Rising:
DeMarco Murray — Murray absolutely torched the St. Louis defense for 175 yards this past Sunday, adding another outstanding performance against the Rams to his Cowboy history. Let’s just hope that he can replicate some of that success outside of St. Louis.
Josh Gordon — Gordon is finally relieved of his suspension in Week 3, and what does he do? He catches 10 balls on 19 targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. Other than a few turnovers, Brian Hoyer threw the ball well, and Gordon was his main recipient. Ironically, the same week that the Browns trade away their superstar running back, their offense finally starts to click. This offense will run through Gordon, making him a good player to have on a team.
Giovani Bernard — What does a young Darren Sproles look like? He looks a lot like Bernard. Bernard has two touchdowns in his last two games and received double-digit carries in Week 3. He is an adept pass catcher, has breakaway speed, and a team that uses him appropriately. BenJarvus Green-Ellis will still be used in late game and goal line situations because of his reliability, but Bernard is the better runner in this backfield.
Antonio Brown — Brown totaled 196 yards and two touchdowns against a strong Chicago secondary Sunday. Looks like the Steelers might not be missing Mike Wallace that much after all.
Falling:
C.J. Spiller — It seems to be a new trend in fantasy football this year — a star running back gets hurt mid-game, his back-up comes in to finish the game and outplays the incumbent. Spiller is the latest victim to this trend. Spiller left Sunday’s game with a knee injury, and in his absence, Fred Jackson totaled 109 all-purpose yards. Spiller’s injury isn’t serious, but Jackson looks to limit Spiller’s ceiling moving forward.
Anquan Boldin — I don’t care how many targets Boldin gets every week. The 49ers’ offense has been shut down for the second game in a row, and this time against a historically weak Colts defense. Boldin may be the recipient of many five-yard passes this year, but what good does that really do?
Ryan Mathews — Good news: Mathews is still healthy. Bad news: It doesn’t matter. Mathews is averaging less than four yards per carry this year, and Ronnie Brown is starting to get all of the goal-line work in this offense. Bring in Danny Woodhead for all pass-catching downs, and Mathews has very little fantasy worth.
Stevan Ridley — Ridley is still the running back to own in the Patriot’s offense, but that doesn’t mean that he should be starting on a fantasy team. Brandon Bolden had three carries for 51 yards Sunday, and LeGarrette Blount had 14 carries for 65 yards. This backfield will only become more convoluted with Shane Vereen’s return from injury in a few weeks. I wouldn’t start any Patriots’ running back on my team.
