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Writer's pictureCat Vasquez

Fantasy Football: Rising and Falling for Week 16

Here's a look at some players who are trending in the right direction and some that you should probably worry about heading into Week 16.


RISING


Quarterbacks

Josh Allen, Bills: After accounting for four touchdowns in three of his first five games to start the season, Allen finally did it again in Week 15. He threw for 304 yards and four scores while rushing for 77 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Vikings: He didn't throw for at least 300 yards in a game through the first nine weeks but now has back-to-back 400-yard games. Thanks to the biggest comeback in NFL history, Cousins threw for 460 yards and four touchdowns in the historical performance.


Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: Lawrence has been outstanding, throwing seven touchdown passes in two games, including four against the vaunted Cowboys defense Sunday. He'll take on the Jets next, and if he does well against them, watch out.


Running backs

Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots: He's had three duds all season, with his last one coming in Week 14, but he bounced back with 172 rushing yards and a touchdown. The Bengals and Dolphins are his next two opponents.

Dalvin Cook, Vikings: Cook had 95 yards rushing and 95 yards receiving, including the game-tying 64-yard TD reception to send the game to overtime after a 33-0 deficit. He bounced back from Week 14 against Detroit in which he had just 36 total yards, though he did score.

Derrick Henry, Titans: From Week 3 to Week 9, Henry had been fantastic, but he'd been a mixed back until the last two games. He's now coming off back-to-back 100-yard rushing games as he gets set to face the Texans.


Wide receivers


Justin Jefferson, Vikings: What more can you say about Jefferson. He has 530 yards and three touchdowns over the last four games, including 123 yards and a score against the Colts. If some of the QBs in the league weren't so good running the ball, he'd be a candidate for fantasy MVP.

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Eagles: While they're both playing great, losing Hurts, if he does have to miss time, would have them middling instead of rising. Brown (9-181) and Smith (5-126) are auto-starts almost no matter who's quarterbacking.


Tyreek Hill, Dolphins: While the Dolphins have lost three straight, it's not Hill's fault. He has a TD reception in each of those games. He also has a fumble recovery for a touchdown in that span. Hill caught nine passes for 69 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Bills on Sunday.


FALLING

Quarterbacks

Justin Herbert, Chargers: Though he threw for 313 yards, including an all-time throw to Mike Williams to set up a game-winning field goal, Herbert didn't throw a touchdown and tossed two picks. Not what you need in the fantasy playoffs.


Mac Jones, Patriots: Just one TD pass in a span of three games isn't good for fantasy. He hasn't tossed a TD in two games in a row and can't even be trusted in a spot start.


Baker Mayfield, Rams: A week after having a fun start and win over the Raiders, Mayfield came back to earth as he threw for just 111 yards and a touchdown with an interception against the Packers.

Running backs

Jonathan Taylor, Colts: He went down with a sprained ankle very early in the game, but that didn't prevent his team from going up 33-0 before surrendering the biggest comeback in NFL history. He'll miss the rest of the season, killing any fantasy playoff hopes for managers.

Miles Sanders, Eagles: The Eagles keep winning, but Sanders should have done better against the Bears. He rushed for 42 yards on 11 carries and next faces the Cowboys likely without Jalen Hurts.


Zonovan Knight, Jets: He'd been doing so well, but he ran into a Lions team on a roll. Knight rushed 13 times for just 23 yards and wasn't involved in the passing game. He faces the Jags and Seahawks in the next two games.


Wide receivers

Davante Adams, Raiders: Adams had been killing it since his goose egg in Week 8, but he now has two lackluster weeks in a row. Actually, his game Sunday was worse than lackluster. He had four catches for just 28 yards.

Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers: Purdy playing in relief of Jimmy Garoppolo for the rest of the season has hurt Aiyuk's value so far. He's got just two catches in each of his last two games, and he only gained 19 yards Sunday against the Seahawks.


Marquise Brown, Cardinals: You probably saw this coming when Kyler Murray went down to injury, but it's clear that Arizona's backups can't support Brown's productivity. He caught four passes for just 19 yards in the loss to the Broncos.




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