It’s getting to that point in the year where you’re either gearing up for a playoff run or you’re wondering where it all went wrong. Perhaps a player or 10 let you down, and now your season is swirling its way down the drain.
The best thing about dynasty is that it’s never truly over for you. There are always moves to be made, and now is the best time to start snatching up players who are on the dynasty upswing. So keep reading to find some of the latest risers following Week 11.
Risers
The rookie out of Arkansas returned from a foot injury in Week 10, but it was Week 11 on Thursday night when Burks really made his presence felt. He saw a season and career-high eight targets, catching seven of them for 111 yards, also season and career highs. The most impressive aspect is that this came on a 50% snap share while he played in three wide receiver sets, with Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Robert Woods working as the top two. Burks was beginning to work into two receiver sets prior to his injury in September, so that’s likely to be the case now, especially after a big performance. He looked like an explosive playmaker, not so different from the player he was drafted to replace.
James Cook had the best game of his career, seeing 11 carries and two targets on 16 snaps. We’re going to need to see an uptick in usage before Cook can be an option in lineups, but the efficiency is encouraging, and the 11 carries match his season and career high. It’s tough to predict how his future usage will compare to Nyheim Hines, who played 10 snaps with just one carry and one target. Regardless of how the snaps are distributed behind Devin Singletary, we needed to see Cook put some explosive plays on film. He might not be a short-term play, but this performance brightens up his long-term dynasty outlook.
Antonio Gibson posted a season-high 72 rushing yards on Sunday to go with 31 yards receiving. The most noteworthy stat, however, is that he doubled up Brian Robinson‘s snaps, 46 to 23. It seems that Gibson has passed Robinson on the depth chart just as quickly as Robinson passed him earlier this season. With JD Mckissic on the injured reserve list (IR), Gibson has consumed a larger pass-catching role as well, running 20 routes compared to Robinson’s five on Sunday. I was out on Gibson early in the season because I saw the writing on the wall with Robinson, but Gibson is extremely talented. It’s not too late for things to click and for him to take over the backfield.
I’ve long been a believer in Juwan Johnson, stashing him in many dynasty leagues. It was good to see him take advantage of the time Adam Trautman spent on the shelf, but even with Trautman healthy and absorbing many of the snaps, Johnson keeps delivering. He’s scored a touchdown in three straight games and five total in his last five games. He’s also topped 40 yards in six games and 30 yards in eight games, leading him to stand as TE11 through 11 weeks. He may never be a full-time player, but the former wide receiver has become a big part of the offense and isn’t going away any time soon.
Fallers
I declared D’Andre Swift a sell back in September, and we’re seeing why. Not only did Swift take a backseat to Jamaal Williams, but he played less than Justin Jackson as well. Swift did find the endzone but carried just five times and saw three targets. There’s reasonable speculation that he’s not fully healthy but was a full participant in practice this week and was not listed on the injury report. He’s an explosive player but struggles with vision between the tackles. If he’s been fully relegated to change-of-pace duties, it will be tough for him to pay off.
When Rashod Bateman landed on IR, it seemed that Devin Duvernay was ready for an expanded role. Through the first five weeks of the season, Duvernay posted no less than nine fantasy points in a game, but since then, he’s only reached that mark once. In his last two games, he’s received a total of two targets, catching both for eight yards. Demarcus Robinson was targeted nine times on Sunday and is becoming Lamar Jackson‘s preferred target. There was some optimism that Duvernay could continue growing into a larger role, but he may be best suited as a gadget player.
In a 40-point effort from the Cowboys’ offense, Michael Gallup was only able to register three catches for 41 yards. He has yet to top four catches or 49 yards since returning to action. Initially, it felt as though Gallup may need time to get back to full strength and playing speed, but now it looks like this is what we are getting from him this season. He was third on the team in targets but is clearly behind CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz and battling Noah Brown for targets. He will fall even further if the Boys are able to land Odell Beckham Jr., but he’s not a player to invest in either way.
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Chad Workman is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from him, check out his Twitter at @tweetsbychad.
