Trending Wide Receivers and Running Backs- Week 4

Typically, the first month of the season provides a glimpse into how each team will progress or decline for the reminder, which is also true for all players including elite talent.

Entering week four of the NFL season, many things have already transpired to provide evaluation and reconsideration for your fantasy club. While the notion will remain to play your top talent, we can’t overlook and debate on how each has performed. Having those tough conversations leads to varying opinions, but we have seen enough to at least review some high end talent that simply isn’t cutting it as of today. This leads into an interesting list of week four trending players.  

Trending Up

Cooper Kupp (LAR)

At this point, we can no longer ignore the Rams Cooper Kupp in the elite category. Coming off an ACL injury which placed his 2019 season in jeopardy, Kupp has proven that he is no worse for wear and is in reality perhaps the Rams best pass catcher.

Over the first three weeks of the season, the Rams offense has been quite underwhelming from what was expected from last years high octane unit. Nevertheless, Kupp has managed to become Jared Goff’s favorite target racking up a healthy 31 looks. Kupp has picked up steam over the last two weeks and it doesn’t appear as though that will slow down. Kupp is on a fantastic pace to obliterate his career highs to the tune of, 122 receptions, going for 1429 yards and 11 touchdowns, which places him as a massive trend up.      

Mark Ingram (BAL)

Going back to the offseason, we were enthralled when the Baltimore Ravens signed Mark Ingram off of the open market simply because of the potential. Historically under coach John Harbaugh, the Ravens employ a heavy run approach and the same has been seen this season. In his own right, Ingram is in the upper tier of talents at the position and is proving to smash his ADP (average draft position) with each passing week.

In ranking Ingram a lot higher on our board then most entering fantasy drafts, it was clear that he would become the lead runner in this offense providing a clear RB-1 that this offense hasn’t had since Ray Rice. As of today, Ingram is flying up the trending board and rightfully so. At this rate, we could witness a top five finish in fantasy production.

Cole Beasley (BUF)

Entering the 2019 season, many of us, including myself didn’t know what to make of the Bills new look receiving core. Having thrown strong support behind Josh Allen and his abilities, the chemistry aspect was what provided that pause. Now after the first three contests, the landscape is much clearer and Cole Beasley is pulling away as the slot favorite safety blanket in this offense.

When it comes to target share, Beasley is on pace to destroy previous highs in his first year in Western New York to amass a whopping 122.6 on the year. If that trend continues to form, Beasley will become a fabulous earner in point per reception leagues. Seeing his catch rate inflate to 90% over the past two matches, trending up is a no brainer.   

Wayne Gallman (NYG)

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the notion that Wayne Gallman would rest on a list of ‘trending up’ players. However, in this circumstance we have no choice but to lift up his prospects now that Saquon Barkley will miss the next four to eight weeks with a high ankle sprain. The shear volume which should be provided to Gallman should make him a starter to replace Barkley, our fear though rests in the productivity.

Adding to that, the potential emergence of rookie Daniel Jones also provides a decent outlook for Gallman to be at minimum a 10 to 12 point player until Barkley returns. It’s not the most exciting of trends up, but is nevertheless. 

Trending Down

Davante Adams (GB)

Are you surprised to see one of the best in the business hold a spot as a trending down player entering week four, so are we. Simply put, for where Davante Adams services would’ve been secured, the output thus far has been nothing short of disappointing. Don’t get us wrong, we truly believe that Adams will break out of his funk, but our evaluations hold no biases. 

To understand what has happened in Green Bay, we must look to the new offense that is currently installed. Aaron Rodgers is no longer asked to preform magic on the field while forcing the issue to Adams. In turn, this offense appears to move with a safer approach of taking what each defense provides, hence the lower numbers for Adams. Entering week four, Adams is trending in the wrong direction, but should be short lived. He is far too talented to not score touchdowns but finds himself on the down trend entering this week. 

Sony Michel (NE)

Grave disgust has to be the feeling when reviewing what the Patriots Sony Michel has done thus far this season. Outside of week two, Michel has gained a mere 25 yards on 24 carries, just gross. The blame can’t be placed on the play calling from Coach Josh McDaniels, as he has given enough work for Michel to make some noise. Having secured and average of 15 carries per game, that hovers around the league average for top end runners.

At this point, it’s becoming impossible to trust Michel to produce anything tangible in terms of yardage and has been fortunate to save his fantasy days with trips to the endzone. Sony Michel is a massive down-trender and needs to prove a lot to get out of our dog house.

Kerryon Johnson (DET)

While the hype moved fast and furious this offseason to the belief that the Lions Kerryon Johnson would become a fantasy darling in this offense, nothing has materialized and we for one aren’t surprised. Never being huge supporters of his work in the past, it was impossible for us to preach his good graces just because the offensive coordinator has a history of a run heavy system.  

To date, Johnson hasn’t eclipsed the 50 yard mark on the ground and has found the endzone only once going back to week three. Showing an average yards per carry to the tune of 2.6 over these first three contests, we are running far away from Johnson and not looking back. Johnson is a massive down trend in value and our recommendation is to sell his services to a needy team to recover some value.

Stefon Diggs (MIN)

Yet another top end talent that was expected to take another giant leap in the right direction, the Vikings Stefon Diggs has looked pedestrian to say the least. Granted, the lack of production isn’t square on his shoulders but the overall dysfunction of this offense in the pass game is the leading factor.

When we went back to review the Minnesota offense over the first three contests, it appears that a change was made to make Kirk Cousins more of a game manager rather than the gun-slinger we all knew. Teamed with running the ball more effectively with Dalvin Cook, ensuring those wins hit that stat column are more important than Cousins spreading the ball around.

Target share is a massive concern for Diggs so far as he has 11 over the first three games. Unless we are wrong and the inadequacy is Kirk Cousins himself, Diggs and his owners are in for a long campaign. Its time to debate benching the heavy playmaker.