Rising

Philip Rivers, SD
The hottest quarterback in fantasy right now has to be Philip Rivers. In each of the last four games, he’s thrown for at least 336 yards. Rivers has two or more touchdowns in all but one game in 2015. After starting “slow” with five touchdowns in the first three games, he’s thrown ten in the last four. While his touchdowns have gone up, his interceptions have gone down: Rivers threw four in the first three games, but only three in the last four. The Chargers aren’t having a great season as a team, but the one-dimensional offense means good things for Rivers in fantasy.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ
The more time Fitzpatrick has spent in the Jets’ offense, the more he has picked it up for fantasy owners. He has two touchdown passes in five of the last six games. In addition, Fitzpatrick has become more interested in running recently, gaining 34, 31 and 29 yards rushing in the past three games (he had 18 rushing yards in the first three games combined). New York can keep pressure off him with Chris Ivory taking care of business on the ground, and it doesn’t hurt that he has one of the best wide receiver duos in the game with Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. He’s not a weekly starter, but Fitzpatrick is a strong fill-in and a decent cheap option in daily.

Falling

Eli Manning, NYG
One of the more frustrating quarterbacks this season has been Eli Manning. He has two games with three touchdown passes and threw for 441 yards in a game – but he also has two games with zero touchdown passes. In each of the last two games, he’s thrown for under 200 yards while throwing a grand total of one touchdown. It’s tough to bench Manning knowing a big game could come at any time, but keeping an eye out for better weekly options on the waiver wire wouldn’t hurt.

Russell Wilson, SEA
An even higher fantasy draft pick that’s been disappointing is Mr. Russell Wilson. He has zero 300-yard passing games, and exactly one touchdown in all but one game. That one multi-touchdown game was way back in Week 2, when he threw two. On the year, Wilson has eight touchdown passes and seven turnovers – not the best ratio and his rushing yardage hasn’t exactly saved him. Wilson only has two top 12 performances this season, with none of them coming since Week 4. Perhaps Wilson and Eli owners should take turns streaming Fitzpatrick in the weeks Manning and Wilson have troublesome matchups.

Bounceback: Doug Martin has quietly pushed his way into the top ten among fantasy running backs.

Running Back

Rising

Darren McFadden, DAL
The biggest issue with owning the Cowboys backfield was the split between Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden. With Randle’s status up in the air due to an oblique injury, McFadden immediately becomes a wildly interesting fantasy asset. After Randle’s departure in Week 7, McFadden ran for 152 yards on 29 carries. As much as people would like to see Christine Michael get that job, it’s not happening. Roll out McFadden as long as Randle is on the sideline.

Danny Woodhead, SD
Despite rarely touching the ball on the ground, Danny Woodhead has been a strong fantasy option this year in PPR, and unexpectedly, in standard scoring leagues. He has at least five receptions in three straight games, and at least 63 receiving yards in four straight. Woodhead is second on the Chargers in targets behind Keenan Allen with 46. All of this adds up to Woodhead being 10th at running back in FPts/G in PPR and 14th in FPts/G in standard. Don’t be fooled by the lack of ground action, Woodhead is a fantasy starter in all formats.

Doug Martin, TB
To complete the time machine trifecta of running backs, we have Doug Martin. He is currently on a three game streak of 100-plus-yard performances. Part of the reason for his comeback is his volume – he has at least 19 carries in four of the last five games. The year started with him being strictly a runner, but lately, Martin has joined the Bucs’ passing attack as well; he has at least three catches and 35 yards in each of the last three games. The Martin that flashed as a rookie three years ago is back.

Falling

Rashad Jennings, NYG
The Giants were already a tough group to crack, but at least Rashad Jennings was getting a majority of carries. Everything shifted in Week 7, however, when Orleans Darkwa got thrown into the mix to turn a three-headed attack into a four-headed monster. In fact, Darkwa came out of nowhere to lead the team in carries in Week 7, leaving only five carries for Jennings. It’s easy to see why Darkwa got a shot, as Jennings wasn’t exactly tearing it up: only twice this year has he eclipsed 50 yards rushing and has no touchdowns since Week 1. Jennings is impossible to start in fantasy until further notice.

Matt Jones and Alfred Morris, WAS
Much like the Giants, Washington has been messing with fantasy owners’ minds with a split backfield. Alfred Morris, the incumbent starter, has been a disaster recently: in the last three games, he’s only amassed 40 yards on 25 carries. The exciting young rookie Matt Jones has been given plenty of opportunity to take the job but he hasn’t done it. His last three games: 27 carries for 60 yards. At least for Jones, he’s getting passing game work with Chris Thompson on the shelf. If and when Thompson returns, Jones falls back into the horrid split with Morris. I’d keep each around in case one finally takes the job or Washington’s run game finds some level of success, but it’s tricky starting either right now.

Wide Receiver

Rising

T.Y. Hilton, IND
T.Y. Hilton has been decent all year in the yardage department, but a lack of touchdowns had been bringing him down in fantasy. This all changed in the past two games, as he’s added three scores, up from zero. His monster Week 7 (four catches, 150 yards and two scores) shows what he’s capable of and why he was an early third round pick in most fantasy drafts. Look for him to have more big weeks, as the Colts routinely find themselves behind early in games.

Mike Evans, TB
Has the guy we’ve been waiting for all season finally arrived? Earlier in the year, Evans was dealing with an injury and clearly couldn’t get it going. First game out of the bye: 8 catches, 164 yards and a touchdown. Not bad. If Evans is back to full health and Jameis Winston continues his improvement throughout the season, owners who patiently waited for Evans to break out should be rewarded the rest of the way.

Danny Amendola, NE
These last two weeks are exactly what people were expecting from Danny Amendola… when they drafted him in 2013. In the Patriots’ last two games, Amendola has racked up 15 catches for 191 yards and a score. Over the first four games, he only caught 10 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, so it’s possible he had two outlier games in a row. It’s important to note that his most recent big game came with Brandon LaFell back in the mix, and LaFell getting back up to speed could impact Amendola’s opportunities down the road. So while these numbers might not continue, you have to pay attention when Tom Brady is giving a receiver a lot of action. I’d like any opportunity to add Amendola just to see where their connection goes.

Falling

Golden Tate, DET
Many fantasy owners had great expectations for Golden Tate entering 2015, including some that even felt he could become the leading receiver on the Lions. That hasn’t happened. In Week 7, Tate managed a whopping two receptions for 14 yards. In three of the last four games he hasn’t gained more than 40 yards. Tate has only reached the 60 yard plateau in two of seven games this season. Calvin Johnson is the only wide receiver that can be trusted week to week in the Detroit offense.

Larry Fitzgerald, ARI
Larry Fitzgerald got off to an incredible start, one that obviously couldn’t be (and hasn’t been) sustained. In the first three weeks, Fitz caught 23 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns. In the last four weeks, he’s caught 23 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown. The guy Fitzgerald has been over the past four weeks is still an upgrade from his preseason draft slot, so his owners probably aren’t complaining, but he has clearly been knocked off his early season spot among the most elite fantasy options.

Vincent Jackson, TB
For a while, Vincent Jackson was the Tampa Bay wide receiver to own in fantasy. He wasn’t spectacular the first few weeks, but was better than Mike Evans. Then in Week 4, Jackson went bananas against the Carolina Panthers, catching 10 passes for 147 yards and a score. It turns out that might have been the beginning of the end for Jackson. He has caught exactly one pass in each of the last two games. He did leave early in Week 7 with a knee injury, something that will slow his fantasy usefulness even more. With Evans finally picking it up and Austin Seferian-Jenkins returning from injury any week now, Jackson might be out of lineups the rest of the year.

Tight End

Rising

Jordan Reed, WAS
Jordan Reed is back with a vengeance. After missing two games with an injury, Reed finally returned to action and went wild. Against Tampa, he caught 11 passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns, one of the best games of his career. Now he gets a bye week to get over any lingering effects of his earlier injury troubles, and should be a weekly fantasy starter the rest of the year. Reed’s injury history is well documented, so have a backup plan lined up just in case.

Ladarius Green, SD
He hasn’t been big on yardage, but Ladarius Green has still merited enough attention from Philip Rivers to be a strong fantasy option thus far. In fact, Green is the TE6 in standard scoring leagues despite missing one game and having Antonio Gates back for two others. Who knows how bad Gates knee injury is, but as long as he’s out, Green is a weekly fantasy starter. Even when Gates returns, it’s not like Green heads to the bench, as he’s become an important weapon in the Chargers offense.

Falling

Travis Kelce, KC
For reasons that can’t be explained, Kansas City just won’t give Travis Kelce attention near the end zone. He kicked off the season with two touchdowns in Week 1 and hasn’t scored since. He’s been decent enough for fantasy purposes, but he’s far from joining the elite at the tight end position. If the Chiefs ever do figure out how to utilize Kelce near the end zone, we’ll have a fantasy monster on our hands. Sadly though, that’s a big “if.”

Kyle Rudolph, MIN
Week to week, Kyle Rudolph can be spotted as a fringe starter on many ranking sites. The real question: why? He has exactly two catches in each of his last four games. Here are his yardage totals in those four games: 14, 7, 9 and 10. Rudolph is almost non-existent in the Vikings offense. He has found the end zone each of the last two weeks and three times overall this season, but depending on a player who is useless without a touchdown is a risky wat to play fantasy football. Rudolph should be considered in touchdown-only leagues and nothing else.