Fantasy Football Stock Up/Stock Down: Ja'Marr Chase Is Performing Well with Joe Flacco

There's a lot that goes into trying to stay one step ahead of your leaguemates in fantasy football. Among the things you have to pay close attention to, it's crucial to keep an eye on new trends, usage, and roles for players in order to make optimal decisions when setting your lineups.

Each week is a different beast, and as the regular season progresses, we'll gather more valuable information to utilize.

While we don't want to overreact to everything that happens early in the season, which players saw their stock go up or down following the action in Week 1?

Note: All stats come from Next Gen Stats or Pro Football Focus unless stated otherwise.

Fantasy Football Stock Up/Stock Down Entering Week 8

Fantasy Football Stock Up

Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys

Not many quarterbacks are playing at a higher level than Dak Prescott as he's gone four consecutive games with three-plus passing touchdowns and zero interceptions. From a fantasy football perspective, Prescott has tallied 22-plus fantasy points in five of his seven starts this season, which has propelled him to QB2 status before Monday's games are played.

In the win over the Washington Commanders, Dak posted 0.25 expected points added per drop back with CeeDee Lamb back in the mix, and he's now carrying an impressive 0.21 expected points added per drop back through the first seven weeks, per NFL's Next Gen Stats. With the Cowboys' defense still being a below-average unit and forcing the offense to stay aggressive in plenty of shootouts, Prescott is a premier fantasy option the rest of the way.

D'Andre Swift, RB, Bears

We've seen the Chicago Bears begin to split the backfield workload a bit more since their bye week in Week 5, giving touches to both D'Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. While split workloads can understandably be viewed negatively, Swift has performed much better in recent weeks despite seeing a 52.2% snap rate, 50.0% route rate, and 63.6% red-zone rushing share in Week 7 (compared to Monangai having a 46.3% snap rate, 35.7% route rate, and 27.3% red-zone rushing share).

Since the bye week, head coach Ben Johnson has done a much better job of maximizing Swift's skill set by getting him out in space instead of continuously running him up the middle, leading to him scoring 20-plus fantasy points in back-to-back weeks. Even though I don't want to get overly confident in Swift consistently scoring 20-plus points due to the inefficiencies he's shown throughout his career, Chicago's rushing attack has become the strength of their offense, and Swift should continue being effective in the team's upcoming matchups versus the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and New York Giants.

Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Bengals

Things were looking a bit bleak for Ja'Marr Chase whenever Joe Burrow went down with a toe injury, but it appears things are trending upward for the All-Pro wideout since the arrival of Joe Flacco. After combining for only 11.2 fantasy points across Week 3 and 4, Chase has posted 20-plus fantasy points in three straight contests -- including in each of his first two starts with Flacco.

On the season, Chase is back to being the WR1 in half-PPR leagues upon scoring a season-high 30.1 points in Week 7 with 16 receptions, 161 receiving yards, and a touchdown on 23 targets (!!!). While things could come crashing down at any moment with Flacco under center, Chase and Tee Higgins are currently benefitting from improved quarterback play in recent weeks, and we should have confidence in them being reliable contributors in fantasy again.

Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Colts

We have enough of a sample size now to confidently say the Indianapolis Colts have one of the best offenses in the NFL and Daniel Jones is playing the best football of his career. Although Jonathan Taylor is understandably the focal point of Indy's revamped offense, the aerial attack has proven to be effective most weeks, which has led to Michael Pittman Jr. quietly being a top fantasy option at receiver.

Besides being the WR19 in fantasy points per game right now, Pittman has produced 12-plus points in five of his seven outings, and he's proven to be the most consistent receiver on the Colts with six-plus targets in five of seven starts. Unless something drastically changes, Pittman and rookie Tyler Warren are the two pass catchers from Indy's offense we can confidently start in our lineups right now.

Fantasy Football Stock Down

Justin Fields, QB, Jets

It was a fantastic start to the year for Justin Fields. He was able to score 25-plus fantasy points in three of his first four starts for the New York Jets, taking advantage of positive matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and Cowboys. However, Fields has now notched fewer than five fantasy points in each of his last two outings, and he was just benched in favor of veteran Tyrod Taylor during New York's loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Along with head coach Aaron Glenn stating that he made the move because the Jets "needed a spark", and Glenn has admitted that the team is considering their options before naming a starting quarterback moving forward. With the Jets holding a dismal 0-7 record to begin the season, Fields likely isn't the guaranteed starter anymore despite signing a two-year, $40 million contract with the organization in the offseason, making him a risky player to roster in fantasy right now.

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Patriots

Each week, we've been holding out hope that rookie TreVeyon Henderson is going to get a bump in usage and potentially usurp Rhamondre Stevenson as the starting back for the New England Patriots. However, even amid inefficient metrics and fumbling woes from Stevenson, Henderson continues to be a non-factor in the offense.

Despite the Patriots having a comfortable lead and a favorable matchup against the Tennessee Titans, Henderson saw just a 14.1% snap rate and had a season-low two carries while Stevenson led the way with a 76.6% snap rate with 18 carries, 88 yards, and a score. Time is ticking for Henderson to become a fantasy-relevant player in his rookie season, and seeing that the Pats don't have a bye week until Week 14, it's unlikely he sees a drastic change to his role -- barring an injury to Stevenson.

Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jaguars

What happened to the Brian Thomas Jr. that we saw have a stellar rookie campaign last year? Thomas finished last season as the overall WR4 in half-PPR formats, and his stock skyrocketed once the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Liam Coen as their new head coach.

While Trevor Lawrence has been shaky from under center, Thomas hasn't given his quarterback much help by dropping passes and looking disengaged at times, which has led to him being the current WR31. In addition to Thomas needing to clean up the drops, Travis Hunter could begin seeing more offensive snaps moving forward and experience a post-bye rookie bump in Week 9, so Thomas' time as the clear WR1 in Jacksonville's offense could be dwindling unless he drastically turns things around.

Marquise Brown, WR, Chiefs

Marquise Brown hauled in a touchdown in Week 7 versus the Las Vegas Raiders and now has four touchdowns across his last four games in a Kansas City Chiefs passing attack that is firing on all cylinders right now. Despite that being the case, Brown's snaps in the offense are in jeopardy given the return of Rashee Rice and the presences of Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce.

Upon Rice making his season debut in Week 7, he paced the team with a 29.4% target share, 62.5% target rate, 44.4% red-zone target share, and 50.0% end-zone target share on just a 39.0% snap rate and 36.4% route rate. Besides expecting Rice's playing time to increase in the coming weeks in more competitive games, Brown garnered just a 32.5% snap rate, 38.6% route rate, and 11.8% target share in Week 7, so his days of being a viable weekly option in fantasy are over unless an injury occurs within KC's receiver room.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.