An important aspect of fantasy football is getting ahead of the curve in player values. Dave Kluge has listed and highlighted some players who show a change in value and lets you know what to do with them in Week 13's "Three Up, Three Down" article.
Three Up
New York Jets Wide Receivers
Lumping all of the Jets wide receivers together is a bit of a layup, but this team is oozing with talent and finally has a quarterback who can run the offense. After Week 6, the Jets landed in this column's “Three Down” section. Zach Wilson simply wasn’t doing enough to support the offense. But then an injury to Breece Hall and a pivot to Mike White have things looking up. In last Wednesday’s Daily Email Update, I had this to say about the Jets:
"Overall, the decision to bench Zach Wilson gives just about every skill player a boost in value. Marcus Mariota was the only quarterback with a lower adjusted competition percentage than Wilson this year. The Jets are loaded with potential fantasy assets, and a competent quarterback should elevate them all."
Well, Mike White did just that. He completed 22 of 28 pass attempts for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns were hauled in by Garrett Wilson and the other by Elijah Moore, who finished Week 12 as PPR’s WR5 and WR28. Between Weeks 4-11, when Zach Wilson was the starter, Wilson was the WR46 and Moore the WR129 in per-game PPR scoring. Both are suddenly elevated into startable territory with White, with a stronger argument for Wilson as a WR2. Unfortunately for the pass-catchers, White spread the ball around. Outside of Wilson’s eight targets, no one else saw more than three. But Moore and Corey Davis become boom-or-bust flex options due to the uptick in offensive potency. Wilson is a weekly must-start. Tyler Conklin is back in the tight end streamer discussion. Whether Michael Carter, Ty Johnson, or Zonovan Knight is the starting back, all will have weekly value. The magnitude of the switch from Zach Wilson to Mike White cannot be understated, and it gives the entire Jets' offense a significant value boost in fantasy football.
Burks finally got into the end zone last week! It was a flukey play where Derrick Henry ran the ball the length of the field only to fumble in the end zone, but it still shows up on the stat sheet. Regardless of that score, Burks has been drawing meaningful usage in Tennessee. Since returning from injury in Week 10, the first-round rookie is commanding 6.7 targets per game. He’s turned that into 68.3 receiving yards. PFF has graded him as a top-30 wide receiver over the stretch. There were some concerns coming into the league that Burks would be a gimmicky player. He’s got a massive frame and blazing speed, but many of his plays in college were manufactured to get him open in space. However, he’s starting to show a bit of polish as a well-rounded receiver. This evolution could be from coaching, Robert Woods’ mentorship, or a better understanding of the game. But Burks is starting to look like a team’s WR1, regularly winning routes and putting on the moves to showcase his speed and burst after the catch. The team had big plans for Burks when they traded away A.J. Brown, and he could end up being a late-season hammer to help you in fantasy playoffs.