NFL Fantasy Stock Report, Week 9: Which NFL Stars Are on the Rise?

When it comes to fantasy football, which NFL stars are worth buying and which should you be selling?

All rankings and scores based on .5 PPR scoring

Stock Up

Jake Ferguson: Ferguson was my favorite offseason sleeper. He didn’t make a huge impact his rookie season but not many tight ends do. Dalton Schultz left behind a huge void in target share and I thought Ferguson showed some nice things on film entering his second season. Schultz was great for the Cowboys and was a premium fantasy tight end. I didn’t expect Ferguson to put up the same numbers but he was a 17th-round pick and the TE22. He was going to be the starting tight end on a top-ten offense. It made no sense. Fast forward to Week 9 and he is the TE12 with his stock on the rise. He didn’t have the hottest start to his season but still has four games as a weekly top-12 tight end. Over his past three games he has seen an 80%+ snap share and that’s the most promising thing to me. In the two games since their bye, Ferguson has 11 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. It really looks like they are making an effort to get him more involved in the game plan and the Cowboys look like they are finding their offensive groove. I really think he can push for a top 8 tight end spot by season's end.

Dalton Schultz: After breaking onto the scene with the Cowboys, Dalton Schultz left Dallas and signed a free agent deal with the Texans. Expectations weren’t nearly as heavy on him as they were in Dallas but they definitely wanted him to be a reliable target for C.J. Stroud’s development. Honestly, Stroud didn’t need anybody to aid his development and as he has rocketed to stardom, Schultz is going with him. He only caught 7 passes over his first three games but has since hit double-digit fantasy points in four out of five games. He also has touchdowns in those same four games. Over the last four games he’s averaging 8.25 targets a game so Stroud is regularly looking his way. Schultz was a 10th-round fantasy pick and the TE12. He’s currently the TE8 so he’s already performing a little better than his value but like Ferguson, good times are coming.

Josh Dobbs: I don’t need to talk about how crazy the performance from Dobbs on Sunday was. It was truly one of the coolest NFL moments I’ve ever watched. Unfortunately, he didn’t start the game so the only way he hit a starting lineup is if he’s rostered by the person who never pays attention. There’s the slimmest chance that Dobbs was drafted in your league but assuming he wasn’t he has been a huge pickup. He is a top 12 fantasy quarterback so far thanks to his rushing. He has rushed for 40+ yards in six games and has a rushing touchdown in four games. With Kyler Murray’s return on the horizon it looked like Dobbs’ run was soon over. That is until Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles and the Vikings made an emergency trade for Dobbs. We’ve seen him step up to challenges like this before and he’s now got the opportunity to keep his Cinderella run going. Stock up for Dobbs simply for the chance to keep playing. He’s been an important piece for many fantasy teams.

Stock Down

Adam Thielen: Look, if you drafted Adam Thielen you are thrilled. He was a 10th-round pick and the WR51. Currently the WR9, Thielen is SMASHING expectations. His run from week 3-7 racked up 40 catches for 443 yards and three touchdowns. Bryce Young was looking for him constantly and Thielen looked like he found a time machine this offseason. I don’t want to take away anything Thielen has done this year because he has been incredible. However, his last two games have somewhat brought him back down to earth thanks to his rookie quarterback. The Colts may have just exposed this offense even more than it already had been by clamping down on Thielen. Without his safety valve, Young was absolutely miserable. He threw two pick-sixes and I don’t see him making any major strides the rest of the way. As a long-time Jaguars fan, I’ve seen bad quarterbacks and as a result have become way better at diagnosing it in others. Bryce stinks. I’m sure Thielen will still be productive in relation to his draft value but if I had to put my money on it, his magical run is over.

James Cook: James Cook was a fairly premiere fantasy pick this year being taken at the 4th/5th round swing. Many projected him to take the next step and become a three down workhorse for the Bills. Things looked promising after the first month of the season as he hit 12.2+ fantasy points in three out of four games. Since then he has topped that mark once in five games. His snap shares and usage have remained fairly consistent throughout the season, he just hasn’t been efficient. The Bills offense doesn’t have much pie to share outside of Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and Gabriel Davis and now Dalton Kincaid is getting his share too. On top of that, The Bills brought in Leonard Fournette so expect another body in the running back rotation soon.

George Pickens: George had a nice run while Diontae Johnson was hurt, but for his personal brand I bet he hoped Diontae was out longer. Since Diontae returned two weeks ago, Pickens has three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. Only good for 9.5 fantasy points thanks to the touchdown. His boom-or-bust nature made him a fun play as the teams WR1 but since Kenny Pickett has not taken the next step this offense just isn’t a viable option for carrying more than one relevant fantasy piece in the passing game. Pickett isn’t going to get any better, Matt Canada still calls the plays, and Diontae is significantly better than Pickens at football. Pickens was drafted as a solid WR3 and many had hopes for a bigger season than that to go along with the potential Pickett jump. Whoops.