Welcome to Feast or Famine! A weekly breakdown of the most variable player rankings by standard deviation from FantasyPros Weekly ECR.  

These players are ranked as either sensational hits or relative busts, and I’ll be giving my reasoning on why you should lean one side over the other. Having no clear group consensus means these are the decisions that could win or lose you your weekly matchup or DFS lineup. Knowledge is power in these situations, so let’s begin. 

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Quarterbacks

Derek Carr (LV)
Highest rank: QB6. Lowest Rank: QB18.

The Falcons have now surpassed everyone in allowing the most points to quarterbacks on the season. As such, the timing is ripe for another great Carr outing. He looked poised and methodically playing against the Chiefs last week and gets a much softer matchup here. Falcons being a top three pass-funnel defense is simply icing on the cake. This is also the second-highest game total of the week at 55.5 points so there should be touchdowns to go around. 

Prediction: FEAST

Kirk Cousins (MIN)
Highest rank: QB11. Lowest Rank: QB25.

Folks will likely be smitten with the showings Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen have put on lately, but don’t let it distract you from the fact that this is still a run first team. Minnesota is fourth-lowest in passing play percentage, and the main reason being their rushing style and having one of the best backs in the league in Dalvin Cook. Carolina has been better than average against quarterbacks while being fifth-easiest against running backs. This is yet another Cook game, which could be at the expense of fantasy production for Cousins.

Prediction: FAMINE

Running Backs

Antonio Gibson (WAS)
Highest rank: RB5. Lowest Rank: RB27.

Being a Gibson league winning truther since the draft makes it extra fun to be able to highlight one of my favorite value picks this year here again. Gibson has a gorgeous schedule to close the year and should be on auto-start anyway at this point. But just in case you need convincing, Dallas has allowed the second-most rushing yards per game – Gibson territory – yet the second-fewest receptions per game to running backs – McKissic territory. They have also become one of the league’s leading run-funnel defenses as their offense is what it used to be, so teams can get up early and bleed to clock down. Everything about this game should lend us yet again to his heavy rushing use and goal line work. Again, he should be a starter the remainder of the year outside of maybe the Steelers matchup.

Prediction: FEAST

Honorable Mention Feast: Salvon Ahmed, Kenyan Drake

James Conner (PIT)
Highest rank: RB4. Lowest Rank: RB21.

Conner has struggled of late, scoring 11 or fewer fantasy points in the past three games. The only common coincidence occurring is that when the Steelers’ big three wide receivers are healthy all game, Conner doesn’t see the usage he did earlier in the year, especially in the red zone. The Ravens have allowed the third-fewest rushing scores per game and this should be a relatively defensive matchup. It’s tough to trust Conner going forward when you need him the most, I’d look for other options here.

Prediction: FAMINE

Honorable Mention Famine: Chris Carson

Wide Receivers

Brandin Cooks (HOU)
Highest rank: WR13. Lowest Rank: WR46.

The Lions’ secondary just let up some big games to D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel last week with PJ Walker throwing the ball. They now have to face Deshaun Watson, Will Fuller, and Cooks. Cooks has now seen eight or more targets in five of his past six games, with the exception being last week. He has also scored nine or more fantasy points in five of those past six. Detroit has allowed top-10 fantasy points to wide receivers this year and David Johnson is out yet again for a thin running back room. Looks to be a good week for Houston wide receivers. Enjoy your turkey day while watching Brandin cook up some fantasy points for your squad. 

Prediction: FEAST

Honorable Mention Feast: Will Fuller, Sterling Shepard

Julio Jones (ATL)
Highest rank: WR4. Lowest Rank: WR60.

Mr. Unpredictable will now head yet again into a game with either an injury designation or as a game time decision, this time due to a hamstring injury sustained last week against the Saints. Jones is an absolute stud when playing at least 50% of the offensive snaps, but can we trust it going into the week against the Raiders? This has a very familiar feeling of when he has been deemed healthy throughout the years yet sees limited snaps. I don’t want my playoff chances riding on what if’s and limited snaps, so I’d be watching his status updates like a hawk this week and would need to be very sure he’s healthy enough to play the majority of the game to consider starting him.

Prediction: FAMINE

Honorable Mention Famine: Christian Kirk

Tight Ends

Hayden Hurst (ATL)
Highest rank: TE3. Lowest Rank: TE17.

Hurst having his worst game of the season last week will cast some doubts over owners this week, but he has scored eight or more fantasy points in each of his four games prior to the goose egg. This is somewhat linked to the Julio Jones limited snap news, which should direct targets more often to Ridley, Hurst, and Gage. Even if Julio is healthy, he should still be a fine play in a high-scoring projected game by Vegas.

Prediction: FEAST

Thanks for reading and stay golden! If you like what you learned, follow me @DavidZach16 for more interesting stats and tidbits throughout the year.

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David Zach is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from David, check out his archive and follow him @DavidZach16.