We’ve made it through five weeks of football and now we’re really starting to collect some of the data points we need to make informed decisions. It’s virtually impossible to watch every second of every game, so naturally, there are things that you might miss from week to week. This article aims to name mostly under-the-radar, mid-tier, but fantasy-relevant players that are trending up or trending down. You’ll never see me mention that Cooper Kupp is trending up because that’s a headline you can read just about anywhere. You’ll also never see me slap a player like Matt Breida with a “trending down” label, because (with all due respect) who cares? But you will see me hold “star” players to a higher standard by occasionally featuring them in the trending down category. The underlying purpose of this article is to identify rising players before they become popular waiver wire adds.
Trending Up
Darius Slayton – WR, New York Giants
The Giants’ wide receiver room has been decimated by injuries. Rookie Wan’dale Robinson was only able to record one catch before being ruled out for the rest of the game. He hasn’t seen game action since. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney had been working his way back from a hamstring injury, then he somehow injured his other hamstring? To top it all off, Kenny Golladay, who has been arguably the worst free agent acquisition in Giants history is out with a knee injury. That left David Sills, Richie James Jr, and Darius Slayton as the top three pass-catching options for Daniel Jones.
Darius Slayton 6 catches for 79 yards on 7 targets & was missed on a possible big play.
His speed is a valuable piece and you don’t give up on talent. Don’t forget about Slay pic.twitter.com/oh7c9Pna4c
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) October 10, 2022
Slayton emerged from the doghouse in Week 5, helping the Giants beat the Packers in London. Slayton played on 54% of snaps catching 6 of 7 targets for 79 yards. The targets and yardage are the most that he’s posted all season. 54% of snaps may not seem like much, but considering that the Giants were using a ton of Saquon to keep the ball out of Aaron Rodgers’ hands, it’s not a bad outcome. The wide receiver situation should remain about the same again this week. Slayton is trending up thanks to his health and rekindled rapport with Danny Dimes.
Tevin Coleman – RB, San Francisco 49ers
In his age-29 season, teams were less inclined to pay the veteran when they could just roster a cheaper rookie or undrafted free agent. So to the practice squad Coleman went. I shouldn’t have to tell you that the 49ers’ practice squad is a happenin’ place to be, especially if you’re a running back. I don’t know if there’s something in the water or Gatorade cooler, but running backs seem to break down immediately upon entering the Bay Area.
Thanks to a lack of durability in San Fran, Coleman got his call up much sooner than anticipated. In Week 4 he debuted against the Rams. Coleman played just 2% of snaps and didn’t record a carry or a target. Fast-forward just one week later and Coleman is at 28% snaps, touching the ball 11 times. Coleman took 8 carries for 23 yards and a touchdown, while adding three catches for 44 yards and another score. He’s definitely trending up! Coleman has already been elevated to the active roster once again ahead of this Week’s game. Another solid performance could solidify his role on the team.
Jaylen Warren – RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Najee Harris has been a major fantasy disappointment so far this season. It really isn’t all on him. The offensive line play has been subpar, as expected. Also the issues at quarterback don’t help either. Tack on a slightly lingering foot issue and it makes sense that Harris hasn’t produced at the volume that we all expected. Speaking of volume, that’s the main reason that Harris was so attractive in this offense in the first place. Enter Jaylen Warren. Jaylen Warren ran away with the backup running back job early this preseason. It was clear to see that the team was interested in using him more than they had used backup running backs in the past. Somewhat under the radar still, Warren has been trending in the right direction lately.
Warren has never seen a game this season where he’s received below 20% of total snaps or less than 3 rushing attempts. In last week’s bashing by the Bills, Warren’s usage spiked. The game was already out of hand, but playing in comeback mode, Warren was on the field for 51% of snaps. He caught 4 of 5 passes for 39 yards, adding 24 yards on 5 carries. This is telling because he was the only backup to get significant looks. An injury to Najee would mean a large workload for Warren. With the way the season is going, if Najee is hampered even a little bit, the team could chose to shut him down and get him healthy, while feeding Warren in the process.
David Njoku – TE, Cleveland Browns
Njoku probably should have been featured in this last series, but I wanted to make sure that we weren’t looking at some fluky performances. But it really does look like you can rely on David Njoku week in and week out this season. Njoku is trending up because of the quite massive target share he’s gotten so far this year. In the last three weeks, David has seen 23 targets. Not only is he getting the looks, but he is absolutely crushing. His stat lines the last three weeks has been as followed: 9-89-1, 5-73-0, and 6-88-0. Don’t look now, but Njoku is the TE8 in fantasy football right now.
Njoku’s next four weeks of competition represent good matchups for the tight end position. He get New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Miami, who all rank in the bottom half against fantasy tight ends. Njoku has the rapport with Jacoby Brissett. It remains to be seen how productive he will be with Deshaun Watson under center. All expectations would be that having Watson at quarterback would be a good thing for Njoku. If that turns out to be the case then this trending player should explode during the second half of play.
Also make sure to check out our Week 6 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex Rankings
Trending Down
JuJu Smith-Schuster – WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Before the season began rostering Smith-Schuster was a top priority of mine. He’s in an explosive offense with one of the best play-making quarterbacks in the entire league. All signs pointed to his time in Kansas City being an absolute slam dunk. On paper, JuJu is the best wide receiver on the roster. Unfortunately, the production has not been there. In the last couple of games, he appeared to be struggling with some drops and a lack of confidence.
Last week marked JuJu’s highest snap count percentage (86%) of the season by a great margin. His next highest snap count occurred in Week 2 when he was on the field for 74% of snaps. The only problem is that last week also marked his second-lowest output of the season. 86% of snaps led to 3 receptions for 33 yards on 8 targets. To make matters worse it appears that Mahomes has found a new favorite wide receiver target in Marquez Valdes-Scantling. JuJu isn’t trending in the right direction, he’ll need a bounce-back performance if he’s to avoid this list in the future.
Antonio Gibson – RB, Washington Commanders
Brian Robinson Jr., back from gunshot wounds (in the leg!) led the Washington Commanders in carries, for not one, but two weeks in a row. Antonio Gibson’s role has been reduced to mere morsels. Brian Robinson has control of the early down work and JD McKissic has the passing downs on lock. Three carries in Week 5 and five carries last week, Gibson should consider every carry he gets from here out as a gift. The way this backfield is trending, Gibson may find himself without any work.
Fantasy apps everywhere should get ahead of the curve and just give Gibson a WR designation. The work he does, he does out of the slot as a receiver. While the carries haven’t been there, the targets have remained. He’s had 11 targets in the last three weeks and has caught at least three passes in those three games. His days toting the rock for the Commander is done. With the fumbling concerns maybe other teams will be reluctant as well. Gibson does good work as a receiver, I think he should really consider a position change to revitalize his career.
Greg Dortch – WR, Arizona Cardinals
For what it’s worth, I personally think that Greg Dortch is a better player than Rondale Moore. The Arizona Cardinals coaching staff does not see it my way. Moore’s return has been the demise of Dortch. It really is a shame that the team has just tossed him aside. He was actually extremely productive. He also seemed to have a good rapport with Kyler Murray. In the first three weeks of the season Dortch saw 23 targets. He scored one touchdown and gained 198 yards. That is pretty good for a guy who not many people had heard of before the season started.
When Rondale Moore returned in Week 4 Dortch saw a huge drop in his snap count. To say that Dortch is trending down is an understatement. He went from numbers like 91%, 71%, and 81% and dropped down to 36% and most recently 3% last Week. It is going to take something drastic for Dortch to insert his way back into the game plan. In his return Rondale Moore played 86% of snaps, last week that number jumped to 91%. The target chain goes Brown, Moore, and Ertz until further notice.
Dishonorable Mention
Hunter Renfrow – WR, Las Vegas Raiders
With the Raiders wearing black jerseys, Hunter Renfrow has to be hard to see running routes in Davante Adams’ shadow. A PPR nightmare just one short year ago, Hunter Renfrow has been almost invisible. Granted, he has missed two games to injury, but even when he is on the field, he hasn’t done much. Last week in particular it seemed that the Raiders were content with going with two wide receivers (Mack Hollins and Davante Adams) and just giving Jacobs the rock. They often passed out of the same formation. If this trend continues then the slot specialist could be in trouble.