We all know that Week 14 is the final week of the fantasy football regular season. The “Risers, Fallers, and Hot Seat” piece has been a weekly series of mine this season. During the first month of the season, it was a good way to navigate the noise around early studs and duds talk. By October, this piece was more about establishing trust with players. Last month, it was declaring which players may or may not be worth investing in to make a playoff push. As we dive into the Week 14 Risers, Fallers, and the Hot Seat list, it’s all about Week 14 specifically. Many managers are in must-win scenarios this week. Especially with six NFL teams on bye, I want this list to help guide lineup decisions so that you’ll be back here next week ready to set a playoff lineup. Good luck. Let’s do this.
Week 14 Risers, Fallers, and a Player on the Hot Seat
Risers
Isaac Guerendo, RB, San Francisco 49ers
The most obvious Week 14 riser is Isaac Guerendo following the news that both Christian McCaffrey (knee) and Jordan Mason (ankle) are on or heading to the Injured Reserve list. He was likely the top Week 14 waiver wire claim or was awarded to whoever had the most Free Agency Auction Budget money left, in your league. If you’re out of playoff contention, but still added Guerendo, you have my respect. Your lineup adjustments, matchup results, add/drop decisions and overall commitment to competing until you’re officially out of it impacts your league, as it should.
More importantly, if you’re a playoff team, or playoff hopeful team, Isaac Guerendo belongs in Week 14 lineups. In the absence of usual starting running backs who are on bye, Guerendo is an immediate top-20 player with upside. At the time of the McCaffrey/Mason news breaking, Guerendo was the only healthy running back on the 49ers’ active roster. They’ve since claimed Israel Abanikanda off of waivers, signed Patrick Taylor from their practice squad, and added Ke’Shawn Vaughn to the practice squad. Guerendo should see a heavy majority of the backfield touches over these players in Week 14. His biggest competition for carries may actually be wide receiver, Deebo Samuel.
Guerendo only has 42 carries this season, but for 246 yards, for an impressive 5.9 yards per carry average. He’s logged two games with 10 or more carries this season. In said games, Guerendo has an average of 7.6 yards per carry. Guerendo’s 6’0″ 220-pound build is solid. It’s even more impressive he ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash time of 4.33 seconds at the 2024 NFL Combine. Guerendo will look to put it all together at home against the Chicago Bears in Week 14. They’re allowing nearly 5.0 yards per carry to running backs this season. They’ve allowed the seventh-most rushing yards to the position including 88 and 87 yards respectively to David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs last Thursday.
More Quick-Hitting Risers
Jayden Reed plays Thursday Night Football in Detroit against the Lions. Their defense has been an extremely fantasy-friendly matchup for slot receivers. They’ve allowed three slot receivers, including Reed himself, to exceed 100 receiving yards in a game this season. Reed also has 13 carries this season, logging at least one carry in all but two games. Three of his 13 carries, including his lone rush attempt in Week 13, have exceeded 20 yards. Reed leads all wide receivers with 128 rushing yards this season. The purpose of including Reed as a Week 14 riser is to encourage starting him on Thursday rather than deciding between lesser options on Sunday. Some managers may be unsure whether or not to do so as his 19.7 PPR points in Week 13 was just his second game of 10 or more points in his last six played.
Tua Tagovailoa is averaging a league-leading 25.7 fantasy points per game since Week 11. Only he and Josh Allen have scored north of 20.0 fantasy points in each of their last three games played. There are a lot of fantasy-relevant quarterbacks on bye in Week 14. They include Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, and Bo Nix. If you need a one-week replacement, don’t let Tua’s matchup with the Jets scare you. He not only has his full complement of weapons, but Sauce Gardner (hamstring), the Jets top cornerback is highly questionable to play. Tua may not hit 25.0 fantasy points, but Tua is at home, with extra rest, against a 3-9 Jets team. He has a strong chance of putting up a top-10 fantasy score at his position.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is just flat-out fun to root for at this point. The Tennessee Titans wide receiver has eight touchdowns across his last eight games, scoring in seven of them. There is justifiable apprehension that with many managers plugging him in for Week 14, he’s going to put up a goose egg. However, over the Titans’ last three games, Westbrook-Ikhine’s 19 targets (21%) are tied with Calvin Ridley for the team lead. Westbrook-Ikhine is that much more of a Week 14 riser with a home matchup lined up with the Jacksonville Jaguars. While it’s a revenge game of sorts for Calvin Ridley, both receivers should exploit the defense allowing the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season.
Sincere McCormick is the Raiders running back to look out for as a Week 14 riser in 12-team or larger leagues. His snaps increased from eight (10%) in Week 12 to 26 (38%) in Week 13. More importantly, McCormick’s 12 carries and 54.5% running back rush share led the team last week. Against a Kansas City Chiefs defense allowing a league-low 690 rush yards to the position, McCormick managed 64 of them. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14 aren’t that much better of a matchup. If McCormick sees an increased workload yet again, however, he should push for double-digit fantasy points.
Fallers
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
Breece Hall has arguably the best fantasy football schedule ahead for a running back. Though three of the Jets’ next four games are on the road, the matchups are favorable. The Jets play the Dolphins, Jaguars, Rams, and Bills. All four rank inside the top 12 in fantasy points allowed. The Jaguars and Bills specifically rank inside the top eight. The tough part about this all is that I’m concerned about Breece Hall actually playing in all four of these games.
Hall did not practice at the start of last week or the beginning of this week so far. He ended up carrying the ball just 12 times for 60 yards and failing to catch his only target. Additionally, Hall fumbled twice, losing one of them to the defense. With the Jets now sitting at 3-9, facing an uncertain future at general manager, head coach, and even quarterback, and, above all else, Breece Hall having torn his ACL two years ago, it’s possible he sits out the remainder of the season at some point. This is a purely hypothetical scenario, but there’s some concern either way.
Hall is more of a Week 14 faller for fantasy football based on production more than anything else. He has scored 12.3 or less PPR fantasy points in four of his last five games. While rookie Braelon Allen isn’t an obvious, immediate threat to Hall’s workload, he could be if the Jets continue to lose games and possibly fall behind in them. Hall recorded his lowest snap share (62%) since Week 4 last week. Allen is averaging just 28% of the Jets’ offensive snaps per game. He played as many in Week 13. It would take Hall being out completely to make Allen worth starting, but he should be on your bench if possible for now.
More Quick-Hitting Fallers
Kareem Hunt is a Week 14 faller as Isiah Pacheco continues to work back from an early season leg injury. In his first game back, Pacheco matched Hunt with seven carries apiece. Pacheco, however, rushed for 44 yards compared to just 15 for Hunt. Week 13’s 27 offensive snaps (38%) are the lowest of the season for Hunt, as well. Though he managed 85 total yards on 16 touches against the Chargers in Week 4, they’re allowing the fifth-lowest fantasy points to running backs this season. Hunt also did so in his season debut without Pacheco active. Hunt is fine to stash on the bench but carries a lot of risk in Week 14 lineups.
Nick Chubb scored a receiving touchdown last week. The five-yard grab accounts for 60% of his 12.5 PPR points in Week 13. At face value, Chubb has back-to-back games of 19.0 and 12.5 fantasy points. However, he’s still a Week 14 faller based on usage and efficiency. Chubb is averaging 3.0 yards per carry on 82 attempts in six games played this season. He has yet to rush for 60 yards in a game. Chubb also doesn’t have a single rush longer than 15 yards. It’s tempting to start Chubb against the Steelers in Week 14, I know. After all, he did rush 20 times for 59 yards and two touchdowns as recently as Week 12. That was in Cleveland during a snowstorm. I’m not as optimistic just two weeks later.
Amari Cooper scored 16.6 PPR fantasy points in his debut with the Buffalo Bills following a trade from the Cleveland Browns. He has scored 13.0 total PPR points in three games played since. Granted, one game he hurt his wrist causing him to miss the next two. The most recent game was also played in a Buffalo blizzard, as well. However, Cooper has yet to play more than 51% of the Bills’ offensive snaps. He has just 10 receptions on 13 targets. What makes Cooper more of a Week 14 faller is the expected return of rookie Keon Coleman from a wrist injury of his own. Cooper is obviously talented and has Josh Allen as his quarterback, but the consistent targets have yet to be seen since joining the Bills. Until then, he belongs on fantasy benches.
Check out all of our Week 14 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex
The Week 14 Hot Seat
The Los Angeles Chargers Backfield
I don’t know who we’ll be able to trust anyone from the Chargers’ backfield and when, if ever, for the remainder of the 2024 fantasy football season. With just four weeks left, three of them being the fantasy football playoffs, Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal are especially on the hot seat. In Week 13, the first full game without J.K. Dobbins (knee), Edwards led the way with 24 snaps and seven opportunities. Vidal played half as many snaps with just four opportunities. Hassan Haskins isn’t a legitimate fantasy consideration, but he did play seven snaps and logged one carry.
Up next for this backfield is a matchup with the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday night. They have allowed a league-low 690 rushing yards and just a 3.31 yards per carry average to opposing running backs this season. In these two teams’ first matchup in Week 4 earlier this season, J.K. Dobbins led the Chargers backfield with 14 carries for just 32 yards. Edwards logged six carries of his own for just 19 yards.
It’s not necessary to see Edwards or Vidal overachieve in Week 14. We just need to see one of these Chargers running backs command some sort of lead back role. If not, it will be nearly impossible to trust either of them in Week 15 at the start of the fantasy football playoffs. They host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers then the Denver Broncos soon after on Thursday Night Football in Week 16. If I had to bet on either, it would be Kimani Vidal. He should have more upside as a potential pass-catcher especially in neutral or negative game scripts. I just wouldn’t have my season depend on it in Week 14 if you need a win to get in to your league’s playoffs.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 14 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!