With seven weeks behind us, pending Monday Night Football, we are beginning to see more rookies make an impact and some veterans getting phased out. Week 7 offered no shortage of rookie impact players, but who’s rising and falling in dynasty rankings?
Let’s take a look.
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Dynasty Risers & Fallers
Risers
Josh Downs (WR – IND)
After appearing on the risers list in Week 5, Josh Downs has found the endzone in both games since. He has been trending up all season long but has yet to unlock a true breakout performance until now. Downs caught five of six targets for 125 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, marking his highest yardage total and his second touchdown after notching his first last week. He continues to run out of the slot, but the Colts run 11 personnel over 75% of the time, so he’s seeing the field often.
After week 5, I wrote about the Colts getting him involved downfield more often, and that has since continued. He saw a mixture of short and deep targets on Sunday, including 20 yards downfield, which he converted into six points. He’s gotten a boost from Gardner Minshew, but we will likely see a lot of Anthony Richardson and Josh Downs in the years to come.
Jahmyr Gibbs (RB – DET)
It wasn’t necessarily a dominant performance from Jahmry Gibbs, but his 27.6 fantasy points were by far the best of his young career. It came with David Montgomery on the sideline, but the most encouraging part of the performance was Gibbs’ nine catches for 58 yards. His 11 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown made for a productive day, but much of that came with the game out of reach.
It was an unusual game script for the Lions, which prevented more carries for Gibbs, but the passing game usage represents his upside in this offense, even when Montgomery returns. Let’s hope the Lions find ways to utilize him in that fashion going forward.
Rashee Rice (WR – KC)
The Chiefs wide receiver room could best be described as a mess, but Rashee Rice has been a bright spot in his rookie campaign. After notching five grabs for 60 yards and a touchdown, Rice has tallied double-digit fantasy points in five of his seven games, with his highest total coming this week at 17.
He’s now scored three touchdowns and has seen at least five targets in five of seven games, while his 40 snaps this week were his highest total yet. This is all encouraging for any young player, but particularly one in an offense shared with Patrick Mahomes.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA)
Although DK Metcalf was notably absent on Sunday, it was encouraging to see Jaxon Smith-Njigba take advantage with four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. It was his best performance to date, which has been the case in back-to-back weeks coming out of the Seahawks bye week. In those weeks, JSN has totaled eight catches for 111 yards with one score and 25.1 fantasy points. He’s playing all the snaps in 11 personnel but notably took some snaps in 12 personnel this week with Metcalf out. His snaps will be worth monitoring when Metcalf returns.
Jalin Hyatt (WR – NYG)
The rookie wide receiver trend continues as Jalin Hyatt made his mark in Week 7. He posted just two receptions, but they went for 75 yards, and he led the wide receiver group in targets with five and saw the second-most snaps behind Darius Slayton. Parris Campbell was inactive last week and played just four snaps this week, while Sterling Shepard played 10 snaps, and Isiah Hodgins played 20.
Each of them was playing ahead of Hyatt earlier in the season, but Slayton, Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson have taken over the top spots in the offense, and the Giants are making a point to get Hyatt more opportunities downfield.
Dallas Goedert (TE – PHI)
The Eagles’ offense is beginning to roll, and Dallas Goedert has been a huge part of that. After a slow start to the season, Goedert has ripped off fantasy point totals of 25.7, 9.2, and 18.7 in the last three weeks. He’s posted 236 yards during that time span compared to 88 yards across the first four weeks. Goedert will always play second fiddle to A.J. Brown at best and be the third wheel behind DeVonta Smith at worst, but it’s undoubtedly that the Eagles soar highest when the tight end is a focal point of the offense.
Fallers
Quentin Johnston (WR – LAC)
With the plethora of rookie wide receivers making the risers list, it’s disappointing that first-round pick Quentin Johnston falls on the other side of it. With reports out of training camp that Joshua Palmer was running ahead of Johnston, it wasn’t a surprise to see Johnston playing limited snaps to open the season. With Mike Williams going down for the season, however, optimism rose among Johnston managers.
Instead, the former Horned Frog has caught two of seven targets for 38 yards in the three weeks without Williams. To make matters worse, the team’s bye week came and went in Week 5 with no post-bye rookie bump for Johnston. For his size, Johnston gets bullied far too often and isn’t a sharp route runner. Unless he cleans those things up, it’s unlikely his production will increase.
Zach Ertz (TE – ARI)
After out-snapping Trey McBride for the first five games of the season, Zach Ertz played fewer snaps in Week 6, and the two were even in Week 7. Through those first five games, Ertz had seen 34 targets come his way compared to 10 for McBride. Those numbers have shifted over the last two games, with 11 going McBride’s way and nine to Ertz. The Cardinals will continue to target Ertz and utilize him in specific passing situations, but it’s clear they no longer trust him on the field in a full-time role.
Jameson Williams (WR – DET)
With Marvin Jones missing Sunday’s game, it was an opportunity for Jameson Williams to step into a larger role. That was not the case, however, as Williams played 33 snaps, the same number as undrafted rookie Antoine Green. The good news is that Williams was targeted six times, but the bad news is that he failed to reel in a single one of them.
The disappointing performance comes after two catches for 52 yards and a score in Week 6, but that was largely the benefit of a coverage breakdown. Until Williams can get on the field more frequently, he’s nothing more than a hope and a prayer.
Zach Evans (RB – LAR)
With Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers, the Rams’ top two running backs, going to injured reserve, it seemed that Zach Evans might be in line to get his chance at earning a role. The Rams pivoted to Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson instead, with the duo taking all of the backfield snaps while Evans watched from the sideline.
Evans was a popular sleeper pick due to his college production and the uncertainty of the Rams backfield, but that hope feels all but lost after this week.
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