Fantasy Football Ranking Risers and Fallers (Derek Carr and Matthew Stafford Trending in Opposite Directions)

Brian Giuffra | Sep 19, 2024

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

There have been massive fluctuations in the fantasy football rankings from Week 2 to Week 3, and not all of them are simply based on ideal matchups.

Injuries have played a role for some moving up, but even more so it's been players overperforming their initial rankings and solidifying themselves as must-starts in Week 3.

On the flip side, some offenses and players have failed to live up to their preseason and early-season expectations. We're recalibrating where we see them in Week 3 and whether they should be in our lineups at all.

That said, here is where players stand now versus a week ago with rankings coming from SI Fantasy insider Michael Fabiano's Week 2 and Week 3 rankings stories.

Fantasy Risers

Derek Carr: Was 23, Now 12 in QB Rankings

Carr has been the biggest surprise this season from a fantasy perspective, moving from a third-tier QB to being the No. 2 QB in PPR scoring so far this year. The Saints, as a whole, have been the same, scoring 91 points in two games.

This week, the Saints face the Eagles in a game with the second-highest OVER/UNDER (49.5) on the slate, meaning it's expected to be a high-scoring affair. Even better, the Eagles' secondary has been burned already, giving credence to the idea Carr can put up big numbers again and should be in many starting lineups.

Zach Charbonnet: Was 16, Now 10 in RB Rankings

Charbonnet is filling in for Kenneth Walker, who is dealing with an oblique injury that is expected to sideline him for at least another week. Charbonnet made the most of it in Week 2, scoring a rushing TD and finishing with 17.7 points in PPR. He has 2 TDs on the season already.

Similar to the Saints, the Seahawks' offense is also overperforming versus preseason expectations, averaging a healthy 24.5 points per game so far. They face a reeling Dolphins team at home in a game that could feature a run-heavy script from Seattle if it gets ahead early. Either way, he's a must-start.

Zack Moss: Was 25, Now 21 in RB Rankings

Moss has assumed the lead-back role for the Bengals and gets a juicy matchup this week against a Commanders defense that gives up over 120 rushing yards per game so far this season. Chase Brown is still getting work in the Bengals offense, but Moss took 82% of the snaps in Week 2, solidifying his hold as their RB1. He profiles as an RB2 this week.

Devonta Smith: Was 12, Now 6 in WR Rankings

Earlier this week, I wrote about how much better Smith performs when A.J. Brown is out of the lineup, and you can read all about that here. Just know all his numbers improve, as they did in Week 2 when he had 10 targets, 7 catches, 76 yards and a TD vs the Falcons.

Brown is expected to miss another week, giving Smith WR1 upside in what, as mentioned, is expected to be a high-scoring game against the Saints.

Brandon Aiyuk: Was 27, Now 17 in WR Rankings

Aiyuk has been one of the biggest disappointments in fantasy football this season, making 6 catches and 71 yards with zero TDs in two games total. However, with Deebo Samuel out with a calf injury, Aiyuk is expected to get the lion's share of the targets against a Rams team that is fading due in large part to a litany of injuries across both sides of the field.

Fantasy Fallers

Matthew Stafford: Was 13, Now 25 in QB Rankings

Stafford hasn't been great this season, but this precipitous drop is predicated heavily on the fact that Cooper Kupp will miss this week and Puka Nacua remains out. Those are his top two receivers. Without them, facing a 49ers defense looking for revenge after getting embarrassed by the Vikings in Week 2, benching Stafford is an easy decision.

D'Andre Swift: Was 28, Now 31 in RB Rankings

The Bears offense has looked atrocious the first two weeks of the season and Swift looks like he lost whatever mojo he had with the Eagles last year. He's averaging just 2.0 yards per carry on 24 carries, which is a large sample size and suggests the Bears' issues with pass blocking for Caleb Williams extend to run blocking.

Swift did have 4 catches last week, which is a nice boost in PPR leagues. But it's hard to trust anyone on the Bears' offense right now with the way they've looked the first two games.

Najee Harris: Was 26, Now 30 in RB Rankings

There was a lot of talk coming out of Steelers training camp that Harris would be their bell-cow back. Sure enough, he has been, getting 37 rushes in the first two games, which would equate to just under 300 caries for the season.

The problem is, he's turned those into just 139 rushing yards and zero TDs. He has only 2 catches for 14 yards on top of that. That equates to a paltry 8.65 points per game in PPR leagues. Even worse, Jaylen Warren was more involved in the Steelers' Week 2 gameplan than he was in Week 1.

Terry McLaurin: Was 34, Now 39 in WR Rankings

The Commanders' offense has been cautious in rookie QB Jayden Daniels's first two games, keeping most of his passes behind or no more than 10 yards in front of the line of scrimmage. That hurts a player like McLaurin, who is more of a big-play threat guy than a player who takes short passes and breaks them for big games.

McLaurin has just 8 catches and 39 receiving yards this season with 0 TDs. He is averaging under 6 points per game in PPR leagues. He's still an elite WR, but until the Commanders, and Daniels, start airing it out, you should lower expectations.

Christian Kirk: Was 29, Now 36 in WR Rankings

Kirk was expected to be the Jags WR1 this season following the departure of Calvin Ridley. Instead, he's been arguably the biggest fantasy bust (outside of injuries) thus far, making 2 catches for 29 yards, including 1 catch for -1 yards in Week 2.

Now the Jags, and Kirk, face a solid Bills defense that limited a high-powered Dolphins team to just 10 points in Week 2. You could say that was because of the injury to Tua Tagovailoa, but even before the injury, they bottled up Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

That spells bad news for Kirk, who should be on the bench until further notice.