Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Harris up and Conner down in stock watch
Charles Curtis
Welcome to our 2020 fantasy football stock watch, in which we’ll examine who’s trending up or down.
We’re getting to the point in the season where one or two pickups of a player on the rise could win your playoffs. Is there a backup running back lurking on the waiver wire who could explode at the right time (remember C.J. Anderson in 2018?)? A rookie wideout rounding into form?
Let’s begin with the good news for fantasy owners about some of the QBs, RBs, WRs and TEs we watched, followed by the bad news:
STOCK UP
QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
It feels like it’s clicked for this offense. Big Ben doesn’t throw deep, but the offense is built for him to get the ball into his receivers’ hands and let them do it all after the catch. He’s gone over 300 yards in each of his past two games and thrown seven touchdowns in that span. His floor seems to be two scores, and his ceiling is what we saw this week.
RB Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts
The Colts’ backfield is a huge mess. And, save for his Week 1, Hines hadn’t done much through Indy’s bye week. But in the past three weeks since then, he’s had a pair of two-touchdown days. I don’t know if he’s an absolute sure-fire RB starter every week with bye weeks ending soon. But I would think if you need a Flex and the game script is there, you could roll the dice and expect at least a good day through the air.
RB Kalen Ballage, Los Angeles Chargers
Remember when there was all that preseason buzz about him a couple of seasons ago with the Dolphins? Well,
he’s finally arrived, it seems. Thanks to a bunch of injuries in the Chargers’ backfield, he’s had back-to-back solid games, and after a really good Week 10 (18 carries, 68 yards, five catches for 34 receiving yards), it’s clear he’s the lead back. If Austin Ekeler returns, I still think he’s carved out the Melvin Gordon 1B role the rest of the way.
RB Damien Harris, New England Patriots
Even when Sony Michel comes back, I think Harris has done more than enough to be the lead back in New England. He’s gone over 58 yards in each of his past four games and he had a season-high 22 totes in the win over the Ravens for 121 yards. His value is capped because Cam Newton runs a lot in the red zone, but as an RB2/Flex type? He’s become a good option.
WR Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
It’s clear that when he’s in and healthy, Ben Roethlisberger wants to get him the ball. He had his fifth 10-plus target game of the season on Sunday and caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
WR Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts
There was some buzz about him when the Colts drafted the USC wideout in the second round of the 2020 draft, and now he’s starting to live up to the hype — he had seven targets in Week 9 and turned eight of them into seven catches for 101 yards against the Titans. There’s an opening for a top receiver in Indianapolis and he could grab the job.
TE Jordan Reed, San Francisco 49ers
Maybe he’s healthy now? After what we saw in Week 10 (five catches for 62 yards), it feels that way. And with George Kittle on IR, it’s possible Reed gets some more looks after the Week 11 bye.
STOCK DOWN
RB Mike Davis, Carolina Panthers
Weird, right? Davis could have the starting job for another few weeks while Christian McCaffrey is on the mend from another injury. He should be under “stock up!” But nope: he hasn’t done much receiving-wise, which has deflated his value. Maybe it was because he faced the Bucs this week, but I’m worried.
RB James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers’ run game has ground to a halt in recent weeks and as a result, Conner just had two awful games. Is this a sign of things to come?
WR DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins
He’s gone over 10 fantasy points once in the past four games. The targets are there, though, so maybe it’s about getting on the same page more with Tua Tagovailoa?
WR Travis Fulgham, Philadelphia Eagles
Now that there are more healthy Eagles receivers and tight ends, does this mean Fulgham will take a step back? He did on Sunday with just five targets, one of which was caught. Hmm.
RB Melvin Gordon, Denver Broncos
He’s gone over 10 carries just once in his past three games. Not ideal.