushing for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Since that big week, things have gone south in a hurry. In the last three weeks, Hyde has run for just 114 yards on 36 attempts for an average of 3.17 yards per carry. His huge Week 1 still has him sitting as the RB13 in standard and RB14 in PPR for the season, but over the last three weeks, he has hovered around RB50 in each format. Hyde has not been aided by the 49ers falling behind in games, and his lack of receiving action (eight catches for 44 yards) makes it tough to depend on him. It’s tough to sit Hyde since he is easily the leader of the 49ers backfield, but his quick ascension into the RB1 zone (a claim I admittedly made after Week 1 in this very article space) was a little premature.

Lamar Miller, MIA
Few running backs have been as big of a disappointment as Lamar Miller in 2015. Drafted as the RB12 in the preseason, Miller has yet to finish a week better than 32nd at running back in standard scoring. It’s not all his fault though, the Dolphins just refuse to feature him. Miller has not seen more than seven carries in a game since Week 2, and he also only has four catches since that time. The coaching change might actually bring a glimmer of hope to his fantasy owners, as a new coach could mean a change in the usage of the Dolphins’ best offensive weapon.

Melvin Gordon, SD
Melvin Gordon is getting used to the degree that people hoped when they drafted him in the middle rounds, but the production simply isn’t there. He is top 16 in the NFL in carries and rushing yards, but those totals are another example of the season-long stats not telling the whole story. Gordon has rushed for 51 yards or less in three of his four games, and he has not yet found the end zone. His low weekly rushing totals are not supplemented by any passing game help because of the presence of Danny Woodhead (Gordon has six catches this year). The carry volume is appealing, but right now it’s difficult to use Gordon given the lack of overall production.

Wide Receiver

Rising

Allen Hurns, JAC
The biggest beneficiary of Blake Bortles’ rise as a useful fantasy commodity might be number two receiver Allen Hurns. He has at least 60 receiving yards in every game, a claim that can’t be made by Antonio Brown, Julio Jones or Odell Beckham Jr., to name a few. Hurns has found the end zone in two straight games, and most recently had a monster effort with 11 catches against the Colts in Week 4. Over the last three weeks, he is the WR15 in fantasy. Right now, Hurns is definitely in the territory of starter for people who can fit at least four wide receivers into their lineup, and he could move up even more if he and Bortles continue to get along well on the field.

Keenan Allen, SD
Keenan Allen appears to be on the every other year plan in fantasy. His rookie year was impressive enough to convince drafters to select him in the third round in 2014, then let them down. That disappointing campaign had him going a couple rounds later this year, but now he’s performing like the clear-cut WR1 we thought we were getting last year. Through four games, he is third in receptions, eighth in receiving yards, and most importantly, eighth in fantasy scoring at receiver. He has finished as the WR6 or better twice already, and in the WR1 tier in three of four games. Most impressively, Allen has two games with at least 12 receptions and 133 yards, two marks most receivers probably won’t reach all season. If you managed to grab Allen, he’s an absolute must start for you the rest of the year.

Brandon Marshall, NYJ
A disappointing 2014 coupled with the so-called “downgrade” from the Bears to the Jets turned off a lot of fantasy owners to Brandon Marshall in 2015 drafts. He’s proving them all wrong. Marshall has at least six receptions in every game, over 100 yards in three straight games, and he has been the WR14 or better all four weeks. He is currently tied for seventh in the league in targets and sixth in receiving yards, and there’s no reason to expect him to slow down. Congratulations to everyone who grabbed an elite fantasy wide receiver in the sixth round.

Falling

Roddy White, ATL and Andre Johnson, IND
I’m coupling these two fantasy greats in the same section because their falls from grace have come at the same time. The two of them have 13 receptions this season – that’s 13 combined receptions (six for Roddy White, seven for Andre Johnson). White has two games with one target or less; Johnson has three total targets in the last two games. Their names will make them tough to cut the cord, but if you need a roster spot, these two can be released to the waiver wire.

Antonio Brown, PIT
This is just a temporary fall, but it might be a painful for one for people used to Antonio Brown being the best wide receiver in fantasy. In three games with Ben Roethlisberger under center, Brown put up over 100 yards in each. One game with Mike Vick at quarterback and Brown’s incredible streak of 35-straight games with at least 50 receiving yards was snapped. You still have to start Brown because of his overall greatness, but brace yourself for some generally disappointing outcomes compared to what you’re used to. Get well soon, Big Ben.

T.Y. Hilton, IND
Indianapolis is off to a 2-2 start, but it feels much more disappointing given how close they have come to losing in their two wins (to teams they should be blowing out of the water). One of the disappointments has been T.Y. Hilton. He has not found the end zone yet in 2015, which will make anyone’s fantasy numbers suffer. He is just the WR43 in standard and WR38 in PPR over the last three weeks. In that same time period, he is 26th in receiving yards, so those numbers aren’t doing enough to make up for the lack of scoring. The worst news for Hilton owners isn’t the slow statistical start – he definitely has the talent to recover – it’s the questionable health of quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck has already missed one week, and while he is expected to return in Week 5, that doesn’t mean his shoulder is necessarily 100%. If Luck does make a full recovery, I’d expect a return to fantasy stardom for Hilton. Hopefully that’s not a big “if.”

Tight End

Rising

Gary Barnidge, CLE
One week might have been just a random event, but Gary Barnidge has been very impressive for two straight weeks. Barnidge started the year with just four catches for 55 yards in the first two games, but in each of the last two weeks, he’s had six receptions, a touchdown and at least 75 receiving yards. In those weeks he has been the TE2 and TE4 in standard scoring leagues. Despite his incredibly slow start to the year, Barnidge still remains the ninth ranked tight end in overall scoring. Given the current state of the tight end position, Barnidge might already have thrust himself into the conversation as a weekly starter in 12-team leagues.

Richard Rodgers, GB
The stats may not be flashy, but Richard Rodgers has been useful in fantasy. He already has two top 12 finishes, showing that just finding the end zone is good enough to become a useful fantasy tight end (those are the two weeks he scored). With Andrew Quarless out until at least Week 12, Rodgers is now the man at tight end for the Packers. You know what that means: he’s going to be seeing the field a lot in an offense led by Aaron Rodgers. Richard will need touchdowns to maintain fantasy relevancy, but he’s positioned to find that end zone a lot in 2015.

Falling

Heath Miller
Heath Miller got off to a hot start in Week 1, catching eight passes for 84 yards. It turns out that was not a sign of things to come, as he’s only caught five passes for 33 yards since that game, making him only the 28th best tight end in Weeks 2-4. To make matters even worse, his one game with Mike Vick resulted in catching only one pass for one yard. Miller can be considered nothing more than a matchup streaming option, and unless Vick shows more in the passing game, I’d keep Miller off the radar completely until Ben Roethlisberger returns.

Jordan Cameron
I guess this is the Dolphins’ week to be featured as the big fallers in the NFL; a logical side effect to being such a mess that your coach is fired after four weeks. In the case of Jordan Cameron, he has been held under 20 receiving yards in two straight games. He only has 12 receptions on the season, on pace for only 48 all year. Most importantly to fantasy owners, he sits at 29th in FPts/G at tight end. The high preseason hopes for Cameron in the Dolphins offense haven’t come to fruition so far, and there’s no chance he’ll come though unless the team turns thing around over the remaining 12 games.