Week 14 Stock Up and Stock Down

With Week 13 of the NFL season in the books, Lead Writer Matt Ward has his eyes on three players increasing their stock and three players on the end-of-season decline heading into Week 14! Take advantage of your league mates by acquiring star players at their lowest value and dealing away volatile players at their highest values!

STOCK UP

Tony Pollard (RB) - Dallas Cowboys

Tony Pollard has been surging as of late, scoring a touchdown in each of his last three outings after an eight-week scoreless slump that marred much of his 2023 season. Over the last three games the Cowboys leading rusher is averaging 18.8 PPG with three consecutive top 12 positional finishes. Pollard has rallied to lift himself to RB11 overall, 14.2 PPG on the season after several managers were rightfully writing off the once coveted league-winning asset. It is worth noting that the Cowboys have faced some soft defensive matchups during Pollard's newfound heights, facing off against the Panthers, Commanders, and Seahawks in the past three contests. To close out the fantasy season, the Cowboys draw tougher opponents with games against the Eagles and Lions on deck and a showdown against a susceptible Bills defense sandwiched in between. The hope is that the Cowboys’ red-hot offense will continue to put up points at a frenetic pace even against tougher matchups. Pollard is undeniably trending in the right direction as he continues to benefit from the Cowboys’ many trips to the red zone.

Jordan Love (QB) - Green Bay Packers

Jordan Love has seen his fantasy stock rapidly rise in the past weeks while playing a mistake-free brand of football. Love was tossed aside as waiver fodder during his mid-season slump that occurred from Week 4 through Week 10. During that stretch, the Packers quarterback threw 10 interceptions with only eight touchdowns while falling outside of the top 12 quarterbacks on four separate occasions. Before his turnover streak, Love had finished as a top 5 quarterback twice while tossing seven touchdowns with only one turnover. Thankfully, the touchdowns have returned whereas the turnovers have rescinded. Over his last three starts, Love has thrown eight touchdowns with no turnovers, surpassing at least 250 passing yards in all three games with a QB9 (Week 11 vs Chargers), QB5 (Week 12 @ Lions), and QB7 (Week 13 vs Chiefs) performance. The Packers draw favorable quarterback matchups in the coming weeks against the Giants, Buccaneers, Panthers, and Vikings. If Love can mitigate turnovers, he could go from waiver wire addition to league-winning asset considering the slew of beatable opponents on tap during the fantasy playoffs.

DeVonta Smith (WR) - Philadelphia Eagles 

DeVonta Smith had to ride in the backseat of the unstoppable train that was A.J. Brown's historic stretch before coming out of the woodwork to look like the superstar wideout we all know and love in his own right. Smith suffered through a five-week stretch where he had zero outings above WR24, finishing as low as WR99 with 1.6 PPR points in Week 5. The shifty wideout has now put up back-to-back outings as a top-10 positional asset, scoring 23.6 points (WR4) against the Bills and 24.6 points (WR10) against the 49ers. The loss of Dallas Goedert had funneled all remaining opportunities to one player and it has become vastly apparent that Smith is prepared to capitalize. The third-year wideout has earned eight or more targets in three straight outings, with at least six catches and 95 yards in each game. The Eagles also just so happen to have one of the most fantasy-friendly end-of-season schedules for any wide receiver. Smith will pull coverage assignments from several weak defenses to close out the campaign with matches against the Seahawks, Giants, Cardinals, and Giants again. All three of the aforementioned defenses that Smith faces in the next four games are all ranked in the top 10 positive matchups in Broto Fantasy's True Matchup Rankings. Smith is primed to continue his high-end run of league-winning production through the fantasy playoffs.

STOCK DOWN

Breece Hall (RB) - New York Jets

Breece Hall is currently tethered to the NFL's most incompetent offense as the second-year running back has been forced to waste away on the Zach Wilson/Tim Boyle-led Jets. Hall has attempted to supplement some horrendous rushing totals with a decent PPR ceiling of receptions but the lack of cohesion and inability to move the sticks on the Jets offense has ultimately capped the star running back. Week 13 marked a new low for Hall as he struggled on the ground, gaining just 16 yards on 13 carries (1.2 YPC). Hall has surpassed 50 rushing yards on only one occasion in his last eight contests, averaging a mere 48.8 yards per game on the ground despite two blowup performances that saw the star rusher pop off for 100-plus yards. His respectable target total has been marred by menial yardage as his 13 combined receptions (17 Targets) in the past two games have yielded just 53 receiving yards. The Jets are also looking to make another switch at quarterback after shooting themselves in the foot with two Tim Boyle starts. There is no member of the Jets offense that I feel comfortable with heading into the playoffs while the organization actively continues to make poor decisions in player management.

Travis Kelce (TE) - Kansas City Chiefs

It should not be viewed as a blasphemous opinion to say that Travis Kelce’s best years of football are behind him. There is no denying the star power of the Chiefs top tight end as a bonafide league-winning fantasy asset but we are simply not seeing the heights of old from the veteran pass-catcher. The linear development and progression of Rashee Rice have begun to affect Kelce’s target totals as the rookie wideout continues to impress in an increased role. Kelce has found the end zone only once in the last five games while being out-targeted by Rice in two consecutive contests. Furthermore, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense look awfully pedestrian in comparison to the juggernaut powerhouses we are used to. The Chiefs have scored under 20 points in three of their last five games and have just six total second-half touchdowns this season. Kelce is still amongst the rare players that can win you your week from the tight end position but managers should not be expecting him to vault the competition as the TE1 overall after his current downward trend.

Jordan Addison (WR) - Minnesota Vikings

Jordan Addison has stepped up big for the Vikings in Justin Jefferson's absence. The rookie wide receiver has posted three top-15 finishes this season but has begun to regress under the pressure of top coverage assignments and the inconsistent quarterback play from Joshua Dobbs now that Kirk Cousins is sidelined. Although Addison's career arc is sky-high, his end-of-season heights do not appear as bright with Jefferson set to return this week. The presence of the league's top wideout will undeniably eat into Addison's growing target totals. The ever-improving presence of T.J. Hockenson and his rapport with Dobbs as the underneath security blanket further muddies the target tree for our promising first-year receiver. Addison has finished outside of the top 24 receivers for four consecutive weeks and has yet to top 70 receiving yards since his Week 8 outing against the Packers. Entering Week 14 fresh off their mandated bye with a healthy Jefferson lends justifiable reason to assume that Addison will fall back as a tertiary option, leaving way for the Vikings’ star duo of aforementioned pass-catchers to flourish while the rookie continues to regress.

Much respect, thank you for reading. If you have any continued thoughts and would like to share, I am always available for an open conversation on Twitter: @PsychWardFF or Instagram: @psychwardff.

You can find my other works as the Lead Writer and DOC at Broto Fantasy Football.

The Fantasy Football by Broto app is now live on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store! Download it today for a start sit tool, player cards, statistics, usage, rankings, interactive tools, coaching tendencies, and much, much more. FREE for a limited time.

Check out patreon.com/Brotofantasy to access extra episodes, join our community, win prizes, and help keep the app free.

By Matt Ward