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. I’ll give 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 your weekly matchup or DFS lineup. Knowledge is power in these situations, so let’s begin. 

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Quarterbacks

Jalen Hurts (PHI)
Highest rank: QB4. Lowest Rank: QB14.

Hurts has yet to score fewer than 19 fantasy points since taking over as Philadelphia’s starter. Now that the Eagles’ playoff hopes are done, I’m betting head coach Doug Pederson and company will push Hurts to his limits to see what he can offer in 2021. This will likely involve throwing downfield more and increased option plays. They should want to see how he rises to the challenge and responds to adversity and pressure. Washington will give it their all to secure a playoff berth, but Hurts will try to spoil their party.

Prediction: FEAST

Kyler Murray (ARI)
Highest rank: QB6. Lowest Rank: QB16.

The last time Murray faced the Rams, I featured him as famine in this column. He finished with 17 points, his second-lowest total at the time, despite throwing three scores. Now traveling to Los Angeles and facing the Rams without Jared Goff, Darrell Henderson, and Cooper Kupp, I’m projecting Murray’s outlook to get even worse this time around. The Rams’ defense is allowing the third-fewest points to quarterbacks over the last month, and Jalen Ramsey will slow down Arizona’s top weapon, DeAndre Hopkins. The Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds show should continue to roll, as the Cardinals control the game script.

Prediction: FAMINE

Running Backs

Myles Gaskin (MIA)
Highest rank: RB5. Lowest Rank: RB28.

Gaskin looked like a star last week against the Raiders, breaking off multiple big plays and showing electric speed on his way to 31 points. In fact, he hasn’t scored fewer than 12 points when active in his last five games played despite missing significant time between some of them. His assured role as a receiver is a nice floor, and the Bills could rest some of their starters or limit their snap counts. With quarterback indecision mulling in Miami, expect a consistent ground game. Fire up Gaskin with confidence.

Prediction: FEAST

Honorable Mention Feast: D’Andre Swift, Ronald Jones

Kareem Hunt (CLE)
Highest rank: RB17. Lowest Rank: RB27.

The Steelers have been the second-toughest defense against running backs on the season, and Nick Chubb has firmly solidified his role receiving the lion’s share of touches. While there are discussions of the Steelers resting some starters, Hunt is still not an attractive play this week. Cleveland’s status as a nine-point favorite benefits Chubb more in a lower scoring affair. The return of Cleveland’s wide receivers may also relegate Hunt’s pass-catching role.

Prediction: FAMINE

Honorable Mention Famine: Leonard Fournette, Devin Singletary

Wide Receivers

Jamison Crowder (NYJ)
Highest rank: WR25. Lowest Rank: WR57.

The Patriots just got wrecked by the Bills on Monday night. Coming off a short week, they now face a Jets team that apparently has found its stride after victories over both the Rams and Browns. Sam Darnold’s return is great for Crowder, as his splits with and without the starting quarterback are remarkable. A 26-point game for Crowder last week confirmed that he still loves Darnold feeding him targets. Don’t expect as huge of a game, but a good one should hopefully be ripe for the taking again.

Prediction: FEAST

Honorable Mention Feast: Sterling Shepard, Tyler Lockett

Robert Woods (LAR)
Highest rank: WR14. Lowest Rank: WR54.

The Rams will be in quite the predicament this week without Goff under center. New quarterback John Wolford throws uncertainty onto the tied receiving options, with few under a darker cloud than Woods this week. The Vegas game total sits at a lowly 40 points, and the Cardinals have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers over the past five weeks. Getting shadowed by Patrick Peterson would be the final nail in the coffin for Woods, who is nearly impossible to trust this week.

Prediction: FAMINE

Honorable Mention Famine: Tee Higgins

Tight End

Austin Hooper (CLE)
Highest rank: TE10. Lowest Rank: TE18.

Hooper saw an outrageous 15 targets last week while playing catch-up against the Jets in the absence of all Browns starting wide receivers.  Most of those wideouts should be back, and the Browns have a run-happy script as heavy favorites against the Steelers. Last week was an extreme outlier, so we can expect Hooper to get back around an average target number around the three0eight range. Hooper has not been a winning play most weeks.

Prediction: FAMINE

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.