Stock Up, Stock Down: Tyrod Taylor unlocking Darren Waller's fantasy upside

We are officially at the midway point of the fantasy football season. Do you have to make a trade? I know I do. Whether you’re at the top or the bottom of your league standings, you should be looking to make a move. With players rising and falling, knowing where your team stands is important for what you should be looking for. Got a good team? Leach off of those bottom feeders and get a star for the playoffs. If your team stinks, maybe consider selling that stud for quality depth and always keep your eyes on the waivers. Here’s a few players who may be on the move in some of your leagues.

STOCK UP

TE - Darren Waller, New York Giants

Waller has scored the third most fantasy points amongst tight ends over the last three weeks which makes him the TE4 overall (MNF pending). He was able to score his first touchdown of the season against the Commanders in Week 7 with the help of Tyrod Taylor who looks to be outperforming Daniel Jones. The Giants' passing game just simply has a better chance at succeeding when Waller is involved. He’ll face a Jets defense in Week 8 that overall is very good, but are the worst against tight ends in fantasy. Waller also has another game against the Commanders on the horizon during the fantasy football season. He’s finally starting to pay off on that fifth round value that you used to draft him in your leagues.

RB - Darrell Henderson, Los Angeles Rams

Despite having not played in a game since November 20, 2022, Henderson came off the couch to lead the Rams’ backfield in the absence of Kyren Williams. Henderson was cut by the Rams in favor of Cam Akers after starting the 2022 season as the Rams’ RB1. With Williams and Ronnie Rivers both on IR, Henderson was brought back and Sean McVay wasted no time making him the guy. Henderson rushed 18 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. He played 28 snaps to Royce Freeman’s 16. Rookie Zach Evans did not play a single snap as McVay hinted at that throughout the week. It won’t last forever, but Williams is out at least another three games so Henderson would be at least low-end RB2/FLEX play for the time being.

WR - George Pickens, Pittsburgh Steelers

Pickens is WR18 right now on a points per game basis after going 5-107-0 in Week 7 against the Raiders. It was encouraging to see Pickens get a 33.3% target share even with the return of Diontae Johnson who caught 5-of-6 targets for 79 yards. If Week 7 is any indication, Pickens and Johnson will operate as a 1A/1B duo going forward. In four of his last five games Pickens has at least 75 receiving yards and three of those were over 100. Kenny Pickett makes it known that if Pickens is being covered one-on-one, he’s going to go to him with the football. Schedule aside, Pickens is at the very least a top tier WR3 play going forward.

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STOCK DOWN

RB - Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders

It hasn’t been a good season for last year's NFL rushing leader. He has yet to eclipse 80 rushing yards in a game this season and is averaging just under three yards per carry. He’s RB19 on a points per game basis and while that is certainly not the worst thing in the world, you likely expected more from a back that you drafted in the early rounds. In fact, his ranking is boosted by a Week 4 game against the Chargers where he went 17-58-1 in the run game and 8-81 in the receiving game (on 11 targets), which was good for 27.6 fantasy points. His next five games include a tough Lions run defense, the Jets, Dolphins and Chiefs. It’s been a tough go and the Raiders’ quarterback carousel doesn’t help Jacobs either.

WR - Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars

Is Ridley merely a boom-or-bust play in fantasy? The results would certainly say so after finishing as WR83 in Week 7. Furthermore, he’s WR36 this season while Christian Kirk sits at WR14. Ridley has two games where he eclipsed 100 receiving yards this season, but failed to get past 45 in the Jaguars’ other five games. After getting shot out of a cannon in Week 1 and looking like his old self, Ridley’s numbers have been modest at best. Ridley doesn’t lack any skill or explosiveness, but he and Trevor Lawrence just haven’t been on the same page this season. While this is no shot at Tim Jones or Jamal Agnew, when they are outperforming Ridley on a given week that’s an issue (for your fantasy lineups). You probably can’t trade him away right now and you may not need to, but it’s not the best situation right now.

TE - Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals

Ertz was enjoying a fine season in 2022 as the overall TE3 in fantasy before a knee injury knocked him out for the season after Week 10. This season, the “emergence” of Trey McBride with Josh Dobbs at quarterback has kept Ertz from reaching his ceiling. It’s possible that the Cardinals are simply slowly moving towards McBride who’s outscored Ertz 16 fantasy points to 9 over their last two games. Ertz played 71% of the Cardinals’ offensive snaps in the first five games and that number has reduced to 49.5% over the past two. McBride on the other hand has gone from 39.5% of the team’s offensive snaps in the first five games to 55.5% over his last two. Ertz has quietly become unstartable in your fantasy lineups.