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Fantasy football risers and fallers heading into Week 5 of the NFL season. Jason Katz looks at players whose fantasy value has changed over the past week.
Whether due to their own play, the play of others, or injuries, players' stock increases and decreases on a weekly basis. Perhaps more than any other, the NFL is a league that experiences ups and downs at a rapid pace. With only 16 games, there’s little room for error and seemingly endless opportunities for improvement. The same goes for fantasy football, and managing rosters effectively is key to winning that championship.
Throughout the season, players get hot and see an increased role while others struggle and fight to stay relevant. Experienced fantasy players know this happens every year. In this weekly column, we’ll showcase those who have taken important steps forward and those who have taken steps back.
These are the key risers and fallers heading into Week 5 of the NFL season. Dynasty owners, check out our separate Dynasty Risers/Fallers segment as well.
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Week 5 Risers
Taylor Gabriel (WR, CHI)
Allen Robinson leads the Bears with 32 targets this season. Right behind him? Taylor Gabriel at 29. Gabriel is the clear WR2 on the Bears and if Mitch Trubisky can build upon what he did last week, Gabriel could be a viable week WR3 in fantasy. Gabriel went 7-104-2 and appears to have Trubisky's trust. He should be owned in most leagues at this point.
Chester Rogers (WR, IND)
I don't think Chester Rogers is all that good at football, but he's the de facto WR1 for an Andrew Luck offense with T.Y. Hilton likely to miss multiple games with a hamstring injury. Rogers needs to be owned and is a worthy fill in at WR as we start to get into bye weeks. Rogers saw 11 targets last week and is locked into volume for at least a few weeks.
Tarik Cohen (RB, CHI)
Putting him here may be a mistake, but I am choosing to believe that Matt Nagy has turned a corner with this Bears offense. Tarik Cohen played 48% of the snaps last week and just wrecked the Bucs through the air with 7-121-1. He was used like Nagy talked about using him all offseason, but had yet to do up until this point. If the Bears go back into their shell after the bye, then this will prove very stupid, but I'm banking on this being the new look Bears offense we were all hoping to see.
T.J. Yeldon (RB, JAX)
T.J. Yeldon is going to be an RB2 this year. Leonard Fournette is never going to be healthy. 2018 is a lost year for him. If you have him, I advise trading him for anything useful. Sell low because the actual value on Fournette is literally zero. Yeldon is going to assume the role as the starter and is clearly ahead of Corey Grant. Yeldon put up 100 yards from scrimmage last week and scored both on the ground and through the air. He's not what a healthy Fournette would be, but he's a useful fantasy asset.
Week 5 Fallers
Russell Wilson (QB, SEA)
This Seattle offense is atrocious. Normally, I would caution against overreacting to Russell Wilson's first game without multiple touchdowns all season, but he has now completed fewer than 20 passes in three out of four games and only attempted 26 in each of the last two weeks. Wilson has seen his yardage total drop in every game this season. He's not running anymore with just 11 rushes on the season for 42 yards. On a different team or with a different coach, Wilson still has the obvious talent to be an elite QB1. He's been held back by Pete Carroll for years and that is not changing anytime soon.
Allen Robinson (WR, CHI)
I want to be clear this isn't directly correlated to the rise of Taylor Gabriel. Allen Robinson just looks slow out there. He is not the same player we saw in 2015. He's a lumbering possession man that can't be efficient on limited targets. Even though he's still leading the Bears in targets, he saw just four last week in a game where Mitch Trubisky was throwing all over the Bucs to the tune of six touchdowns. Robinson did catch one of those to salvage his fantasy day, but his usage has not been encouraging. He's nothing more than a volume based WR3.
Chris Hogan (WR, NE)
Just drop him. If Chris Hogan could not produce while being the only game in town, what is he going to do with Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman in the picture? Hogan saw just one target last week despite, once again, playing over 80% of the snaps. He was a wasted fourth round pick unfortunately.
Leonard Fournette (RB, JAX)
I won't belabor the point on Leonard Fournette anymore. Everything that applies to Yeldon being a riser is why Fournette is a faller.
Jordan Howard (RB, CHI)
Well, this is a problem. The game script cannot be better than it was last week and Jordan Howard managed 25 empty rushing yards. The script may be flipping towards Tarik Cohen, which is bad news for Howard, who continues to see his role in the passing game diminish. Howard is shaping up to be a touchdown or bust option.
