Over this turkey filled football weekend, we saw some pretty amazing things through the air. We witnessed Baker Mayfield throw his first career four-touchdown game, Drew Brees throw four touchdowns to four undrafted players, and Philip Rivers complete an NFL record 25 straight passes to start a game. Here are my risers and fallers from Thanksgiving weekend.
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Risers
Austin Ekeler (RB – LAC)
Yes, this one’s a no-brainer. Austin Ekeler was already averaging 8.5 touches per game this season and sporting an impressive 5.8 yards per carry. With the injury news that Melvin Gordon will miss multiple weeks with a sprained MCL, Ekeler becomes a weekly top 10 option at running back. Ekeler averages 1.3 fantasy points per touch this season, which is behind only James White and Tarik Cohen among running backs with at least 100 touches. Ekeler could turn into a league winner if he can maintain anywhere near that efficiency with the volume he’s about to get.
Gus Edwards (RB – BAL)
Sunday showed us that Gus Edwards wasn’t a one-week wonder. He was not a fluke, and as long as Lamar Jackson is behind center, he has RB1 potential. In two games playing with Lamar Jackson, Edwards carried the ball 40 times for 233 yards and a touchdown, averaging a hefty 5.83 yards per carry. His production was aided this week by Alex Collins being inactive, but Collins is averaging a mere 3.6 yards per carry on the season and the Ravens may have struck gold with Edwards. In a backfield as crowded as Baltimore’s, you can expect them to ride the hot hand, which far and away belongs to Gus Edwards for the time being.
D.J. Moore (WR – CAR)
Once again, Devin Funchess sat out and Moore was a huge part of the Panthers offense. In two games without Funchess, Moore has caught 15 of 17 targets for 248 yards and a touchdown. Moore is a dynamic and explosive weapon who can make things happen from anywhere as long as Cam Newton can get the ball into his hands. He’s second in the league in yards after the catch among wide receivers, and he’s had four rushing attempts that went for 10+ yards.
Tyler Lockett (WR – SEA)
Tyler Lockett is essentially the number one receiver on the Seattle Seahawks. Doug Baldwin has eight more targets than Lockett since returning to the field in Week 4, but Lockett has a higher catch percentage, more yards, and more touchdowns. In fact, there have only been three games this season where Lockett couldn’t find the end zone. Russell Wilson has averaged 31.8 pass attempts over his last four games after averaging only 26 through his first seven. This bodes well for Lockett and the rest of his receivers.
Fallers
Jarvis Landry (WR – CLE)
Despite the Cleveland Browns winning two of their last three games and Baker Mayfield playing his best football of the season, Jarvis Landry continues to fall off the face of the earth. Here are his stat lines over the last three games (targets/catches/yards/touchdowns): 7/6/50/0, 5/2/22/0, and 5/3/30/0. So after receiving 10+ targets in seven of his first eight games, he’s now gone three straight games without seeing more than seven. He’ll probably have a game or two this season where he blows up, but he’s not a wide receiver you can afford to have any faith in right now.
John Brown and Michael Crabtree (WRs – BAL)
Lamar Jackson may be opening up fantasy opportunity for Gus Edwards, but the opportunity for Ravens receivers with Jackson as quarterback has died. Over two games as the starter, he’s only completed 23 passes for a total of 328 yards and a touchdown. That’s an average stat line for a single game. Lamar Jackson is a running quarterback and he’s proven that he can win that way, but the Ravens receivers are only there now for must-throw situations.
Bengals Offense
Despite the team being in complete disarray now after a solid start to the season, you could usually rely on Joe Mixon, A.J. Green (when healthy), and Tyler Boyd for fantasy points. But however you may feel about Andy Dalton, the potential for those points drops significantly without him on the field. Jeff Driskel was able to put up some numbers after coming in for garbage time on Sunday, but his next two opponents are the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers, and it’s going to be harder to get the offense moving against them.
Aaron Rodgers (QB – GB)
Aaron Rodgers is currently the QB10. That isn’t horrible, but it’s unacceptable for where you had to draft him. He’s having a mediocre season to the full extent of that word. From 2010 to 2017, Rodgers had 26 games of 300+ yards and three touchdowns. This season, he’s only done it once and only has two three-touchdown games. Whether you want to blame it on Mike McCarthy, the Packers offensive line, or the knee injury, Rodgers has fallen drastically short of expectations.
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Sam Schlesinger is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Sam, check out his archive and follow him @avishai41.
