Rising:

Andrew Luck:

What is the easiest way for a player to find his way into the “rising” section of my column? Out-play Peyton Manning. Luck had arguably the best game of his career, as he combined for four touchdowns, dominated the passing game, and made strong runs at key points in the game. Reggie Wayne’s torn ACL doesn’t help Luck moving forward, but he will land on his feet.

Roy Helu:

Don’t expect Helu to repeat his three touchdown performance from this week, but it does mean something. Alfred Morris has never been a three-down back, and Helu runs particularly strong in the red zone. There might be a real place for him in this offense.

Harry Douglas:

Douglas turned out an eye-opening 149-yard, one-touchdown performance this past Sunday. Douglas was expected to put up strong numbers after Julio Jones went out for the year, but even I didn’t expect this. We still don’t know how Roddy White’s inevitable return will effect Douglas’ numbers, but I have a feeling that he will be just fine.

Falling:

Tom Brady:

It is officially time to panic. The whole football world waited on Rob Gronkowski to return from injury and help re-establish Tom Brady as an elite quarterback. This past week, Gronkowski had a solid game, but Brady only threw for 228 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. I never thought I’d say this, but it may be time to start benching Tom Brady.

Mike Williams:

Vincent Jackson is a much, much better receiver than Williams. Williams’ only hope at salvaging his season was to build some strong chemistry with new quarterback Mike Glennon. But Glennon, like his predecessor Josh Freeman, only looks for Jackson on the field. Williams will score a touchdown every third game or so, but shouldn’t receive for over 60 yards and shouldn’t have a consistent spot in anyone’s starting roster.

Jared Cook:

Remember when I said to reserve judgment on some strong Week 1 performances? That Week 1 is just as likely to be an anomaly as any other week? I was really just speaking on Jared Cook. Cook finally looked poised to break out after a 141-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 1. Since then he has not gained over four fantasy points in a single game. To put that into perspective, he had six more fantasy points in week one than he has had total in Weeks 2 through 7. This is the Jared Cook that we know and can’t stand.