Hello and happy Stock Watch day! This week is filled with plenty of deeper names. No overly big names in the stock down section, as we take a look at players who are borderline starter/bench players. Fee to shoot me feedback or anything else in the live chats or on Twitter @JustinVreeland. Without further adieu, let’s dive in!
Stock up
Jeff Driskel , QB DET – Two weeks of Driskel, two weeks of people using the opposing defense against him in DFS and failing. However, for me, it's been two weeks of using Driskel in DFS and making money. I digress. Driskel is nowhere near as bad as people seem to think he is, and he is actually looking like a rock solid quarterback to use for seasonal fantasy purposes. His first start came against a strong Bears defense and he managed to rack up 19 fantasy points. His second start came against a very solid Dallas defense and he managed to score 27.5 fantasy points. He has two weeks as a starting quarterback, two weeks as a top-four finisher at the position. He has a nice blend of running and passing which has allowed him to score points in a variety of ways, as evidenced by his 13 carries for 88 rushing yards and a touchdown through two games. Now, in Week 12, he will get to face a Redskins defense that hasn't been able to stop anyone. He will rank as a top-ten fantasy option at the position for me this week.
Deebo Samuel, WR SF – Samuel has now produced back-to-back weeks of 19 or more fantasy points. He has at least eight fantasy points in four straight games and he has averaged 15.6 fantasy points per game in that span. What you really love about these last two games in particular is that he has racked up 11 and 10 targets respectively while hauling in eight receptions in both. He also crossed the 100 receiving yard mark in both games as well. I loved this rookie coming in the season and it's nice to see him producing, but there are a few things to keep in mind before getting too excited. The 49ers have been without George Kittle in each of the past two games. They faced two poor secondaries in each of those games as well in the Seahawks and Cardinals. He is very unlikely to continue to produce at this rate moving forward. That being said, he has formed a nice chemistry with Jimmy G and will likely be a solid fantasy asset moving forward, even if it isn't as high-end as he has looked over the last two games.
Ryan Griffin , TE NYJ – Griffin has really developed a great chemistry with Sam Darnold over the past few weeks and with Herndon done for the year he is starting to be a pretty strong fantasy asset. Over the last four games he has three double-digit fantasy point outings and has two games with over 20 points. In that span he has hauled in 16-of-18 targets and has four or more targets in three of those games. He had his first 100 yard of the season in the Jets 34-17 win over the Redskins in Week 11. This isn't to say that he has moved into weekly starter territory, but he has shown enough that we can feel comfortable streaming him and/or giving him a look for GPPs for our DFS action. His next three matchups are against the Raiders, Bengals, and Dolphins, so he can be looked at as a back-end TE1 for that stretch of games.
Stock down
Kyle Allen , QB CAR – The magic appears to have run out for Allen. He was a complete disaster this week against the Falcons, throwing 50 passes for 325 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions. He now has nine interceptions over the last four games with just three touchdowns in that span. Yikes. Unsurprisingly, the Panthers have also fallen apart in that stretch, winning just one game. He hasn't scored over 16 fantasy points in any of the last four games and he has been in single-digits in two of them. He is going to have a tough time bouncing back in Week 12 too, as the Panthers head to New Orleans to take on the Saints. He can be cut loose in most formats at this point and streamers can find a better option.
Nelson Agholor , WR PHI – Agholor was thrust into the spotlight at the Eagles number one receiver this week with both Jeffery and Jackson out of action, but he disappointed (per usual). He just isn't a good player, plain and simple. He drops way too many easy passes and struggles with contested ones as well. He racked up nine targets, but only managed to haul in four of them for a whopping 40 yards for an 8.0 point fantasy effort in PPR leagues. Sure, the matchup wasn't great, but this was now his seventh straight game with fewer than ten fantasy points, despite three games in that span with at least seven targets. He does have a better matchup on tap in Week 12 against the Seahawks, but it's tough to put much faith in him at this point.
Tevin Coleman , RB SF – Coleman had a fantastic run in Weeks 5-8, but he has done a complete 180 over the last three games. We did not expect him to continue elite production, but it's a bit surprising to now see him not even putting up starter level production. He finished with 12 carries for 14 yards in the 49ers win this week. He also hauled in three passes for 48 yards to make it a 9.2 fantasy point day. It was his second game under 10 points in the past three weeks and he hasn't reached 12 points in any of those games. With Matt Breida out this week, it seemed like Coleman was setup to snap out of his funk, but that just wasn't the case. He has a strong matchup in Week 12 against Green Bay, so fantasy owners will be hopeful for a breakout game. It is important to keep in mind that he has rough matchups against the Ravens and Saints after the Packers though. He is trending down and quick.
O.J. Howard , TE TB – I warned everyone to not get too excited about Howard after his decent game against the Cardinals, in what is the best matchup in the league for tight ends. While I wasn't expecting much from him against the Saints, he was even worse than I expected. He dropped his lone target and managed to turn it into an interception by letting it bounce all around his body for a few seconds before a Saints player was able to pluck it out of the air. He was then benched by the Bucs. He had to sit and watch as Cameron Brate hauled in 10-of-14 targets for 73 yards in the Bucs loss. Yikes. If for some reason you haven't dropped Howard yet... what are you waiting for? He is the biggest bust of the year at the position, and second place isn't remotely close. Go ahead and get him off your team.
Stocks to Watch
Bo Scarbrough , RB DET – Scarbrough was the starting running back for the Lions out of nowhere after being promoted from the practice squad the day before the game. Surprisingly, he played pretty well considering pretty much no reps with the first team offense. He rushed 14 times for 55 yards and a touchdown in the Lions 35-27 loss to the Cowboys. He proved to be the physical, down-hill rusher that the Lions offense had been lacking and, he immedietly becomes an interesting player for standard leagues. Unfortunately standard leagues are where the interest ends, as he did not catch a single pass and even with the strong game he finished with just 11.5 points in PPR formats. That being said, he does have a great matchup with the Redskins on tap this week and it wouldn't be shocking to see him find the endzone for a second straight week.
Patrick Laird, RB MIA – Laird had just one carry for seven yards in the Dolphins loss to the Bills, but he made his money in the passing attack with six receptions for 51 yards on six targets. That was good enough for 11.8 fantasy points, which was very similar to the number that Ballage scored. I've been saying this for a weeks now, but Ballage is the worst running back in football. He had nine carries for nine yards and managed just eight yards on five receptions. This dude is terrible. I don't even know how he's still on the team, let alone starting. I digress. It appears that Laird has worked his way into a role and Miami would be smart to give him more touches and to stop shooting themselves in the foot by giving the ball to Ballage. PPR leagues can give Laird a look.