This article is part of our NFL Barometer series.
Week 10 continued to reveal some interesting trends in either direction in the NFL fantasy realm, with one quarterback particularly standing out with his continued resurgence and the return of an elite running back from injury. Meanwhile, disturbing playing time trends and injuries both played a part in the downturn of several other players. Without further delay, let's dive into who helped or hurt themselves in recent games.
Trending Up
Quarterback
Marcus Mariota, Titans: Mariota is apparently over the hand injury that had previously prevented him from gripping the football correctly, as his performance over the last two games has been in stark contrast to a pair of sub-200-yard tallies in Week 5 and 6. Mariota had actually failed to top 129 passing yards in four of his first five contests of the season overall, but he's appeared exceedingly sharp while completing over 70.0 percent of his throws in two of his last three contests and generating a 5:1 TD:INT over that span. Mariota has continued to supplement his passing production with strong work on the ground as well, generating 91 rushing yards over that same span.
Running Back
David Johnson, Cardinals: There had been talk that the switch from Mike McCoy to Byron Leftwich as offensive coordinator would benefit Johnson the most, and following a second straight solid performance in Week 10, that prognosis appears to have been accurate. The former Pro Bowler enjoyed his best outing of the campaign versus the Chiefs, posting season
Week 10 continued to reveal some interesting trends in either direction in the NFL fantasy realm, with one quarterback particularly standing out with his continued resurgence and the return of an elite running back from injury. Meanwhile, disturbing playing time trends and injuries both played a part in the downturn of several other players. Without further delay, let's dive into who helped or hurt themselves in recent games.
Trending Up
Quarterback
Marcus Mariota, Titans: Mariota is apparently over the hand injury that had previously prevented him from gripping the football correctly, as his performance over the last two games has been in stark contrast to a pair of sub-200-yard tallies in Week 5 and 6. Mariota had actually failed to top 129 passing yards in four of his first five contests of the season overall, but he's appeared exceedingly sharp while completing over 70.0 percent of his throws in two of his last three contests and generating a 5:1 TD:INT over that span. Mariota has continued to supplement his passing production with strong work on the ground as well, generating 91 rushing yards over that same span.
Running Back
David Johnson, Cardinals: There had been talk that the switch from Mike McCoy to Byron Leftwich as offensive coordinator would benefit Johnson the most, and following a second straight solid performance in Week 10, that prognosis appears to have been accurate. The former Pro Bowler enjoyed his best outing of the campaign versus the Chiefs, posting season bests in rushing yards (98), receptions (seven) and receiving yards (85). Johnson encouragingly logged a season-high four red-zone rush attempts as well, leaving fantasy owners who ponied up a pretty penny to get him this past summer with some reason for optimism.
Matt Breida, 49ers: Backfield mate Raheem Mostert was threatening to cut into Breida's touches until he suffered a season-ending forearm injury, and Breida re-established himself as a clear-cut option over veteran Alfred Morris in Monday night's loss to the Giants. The second-year back busted out for 101 rushing yards on a season-high 17 carries while adding 31 more through the air, and he outpaced the pedestrian Morris in rush attempts by eight and rushing yardage by 82. Clearly the most dynamic option at running back, Breida should continue to log a solid workload as the Niners look to keep the pressure off rookie quarterback Nick Mullens.
Leonard Fournette, Jaguars: Fournette emphatically answered any questions about the fitness of his hamstring in Sunday's loss to the Colts, as he logged a season-high 24 carries and even saw five targets overall. While he was far from efficient on the ground (53 yards), the fact that a player of Fournette's talent is finally be back at full health lends credence to the notion that better days are coming during the stretch run.
Wide Receiver
Josh Reynolds, Rams: Reynolds is the next man up in the wake of Cooper Kupp's season-ending knee injury, and he seemingly has the talent to capitalize. Reynolds scored a pair of touchdowns on five targets in Week 8 against the Packers as a fill-in for Kupp in that contest, and at 6-foot-3, he could well take on a good chunk of Kupp's sizable red-zone role (11 targets through eight games, including six inside the 10-yard line). Given the Rams' heavy use of three-receiver sets and Reynolds' impressive size/speed combo, he'll be one of the most popular adds on the wire this week, with good reason.
Anthony Miller, Bears: Miller's position mate Allen Robinson grabbed the headlines with a 133-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Lions, but that type of effort was expected from Robinson as the No. 1 receiver. However, Miller has been quietly carving out a larger swath of playing time and targets over the last several weeks, culminating in a career-best 122-yard day versus Detroit in Week 10. Miller has encouragingly logged over 40 snaps in four of the last five contests, and he's seen no fewer than six targets in any of the last four games. While he hasn't necessarily eclipsed Taylor Gabriel for the No. 2 receiver job despite the latter's lackluster performance Sunday, Miller could well be on the verge of doing so with a couple of other strong efforts.
Corey Davis, Titans: Davis is one of the beneficiaries of Mariota's recent improvement, one that helped lead to the 2017 fifth overall pick posting a 7-125-1 line against the Patriots last Sunday. That contest was Davis' second straight with 10 targets, and he'd parlayed that number of looks into six catches in Week 9 against the Cowboys as well. With Mariota seemingly back on track and no consistent options behind him, Davis appears primed for a big stretch run.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith, Titans: Smith is the other Titans pass catcher that is seeing an uptick in his numbers, one that comes after he was a complete afterthought for multiple games following Delanie Walker's season-ending ankle injury in the opener. The second-year tight end has now scored in consecutive games on five total catches during that span, and although that's far from eye-popping production, it's at least turned him into a viable option in a passing game that's particularly thin beyond Davis.
Eric Ebron, Colts: It's impossible to ignore the chemistry between Andrew Luck and Ebron, one that's now produced three receiving touchdowns over the last two games. There's definitely the possibility of regression when considering that trio of scores has come on just six targets, but with a solid depth of target (for a tight end) of 9.8 yards and a career-high 11.9 YPC, Ebron stands a good chance of continuing to deliver solid yardage totals if his sometimes suspect hands cooperate.
Trending Down
Quarterback
Derek Carr, Raiders: Carr continues to post serviceable passing yardage on most weeks, but with Amari Cooper now in Dallas and the rest of the receiving corps injured, lacking explosiveness, or both, he's got very little week-to-week upside. Jordy Nelson and Martavis Bryant both went down with knee injuries this past Sunday against the Chargers, leaving Carr with Brandon LaFell and Seth Roberts as his top two wide receiver options. Tight end Jared Cook continues to do his best to serve as a down-the-seam option, but he's far from enough to help Carr, who's failed to throw a touchdown in two straight and three of his last four, to consistent fantasy returns.
Running Back
Austin Ekeler, Chargers: Ekeler continues to retain plenty of upside, but his usage has taken an undesirable dip in the last pair of contests. The second-year back only logged seven total touches versus the Seahawks and Raiders, and he surprisingly failed to see a target for only the second time this season against Oakland. Given the unpredictability of his week-to-week participation and consecutive down games, Ekeler's prospects are trending in the wrong direction at the moment.
Kenyan Drake, Dolphins: Dolphins coach Adam Gase continues to confound with his division of labor in the backfield. The much younger and more explosive Drake continues to get out-touched by 35-year-old Frank Gore nearly each week, and the former's opportunities have particularly been scarce over the past two games. Drake logged just three and eight carries, respectively, against the Jets and Packers, leading to 36 rushing yards over that span. While Drake did see six targets versus New York and has been involved in the passing game in several other contests, he continues to be completely unreliable in terms of week-to-week workload at the moment.
Wide Receiver
Kelvin Benjamin, Bills: It just doesn't seem to be in the cards for Benjamin this season, as he can't seem to get going regardless of who's at QB. Even with spot starter Matt Barkley giving the Bills a semblance of competent quarterback play in Week 10 against the Jets, Benjamin still came up empty on three targets. The fifth-year veteran does normally see more targets than his meager haul versus New York, but he hasn't exactly been helped by playing with rookie Josh Allen or the since-released Nathan Peterman under center. With coach Sean McDermott stating that Allen remains his starting quarterback as soon as he's ready to return from his elbow injury, things don't look to be getting much brighter for Benjamin as the season's stretch run approaches.
Jordy Nelson, Raiders: Nelson was already struggling over his three prior games before going down with a knee injury in Week 10 against the Chargers. The veteran had posted just five receptions (on 10 targets) in Weeks 6, 8 and 9, as he appears to have lost the ability to gain separation on a consistent basis. His current injury certainly won't help in that regard, and if it's serious enough, he may be in for a multi-game absence.
Tight End
Jimmy Graham, Packers: Graham is in the midst of a downturn after a strong start to his Packers tenure. Graham compiled between 76 and 104 receiving yards in three of five games between Weeks 2-6, and he logged six to 10 targets in five of his first six contests overall. All of those numbers are down since that point, leaving the talented tight end with a combined six grabs (on 11 targets) for 90 yards over the last three games. Graham also continues to manage a knee issue, which may be presenting more of a problem for him as the season unfolds.
